The stranger, p.16
The Stranger, page 16
She reads my last text but doesn’t send a reply. I’m unintentionally digging myself deeper into this damn hole.
Me: I’m sorry for everything, Delilah. Truly I am.
Delilah: Yeah, I know. I read your stupid card!
I’ve stayed away for as long as possible. But by midday, I lose the battle and decide to head down to the floor where Delilah is now working, to see how she’s doing on her first day. I haven’t seen her since Friday, and if I’m being honest with myself, I miss her.
I miss everything about her.
I’ve always enjoyed working with Laura in the past, but when she arrived this morning with my coffee in hand, it felt wrong. I wanted my pintsize, sexy little spitfire back. She has single-handedly brought joy into my life and brightens my day just by being her sweet self. Although I’m quite partial to her sass, just quietly.
The nerves kick in as soon as I step off the elevator and onto her floor. I get several side-eyes and double-takes as I pass all my programmers who work in the partitioned office space. I rarely come down to this floor—hence why I initially thought it would be a great place for Delilah. In retrospect, it was a huge mistake on my part. I panicked. It may not undo what has been done, but I’m willing to put in the work to right those wrongs.
When I reach the end of the corridor where Marcy’s office is located, the manager on this floor—and the person Delilah now works for—my anxiety rises. At the doorway, I roll my shoulders a few times, trying to shake off the nerves. It’s crazy how tied up in knots I am over this woman.
I step through the threshold of the doorway and instantly suck in a sharp breath when Delilah comes into view. My heart is racing in my chest as I watch her. She’s sitting behind her reception desk chewing on the end of a pen as her pretty blue eyes flicker between the notepad in front of her and the computer screen.
“Miss St. James.”
Her eyes slightly widen the moment they land on me. “Spencer,” she whispers, dropping the pen in her hand onto the desk.
I step further into the room. “I came to say hi.”
“You did?”
Yes, I’ve missed your sweet face.
“I wanted to check you were settling in alright.”
“Oh, right, yes,” she says, sitting up straighter in her chair. There’s that sass I love.
“Have you had a lunch break yet?”
“No. Umm … I was getting ready to leave for one now.” She opens the drawer of her desk and retrieves her handbag.
My lips turn up at the corners. She’s trying to run from me again, but it will not work this time. “Great.” I close the distance between us and hold my hand out to her. “I’ll join you.”
Her mouth parts, forming a cute little ‘O’. I know just how pillowy those soft lips of hers feel when they’re pressed against mine. “I … umm, have plans.”
When she dips her face, I can tell she’s trying to think of an excuse. What she doesn’t realise is I’m going with her, despite what she says.
I shove my hands into the pockets of my trousers and wait. “What plans?”
Her gaze snaps back to mine. “I have to run some errands ... yes, errands.”
“That’s okay, I’ll tag along.”
“You will?”
“Uh-huh.”
Her lips thin as she slings her bag over her shoulder. “Well, I suppose I can run my errands tomorrow.”
When I attempt to reach for her hand, she snatches it back and crosses her arms over her chest.
I chuckle to myself as I shove my hand back into my pocket. I get to spend the next hour with her, so I’m good with that.
“So, how was your weekend?” I ask once we’re seated at our table.
“Fine,” she mumbles, picking up her menu and holding it up in front of her face.
“Delilah,” I say, using the tip of my finger to draw her menu down.
“What?”
“Can we have a conversation like adults?”
“Oh, so now you want to act your age?”
“You mean geriatric, ancient … prehistoric?”
I see the corners of her lips curve up into a tiny grin. “At least you are finally admitting it, old man.”
I bark out a laugh. “I’m admitting to nothing. You wait until you turn thirty-two, I’m going to buy you a mobility walking frame, denture paste, and some hearing aids.”
“Hmm,” she hums, rolling her lips to hide her smile. “Don’t waste your money, I can just borrow yours.”
I tap the tips of my fingers on the tabletop as I try to think of something to say that will not push her further away. In the end, I decided to go with the truth.
“I know I’ve already told you how sorry I am, and I’m sure you don’t want to hear it again, but I don’t like where we are heading. Can you tell me what I can do to make things right between us? I’ve missed you, Delilah.”
My admission has her eyebrows jumping. “You do?”
“I’m sure you’ve noticed I don’t have a lot of friends.” I actually have a lot. I’ve just been busy since I took over my father’s company and have had little time to maintain them.
Her eyes slightly narrow. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with your growly personality, would it?”
I find myself laughing again. This is what I’ve missed. Just being in her presence has me feeling lighter than I have in days.
“Possibly,” I say. “Are we good?”
She lifts one shoulder. “I suppose.”
Her response was a little more lacklustre than I had hoped, but at least it wasn’t a no. “So, no more hiding in your bedroom and living off sugary snacks?”
Before she answers my question, the waitress approaches our table to take our orders. I haven’t even looked at the menu yet, so I pick it up and scan over the selections. I’ve never eaten here before, it’s just some hole in the wall, and it makes me wonder if she bought me here on purpose.
