Forgetting Him (9 page)
Authors: Anna Belle
Nathan didn't show up at the farm, but Bruce did. She walked up to him when she recognized his car.
"How's everything?" He asked her.
"Good." She stood next to him. She didn't have the strength to look him in the eyes.
"What's wrong with you?" He grabbed her chin softly and moved her face up to look at him. "You were crying. What happened?"
"I'll be fine." She moved her fingers through her hair annoyingly. She felt awkward about the whole situation.
"You didn't get back to me after some time so I had a feeling I'd find you here."
"I had a lot of work to do." Both of them knew that it was just an excuse for what she was really doing.
"Yea I can see that. You were working with him." He grabbed her arm and walked with her along a path covered in roses.
"You were never as happy with me than you were with him." He said suddenly.
"No, not ..." She started to defend herself but her cheeks turned rosy.
"I'm not stupid, Marie!" He cut her off. "I'm not just talking randomly here. I saw the two of you, him and you happy to be with him." He said, trying hard to understand what was going on.
"I just realized that today."
"That you never forgot him? That you never stopped loving him?"
"Yea. Sorry ..." She started to say with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry about all of this."
"I thought about you for a long time." He said with a smile. "These past few days, after our little talk, you're all I could think about." He straightened out. "I really tried to understand why you were doing what you were doing and I finally think I found the reason."
She looked up at him.
"I think that you have a lot of pride and I think that pride is the main reason behind all of your problems."
"When he came here and I saw him again, I started to get the same feelings I've had before. Finding that out has been weird for me, and uncomfortable to say the least. To be honest, I couldn't believe that after all the years that passed, I still couldn't forget about him." She opened up to him, realizing that he was her friend and that he always will be. "Everything is just so confusing. My whole world turned upside down and I didn't know who I was nor what I want."
"But now you know." He wanted to hear it from her.
"Yea, now I know." She answered.
For some time they continued to walk in total silence. Him with his own thoughts and her with her own. Bruce needed that time to think about all that was said. He heard from her own mouth what he already knew but was afraid of and now he needed some time to get over it.
"Today your father came into my office to check up on the new shipments. He was ecstatic when I showed him all the new customers we got." He said proudly. "I might ask him for a promotion." He said with a smile.
"A promotion?" She said with a laugh.
"Yea! What? You think he wouldn't give me one?"
"I don't know Bruce, you're kind of lazy." She said jokingly.
Both of them smiled and laughed, truly enjoying ones company.
Marie felt a lot better after her talk with Bruce. She felt her strength and will come back, just like her courage to tell Nathan what she needs to tell him before he leaves.
When she came back home, she spent a long time talking things over with Lola. Both of them laughed at the events that have happened.
"When did you plan to talk with Nathan?" Lola asked her.
"Tomorrow."
"I wish you the best of luck with that." She said as she yawned. She got up from the sofa and went to her room. "Sleep well." She added before she walked down the long hallway.
Marie couldn't sleep that night. All she could think about was Nathan and what she needed to tell him.
She woke up early, showered, got dressed and put on her makeup.
When she arrived to work, she skipped greeting everyone and went straight to her father's office, hoping to find Nathan there.
"You're here." He said surprised as she walked in without knocking. "Come, look at this." He showed her a file with his hand. A small smile appeared on his face.
"What's that?" She grabbed the file and sat on the couch.
"That's Nathan's findings, the ones he sent to New York. I just heard from William. He's very happy to be doing business with us." He said proudly. "Nathan can leave soon."
"Excuse me?"
"He's an ambition man honey, I'm sure he has business elsewhere."
"Too bad he didn't stay with us." He added.
"Where is he now?"
"Downtown, I think."
"When is he coming back?" She asked with a shaky voice.
"Tonight, I'm not sure. What's with all the question?" He got up and came closer to her.
She covered her shaky lips with one hand as her heart beat loudly in her chest. She was afraid that he would leave without her having the chance to tell him everything, what she feels for him and how much she loves him.
"You're in love with him again." Her father stated bluntly. "And, just like before, me being concentrated on my work, I didn't even notice it. I had my feelings about it, sure, but I didn't know it was back like this." O'Conner looked at her.
