The Assistant (35 page)

"Now, now Shortcake. That is no way to treat your soon-to-be husband. I might 'accidentally' have a seizure in here while we're up high."

“Please don’t,” I begged desperately. The ride began to move continuously and I closed my eyes and clutched onto the cool metal bars again.

“Just open your eyes and enjoy the view, Emily,” Adrian told me gently. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’m here with you if anything happens.” I opened one eye and looked over to find him giving me a reassuring smile.

Slowly, I began opening my other eye and turned my head over to look out of the small carriage.

And I saw New York.

Every single light twinkled brightly, creating an illuminating blur and bringing the city to life. “Wow,” I breathed, pressing my face up against the cool bars.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? Just like someone on this carriage,” Adrian murmured. I looked away from the view and turned to him with a smile on my face. “I was talking about myself Shortcake, not you. Don’t get too excited there,” he pointed out with a smirk once he saw my expression.

My smile instantly dropped as I glared at him. “Asshole,” I grumbled under my breath.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Adrian asked with a raised eyebrow, smirking.

“I said
asshole,
” I responded boldly, smirking back.

“Oh really?” He began, before he began to shake the carriage again. I squealed in fright and instantly began gripping onto the white bars like my life depended on it before he spoke again. “What were you saying again?” he asked, shaking the carriage even more.

“I’m sorry!” I shrieked, giving him a desperate look.

“Hmm. I don’t think sorry is going to cut it this time, Shortcake. Express your feelings to me.” He winked.

“What? No way!” I exclaimed, my eyes widening at his suggestion.

“I didn’t mean
sex
! But if that’s what you want-”

“No!”

Adrian’s hands shot up in defense. “Okay, Shortcake. No need to get aggressive. But tell me you love me.”

“You already know I do.” I scowled, glaring at him.

His eyebrows shot up at my response before a smug smile made its way to his lips, and he began to shake the carriage again.

“Okay, okay Fine!” I exclaimed, shutting my eyes tightly. “I love you!”

“You didn’t say it loud enough. Scream it out for the world to hear,” Adrian ordered cheerfully.

“Why are you being even more annoying than usual right now?” I snapped.

The carriage began to shake again and I squealed in fright. “OKAY! I LOVE YOU!” I shouted in panic. The carriage stopped shaking then, and my eyes snapped open to find that the entire ride had stopped moving.

Adrian was grinning from ear to ear as I realised that the entire population of the waiting line, along with the operating crew of the ride, had heard me scream out my love for him.

“Aw Shortcake. You’re too nice,” Adrian replied once he noticed my face begin to resemble the colour of a tomato.

“I hate you so much,” I grumbled in mortification once we got off the small carriage. Couples of all ages were staring at us both with small smiles on their faces, making my face go even redder than it was.

“I’ve got witnesses that can state otherwise.” Adrian smirked.

“Go away.” I scowled, trying to walk away from him as fast as I could manage in heels.

Adrian chuckled before I heard his footsteps catch up to mine quickly. “If it makes you feel any better, I love you as well?”

“I want food,” I grumbled, ignoring his statement.

Adrian chuckled in response before wrapping an arm around my waist and placing a kiss on my lips. “Okay, we’ll have dinner. Go home. Have sex. Sound good?” He grinned.

“You’re not getting any tonight,” I growled, glaring up at him.

“Oh, come on! I was just joking!”

I smiled. “Too bad.”

He began grumbling under his breath as we made our way back to the car park and I smiled smugly in response.

***

“Excuse me, Sir, I think you’ve missed the restaurant we were supposed to go to,” I told the driver with a frown.

“No Miss, Mr. Walter said there has been a change of location. I am taking you to that location.” The driver fell silent after that, and I looked down at my lap in panic.

I grabbed my phone in a rush and quickly found Adrian’s contact name.
There has been a change of plans. He’s taking me to a different restaurant! I’ll let you know which one it is as soon as I can.

I hit the send button almost instantly and looked out the window in an attempt to familiarize myself with my surroundings. The street was foreign to my eyes; I had never been in an area that looked like this before. The car stopped shortly after that, and I looked out to see a small Italian restaurant.

David Walter was already seated on one of the window seats when I walked in, and the same sickening smile crawled its way onto his face once I arrived at the table.

“Emily Johnson. So lovely to see you again.”

“I don’t eat Italian,” I replied bluntly, keeping my face blank.

“Yes well, under the circumstances you’re going to have to eat Italian.” His face hardened momentarily before he gestured to the chair across from him. “Have a seat, Emily.” He smiled, before waving a waiter to come over with the menus.

“Circumstances?” I asked, frowning slightly in curiosity.

His face hardened again. “Yes. A little birdy told me you told Adrian about our little date tonight. Bad move. I had to make do with what I knew would be an isolated location.”

