As of Yet Untitled
Part Five
By: Karisma
Rated: PG-13
Parini@hotmail.com
Chapter Five
The next day was a rehearsal for the wedding that would be taking place
less than a week away. I actually remembered this date and got ready on
time, thanking my lucky stars that this wasn't a dress rehearsal for I had
forgotten to pick up my dress from the shop.
As I rushed about, wondering how on earth I had gotten so late when I
made sure I woke up on time, my mother watched me, and amused smile on her
face.
"What are you doing just sitting there?" I asked my mother who was
sitting calmly on my bed, giving me a smile that I caught from my place at
the mirror. "Don't you have to get ready too?"
"I think you're forgetting, dear. The only thing I need to do is sit in
the front row and cry because my baby is getting married." A watery smile
appeared on her face and I furrowed my brow.
"But, Mother. I'm not getting married."
She seemed to snap out of her dream like state. "Oh, I know that,
Serena!" She spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I was
talking about Andrew!"
Figures.
I rolled my eyes heavenward and quickly pulled my hair into clips,
pulled away from my face.
"Okay," I said, staring at my reflection critically before deciding I
was presentable. I jumped up and pecked my mother's cheek. "Bye, Mother."
"Bye, Serena," she followed me out of my bedroom and went off into the
den while I left the house.
I arrived at the large church with no time to spare. As I ran up the
path, I managed to gather enough time to admire the beautiful stain-glass
windows. Once again, everyone was already there, and as soon as Rita
announced my presence, everybody was quick to get in his or her places.
I barely had enough time to meet Melvin, an intelligent, handsome young
man with dark brown hair and warm eyes of the same color. I had met Chad
briefly some time ago when Andrew brought him over from college, but we
greeted each other as if we were old friends. His hair was a shade darker
than Melvin's, but his bright eyes were definitely his most captivating
feature. They literally seemed to jump out at you with their blueness.
I exited behind the double doors with Rita, Mina, Melvin, Chad, Raye,
and of course, Darien. The order was to be Mina with Melvin, and then Raye
with Chad, and after Darien and I, the blushing bride would walk down the
aisle.
I felt utterly ridiculous linking arms with Darien in my jeans and tank
top. He, as usual, looked absolutely wonderful in black slacks and a
midnight blue dress shirt. Somehow that tall body of his made outfit the
most appealing one I had ever seen.
He looked down at me, a sardonic smirk twisting his perfectly shaped
lips. "Haven't grown at all, I see."
I seemed to have forgotten to mention that among the long list of
things the Sandborn brothers made fun of me for, my height was in the top
ten.
"Cute, Darien. Real cute." I smiled sweetly up at him and then straight
ahead as Mina and Melvin began to walk. "How old are you now? Twenty-six? I
would have thought childish teasing below you."
"Anything for you, Serena. Anything." Darien flashed me a genuine smile
that struck me so hard I thought my knees would fail me.
Raye and Chad had almost reached the pastor and Darien and I began
walking, pasted smiles on our faces as we continued bantering.
"Anything?" I shot back, slowly walking in time with his long strides.
"How about a permanent vacation in say, oh, Alaska?"
"Actually, it's funny you should say that." I looked up, shocked by his
serious tone. "I'm thinking of staying down there for awhile, maybe a year
or so to really center myself and ponder over where my life is heading." His
handsome face took on a thoughtful expression and I gaped at him, forgetting
to smile.
For an instant, my old gullibility caught up to me and I believed every
word he had uttered. Then, reality sunk in and I narrowed my eyes.
"You're pulling my leg," I accused, focusing on point near the priest
where I would part company with this thorn in my side.
"No, but I'd like to," he winked at me and then went over to fill the
space between Andrew and Chad. I remained still, stunned at his innuendos
before catching a hold of myself and walked over to where Raye stood and
waited for Rita's entrance.
The organ changed tunes, signaling the arrival of the bride. The doors
parted to reveal Rita dressed in jean shorts and a tee shirt and her tulle
veil perched on her head. The white lace covered her face and from the neck
up she looked the part of a bride, from the neck down, however...
After taking in the appearance of Rita and then seeing the stunned look
on the groom's face, Raye couldn't help it. Smothered giggles came from her
and Mina quickly elbowed her, only to dissolve into quiet snickers herself.
I was the only straight-faced one, but that was soon to change as my lips
quivered, holding in the laughter that was threatening to erupt from me. It
finally burst out through my lips and I clapped a hand over my mouth at the
sound. Heads turned from all over the room to where the three of us shook
with laughter.
