Isabella and I sat there at the table for some time in silence. I was letting her go through things in her head while staying there to reassure her that she wasn’t alone.
“I still can’t believe that she would go to him after I told her what he did,” her voice was small and sad. “I mean what happened to the girl code? She’s all about women empowerment and then she goes and breaks the first rule of the girl code.”
“Would it make you feel any better if I told you that I punched him?”
She finally looked up at me, “Did you really punch him?”
I pointed to a spot on my jaw, “Right here,” and she began to laugh.
“That actually does make me feel a little better,” she laughed louder, “thank you.”
We were silent for a few minutes longer before I finally admitted, in a timid voice, “I need to get her back, Iz.”
She looked into my eyes
After my lunch with David and Douglas Day, and my constant digging for answers from the man, David called me into his office to have a little discussion with me.[FLASHBACK]David walked to his side of the desk and stood there with his hands gripping onto the edge of the wood, “What the hell was that?” He demanded.“I’m only trying to get to know you, David,” I tried to sound timid and innocent, keeping my shoulders up and my arms close to me like a child who just got in trouble for something.“Oh, quit the act, Emma!”I let my shoulders drop and I stood up straight, “Okay, fine, just tell me why you continue to lie to me about who you are? I’m just trying to find out the truth!”He threw his hands out to either side, “How have I been lying to you?”I started counting on my fingers dramatically for him, “First off, you told everyone downstairs that Amy was y
The day after I met Kay, I was in the elevator ready to go to work when it stopped at another floor to pick up someone else on its way down, the doors opened and my eyes met with Emma’s. She has dressed for her interview that her roommate mentioned to me, and she was obviously contemplating whether to get into the elevator with me or not.The elevator doors began to close and I stepped up to stop them, motioning with my hand for Emma to join me. She was acting like she had glue on her feet and was unable to move, but after a few seconds of hesitation, she finally willed her feet to move and got on the elevator.Her perfume wafted as she walked past me, and it was like I was finally getting my dose of a drug that I had gone too long without. The silence, though, was awkward with the lack of music, and Emma was feeling it too, she almost looked like she was beginning to sweat.I knew I needed to talk to her, and I wasn’t sure when my next opportunity w
I got back inside and to the elevator as quickly as possible, pressing the ‘doors close’ button over and over again, frantically, just in case Matthew followed me, my heart was already beating erratically, I could hear my pulse in my ears. Once at my apartment, I went directly to Kay’s room and opened the door without knocking, she was a mess on her bed, tangled in the sheets and duvet with one bare leg hanging out, wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt. I opened the curtains to wake her up and she closed her eyes tightly and turned her head with a displeased moan. “Claudette Reed? Really, Kay?” “It was the first name that came to me,” she grumbled and rubbed her eyes, raising herself on her forearm, she used her hand to brush her hair away from her face and then asked when she saw me, “Did you actually do it?” Kay had told me yesterday to fake going to an interview to purposefully run into Matthew, I told her she was ridiculous, but a part of me w
I didn’t find anything on this Claudette Reed person when I looked her up on my laptop, I began to wonder if she was another upcoming designer, or maybe a friend of hers? I even looked internationally, but found no results for Claudette Reed, she was a mystery to me.Yesterday, I sent the intern to give Emma her dress as it had been completed days prior. The gown had been hanging up in my penthouse for me to admire as I thought of ways to get it to her. As much as I wanted to give it to her myself and see the look on her face, I decided not to overwhelm her and let the intern handle it, but I gave him specific instructions.The dress was a masterpiece in my eyes, and should anything happen to it in his hands, he would pay the price for it. My instructions went something along the lines of “deliver it by hand, or else.”I packaged it myself, folding it carefully to reduce any risk of creases in the fabric, even though half of the fabric used was
The day of the fundraiser came and I was staring at the dress as it was hung up for me to admire ever since I opened the package from Matthew. I still couldn’t believe that I was his muse, that the entire time I was “modeling” for him, it was actually a fitting for me.I still had to question why, though. If this dress is what he was sketching the first day that I was there and working for him, I wondered what I did that made him come up with the design, or maybe he already had the design and just needed someone to tailor it to and I was simply fresh meat?I sighed and slumped my shoulders, I really hope I’m wrong about the whole fresh meat thing.“Hey,” I heard Kay’s concerned voice come from my doorway and looked over at her, “You look sad, stop it.”I chuckled at her, “Are you ready for tonight?”“Are you kidding me?” She came and sat down next to me on my bed an