“Your ‘little birdy’ is wrong. I haven’t told him about any of these
dinners
,” I emphasized, not liking the fact that he referred to tonight as a date.

David smiled coldly just as the waiter reached our table and placed the menus in front of us. “What can I get you two to start off with?”

“I’ll have a scotch on the rocks,” David replied while he scanned the menu.

“Water please.” I smiled, before picking up my own menu

“You’re really beautiful,” the waiter spoke up. I cringed at the thought of the waiter complimenting David Walter’s appearance before looking up and realising that he was speaking to me.

“Oh, thank you,” I replied, giving him another tight smile.

“So who is he? Your brother? You guys don’t look the same,” The waiter responded.

I looked over to David Walter blankly. “No, thank God. He is just a pestering man I have to deal with until he grows up and stops taking a woman who is already spoken for out to dinners.” I looked at David as I said the words, hoping he’d take the hint.

A whistle sounded from the waiter, breaking our eye contact. “You don’t sound very happy about being with him. Would you like to come home with me?” he suggested. “I get off in 5 minutes.”

“Yes, I’m sure you can’t last any longer. I want a new waiter,” David stated, giving the man a look.

“Since we’re all putting what we want out there,” I said, “I want to go home. Oh! And I want these stupid, boring dinners to stop and I want you to stop blackmailing me.”

David laughed and turned to me again. “That’s not going to happen any time soon, sweet cheeks.”

I opened my mouth to respond before my phone began to buzz on the table. Adrian’s pouting face appeared on the screen and I answered it immediately. “Hello?”

“Play along, Shortcake,” he said a breath before he roared, “WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” My eyes briefly flickered over to David, whose eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“I- I’m at Amy’s hous-”

“NO YOU’RE NOT. I’M WITH AMY RIGHT NOW. WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?” he asked again. His voice became louder with every word, and I looked over to David Walter as a thought came to mind.

What do I say?
I mouthed to him, trying to look panicked.

Tell him you’re on your way home,
he responded, before making a ‘cancel’ gesture to the waiter.

“I’m on my way home,” I responded, trying to sound nervous.

“OH YEAH? OKAY, I’M COMING HOME NOW THEN. WE’LL SEE IF YOU’RE LYING OR NOT,” he barked through the phone, before the line went dead.

“Hmm. Maybe my little birdy was in fact wrong after all. We’ll have to do this another time, then. We wouldn’t want the big bad wolf catching us on our little dates now, would we?” David Walter spoke up, getting out of his chair.

I didn’t respond, and just walked out of the restaurant and got back into the same car that brought me here.

“Take me back home,” I mumbled, before sending a quick text to Adrian:

Thank you for that. On my way home now.

***

“Who else did you tell other than me?” Adrian asked angrily, pacing around our bedroom.

“No one! Just Amy and Rita! But they wouldn’t tell him!” I exclaimed in their defense. It was true; once Amy and Rita found out about the fact that Adrian had a plan against David, they jumped at the chance of being a part of it to take him down.

“The only people that I told were my security and Allen, and none of them would have told either,” he growled in response.

I thought back to earlier today during the meeting, and gasped after a few moments of putting things together in my mind. “I think it was Anna,” I mumbled softly, looking down at my bare thighs sadly.

“Who the fuck is Anna? Did you tell her as well?!” Adrian snapped, glaring at me.

I got out of my seated position on the bed and walked over to him to stop him from pacing. “Get in bed, and then I’ll tell you my theory.”

With a frustrated sigh, Adrian climbed into bed, before pulling me in so that I landed on top of him with a squeak. “Speak,” he snapped, before placing a kiss on my lips.

“In this position?” I asked, blushing slightly at the fact that I was on top of him with no pants on.

“Yes.” He smirked.

I glared at his lips for a few moments before sighing in defeat. “Okay, remember Anna? The girl from marketing that I told you about. She apologised to me for being a bitch? Well, she apologised around the same time David Walter began blackmailing me, and tonight, he kept using ‘little bird’ like he had a spy of some sort.”

“And you think its Anna,” Adrian finished as his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Yes. Don’t you remember today during the big meeting, how we were speaking about the restaurant? Anna walked in to tell us something at that moment! I remember the door wasn’t completely closed, so what if she was eavesdropping on our conversation and then went and told David about you knowing about the dinner?” I asked, biting my lip in thought.

“Fuck.” Adrian groaned. “She better pray to whatever she believes in that I show her some sympathy on Monday when I fire her sorry ass,” he growled.

“No, you can’t!” I exclaimed while accidentally elbowing his chest. “Sorry.” I smiled sheepishly, before kissing the place I elbowed him.

Adrian smirked before pecking my nose. “I am actually so whipped over you, it’s indescribable. Why can’t I fire her?”