After catching the look of death on Rita's face, I cleared my throat
and stood still, making my face on of complete somberness. Raye and Mina did
the same, but I could feel the mirth still clinging in the air around us.
The rest of the rehearsal went without incident and we all decided we
would go to the Sandborn's house for dinner. As we left the church and
walked down the path Melvin stopped.
"Oh! Serena, can I borrow your car and meet you at Darien's house? I
need to pick up something for my parents anniversary. I came with Chad, but
apparently he and Raye seemed to have hit it off and left."
I dug into my handbag and pulled out a pink keychain. I handed him the
keys and pointed to the black BMW. "Sure, go ahead. But can I hitch a ride
with one of you?" I looked around the group that had indeed gotten smaller
now that Raye and Chad had left and Melvin was leaving the parking lot.
Mina looked at me sympathetically. "Serena, trust me. I came here with
Andrew and Rita in their Jeep. There are two reasons you do not want to get
in that car. The first being the goo-goo eyes and the constant kissing every
two seconds will be enough to make you stick your head out the window and
vomit." She wrinkled her nose and glared at the couple in question
pointedly. Andrew rolled his eyes while Rita blushed and stared down at her
brown sandals. "The second is the space in the backseat--or lack there of. I
swear," she gestured to her long jean-clad legs. "I still can't quite get
the feeling back in them."
I laughed outright, but soon stopped when I realized what that left me
with. Sure enought, my last option came through.
"Come on, Serena," Darien said expressionlessly, guiding me to his
silver Mercedes.
"Sure," I cleared my throat nervously. "I'll see you guys soon." I
laughed as I saw Mina's disgusted expression as she falled into step behind
a happy couple wrapped in each other's arms.
As soon as I sat down on the passengers side, I immediately felt the
car shrink in his presence. We started the ride in silence and I was
definitely experiencing a sense of de ja vu. Was this not the exact
situation I had found myself in when we left the airport? And how had that
ended? Darien had kissed me, which in itself wasn't that bad of a thing, but
the fact that that was that. Nothing had happened to follow up the kiss,
which I had to admit to myself, was a bad thing.
I wanted more, I realized, horrified. I wanted him to kiss me again!
Him! This was not good, not good at all. I couldn't have feelings for Darien
Sandborn. I had known him since we were in diapers and I hadn't liked him
then, so I certainly couldn't start now.
Like a magnet, my head was drawn to turn ever so slightly to look at
him while he drove. As usual, his face was hard, his strong jaw set.
Darien's dark blue eyes stared straight ahead and I resisted the urge to let
out a groan of frustration. The man acted like I wasn't even in the car with
him and I suddenly decided to go and be attracted to him. What was I
thinking?
Suddenly, the silence got to be too much. It made me feel as if this
was a dream, that I wasn't really here; I was just imagining it all.
"So I guess it's your turn next," I managed to get out with my voice
pretty casual.
"Pardon?" Darien asked, flicking his head toward me for a moment before
looking into the dark evening once again.
"Well," I explained. "Since Andrew's getting married, I suppose people
expect you're next in line."
Darien's expression turned a peculiar, dark mixture of anger and hurt.
Then, as quick as it came, his face went back to the placid mask that he
usually wore. At first, I thought I had imagined the look on his face, but
never, even with my imaginations, could I have conjured up an image of
Darien looking as if he was in any emotional pain. It just wasn't his
character.
"I assume you'll get married before me, considering the fact I don't
plan on nailing myself down to a ball-and-chain."
I did a double check and stared at him for a full minute before
realizing with a start that I was gaping.
"Excuse me?" I said. "You don't plan on getting married? As in ever?"
"No," he said simply and shrugged.
"So you plan on spending the rest of your life alone and bitter, hating
women? Wow," I said sarcastically. "don't you have the life?"
"I don't hate women, Serena." Darien looked down at me, an amused smile
tugging his mouth. "Far from it, actually."
It took me a moment to go back at the letters my mother and Mrs.
Sandborn had sent me. Sure enough, I recalled some complaining about the
"womanizing" Darien was doing, but since the women seemed only to happy to
oblige, their was apparently no harm done.
"So, what you're saying is," I narrowed my eyes and leaned my elbow
back against the window. "you just want to date around until you die."
