Forgetting Him (4 page)
Authors: Anna Belle
Marie tried to keep busy with her work and keep her mind away from Nathan, but it wasn't working. The fact that he was back struck a chord deep within her, and seeing him in her father's office sent a wave of emotions rushing through her. Not being able to take it anymore, she sat in her car and went home.
She sat at her kitchen table and watched as Lola went on with her housework. Lola knew something was wrong as soon as she'd seen her.
"Problem at work?" Lola asked while she continued working around the kitchen.
"The auditor that we were expecting from New York finally came in." She said, "Nathan Greco." She added as she looked up at Lola, her eyes full of regret.
"Him!" Lola couldn't believe it.
"Yes, him!" She nodded.
"Now, of all times!" She added furiously, "Now, when I finally see myself with Bruce." Each word came louder and louder. "Now, when I finally found someone that I like being with. Really!? Now!?"
"Please Marie, calm down." Lola tried to comfort her, knowing how Marie loses control when Nathan is concerned.
"I can't calm down." She raised her arms up. "Ok! Ok, I'll calm down," she added as she saw the look in Lola's eyes which told her to stop acting like a child.
"Marie." Lola grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to her. "A man learns from his mistakes." She said softly. "You made a mistake with him once and now you have to make sure that doesn't happen again."
"I'm not planning to have anything to do with him." She said, surprised that Lola would even bring it up.
"I'm not telling you this because of him." Lola added quickly.
"I'm telling you this because of you and because of Bruce. This time, don't hide the fact that you have a beautiful relationship with a good man."
"I won't."
"A few years ago, just because you didn't want to admit it to yourself that you fell in love with Nathan, you ended up hurting the two men that were closest to you. Not only that, but you ended up hurting yourself as well."
"I told them the truth." She tried to explain herself while her eyes began to tear up.
"You did, but it was too late. Your fiancé couldn't forgive you and Nathan already left."
"Lola, I really don't want to talk about the past anymore." She said in a faint whisper, fighting back her tears.
"What about your heart?"
"It'll learn to love Bruce."
"You can't make your heart do anything. It does what it wants to do."
"Oh Lola, why did he have to come back into my life?"
"Because the story between you two still didn't finish. It's up to you now to figure out what you want to do and if you want to end it," she said as she got up from her chair and tried to find some house work to do.
She knew that Marie had to be alone so she could really think about what she will do next.
Marie was still angry at Nathan because he left without saying a word and because he didn't wait for her after she admitted everything to her fiancé. Today, when she saw him, she still felt the wound that his absence left in her heart. But, she really wanted to get over him already. She had to close the book with Nathan and begin a new one with Bruce.
She made up her mind that she would only act professionally around him, business as usual. If he tried to advance towards her, she would stop him, not matter how much she wanted him.
Nathan agreed to meet O'Conner for lunch on Sunday. Marie, when she heard that he was coming to their house for dinner, figured that she would just leave the house for the weekend but then she realized that running away wouldn't help solve any of her problems.
During the entire time at dinner, only O'Conner and Nathan spoke. She just kept quiet and ate, making sure that her eyes didn't meet his, though she felt like his were on her at all times.
After dinner, they went out on the large terrace on the second floor for some coffee.
"I'd love to see all the farms." Nathan said as he looked over the vast field in front of the house.
"I'd love to take you around all of them, but I'm not as young as I use to be." O'Conner answered with a smile.
"Marie, would you keep me company?"
"Why not?" She asked after a short pause. She thought that it would be a perfect opportunity to find out why he was really here.
"So, are we gonna go or not?" He asked as he got up from the chair.
"Well if you two are leaving, then I will go back to my office to finish up some work." O'Conner said.
Marie got up from the chair and, together with Nathan, walked out of the house and took the nearest path that crossed the first farm.
"I don't know how much this interests you." She started to talk as she felt the quiet air suffocating her.
"Everything interests me." He answered with a smile.
"This past year, we increased the size of this farm by another 2 acres." She added, turning away from him, staring at the roses that dotted the path.
"The smell of roses here makes me think of you. You always seemed to take on their smell." He went off track as he took a short whiff of her long hair.
Marie stiffened and backed away from him a bit.
"You remember all of that?" She asked trying to seem like she didn't care while her heart beat rapidly in her chest.
"I remember everything." He whispered in a soft voice.
"I thought you wanted to see the farms." She said as she noticed how his eyes locked towards hers.
"Yes, to see the farms and to find out what the most beautiful woman in Texas has been up to." He said on purpose, knowing how much it bothered her.
"Very funny, none even remembers that anymore." She said, unsure of what she could tell him so that confident smirk on his face would be wiped away.
"Yea, but I remember, just like I remember everything else."
"Then I guess you remember how jealous you got when someone would tell me that." She said as she walked in front of him, not wanting to look him in the eyes.
"I'll admit that, it hurt at times as well."
"And you still continue to make fun of me for it?"
"What can I said? It's in my blood."
"Of course. Anyway, we should turn back now." She said as she felt unsure of being around him anymore.
"I was surprised when they told me that you agreed to sell your part of the company." He brought it up all of a sudden, thinking that it would be the perfect gateway to find out what happened to her fiancé.
"I didn't agree with it for a long time, but if I knew that they would send you to examine our company, then I would never have signed those papers." She admitted in one breath.