I rolled out of bed the morning of the fundraiser with a lot on my mind. Memories of Nicole swirling my mind, memories of Emma, fantasies of Emma, but the fantasies would have to wait, I have a fundraiser tonight to prepare for. In the office, I got a call from Isabella. *Ring Ring Ring* “Hello?” “Matthew it looks so amazing here I am so excited I can’t believe we put this together so fast everything is so beautiful I can’t wait for you to see it you’re going to be so proud!” She didn’t take a single breath as she spoke because she was going too fast. I chuckled at her, “Iz, breathe, okay? I’ll be there soon, I’m just finishing up some stuff in the office and then I’ll stop by to help out.” “You know, you really don’t need to. I mean we have tons of people here setting up everything, even I’m a little bit bored, honestly, I’m just thrilled to see it all come together,” I could tell she was smiling as she spoke, “So, you should take you
Kay was helping me zip up the dress as I looked at myself in the mirror, almost not recognizing myself.My hair had been braided and twirled up into a low bun with two loose, curled strands of hair to drape on either side of my face, my lips were left alone and only a gloss was put on, Isabella had done my eye shadow for me in shimmery gold and topped with cat-eye eyeliner.My eyebrows were filled in gently, and I told Isabella to skip any blush because I was sure I would turn bright red whenever I saw Matthew or anyone from the office for that matter.Kay had put a cherry red lipstick on that brought out more of the red in her hair and kept the natural curls she had, she went with a simple eyeliner and mascara look, wanting to focus mainly on her lips. The green dress hugged her perfectly, she was definitely red carpet ready.There was a knock at the door as Kay and I were admiring ourselves in the mirror, Kay went to open it.“The car is re
It was as if she had walked straight out of my dream - her hair, the dress, her little clutch, the way the wind picked up the loose strands of hair, her eyes looked like pools of honey as the camera flashed, even her skin was shimmering like a dream. A part of me was nervous that the second she touched me she would turn into dust like in my dream, and that I would wake up alone in my bed again, but she didn’t, and her palm felt warm and real as she placed it on my arm. I knew she was beautiful, but I should have known that she had modeled in her teens, she surprised me by knowing exactly how to pose in the dress. I figured either she’s practiced in her mirror or she has more experience in the industry than she originally let on. I couldn’t stop my smile, I was smiling like a fool and I didn’t even care, I couldn’t be happier at this moment – she’s here, she’s beautiful, she’s smiling at me and we are talking like nothing ever happened. Maybe things could work
Fast forward 5 years “Matthew!” My beautiful wife called out. I followed the sound of her voice and questioned from the doorway, “Yes, dear?” Emma let out an exasperated sigh as she held her growing belly, “Where is our daughter? She disappeared on me.” She was fixing her makeup and steadying her nerves at a pop-up vanity that Isabella had brought by for her. “I think she may have run off with Isaac again, I’ll go look for her,” I turned away and began walking around the shop calling for her, “Stephanie!” Today is the grand opening for Claudette Reed, Emma’s own store. Being the wife of a successful fashion CEO has some perks, and one of them is getting your name out there and having a lot of people to support you. Our daughter, Stephanie, was now four years old and the most mischievous little thing – she definitely takes after me, she even has my bright green eyes. Steph and Isaac were the best of friends, and she called Isabe
After the attempted scandal by NYFJ was taken down by Matthew’s brother, Ben, and his amazing hacking skills, life went back to normal for us. Matthew and I were dating, we were happy, Trish was his full-time assistant, and he even comes by to help me with Emile sometimes on his lunch break when I’m babysitting.Months passed, and one night, while Matthew and I were in a cab heading to a date he had planned, Matthew got a call from Isabella, telling him that she had had her baby. Being the baby's godparents, we hurried to the hospital as soon as possible and found her in a hospital bed with a small bundle swaddled in blankets in her arms, along with her parents on either side of her.Isabella smiled as she saw us enter the room and motioned for us to join her. Her parents made room, and Matthew went to one side of the bed and I went to the other, both of us looking down at the swaddled baby she held.“This is Isaac,” she introduced her ba
I woke up saddened that Emma didn’t stay over but feeling better after all that went down yesterday with Eli. I still didn’t know how I was going to get rid of these rumors about me cheating. Even if Emma believed me that it wasn’t true, that didn’t mean she was going to like seeing it on the front page of every magazine. I groaned as I rolled out of bed, hissing in pain as my bruises came alive. I felt my face and looked down at my naked torso, seeing a few bruises scattered, I smiled as I remembered last night when I told Emma I had “Booboo’s that needed kisses.” God, I’m pathetic, but it worked. I headed downstairs to find Ben and thank him for letting me stay over. I found him in the dining room, sipping on some coffee with the newspaper in hand, leaning back in his chair. “Morning, dad,” I mocked and he gave me a quick glare. I chuckled, “What? Isn’t this the sight kids come down to in the morning? Dad at the table with the paper and coffee?”