"No, that is not what I am saying." Darien shook his dark head. "I do
want to be a father. I will eventually find a woman who has the right
qualities to be a proper mother for my children, we will live together,
nurture and care for our children, restraining from having other intimate
partners, until they grow and become adults. Then we shall go our seperate
ways, hopefully on good terms, and live the rest of our lives how we each
wish. So, you see, I'll be doing everything as if I am married, I just don't
want a legal piece of paper that will only come back to haunt both of us."
He laid out his plan for me as if it were the most common thing in the
world.
I stared up at him, probably resembling a dying fish. "You don't wish
to meet someone, fall hopelessly in love with them, then have a future
together?" When he didn't reply, I continued. "What you just described to me
was not a family and relationship based on love, it's a business. You and
the poor women who agrees to this loveless life, will be business partners,
not--" I was about to say "spouses" when I caught myself. He didn't want to
officially get married.
"Perhaps it is better that way. We won't let trivial and frivolous
emotions get in the way of our responsibilities."
For the millionth time in that car ride, I gazed at him, appalled. "Are
you a mammal?"
That threw him, he blinked and furrowed his brow. "Pardon?"
"I'm wondering that if you are, in fact, a mammal, how you can be so
cold-blooded." He was silent once again and I barreled on with my tirade.
"The obscenity of the notion you just proposed is beyond cruel. Think of
your kids, they'll be brought up in a loveless home!"
"On the contrary," he argued, his voice smooth as silk. "I'm going to
be very selective in my choice for the mother of my children, Serena. She
and I will already be very fond of each other; we'll love each other as
good, close friends. Together, we will provide a caring atmosphere for our
children."
How on earth could I be attracted to such a barbarian? He was an
arrogant, ruthless, cynical caveman whose morals and views on life and love
differed so greatly from mine, we were on different worlds!
"Friends?" I spat passionately. "You wish for you and your future
partner to be friends? That's the most ludicrous, condescending, heartless
proposal I've ever had the displeasure of hearing! While you may be
incapable of loving another human being, there is a plethora of people out
there who can, and it's incredible patronizing to all of them when you make
love sound like a nonexistent myth. My commiserations to the woman who has
the misfortune of being your "friend"!" I finished with a 'humph' of triumph
and sat back in my seat looking out my window and pointedly away from him.
"Are you quite done yet? " Darien drawled easily and I swung my head
over to see him with an amused smirk on his face. I glared daggers at him
for even suggesting that this situation and my speech were even remotely
humorous. "I never said I didn't believe in love." The smile turned into a
look of reproach.
I sputtered incoherent fragments, not one of them making any sense. Now
he was a hypocrite!
"I do believe that for some people there is love. But for most, they
just love the notion of being in love. They want the stupid smile, the
fluttering of your heart, and all the Hollywood drama that they think goes
with falling in love with someone. It's all overrated and extremely over
played. Love can be a dangerous thing, Serena." He gripped his hands
tighter on the steering wheel and I slowly let my eyes travel up to his
clenched jaw and rigid posture. He spoke softly, coolly and for some reason
I felt a chill run up my spine at he tone of his voice. "People don't often
know what they're getting themselves into."
I was silent, knowing full well that he hadn't liked the topic of our
conversation and wasn't willing to continue it. But there was something in
what he had just told me that made me believe he knew first hand exactly
what he was talking about. Had he been in love? One thing was for sure if
that was the case: it hadn't worked out. And perhaps that was why he was
against it. He had experienced it and had gotten burned.
"And in any case," his tone suddenly lightened and I looked up, curious
to hear what he had to say. "Why are you so hot and bothered? I never asked
you to be my-what did you call it? Business partner."
I smirked. "All right. A) Even if you did ask me I'd decline before you
could even finish your sentence. B) In case you have forgotten, we're
already real business partners."
"Ah, how could I forget?" Darien pulled into the driveway of his
parent's large home. We got out of the luxury car and walked out to the
front door. The evening was a warm one, with velvet skies and a light
breeze. "But, for the first week you work FS Enterprises, you're my
secretary." He grinned broadly and I narrowed my eyes in scathing contempt.
He opened the front door and stopped me by blocking the doorway with
his arm as I was about to go in. "Tell me something, Serena." He began
huskily, his face an inch away from mine. My breath caught in my throat and
I was silent, staring right back into his sapphire eyes. He pulled his head
away and said derisively, "Do you take shorthand?"
I didn't dignify that remark with a reply and pushed past him, ignoring
his light chuckles behind me.
Caveman, that was exactly what he was. A caveman.