I sit back and wait to see what she orders. “Can I get a Cajun chicken burger with fries and a coke, please?”
“I’ll get the same,” I add.
Delilah glances at me over the top of her menu. It’s not what I usually eat, but I’m willing to give something new a try.
For her.
Chapter 23
Delilah
“How are you finding the new position?” Spencer asks before biting into his burger. I wasn’t expecting him to order the same as me, and I’m equally shocked he didn’t decide to eat his meal with a knife and fork. It’s so far away from the fancy food he’s used to.
I watch on as he chews a few times, and then nods. That movement has me grinning.
“It’s okay,” I answer truthfully. “Marcy seems nice enough … way less growly than my last boss. She also gets her own coffee in the morning.”
“Right,” he says, chuckling.
“I was used to how things worked on your floor, but hopefully I pick up my new responsibilities quickly enough.”
He nods once as he pops a fry into his mouth. “It feels weird without you there. I know the move was short notice, but Laura’s husband recently lost his job, so she needed to come back to work early.”
“Oh,” I say, feeling guilty for acting all butt-hurt about the move. “Poor thing. It wouldn’t be easy having to leave her baby so soon.”
“I’m guessing not. She’s already burst into tears once this morning, and suffered two … umm … milk leaks.”
I burst out laughing at the awkward face he pulled with the last part of his statement.
“Aww, bless her.”
“It’s nice to hear you laughing again,” he says. “Even if it is at my expense.”
“It’s been a tough few days,” I admit, picking up the paper napkin and twisting it between my fingers. “I’ve been hiding out in my room because I thought you didn’t want me around.”
“Delilah,” he says, reaching across the table to place his hand on top of mine. “That’s ridiculous.”
I shrug. “It’s how I felt, and I can’t even afford to move out.”
“That is the last thing I want,” he admits with sincerity. “That room is yours for as long as you need it.”
“Two of the guys I work with at the restaurant offered to rent out their spare room to me. I don’t know either of them that well, but you and I were basically strangers when I moved in. If it will make things easier for you, I can take them up on their offer.”
He drops his half-eaten burger onto his plate and sits up straighter in his seat. “Please don’t do that,” he pleads.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” he replies without hesitation.
“Okay. The boys were going to charge me two hundred dollars a week for the room … I probably should start paying you if I’m going to stay.”
“I bet they were,” he mumbles under his breath. “Make me a home-cooked meal now and then and I’ll call us even.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
“It seems more than fair. I don’t want or need your money, Delilah. Your cooking though …”
“Alright. I can certainly do that,” I reply, feeling relieved. I wasn’t entirely keen on making the move.
It’s better the devil you know.
By Wednesday I’m finding my groove. I’m slowly getting used to my new position and boss, but I miss being up on Spencer’s floor. On the plus side, there is a lot more activity down here, and I’m making some friends. I’ve even been invited out for drinks with a group of people on Friday night after work. Apparently, it’s a weekly occurrence.
On the home front, I’ve finally come out of hibernation. Things are still a little strained between us, but they are better than they were. We are cohabitating, albeit at a distance.
I turn and glance over my shoulder when Marcy exits her office. “Are you almost done with the spreadsheets I got you to print out?”
“I’m just collating them now,” I tell her.
She glances down at her watch. “The meeting is about to start; I need to get going. Can you bring them down to the boardroom when they’re done?”
“Of course. I’ll only be a few more minutes.”
“Do you know what floor it’s on?”
“Yes, eleven. Mr Prescott’s assistant, Simone, gave me a tour of the entire building on my first day.”
“Great.”
Sliding the last two pieces of paper into each presentation binder, I gather them into a neat pile and clutch them to my chest as I hurry towards the elevators. My tight pencil skirt and high heels slow me down, so I’m feeling flushed when I arrive on the eleventh floor.
Scurrying down the long hallway and past the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the conference room, I see the long table in the centre has at least twenty people seated around it. When I reach the open doorway, I notice they are all in deep conversation, and now I wish I worked a little faster and had these folders ready for Marcy before she left.
I try my hardest not to focus on Spencer, who is looking every bit the CEO, positioned at the head of the table. But when he pauses mid-speech and turns his head to lock eyes with me, that little zing that only he can evoke springs to life, lighting me up from the inside out.
My cheeks heat as I tear my gaze from him and move my eyes around the table. Everybody’s attention has now shifted to me. “Excuse me,” I squeak, slinking further into the room and towards my new boss. “Here are the presentation folders you were after,” I whisper as I place them down in front of her and slowly retreat out of the room.
My eyes dart back to Spencer when I reach the doorway, but he’s no longer looking at me. He’s scowling as he stares straight ahead. Yikes, have I upset him again?
As soon as I take the last step that places me in the hallway, I turn and flee. I don’t even reach the elevator before somebody reaches out and grabs hold of my bicep.
