The hurt lingered, like a dull pain that refused to dissipate alongside with my refusal to believe that Parrish ignoring me was intentional. I stood on that podium trying with everything in me to avoid the blankness in Parrish’s eyes as I delivered my pitch. He looked at me, our eyes jammed countless of times but there was no emotion there and most times he would lean over to Celeste who was seated beside him, whispering in her ears and she’ll giggle with her hands over her mouth. My face heated up with rage and jealousy as I watched them and at the same time tried to stayed focused, and even when I rounded up my pitch, he hadn’t noticed, he was looking at her when he was supposed to be looking at me.I wrapped up the presentation followed by the applause of my colleagues and that was when Celeste looked up at me, indifference in her eyes and she smiled.“Lovely, just lovely – Jessica Peters is it?” she said, her Russian accent flowing smoothly on her tongue and smiling at me like she
I accepted my fate and in no time, I was packing my bags ready to leave for the Florida. I stared at my phone to find series of text messages trooping in from Parrish asking to talk, but that was the last thing I wanted to do – to talk, because it was never just talking with Parrish. I know that at some point my panties are going to be strewn across the room.The moment I stepped out of my house, I came face to face with Nathan standing just outside the door like he had been waiting for me. I stared at him in surprise, my eyebrows lifted in question “Nathan” I called and he kept my stare“Can we talk?” he asked and I looked at my watch, I had just less than an hour to get to the airport.“Now’s a little tight” I told him and he stared at the luggage I held in my hands and he looked back at me.“Are you travelling somewhere?”“Yes, to Florida. I bagged the deal so I have to go sign the contract”“Just you?"Yes just me, why?”Nathan shook his head and I saw a slight relief flash acros
PARRISH’S POV“You know, I really wish I could permanently move to California instead – ” Celeste was saying to me while we were seated having lunch together but I was barely listening even though I was staring intently at her. I was looking at her, but my thoughts were filled with Jessica. She must’ve left for Florida already, and I couldn’t help but think about her last words to me*I can’t do this with you**Maybe I do need this time away from you.I couldn’t think of anything else, I couldn’t do anything else because everywhere I turned something reminded me of her, and somehow I was sick of it – sick of missing her when in reality, I knew I should be staying away from her. My father’s words rang in my head, I hated that man but somehow he always seemed to slap reality back into me. I have a dark past that I had been trying to escape, to run away from, one that involved Jessica and part of the reason why we can never work out, and Jessica can never find out*How do you think she’
“I don’t give a bloody damn about the weather conditions Captain, I need to get to Florida” I said making sure to include the urgency in my tone and how quickly I need to get to Florida. I couldn’t bear the thoughts of Jessica in the hands of that sleazebag and each passing second I stood there with the phone plastered to ear trying to buttress the urgency of the situation, my anger doubled.I shouldn’t have let her out of sight, I shouldn’t have allowed her on trip. I should’ve told her to stay, that I wanted her stay, that I needed her and now she was in danger – and it’s my entire fault. Of course, the guilt settled in and clouded my senses mixed with a strong feeling of anxiety and trepidation slowly creeping up my stomach and reaching up to grab me by my throat that I almost gasped.“We can find an alternate route that we can take that avoids the worst of the weather – ”“I don’t care Captain, just get me to fucking Florida as quickly as possible, get the jet ready” I said immedi
“Come on, let’s get you out of here” I carried her up, and exited my room while my security was going to hand over Mr. Venzo to the police, I knew it wouldn’t take him long to get out the police but at that moment, I needed him far away from Jessica.“I’m sorry Jessica, I should never have let you leave in the first place” I whispered to her and the moment we got into the backseat of the car, she was all over me in seconds.“I would fucking kill that bastard” I gritted my teeth. Jessica’s had had begun traveling down my chest to get what she wanted but I couldn’t indulge her, not when she was in this state.“Just this once Parrish – don’t you want to continue what your started at the elevator yesterday” her voice was sensual and inviting. My eyes raked over her and I licked my lips slowly, a low growl rumbling in my throat. The gown she wore had began to bunch up to her thighs, exposing her creamy thighs that excited me. Her hair fell about her face and her green eyes gleamed in an lu
*JESSICA’S POV*I woke up in the hazy embrace of an unfamiliar room, my mind groggy and disoriented. My head throbbed as my eyes fluttered open and I fought to make sense of my surrounding. Soft morning sunlight filtered through delicate curtains, casting a warm glow on the soft white painted walls. But as I glanced around, confusion clouded my thoughts, tangling me in a web of uncertainty. I looked at my self and I was clad in a nothing but a loose white shirt that clung to my body, it had a very familiar scent to it and I when I properly came to – it unmistakably smelled of Parrish.How did I end up here, clothed in his scent, in a strange room with no recollection how I got here.I pushed the covers aside, my feet coming in contact with the soft plush carpet that covered the floor. There was a balcony to my right and that was when I noticed a distant silhouette of a man – no not just any man – it was Parrish, and just then like a torrential downpour, the memories came rushing in.M
“He doesn’t have feelings for me – ”“I don’t have feelings for her – ”Ken and I said at the same time but somehow it felt like we were overcompensating. Diana’s deep brown eyes searched mine suspiciously and it confused me because I hadn’t seen both of them in years, since the summer we spent on an island in Europe, but I couldn’t blame her, we all never talked about what happened.The tension seemed to be thickening with every passing second and Parrish stepped in our middle, acting like everything that went down didn’t affect him the most – but that was Parrish, he always wanted to be seen as the Messiah.“Okay, let’s just enjoy the beach now shall we? It’s been years, let’s move on” he said and Diana grabbed Ken’s hands pulling him with her and I moved up to Parrish’s side.“This is going well” Sarcasm dripped from my voice but he pretended not to notice, instead he took my hands and pulled me closer to him.“You know I never really blamed you for what happened then, honestly it
I couldn’t really get into the kiss with Ken, because it didn’t feel like anything. The pretend stars weren’t falling from the sky like sprayed confetti but my eyes had slipped open and I could see Diana, her eyes shooting lasers at us, I nearly smirked into the kiss. I ran my hands over his biceps for her to see only for Ken to even pull me closer to him and I let him because it was even more satisfying to see her face redden with jealousy but it wasn’t long before I felt Ken being pulled away from me and to his feet with a large force and before I could register anything, a hard punch reached his jaw while he staggered to the floor and there was Parrish standing over him with an angry looking on his face.He was going in for another punch when I stopped him.“Stop!” I yelled and this time Diana had reached us and she was charging towards me before Ken had jumped to his feet and stopping her before she got to me.“You fucking love her, why don’t you just admit it?” Diana yelled at Ke