Part Five
By: Karisma
Rated: PG-13
Parini@hotmail.com
Chapter Five
The next day was a rehearsal for the wedding that would be taking place
less than a week away. I actually remembered this date and got ready on
time, thanking my lucky stars that this wasn't a dress rehearsal for I had
forgotten to pick up my dress from the shop.
As I rushed about, wondering how on earth I had gotten so late when I
made sure I woke up on time, my mother watched me, and amused smile on her
face.
"What are you doing just sitting there?" I asked my mother who was
sitting calmly on my bed, giving me a smile that I caught from my place at
the mirror. "Don't you have to get ready too?"
"I think you're forgetting, dear. The only thing I need to do is sit in
the front row and cry because my baby is getting married." A watery smile
appeared on her face and I furrowed my brow.
"But, Mother. I'm not getting married."
She seemed to snap out of her dream like state. "Oh, I know that,
Serena!" She spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I was
talking about Andrew!"
Figures.
I rolled my eyes heavenward and quickly pulled my hair into clips,
pulled away from my face.
"Okay," I said, staring at my reflection critically before deciding I
was presentable. I jumped up and pecked my mother's cheek. "Bye, Mother."
"Bye, Serena," she followed me out of my bedroom and went off into the
den while I left the house.
I arrived at the large church with no time to spare. As I ran up the
path, I managed to gather enough time to admire the beautiful stain-glass
windows. Once again, everyone was already there, and as soon as Rita
announced my presence, everybody was quick to get in his or her places.
I barely had enough time to meet Melvin, an intelligent, handsome young
man with dark brown hair and warm eyes of the same color. I had met Chad
briefly some time ago when Andrew brought him over from college, but we
greeted each other as if we were old friends. His hair was a shade darker
than Melvin's, but his bright eyes were definitely his most captivating
feature. They literally seemed to jump out at you with their blueness.
I exited behind the double doors with Rita, Mina, Melvin, Chad, Raye,
and of course, Darien. The order was to be Mina with Melvin, and then Raye
with Chad, and after Darien and I, the blushing bride would walk down the
aisle.
I felt utterly ridiculous linking arms with Darien in my jeans and tank
top. He, as usual, looked absolutely wonderful in black slacks and a
midnight blue dress shirt. Somehow that tall body of his made outfit the
most appealing one I had ever seen.
He looked down at me, a sardonic smirk twisting his perfectly shaped
lips. "Haven't grown at all, I see."
I seemed to have forgotten to mention that among the long list of
things the Sandborn brothers made fun of me for, my height was in the top
ten.
"Cute, Darien. Real cute." I smiled sweetly up at him and then straight
ahead as Mina and Melvin began to walk. "How old are you now? Twenty-six? I
would have thought childish teasing below you."
"Anything for you, Serena. Anything." Darien flashed me a genuine smile
that struck me so hard I thought my knees would fail me.
Raye and Chad had almost reached the pastor and Darien and I began
walking, pasted smiles on our faces as we continued bantering.
"Anything?" I shot back, slowly walking in time with his long strides.
"How about a permanent vacation in say, oh, Alaska?"
"Actually, it's funny you should say that." I looked up, shocked by his
serious tone. "I'm thinking of staying down there for awhile, maybe a year
or so to really center myself and ponder over where my life is heading." His
handsome face took on a thoughtful expression and I gaped at him, forgetting
to smile.
For an instant, my old gullibility caught up to me and I believed every
word he had uttered. Then, reality sunk in and I narrowed my eyes.
"You're pulling my leg," I accused, focusing on point near the priest
where I would part company with this thorn in my side.
"No, but I'd like to," he winked at me and then went over to fill the
space between Andrew and Chad. I remained still, stunned at his innuendos
before catching a hold of myself and walked over to where Raye stood and
waited for Rita's entrance.
The organ changed tunes, signaling the arrival of the bride. The doors
parted to reveal Rita dressed in jean shorts and a tee shirt and her tulle
veil perched on her head. The white lace covered her face and from the neck
up she looked the part of a bride, from the neck down, however...
After taking in the appearance of Rita and then seeing the stunned look
on the groom's face, Raye couldn't help it. Smothered giggles came from her
and Mina quickly elbowed her, only to dissolve into quiet snickers herself.
I was the only straight-faced one, but that was soon to change as my lips
quivered, holding in the laughter that was threatening to erupt from me. It
finally burst out through my lips and I clapped a hand over my mouth at the
sound. Heads turned from all over the room to where the three of us shook
with laughter.