He sat at the edge of the couch. She leaned her head on his chest and stared quietly out of the window behind his desk.
"Is he going to come back?" She asked him suddenly.
"I think he will."
"You think, but you're not sure."
"Ok honey, I'm sure." He added quickly.
"If he's going to come back then why did he give you the files already?" Panic suddenly set in. "No, he's not coming back." She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Marie, he'll come back, we have to see each other at least one more time." Her father knew what his daughter was feeling and he tried his best to calm her down. He knew that her fear of never seeing him again made her act irrational.
"I have to see him." She got up.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. I just know that I can't stay here." She left his office not even knowing where she was going next.
She sat in her car and drove around the city for a long time. She didn't really think about anything, how could she, the man who she loved was leaving her. Without knowing where she was going exactly, she turned her car around and went back to the farm closest to her house. She didn't talk to anyone. She just wanted to walk along the rose covered path and keep her mind off the fact that this time, she might lose him forever.
After about four hours, Marie decided that she would try and see if Nathan is back in his penthouse. When she arrived there, the security let her in, recognizing her from before. She went inside the elevator, clicked the button for the top and went up.
The elevator beeped open and the large wooden door was in front of her. She knocked a couple of times but none answered, which meant that his housekeeper already went home and that he still wasn't back yet. She sat on the small bench in front of the door and waited for him.
Minutes passed and she waited, growing more anxious at the fact that he might never come back.
More time passed and she lost track of how long she's been sitting and waiting there. The beep of the elevator opening woke her up from her daydreaming.
"Marie? What're you doing here?" He jumped in surprise.
She hugged him without saying a word. She was so happy that he finally came that tears ran down her face. She knew that if she said anything, she would start crying, so she simply hugged him tightly, closing her arms around him.
"What's going on?" He asked while he ran his fingers through her hair. He wanted to see her face but she just pushed it into his chest. "Seems like I missed something here." He continued talking, completely at a loss for what was going on.
"This was the longest day in my life." She finally managed to get some words out. One tear streamed down her face.
"Marie, what're you talking about?" He looked her in the eyes.
"I thought that I would never see you again,"
"What do you mean?"
"I was afraid that you left."
"Where would I go without you?" He said with a smile.
Warm feelings rushed through his body. He couldn't say anything else but he didn't even know what else to tell her. He lowered his head and looked for her lips. Without stopping, he kissed her and lifted her up in his arms, carrying her through the large doors of his penthouse.
In one moment, he lost his footing and they almost fell. They both laughed at the absurdity of it all.
"We almost fell." He whispered in her ear with a giggle.
"So what?" She said as she kissed him again. "We'd fall together."
He looked at her in surprise. He wasn't sure if he heard her right. She ran ahead of him in the living room but he caught up, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her in, shoving his face in her long hair.
She turned around to face him. She took off her coat and threw it to the side, while she walked backwards, away from him.
He smiled playfully as he watched what she did. He took off his coat and threw it to the side next to hers.
She opened the buttons on her shirt with her soft fingers. Nathan did the same. They smiled as they threw their shirts to the side at the same time. When he saw how her full breasts moved with her, he couldn't take it anymore and reached her with two long steps.
He moved her hair with his fingers and kissed her neck, going lower and lower with every kiss. Her breath became more rapid as she felt his lips on her naked skin.
She wrapped herself around him as she ran her fingers through his hair and covered his face in kisses. Nathan lifted her up in his arms and easily carried her upstairs to his bedroom.
They took off the rest of their clothes quickly and threw themselves entirely in each other's warm touches and hot kisses.
They made love with animal like intensity, like they were doing it the first and last time. Marie finally experienced the sensation that she's been missing for years, making love with a man that she felt truly whole with.
A warm feeling moved from the bottom of her stomach and spread like a wave throughout her body. She felt like she could fly, like she could fly so high that she would reach the stars. While she was in his embrace, she thought that she could do anything, truly anything.
