The One Left Behind (The One Series) (37 page)

I ALWAYS LIKE to look my best when I meet Pierce out in places. I know he is a respectable businessman and you never know who he might run into. He always tells me it isn’t necessary, but I can’t help it. I’m proud of the work he’s done with his company, and if I’m on his arm I like to look put together not like I just rolled out of bed. Looking though my closet, I hear my phone chime.

Charming: Hello my love. Are we still on for lunch today?

Me: Yup just getting dressed now and then I’m headed your way.

Charming: Getting dressed huh? You know I can always come home for lunch.

Me: You’re seriously not tired from this morning?

Charming: I will never get tired of you.

Me: You’re insatiable. But no I want my hibachi!

Charming. LOL. Okay, sushi and hibachi it is. Love you.

Me: Love you more!

This morning I woke up to him nuzzling my neck, and as I pressed my back against his chest I could feel his hard on. I don’t know how I keep up sometimes. He is always ready for me and trust me, I’m not complaining. Needless to say it was a great start to my day.

I pick out a peach colored dress and nude high heels. I always love how nude heels make my legs look longer. I put some curls into my hair and leave it down. I have my gold bangles on and the butterfly ring Pierce gave me. I apply my makeup and am ready to go.

Arriving at Pierce’s building, I park my car in the garage and make my way up the elevator. As I get off the cart, I walk over to the reception desk and say hello to Vanessa. I have gotten to know her a little better since dating Pierce and she is a sweet girl. At first I had my insecurities about her because she’s so gorgeous, but once she invited me and Pierce to join her and her girlfriend, Jessica, for lunch, those insecurities went out the window.

“Hey, Vanessa. Got any big plans this weekend?”

“Oh, you know me. I just do whatever Jess has planned. It’s much easier that way.” I smile as she rolls her eyes. “You can go on in, he’s been waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Vanessa.”

She goes back to work and I let myself into Pierce’s office. He is on the phone with his back faced toward me when I walk in. I go over to the couch and sit down to check my emails while I wait.

“Well, make it happen. I don’t care how you do it, just get it done.” I jerk my head up at Pierce’s stern tone. I have never heard him talk that way to his employees before. He must be having a rough day. He ends his call and turns to see me sitting on the couch.

I put my phone down and get up to greet him. He reaches out his arms, grabbing a hold of me, and pulls me in for a kiss.

“Rough day babe?” I ask looking up into his face.

“You have no idea,” he says on a long sigh as he sinks down into his chair.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“It will be. So I have to go back to New York next month and I want you to come with me. Do you think you can get time off work?”

“I thought you had everything wrapped up with the New York expansion?” I say in confusion.

“For the most part it is, I just have some loose ends I need to tie up. I won’t be as busy as I was the last time, so I figured we could make a mini vacation out of it.” His tone has perked up some since he ended his call.

“I can ask Ariana to cover for me. She has been looking to pick up more shifts so I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

“Perfect. What do you say we go eat? My morning activities built up my appetite.” He raises his eyebrows up and down quickly in a suggestive manner.

Pierce loops his arm through mine and we walk a couple blocks down to his favorite sushi spot. Luckily for me, they also serve hibachi because I’m not big on sushi. The woman who owns the restaurant greets us and sits us at our table. Pierce pulls out my chair for me before taking his seat across from me. We both order and start talking about stuff from work and about our friends. Pierce is holding my hand on top of the table as I tell him about Colby and Damon’s skydiving adventure. I feel his grip on my hand tighten and his face suddenly transforms into a scowl. I turn to see what he is looking at and can’t figure out what is shifting his mood abruptly. A second later, I see Max walk in. I want to glare at him for what he did to Pierce while they were in college. Before I can ask Pierce if he’s okay, this woman walks up to him.

“Pierce, darling! How nice it is to see you.” She places her hand on his arm and leans in and kisses his cheek. I see him flinch slightly at the contact and his back becomes rigid. There is clearly a familiarity on her end with him. When she pulls back, her hand is still on his arm. I take a minute to get a good look at this woman who has her hands all over my man. She looks on the taller side and has long, dark red hair with bangs. She has green eyes and pale porcelain skin. I have to admit that she is very pretty, but she looks like an uptight bitch that has a major stick up her ass. I raise my eyebrow at Pierce and mouth, “Darling?”

He shakes his head and lets go of my hand to remove this woman’s hand from his arm. Suddenly, I hear Max’s voice, “Hey, Pierce. It’s good to see you out of the office.”

“If you say so,” Pierce responds in a clipped tone.

Max turns to me and says, “It’s nice to see you again. I remember the beautiful face, but I never did catch the name.” It’s clear that he’s dismissing Pierce’s tone and rudeness that is directed at him, almost like it doesn’t affect him.

Before I can answer, Pierce grabs my hand again and says, “This is my girlfriend, Addison. Addison you remember Max, and this is his girlfriend Samantha.”

Samantha gets a disgusted look on her face. “You two have met before?”

It then dawns on me as I put the pieces together who this woman is. This is Pierce’s ex.

“Yes, of course, Max. It’s nice to see you again.” I say with a smile as I hold out my hand to Samantha, “It’s nice to meet you, Samantha.”