After catching the look of death on Rita's face, I cleared my throat
and stood still, making my face on of complete somberness. Raye and Mina did
the same, but I could feel the mirth still clinging in the air around us.
The rest of the rehearsal went without incident and we all decided we
would go to the Sandborn's house for dinner. As we left the church and
walked down the path Melvin stopped.
"Oh! Serena, can I borrow your car and meet you at Darien's house? I
need to pick up something for my parents anniversary. I came with Chad, but
apparently he and Raye seemed to have hit it off and left."
I dug into my handbag and pulled out a pink keychain. I handed him the
keys and pointed to the black BMW. "Sure, go ahead. But can I hitch a ride
with one of you?" I looked around the group that had indeed gotten smaller
now that Raye and Chad had left and Melvin was leaving the parking lot.
Mina looked at me sympathetically. "Serena, trust me. I came here with
Andrew and Rita in their Jeep. There are two reasons you do not want to get
in that car. The first being the goo-goo eyes and the constant kissing every
two seconds will be enough to make you stick your head out the window and
vomit." She wrinkled her nose and glared at the couple in question
pointedly. Andrew rolled his eyes while Rita blushed and stared down at her
brown sandals. "The second is the space in the backseat--or lack there of. I
swear," she gestured to her long jean-clad legs. "I still can't quite get
the feeling back in them."
I laughed outright, but soon stopped when I realized what that left me
with. Sure enought, my last option came through.
"Come on, Serena," Darien said expressionlessly, guiding me to his
silver Mercedes.
"Sure," I cleared my throat nervously. "I'll see you guys soon." I
laughed as I saw Mina's disgusted expression as she falled into step behind
a happy couple wrapped in each other's arms.
As soon as I sat down on the passengers side, I immediately felt the
car shrink in his presence. We started the ride in silence and I was
definitely experiencing a sense of de ja vu. Was this not the exact
situation I had found myself in when we left the airport? And how had that
ended? Darien had kissed me, which in itself wasn't that bad of a thing, but
the fact that that was that. Nothing had happened to follow up the kiss,
which I had to admit to myself, was a bad thing.
I wanted more, I realized, horrified. I wanted him to kiss me again!
Him! This was not good, not good at all. I couldn't have feelings for Darien
Sandborn. I had known him since we were in diapers and I hadn't liked him
then, so I certainly couldn't start now.
Like a magnet, my head was drawn to turn ever so slightly to look at
him while he drove. As usual, his face was hard, his strong jaw set.
Darien's dark blue eyes stared straight ahead and I resisted the urge to let
out a groan of frustration. The man acted like I wasn't even in the car with
him and I suddenly decided to go and be attracted to him. What was I
thinking?
Suddenly, the silence got to be too much. It made me feel as if this
was a dream, that I wasn't really here; I was just imagining it all.
"So I guess it's your turn next," I managed to get out with my voice
pretty casual.
"Pardon?" Darien asked, flicking his head toward me for a moment before
looking into the dark evening once again.
"Well," I explained. "Since Andrew's getting married, I suppose people
expect you're next in line."
Darien's expression turned a peculiar, dark mixture of anger and hurt.
Then, as quick as it came, his face went back to the placid mask that he
usually wore. At first, I thought I had imagined the look on his face, but
never, even with my imaginations, could I have conjured up an image of
Darien looking as if he was in any emotional pain. It just wasn't his
character.
"I assume you'll get married before me, considering the fact I don't
plan on nailing myself down to a ball-and-chain."
I did a double check and stared at him for a full minute before
realizing with a start that I was gaping.
"Excuse me?" I said. "You don't plan on getting married? As in ever?"
"No," he said simply and shrugged.
"So you plan on spending the rest of your life alone and bitter, hating
women? Wow," I said sarcastically. "don't you have the life?"
"I don't hate women, Serena." Darien looked down at me, an amused smile
tugging his mouth. "Far from it, actually."
It took me a moment to go back at the letters my mother and Mrs.
Sandborn had sent me. Sure enough, I recalled some complaining about the
"womanizing" Darien was doing, but since the women seemed only to happy to
oblige, their was apparently no harm done.
"So, what you're saying is," I narrowed my eyes and leaned my elbow
back against the window. "you just want to date around until you die."