In his rough touches and soft kisses, Nathan realized what he's been missing for the past four years. Through all the pain, heart break, all the times he would try to forget her only to remember the times they've spent together, he finally got to feel her one more time.
There wasn't a place on her body that his lips didn't touch. He didn't let her catch her breath, or to stop begging for him, or to stop from touching him, digging her nails into him, or holding him close to her. He managed to take them away from the world that they were in, to a place where it was just the two of them, their own little oasis.
He was happier than ever before, he was happy because he was finally with a woman who he loved more than anything.
Marie, just as she got her breath back and the waves that washed her body descended, turned to her side and looked at Nathan's calm and naked body.
"I want to tell you something." She whispered, ready to tell him everything.
"Not now, please." He brought her to his chest, afraid of what she was going to say. "Give me some time to relish the moment, just give me some hope." He pleaded with her.
"This is very important and I can't wait anymore." She brought herself up and away from his arms.
Nathan brought a pillow up to his back and looked at her.
"Ok, I'm listening."
"Bruce and ..."
"Marie, please." His face clearly showed displeasure. "We just made love and now you want to talk about your new boyfriend?" He couldn't believe it.
"Listen to me, please." She straightened out and tried again. "I talked to him today and he understood where I was coming from."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I can't deal with you leaving again." She said in a soft voice.
"Excuse me?" He moved a bit.
"I know now how much I love you and that I always loved you, just ..." She hid her face with her hands. "I didn't want to admit it to myself, or to you."
"Marie." He took her hands away from her face. His heart was beating wildly. "Do you know what you just told me?" He still couldn't believe what he heard.
"I said that I love you."
"Me? The man that you pushed away to New York!"
"You just didn't understand." She smiled and laid down next to him. "I just wanted to be with you but I had to make sure that what I felt for you was real. When I knew it was, well, then I had to make sure that you felt the same way about me."
"That's complicated."
"I guess, maybe it wasn't the best plan." She laughed lightly.
"Hey, I guess the wine at the restaurant wasn't my best idea either. I just wanted you to enjoy it and think about the times we shared it together."
"Seems like we did everything the opposite of how we wanted. I just wanted to be with you." She admitted.
"Why did you do all of the things you did then?"
"Is that really important right now?" She kissed him.
"I still can't believe that this is happening." He said as he kept smiling.
"Why don't you just tell me that you love me too?" She asked him with a soft, whisper like, voice.
"What if I say it and wake up?" He caressed her soft cheeks as he stared into her eyes.
"Try and let's see what happens." She beckoned him.
"I love you." He whispered in a voice full of love and passion.
"I love you too." She said as she smiled and kissed him again. After which she began tickling him. "This is a dream I don't want to wake up from."
"Forever and ever." He truly believed it.
"I love you." He said again smiling, happier than he'd ever been before.
"I want you to know something else." She suddenly said seriously as she moved away from his hug.
"Not now." He said quickly, afraid that she would ruin the perfect moment.
"I want you to know why I didn't get married." She pressed her fingers against his lips. "I told him about you. That same moment, he grabbed his things and left for Miami. I went to find you and tell you what happened, but you already left by then. That's why I waited for you in front of your door, I was afraid that you would leave me again."
"I didn't know." He turned pale, understanding how many opportunities they missed. "I didn't want to stay any more than I had to because I didn't want to see you get married to another man." He caressed her cheek as he gazed into her eyes.
"My little Marie." He whispered while his thoughts ran. "Instead of getting married, you were left alone and in love with a man who was no longer there."
"And when you finally came back into my life again, I didn't have the strength to admit to myself that I still loved you. That's why I did the things that I did, in the hope that I would run away from it all. I wanted to run away from the intense feelings I had when I saw you again."
"To run away? Where would you run without me?" He smiled, hugged her and brought her closer to his chest. "The things we went through." He moved his hands slowly through her hair.
He still couldn't believe that all those years passed and yet they needed so little to be happy. Maybe if he waited a bit more, if he turned around, maybe everything would be different.
"That's all in the past now, I love you and you know that now." She smiled and kissed him again.
"Do you know how much I love you?" The kiss he gave her spoke volumes more than the words that came before it.
