Chapter 36 — Luke
As soon as we arrived at the penthouse, I decided I had to say something to April. She wasn’t happy and I wished Elisa was here to help me, but she decided to go on some hot date with some guy she’d met online. Even she was looking for love at her age. Her husband told her that he met someone. Something she’d suspected for a while. She told me that it was no loss. Their love for each other died a long time ago. Mine was in front of me and if I said the right words and did everything right maybe, just maybe she would stay.
“I’m not good at this, expressing emotions and all. Please let’s sit,” I said as I motioned for her to follow me into the living room.
April moved reluctantly and then took off her hat and then threw it onto the sofa as if to say, spit it out or I’m gone!
“I made a mistake about Jeff and how I handled the situation. It was wrong of me to fire you and HR said I couldn’t do it just like that, which is why I wanted to say you have a job if you want it?”
“I see.” She pursed her lips.
“I should have told you my dad was sick and this was the reason you didn’t see me for a few days until I showed up to interview Linda.”
“Five. Five long days.”
I waited for her to say more, but she wasn’t even looking at me, or even trying to communicate. She just stared at her hat as if she’d decided she was ready to leave. I sat in between the space between her and her hat.
“At the time, I was thinking I was going to lose the old man. I didn’t think about us and the special weekend we had, I was worried about him and I should have told you out of respect.”
“Wow.” She coughed. “The great Luke Winters has finally admitted he’s done something wrong. Was that so hard?”
“No,” I lied.
“Thank you for admitting Luke, but I still don’t belong here. I have to go home. I can’t stay, not with the way things are with you. And you said barely three words to me the whole ride in the limo to the wedding and back. You didn’t even compliment me on my dress. I know I couldn’t have been the hottest one at the wedding, but at least a little something like, you look nice would have gone a long way…”
I didn't wait for her to say anything else as I moved closer to her and pressed my lips against hers, it wasn’t a sensual kiss, but one of confirmation to say I wanted her to stay.
I pulled back, gazing into her eyes. “Us, is not a reason to stay?” I wanted to kiss her again, but I stayed far enough for her to say something which would confirm the past could be put behind us and we could move on.
“You couldn’t deal with the weekend. You ran as fast as your feet could carry you,” she said.
“5k in twenty minutes maybe. I didn’t run that fast.”
She laughed and it was the first time since I’d gone to pick her up she had let down her guard.
“Does this mean you’re willing to give us a chance? Work too? Everything you came to the city for?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t come to the city to find love.”
I took her hand gently in mine, bringing up to my lips and kissing her knuckles softly. “But you found it.”
She smiled. “Yes, I found it. But he’s a bit of a chicken.”
I deserved that, and she was right, I’d acted like a fool in love. All, I needed to do was talk to her, it wasn’t so hard and there was so much more I wanted to learn about her.
“I loved the idea of not going to the wedding alone, but with someone. With a girlfriend.”
She pulled her hand from mine. “A fake one?”
“No. Not a fake one, but a real one.”
This time, I wasn’t pressing my lips against hers, she was doing it against mine. As if she was sealing the deal.