"No, that is not what I am saying." Darien shook his dark head. "I do
want to be a father. I will eventually find a woman who has the right
qualities to be a proper mother for my children, we will live together,
nurture and care for our children, restraining from having other intimate
partners, until they grow and become adults. Then we shall go our seperate
ways, hopefully on good terms, and live the rest of our lives how we each
wish. So, you see, I'll be doing everything as if I am married, I just don't
want a legal piece of paper that will only come back to haunt both of us."
He laid out his plan for me as if it were the most common thing in the
world.
I stared up at him, probably resembling a dying fish. "You don't wish
to meet someone, fall hopelessly in love with them, then have a future
together?" When he didn't reply, I continued. "What you just described to me
was not a family and relationship based on love, it's a business. You and
the poor women who agrees to this loveless life, will be business partners,
not--" I was about to say "spouses" when I caught myself. He didn't want to
officially get married.
"Perhaps it is better that way. We won't let trivial and frivolous
emotions get in the way of our responsibilities."
For the millionth time in that car ride, I gazed at him, appalled. "Are
you a mammal?"
That threw him, he blinked and furrowed his brow. "Pardon?"
"I'm wondering that if you are, in fact, a mammal, how you can be so
cold-blooded." He was silent once again and I barreled on with my tirade.
"The obscenity of the notion you just proposed is beyond cruel. Think of
your kids, they'll be brought up in a loveless home!"
"On the contrary," he argued, his voice smooth as silk. "I'm going to
be very selective in my choice for the mother of my children, Serena. She
and I will already be very fond of each other; we'll love each other as
good, close friends. Together, we will provide a caring atmosphere for our
children."
How on earth could I be attracted to such a barbarian? He was an
arrogant, ruthless, cynical caveman whose morals and views on life and love
differed so greatly from mine, we were on different worlds!
"Friends?" I spat passionately. "You wish for you and your future
partner to be friends? That's the most ludicrous, condescending, heartless
proposal I've ever had the displeasure of hearing! While you may be
incapable of loving another human being, there is a plethora of people out
there who can, and it's incredible patronizing to all of them when you make
love sound like a nonexistent myth. My commiserations to the woman who has
the misfortune of being your "friend"!" I finished with a 'humph' of triumph
and sat back in my seat looking out my window and pointedly away from him.
"Are you quite done yet? " Darien drawled easily and I swung my head
over to see him with an amused smirk on his face. I glared daggers at him
for even suggesting that this situation and my speech were even remotely
humorous. "I never said I didn't believe in love." The smile turned into a
look of reproach.
I sputtered incoherent fragments, not one of them making any sense. Now
he was a hypocrite!
"I do believe that for some people there is love. But for most, they
just love the notion of being in love. They want the stupid smile, the
fluttering of your heart, and all the Hollywood drama that they think goes
with falling in love with someone. It's all overrated and extremely over
played. Love can be a dangerous thing, Serena." He gripped his hands
tighter on the steering wheel and I slowly let my eyes travel up to his
clenched jaw and rigid posture. He spoke softly, coolly and for some reason
I felt a chill run up my spine at he tone of his voice. "People don't often
know what they're getting themselves into."
I was silent, knowing full well that he hadn't liked the topic of our
conversation and wasn't willing to continue it. But there was something in
what he had just told me that made me believe he knew first hand exactly
what he was talking about. Had he been in love? One thing was for sure if
that was the case: it hadn't worked out. And perhaps that was why he was
against it. He had experienced it and had gotten burned.
"And in any case," his tone suddenly lightened and I looked up, curious
to hear what he had to say. "Why are you so hot and bothered? I never asked
you to be my-what did you call it? Business partner."
I smirked. "All right. A) Even if you did ask me I'd decline before you
could even finish your sentence. B) In case you have forgotten, we're
already real business partners."
"Ah, how could I forget?" Darien pulled into the driveway of his
parent's large home. We got out of the luxury car and walked out to the
front door. The evening was a warm one, with velvet skies and a light
breeze. "But, for the first week you work FS Enterprises, you're my
secretary." He grinned broadly and I narrowed my eyes in scathing contempt.
He opened the front door and stopped me by blocking the doorway with
his arm as I was about to go in. "Tell me something, Serena." He began
huskily, his face an inch away from mine. My breath caught in my throat and
I was silent, staring right back into his sapphire eyes. He pulled his head
away and said derisively, "Do you take shorthand?"
I didn't dignify that remark with a reply and pushed past him, ignoring
his light chuckles behind me.
Caveman, that was exactly what he was. A caveman.