Katie and her two boss 042

Katie and her two boss 042
Tyler

I’m right behind Austin
.
The elevator is slow, so we’re racing down the stairs flight after flight.
We hit the street, and Katie is nowhere around.
“Fuck! She could be anywhere!” Austin says frantically. “She’s got a head start on us.”
“She may have gone to the subway. I’ll run over to the station to see if I can beat her there, and you get the car and meet me over there,” I shout over my shoulder as I take off for the train stop.
But she’s nowhere to be seen. I try calling and texting over and over as we drive all over downtown, checking every place she may have gone to. We can’t find her anywhere.
“What about her house?” Austin asks. “Should we go by there?”
“I don’t know, Austin,” I shake my head. “She’s always so protective of her mom. I’m afraid she wouldn’t want us to just show up over there.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And her phone is definitely off. Looks like she needs some space. Let’s just hope she comes around soon.”
“So we’ll give her some space for a while, and if we don’t hear from her in a few hours, how about we check on her at home?”
“I guess. I hate not knowing where she is, though.”
And I hate it too. I can only imagine what’s going on in her head right now. How hurt and afraid she must feel. We need to be with her right now to make her feel better, to let her know everything will be okay.
Out of options, and with frazzled nerves, we stop at a bar downtown for a couple drinks. It’s before noon, but we need something to make this nightmare a little easier.
“I’m worried sick about her right now,” Austin says, taking a big swig. “Where could she be? Why won’t she answer her phone?”
“I think she’s going through something really painful right now,” I say.
“Fucking Jessica, talking shit,” Austin says, frowning. “Her ass is gone. It’ll be better without her around anyway.”
“No objection there. I just wish she had been gone before Katie was hired.” I sigh heavily.
Austin downs the rest of his drink and slams the glass heavy on the table. “Fuck, man, what are we going to do? I’ve got a bad feeling – she just disappeared. She can’t just leave us.”
We don’t say anything for a while, the tension thick in the air.
He runs his hand through his hair. He repeats his words, as if trying to convince himself. “No, she can’t just leave us. She can’t.”
“Does she think any of this is her fault? Because that’s crazy! I hope she knows that she’s not to blame for any of this,” I say.
“Yeah, we’d make that clear if she would just talk to us. I just wish I knew what she was thinking right now,” Austin says.
“I’m afraid she thinks she ruined the company. But she matters so much more to me than that company,” I say, looking at Austin.
“To me too,” he says. “Without a doubt.”
“I – I’m in love with her,” I say, suddenly feeling a strong urge to tell him what I’ve known for weeks now. “I’ve never loved any woman before. And I need to tell her that.”
“I love her too,” he says, looking out the window. “She means everything to me.”
We sit there for a while longer, slugging another beer each just to calm our frazzled nerves, not saying much more.
We both know what we want, and we know we’re not going to rest until she’s back safe with us.
Austin goes back to the office. I almost join him, if for nothing else than to give Jessica a piece of my mind and tell her to pack her things. But I need to collect my thoughts, and I promise him I won’t be far behind.
I think about the past years of one-night-stands. Such a blur. It was fun in the moment, but it always left me feeling so damned empty. It was never enough. Never what I needed.
But I told myself it was exactly what I wanted. I told myself I was happy being single and that I’d get bored with just one woman. That sex was all I cared about, and all the rest was for suckers. It’s so easy to go on deluding yourself for years, hiding the truth from yourself.
I suppose if I wanted to psycho-analyze myself, I could find some kind of connection between my bachelor past and my mom. She was never really there for me growing up, to say the least. She’s a New York socialite, and keeping up appearances is her full-time job. I spent more time with nannies than with my mother. That probably screwed me up somehow. Maybe on some subconscious level, I thought I could never let myself get close to a woman.
I don’t know how, but I know something changed in me when I met Katie Jenkins.
As soon as I spent any time with Katie, I could see that she was what I needed. The sex with her is amazing, the best I’ve ever had, but it’s so much more than that. She makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. I sure never felt this much love back when I was picking up girls I didn’t care about at the bar. Those old days are long gone and I don’t miss them at all. I’ll never go back to that way of life.
I can finally see that I’ve wanted to be in love all my life, that I’ve always wanted a special woman to take care of and protect, to laugh with and share my life with. I never thought Austin would figure into that equation, but somehow it all makes sense. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I know Katie must be hurting right now. I want to take her in my arms and kiss away her tears. I want to tell her the words I’ve never told any woman before: I love you, and I’m never letting you go.