Matthew’s mom and I got along really well, and I look up to her now that I saw how she raised her boys when how they respected her. She mentioned Matthew getting mocked for having a busted face after a rumor spread of him cheating, so he went home with Ben and decided to hang out there for the next week or so for his bruises and cuts to heal. He had asked me to go to his apartment and get him some clothes and things he needed since he would be working from Ben’s home, he also asked me to bring Kay along with me, which I thought was odd, but I realized as soon as we got there why he asked for her to come. Ben answered the door of his house and his eyes went right to Kay, staring at her with a twinkle in his eye and a small smile forming on his lips. It was adorable, really, and looking over at Kay, I could see her blushing and smiling right back. Ben looks remarkably similar to Matthew, and I know Kay is fond of looking at Matthew, but it never dawned on me th
I had been glancing around for Emma but couldn’t find her anywhere and began to fear that she had left. My mother is my rock and the one person I truly admire and respect, other than Emma, of course, but my mother has my utmost respect and she deserved my attention at the moment. She took a step closer to me and said, “You’re the most honest person I know, Matty, and I’m proud of you for it. Now tell me, did you cheat on this mystery woman?” “No, I did not.” I noticed her slightly lift her chin before she asked, “Do you love her?” “More than anything.” She seemed pleased with my quick answers and stepped closer to cup my face, “My honest, loving boy. You need to fix this,” I nodded my head silently to her. She turned to Eli and did the same, saying, “My strong, courageous boy. You need to support your brother, not bring him down. I understand sibling rivalry, but trying to steal your brother’s girlfriend? Not okay. Do you understand?”
I gulped as I read the headline and stared at Eli’s cellphone, seeing the photographs underneath the headline. The first one was of Matthew and I on our first date walking on the sidewalk with our hands together, the one next to it was the photo of Matthew and Charlotte on the couch at the soirée – the same photo that made me throw up the first time I saw it.This time feeling no different, along with the heat from the day, I had to excuse myself from the boys and run to get some fresh air on the other side of the bleachers. I couldn’t be around anyone right now, I was feeling humiliated. Did everyone see this? Were they secretly laughing at me behind my back? My head was spinning.I pulled out my own phone and looked it up, reading the article, it said: “This reporter learns that Matthew Greene, CEO of Greene Designs paid off the photographer of the scandalous Charlotte Mercury photo by means of a sexual favor the very night it was taken
Emma stayed over and we made love all night until our bodies were exhausted. We were definitely making up for lost time and it was phenomenal finally being with her again. I was elated when she agreed to be my girlfriend again and come back to me. This time, I know we will be stronger than before because we both know how awful it was when we were apart.We were in the shower together when I told her about the plans for the day, “My brother invited me to play baseball with him. He’s practicing before the season starts and we always get together and have a little game with some friends,” the mention of my brother had Emma’s eyes widen for half a second but she hid it quickly.I knew that Emma and Eli had seen each other and danced in the club, I also know that she ran like hell when she realized who he was. The thought was both infuriating and amusing to me.If what Eli said was true, then there shouldn’t be any awkwardness between th
Matthew and I went straight to his apartment after we got back together and made out the whole ride there. We were making up for lost time together, and it was amazing - It was raw, passionate, loving, and much needed.The new stubble that he let grow out gave a new sensation when making out as it scratched against my face. It wasn’t painful, it was actually exciting having a new sensation there and brushing against my skin.Once inside, we began stripping our clothes off piece by piece. First came Matthew’s suit jacket, then I helped him with the buttons of his white shirt while he pulled up my shirt off of me, our lips only parting when necessary.We tried to make our way to the bedroom but failed and ended up on the large couch instead, Matthew hovered on top of me and let some of his body press against me, eventually grinding his hardening member on my leg, resulting in a tingling sensation in my core, begging me to give him entrance.I co
Inside a tall building in the heart of Manhattan, Natalie Freeman was hurrying to her aunt’s office to share with her the latest news that popped up on her phone. “Aunty Joyce, aunty, have you heard?” She pants as she hurries into the woman’s office. Joyce had her eyes glued to her computer as she responded to her niece, “I think everyone has heard, dear. The news is everywhere,” Joyce grabbed a remote and turned on her TV to one of the shows that talks all about celebrities and the hottest new gossip. Natalie and Joyce both looked at the TV on the wall as the reporter said, “The CEO of Greene Designs, a hot and upcoming fashion brand, who is known for his playboy lifestyle, has officially announced this morning that he is off the market and according to one anonymous source, completely in love with his new mystery woman!” The reporter continued, “The question that everyone is asking, is who is Matthew Greene’s mystery woman?” A second host wh