"You were always so forward." He said with a smile. Her words didn't hurt him because he knew that her emotions were taking over. "And I was surprised that you weren't married." He added quickly after.
Marie stopped and turned to face him.
"That's my business and you're kidding yourself if you think I'll tell you anything about it!" She said in a fit of rage.
"You're all red." He touched her cheek softly as she swatted his hand away. "Now you really look like a rose."
"Next time ..." She started, unsure of what to even tell him. She was so angry that she wished that she could just run away and disappear forever.
"Yea ..." He calmly waited for her to finish her sentence. He loved these moments, where she was completely and utterly speechless. She looked so beautiful to him at that moment that if it wasn't for his pride, he would bring her close to him, hug her and cover her in soft kisses.
"From now on, me and you only talk about business." She said as she pointed her finger towards him.
Nathan barely kept his laughter hidden, knowing that it would just push her further into rage.
The walk was over, he walked with her back home, watched her as she walked confidently and thought a bit about the days that passed him and a bit about the days that were coming.
The next day, Nathan and Marie pulled up into the parking lot at the same time. With a smirk on his face, Nathan got out of the car.
"Good morning, Marie." He said as he hurried to catch up to her.
"Good morning Mr. Greco." She said with a cold tone as she hurried her steps.
"Marie, you weren't actually serious when you told me that it'll be strictly business between us? The whole "Mr. Greco" thing sounds weird."
"Everything I said I meant, Mr. Greco." She said as she stopped for a second, getting him to catch up to her before continuing towards the elevator.
"I don't understand, was that suppose to be some kind of threat or something?" He asked jokingly.
"Understand it any way you wish." She said as she waved her hand, stepped into the elevator and clicked the "door close" button.
Nathan stood there dumbfounded as the elevator doors closed in front of his face.
Up in the office, they both crossed each other's paths in the hallway. She was talking with some colleagues and pretended like she didn't see him, while he, with a very serious look on his face, pretended to understand what the IT guy was telling him.
Nathan tried his best to make sure that they would meet each other numerous times in the office. He would often try to "accidentally" grab her shoulder, or bump into her without anyone else at the office thinking that anything was happening between the two of them.
Without even noticing, he touched her hair. His dark eyes met her green eyes.
"Don't touch me." She said through gritted teeth.
"I almost forgot how nice it felt to do that." He said in a hushed tone so only the two of them could hear it.
"And you'll never know again."
Happily, with a smile on his face, he turned around and continued to listen to the IT engineer.
A few moments later, they found each other in the break room.
He saw Marie talking to a colleague while she prepared some coffee, he noticed how soft and delicate her hands looked. He heard how she complained about the fact that rarely anyone in the office makes new coffee once it runs out.
As she saw him, she put on a more serious demeanor. Once again, under her long and thick eyelashes, she watched his every move. She noticed that he watched her just as intently. At once, her cheeks became rosy again. She felt how his looks sent her body in spell of intense heat which bothered her and made her weak.
Marie felt the secrets that were hidden behind the looks that they exchanged. Every time she met his dark eyes, a small smile would part her lips against her will. Her eyes gave her away the most, in them you could see how badly she ached for him.
Knowing how crazy it use to make him, Marie would run her fingers through her hair, touch her neck and face, all while locking her deep green eyes on him. Every one of her movements seemed deliberate, seductive and erotic.
Nathan, once again, tried to go past her. He didn't say anything to her, because that wasn't even necessary, his body was telling her everything he didn't.
The third time they met in front of her office. He arrived at the same moment when one of the employees gave logistics information for the next shipment from the farms.
"Can I see them as well?" He asked as he placed his hand on Marie's at the same time as she grabbed the papers from the woman.
His warm touch sent anxious shivers through her body, making her face blush in an instant. She tried her best to look at him.
"And, what do you think?" The woman asked.
"It looks good." He said, as he moved his eyes from the papers back up to Marie.
As he handed the papers back to go Marie, her lips parted in an open smile.
He looked at her and felt his body shiver, his skin pop with goosebumps and his mind race with anticipation. In those moments he only wished to kiss her and quiet his hunger for her soft lips.
"Great work, it looks amazing." Marie said as she looked over the papers quickly, paying hardly any attention to them.
"Thank you." The woman answered as she smiled and walked away.
Marie turned to head back into her office but she felt a warm breath run through her hair.
"I need you." Nathan whispered.
Their lips were only a few centimeters apart. The air between their head was electric, the chemistry undoubted.
She felt the blood rush through her veins. She felt the warmth spread through her body and climb into her head, she quickly stiffened, scared by the rush she felt from him, she moved away. She turned around and looked at him with her glossy gaze, which wanted to confirm if what she heard was true or if it was something that she only wished she heard.
His answer was one unmistakable smile and uncountable look, from which she felt shivers run down her spine.
When Nathan left her in front of her office, Marie shook her head, almost as if she was coming back from a trance.
"Gorgeous," she heard the secretary say.
"What is?"
"Mr. Greco. He's so handsome and ambitious, definitely husband material." She said as she took a deep breath.
Marie turned around and walked into her office, closing the door behind her. At that moment, she only had one wish, to never again see Nathan again. For every moment that she spent with him, it took every ounce of her willpower to not throw herself willingly into his arms.