“Not so fast, young lady.”
The deep, unfamiliar voice startles me, and as I pivot to confront the person who’s forcefully grasping my arm, I find myself paralysed. While I identify him as the older man seated across from Spencer in the meeting, he’s not someone I’ve ever encountered before.
I open my mouth to say something when someone yells, “Unhand her immediately!” My attention moves further down the corridor where I see a furious-looking Spencer storming towards us. “I said let her go!”
“Calm down, Son,” is the man’s reply. Son? Please don’t tell me this man is his father. “I was just introducing myself to our newest staff member. She’s a pretty little thing—”
Whatever else he was about to say is cut off when Spencer reaches us. “Get your filthy hands off her,” he growls. The sheer weight behind his words has him immediately releasing his hold on me. Spencer then slinks his arm around my waist and somehow manoeuvres me safely behind his brick wall of a body. “I saw the way you were looking at her in there. Once you excused yourself from the meeting, I knew what you were up to. The female staff that work here are off-limits to you. She’s a fucking twenty-two-year-old, you sick piece of shit.”
“I’ve had younger,” his father says flippantly, which has bile rising to the back of my throat. He has to be at least sixty.
“If you think that’s something to be proud of, you need help,” Spencer retorts.
“Jealous, Son?”
“Hardly, I find your actions repulsive.”
“I don’t know why you are getting so worked up. As I said, I was just introducing myself to our—”
“You may still hold a minority of shares in this company, but there is no our in this equation … this company is mine now, and Delilah is my employee, not yours!”
“I’ve never seen this side of you before, Son. It’s almost like …” A deep, robust laugh follows his unfinished sentence. “You’re fucking that young piece of arse aren’t you … well, I’ll be damned. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree hey, Spence?”
His crude assumption makes me cringe. What a pig.
“You motherfucker,” Spencer grumbles under his breath as he raises his balled fist and hits his father square in the jaw.
The sheer force behind the punch takes him by surprise and has him stumbling back a few steps. I peek around Spencer’s body in time to see his father reach up to wipe the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. When he notices that he is bleeding, the look he gives his son is brutal.
“I want you out of my building, and if you refuse to leave of your own accord, I’ll have security forcibly remove you.”
“I think you’re forgetting I’m a shareholder here.”
“For now.”
“If you think I’m going to sell you the rest of my stake in this company, you’re delusional. Why would I do that when Prescott Enterprises—a company I founded—is bringing in record profits?”
“Thanks to me, but that could all change in the blink of an eye. I’d rather run this fucking company into the ground than see you profit another cent from it.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Try me, old man.”
With that, his father straightens his spine and tugs on the lapels of his expensive suit jacket. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”
“That useless piece of shit? I look forward to it.”
His father violently stabs at the button to call the elevator, and Spencer stands his ground until the doors close and he finally disappears from sight. The anger is rolling off him in spades when he turns to face me, but his expression softens considerably as soon as our eyes connect.
His trembling hand skims softly over my hair. “Are you okay?” His movement is so tender it has tears stinging the back of my eyes. I can’t believe he punched his father because he touched me.
“More importantly, are you?”
He moves his hand to his own hair, running his fingers through the thick dark locks. His gaze flickers from my face to behind me, and his frown returns. I glance over my shoulder and see we have an audience. The other executives—who were present in the meeting—are standing further down the corridor watching on.
“I’m sorry, Spencer,” I whisper.
The tortured smile he gives me tugs at my heartstrings. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Delilah. I’m the one who needs to apologise for him placing his hands on you. I was able to put a stop to him working here, but since he’s a shareholder, he must attend all our meetings.”
“I’m okay,” I assure him. “He only grabbed my arm.”
“I’m glad I could stop it before it went any further.”
“He said he was only going to introduce himself.”
“Hah,” he scoffs. “My father was the type of boss who would take certain liberties from young, pretty, female employees. How do you think he met his current wife? I don’t want that man anywhere near you.”
“Oh.”
No wonder Spencer is having issues with our age gap. He’s probably seeing himself through his father’s eyes, which is ridiculous. I only met the man briefly and I already know they are nothing alike.
Spencer blows out an exasperated breath as his hand drops from the top of his head to slide inside his suit jacket. He pulls out his phone and swipes his forefinger over the screen.
“Shay-lee, it’s Spencer Prescott. Can you please send security up to the eleventh floor?” Once he ends the call, he focuses his attention back on me. “I’m going to have someone escort you back to your office as a precaution.”
I nod my head in response as my arms wrap around my torso to comfort myself.
Chapter 24
Spencer
The last thing I expected when I re-entered the boardroom and found everyone had retaken their seats, was a round of applause. That my top executives had witnessed that shit show with my father was mortifying.
When I became CEO, I quickly learnt that a large majority of our staff were not fans of his, for obvious reasons. I’d worked here for years before taking over, but I steered clear of him wherever possible, so I was oblivious to how deep his betrayal ran.