Samantha looks dismissively at me and says, “It’s nice to meet you too, Madison.” She looks me up and down like I’m trash before snickering. This instantly pisses me off.

Okay, so she is going to be a total bitch, huh? Well I can work with that. “Actually it’s Addison, but don’t worry about it. This is the first time I’m hearing about you so I highly doubt we’ll be seeing each other again. So no need to remember it.” I look away from her refusing to further acknowledge her existence.

Pierce tries to stifle his laughter unsuccessfully and has a huge smile on his face. I seem to fuel Sam’s fire. I guess she’s not used to people biting back. The look in her eyes shows she is out for blood.

“Pierce,” she says as she wraps her arms around his neck for a hug. “I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned me before. After all, we did spend four very
satisfying,
long years together.” She cuts her eyes to the corner to look at me as she slides her hands down his chest.

I look at Max and am shocked to see an impassive look on his face. His phone goes off and he ignores Samantha's behavior and is texting someone back. How can he be okay with his girlfriend's hands all over another man? My man. It makes me question how serious they really are.

Pierce, clearly having enough of her crap, grabs her arms and moves her around to the side of the table.

“Oh, I remember all right. I remember busting my ass at work and you complaining that I’m never around. But the best part I remember was when I came home that night from work, and well, why don’t I let you tell the story. I’m sure you can tell it so much better since you seem to be so good at remembering ‘satisfying’ details,” he says with a cold look on his face and a tight jaw.

Samantha’s face turns red. If she was a cartoon character, steam would be blowing out of her ears at this point. She grabs Max’s arm saying, “Let’s go, we’re leaving,” and storms out of the restaurant.

“I have never seen anyone get so mad like that before. I swear I was waiting for smoke to come out of her ears,” I say as we both start laughing.

We finish up lunch and walk back to Pierce’s office.

“Have I told you how much I love you today?” he says with admiration on his face.

“Yes, but it never gets old, so go ahead and tell me again,” I joke.

“Seriously, you were amazing back there. I’m sorry if me being rude made you uncomfortable, but I can’t stand those two. Then she started being a bitch and had her hands all over me to upset you, and as I was about to put a stop to it, you took it into your own hands. I have to say, I got a sense of pride that you can stand up for yourself and don’t let spoiled bitches walk all over you.”

“So I know she cheated on you with Max and all, but what actually happened?” I’m a little hesitant to ask him for fear of upsetting him by bringing up old memories, but I’m curious to know what happened.

“Sam and I were together for four years through college. I had a huge work load my senior year. I was barely home and always studying. I wanted to finish so I could start helping my father out at the company so that he could travel less and stay home with Mom. Samantha was constantly bitching that I was never around and I never made enough time for her. One day my class got canceled and I decided to surprise her and head home and take her out for the day. I walked into my apartment and heard music coming from the bedroom. Sam usually had music playing when she would sit around the house, so I thought nothing of it. I made my way to the bedroom and was in total shock at what I saw. There, in my bed, was my naked girlfriend riding some guy. I was so stunned I just stood there for a minute in silence. That’s when the man under my girlfriend rolled her under him and I saw it was my best friend since the age of nine, Max. Max was in my bed fucking my girlfriend. They were so wrapped up in having sex that they didn’t even notice me there.”

I squeeze Pierce’s hand. “So what did you do?” My heart breaks a little for him in this moment thinking about the pain he must have gone through during this time.

“I cleared my throat to get their attention. Once I had it, I walked over and turned her music off. I looked at both of them and said, ‘If you’re done fucking my ex-girlfriend would you mind leaving and taking her with you while you’re at it.’ Samantha immediately jumped up and actually used the ‘it’s not what it looks like’ line. I said, ‘It looks a lot like your fucking someone who used to be my best friend. But friends don’t fuck your girlfriends. So again if you two are finished you can leave now.’ Samantha and Max got dressed and left.”

I stop walking in the middle of the sidewalk in total disbelief. “Wow, I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“Believe me, it was fucked up. And it only got worse. Max and Sam wouldn’t leave it alone. They didn’t understand that there was no friendship or relationship after that. It took a good year of ignoring them for them to finally get the hint.”

“Still, I’m sorry. No one should have to go through that.”

“I said it once before and I’ll say it again. I’m not sorry. If that never happened I would have never met you. And you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I intend to hold onto you forever.”

“You have my heart for as long as you want it.”

I give Pierce a kiss once we reach his building. I tell him I will see him at home and we part ways.

I’M OUT FOR my morning run trying to clear my head. It’s a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. There’s a light breeze coming off of the ocean and I can smell the salt in the air. I’ve got my iPod going as I attempt to keep my mind from thinking, but it’s not working.

I start thinking about the day Pierce called me. I didn’t recognize the number that flashed on my cell phone and thought maybe it was a paralegal calling from her personal phone about a case or something, so I answered it. I kind of wish I hadn’t. Pierce said he wanted to meet up because he needed to go over something with me. He wouldn’t say what, but I really had no desire to meet up with him alone. He’s a nice enough guy and all, but it’s not like I want to be his best friend all of a sudden. Plus, there was only one thing we truly had in common.