Chapter 23

Aubrey was reviewing production reports with her factory manager when Bunmi came in to inform her that she had a visitor in the lobby.

“Tell him to go away,” Aubrey said without a moment’s hesitation.

“It’s not the red head,” Bunmi said with a grin.

“Then who is it?”

“Hercules,” Bunmi sighed.

“Who?” Aubrey asked with a scowl.

“A tall, dangerously gorgeous guy, who wouldn’t give his name but says he’s here to see you.”

“And Marion let him in? What if he’s a psychotic killer who’s looking for his next victim?”

“Girl, I am ready to be his victim right now. He can kill me whenever he wants.”

Bunmi’s response drew gales of laughter from Aubrey. She knew her assistant had a weakness for good looking guys, so she wasn’t surprised by her exaggeration.”

“Ok, fine. I’ll be out in a minute, but if he’s a murderer and he kills me, it will be your fault. I’ll turn into a ghost and haunt you for all eternity.”

“Trust me, you’ll be glad he did. And that’s a money back guarantee I’m giving you.”

Even the factory manager joined in the laughter this time. Bunmi probably missed her original calling in life. She should be a standup comedian, not an assistant to the CEO of a fashion business.

A few minutes later, Aubrey was on her way to her office but the moment she reached the lobby, her purposeful strides slowed down when she saw her visitor.

“Eric?” she said in awe.

“Hi,” he said and stood up from the couch he’d been sitting on. “How are you?”

“Uh, fine,” Aubrey said, not sure how to feel about this unexpected visit. This was the second surprise visit she’d had in the last 48 hours, and it was making her feel uneasy. “You want to come into my office for a bit?”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks,” he said and followed her in.

The memory of his dream from days ago flashed before her eyes, and Aubrey felt her face grow warm as the erotic images played out in her mind. She cleared her throat and wiped the wild thought out of her head quickly.

“What would you like? Coffee? Tea?” she asked politely when they’d settled down in her office.

“I’m fine, thanks,” he said with a smile. “Sorry for just dropping in unannounced. To be honest, I wasn’t sure you would be excited to see me here, but I decided to come anyway because…because I felt that I had to.”

“Why?”

“I owe you an apology and I never got the chance to say it before you left Fairbanks.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Aubrey, I am sorry for how I behaved the last time we were together. I spoke to you harshly and you didn’t deserve that.”

Aubrey was surprised. “You came all the way here to say that? Why didn’t you just call?”

Eric looked embarrassed. “Well, I didn’t have your number.”

“You could have asked my dad. I mean, you two work together in the same office. And speaking of which, don’t you have to work today?”

“I got a leave of absence from work. Gary said I needed a break.”

“You don’t seem too excited about that,” Aubrey observed.

“Well, what can I say? I love my job and I enjoy doing it every day, so to be told to pause when I didn’t think I had to, has been a bit jolting for me.”

“So, basically, you had nowhere to go, and you decided to make the trip down here with the excuse of an apology, right?”

Eric looked sheepish. “But I really did need to apologize to you though.”

Aubrey tried to keep a straight face despite the ridiculousness of the situation. “Ok. Now that you have apologized, what next? Are you going to fly back to Fairbanks right away with your clear conscience?”

He laughed. He knew Aubrey was too smart to buy that story about him coming here just to say sorry. “Fine. You got me. I don’t know where else to go or what to do with myself. There, I said it.”

Aubrey laughed. “I knew it!”

“Busted,” Eric said with his hands raised in surrender.

“You know what, give me a few minutes to tidy up some lose ends and then I’ll give you a grand tour of my store, and we can also go grab lunch together. How does that sound?”

“Fantastic. Thanks,” Eric said, genuinely grateful. He’d thought she would kick him out of her workplace, but here she was treating him like a welcome guest and even offering to show him around.

True to her words, once she was done with the task she had at hand, she took him around the store to show him each department, while also introducing him to her staff as her ‘friend from home.’ They eventually went out for a late lunch at The Roast, and it was an opportunity for the two of them to get to know each other. Eric told her about his family, his hobbies, and funny stories about some of the mischief he got up to while growing up. Aubrey also told him about her fondest childhood memories featuring her mom.

“You must really miss her,” Eric commented, noticing how sad Aubrey became as she recounted her times with her mother.

“Every single day,” she said softly. “And it still hurts even though she’s been gone for so many years.”

Eric laid a comforting hand over hers. For the first time since knowing Aubrey, he finally understood why she seemed cold and unfriendly towards everyone. Losing her mother at a young age was a devastating blow that sent her running into her shell. Perhaps, getting therapy would have helped her but she never did.

“How can I cheer you up?” Eric asked her, sincerely concerned about her feelings. He didn’t like how her mood had dipped after her trip down memory lane.

She smiled. “What do you have planned for the rest of tonight?”

“Well, I thought I’d check myself into a hotel and then back to my base tomorrow.”

“No wonder you came with a backpack,” Aubrey said with a chuckle. “You had no plans to stick around at all.”

“I wasn’t even sure you’d let me into your store. I thought you would kick me out the moment you saw me.”

“I wonder why I didn’t,” she said playfully.

He laughed.

“You can crash at my place if that’s ok with you,” she said.

Eric was surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah. Save yourself some cash and sleep over at my place. It’s a nice place by the way, even if I do say so myself.”

He grinned. “I can imagine.”

It felt good to be having a friendly conversation with her, and Eric realized that she wasn’t a perpetually grouchy person after all. In that moment, he was reminded of one of his dad’s favorite sayings, “Don’t be so quick to judge others, especially when you don’t even know their story.” This was a perfect example of that saying—he had judged and misunderstood Aubrey for so long without bothering to get to know her first.

“Alright then, let’s get out of here,” she said.

“Cool,” he agreed.

Eric offered to pay for their meal, but Aubrey insisted that they split it. She was way too used to handling stuff like this for her to let him pay.

“You know I’m not broke, right?” He said to her with an amused smile as they left the restaurant. “Your dad pays me well, and I do have a tidy sum of money stashed away to afford me a lavish lifestyle if that’s what I want.”

“I’m not disputing that, but today, you’re my guest. Maybe tomorrow I’ll let you pay for breakfast,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Breakfast, huh?”

“Yeah. I don’t cook.”

“That makes two of us.”

“What else do we have in common?” She asked him curiously.

“I don’t know yet, but I guess we’ll find out as time goes on.”

“I guess we will,” she agreed.

Even Aubrey couldn’t have imagined this new turn of events. She and Eric had always clashed from the moment she noticed him weeks ago on the day her betrothal to his cousin was canceled, but for the first time since then, they were having a friendly banter after a smooth conversation without one person lashing out at the other. It meant that the both of them could actually get along if they made an effort. He is my mate, she remined herself. I have to at least try to be friends with him and see where that leads us.