Chapter 9: Apologies and Untold Stories
After Bloom and Sky left the kitchen, Brandon slowly walked in. I made sure not to look at him as he made his way to the counter across from me. It was silent for the next couple of minutes so I looked up to see what was taking him so long to speak. He was staring at me in a way that made me think he wants me to say something first. I stubbornly cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him.
Finally, Brandon breaks the silence. "So… how have you been?"
"Fine," I reply shortly. "How's your face?" Okay, that was a little mean but he deserved the slap I gave him Thursday.
He breathes out. "I deserve that." He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I really don't even know where to start, Stella."
"How about you tell me about your new Bimbo of an assistant," I snap. Brandon's eyes open.
"She's not my assistant and you would've known that if you would've talked to me rationally for five seconds after the interview. Not stomp off like a kid."
I sucked in a breath. "Don't you dare try turning this on me Brandon."
Brandon sighs and says, "Look, I didn't come here to fight again." He took a hesitant step towards me. "I miss you, Stells."
It takes some major willpower not to fall into his arms right then and there. I have to be strong. "It surely didn't seem that way when you were fussing me out."
"If I'm not mistaken, you were yelling just as much as I was," Brandon said, narrowing his eyes in annoyance.
"Well I didn't accuse you of being a lying cheater, now did I?" I was getting heated but now hurt tears were starting to form in my eyes. I turn my head away so he can't see the hurt that his words caused me. I heard him walk towards me until there was hardly any space left between us. My senses were assaulted by the scent that calmed me and drove me crazy at the same time.
"You know I didn't mean that, Stells." His breath is cool against my cheek. "Please look at me."
Once I've managed to get my tears under control, I slowly twist my face back to look at his. He clasps my cheek in his hand and swipes my cheek affectionately. I let him.
"I say the dumbest stuff when I'm angry. It's like my mouth is on autopilot or something. It's just… when I saw you with Baltor…wearing his coat…" Brandon looked away from me for a moment. "I didn't like it. At all."
I can't help smiling slightly at his revelation. "How do you think I felt when you wanted to hire Diaspro?"
Brandon released my cheek and used the same hand to rub the back of his neck. He tended to do that when he was uncomfortable or embarrassed. I don't know which of those he was right now.
"I get it now. I got it when Sky told me how much of an ass I was being about it, after you left the office. That's why I went outside to talk to you but you already seemed to be in a deep discussion with none other than my arch nemesis. "
I rolled my eyes. "It was hardly what I would call a 'deep conversation' Brandon. And to be fair I didn't even know who he was until, like, halfway into our conversation."
"Knew him well enough to wear his jacket," he mumbled jealously. I laughed a little and placed my hands on either side of his face.
"I'm more into the devilishly handsome type of guys," I said, grinning. "I can't believe you were jealous of him."
Brandon raised an eyebrow. "I could say the same to you about Diaspro." Ugh, just the sound of her name puts me in a bad mood, I thought as I dropped my hands from his face. He saw my sour face and chuckled. "See? Jealousy isn't either of our nice sides. But seriously," He put his hands down on both sides of the counter, caging me in with his arms, "How could you think that I would ever just dump you for Diaspro?"
"It wasn't that exactly. She's just so… beautiful and a lot of other things I'm sure men love," I grumble, studying his arm with sudden interest.
Brandon grasps my chin gently and turns my face towards his. "You're beautiful. I lo… care a lot about you, not her. Okay?" I nod but widened my eyes at his almost slipup. Was he about to say he loves me?
"Just so we're clear on everything, I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?" It was hard not to when he looked at me like that. Taking my silence for hesitation, he decided to try a different tactic. He leaned in a softly kissed my cheek. "Do," he kissed my temple, "you," he kissed my forehead, "forgive," he leaned in further to kiss the tip of her ear before whispering, "me?"
I was practically a puddle of goo at that point. It was kind of hard to concentrate as well. I really wanted to forgive him, but I had a couple of questions first.
"Okay umm… I don't… can you back up just a little bit please?" I say breathlessly. Brandon chuckles but gives me some space. Now breathe Stella.
"Who are you hiring as your assistant?"
"Another lady that we interviewed first. I forgot her real name but she says she goes by Musa." He answered smoothly leaning back towards me. I stopped him by putting my hand against his chest.
"Why did it take you so long to come here? I mean, you haven't called or anything in three days."
"A phone works both ways, Stells. You never contacted me either, remember?" Well, he had a good point there.
"Last question. What's going on with you and Mitzi?"
Brandon groaned. "Do we really have to talk about her right now?"
"I thought we weren't the secretive type of couple." I pointed out.
He was silent for a few moments. "When I was fifteen, Mitzi had just barely graduated from high school. She and my parents had this huge fight because she didn't want to go to college. She left and apparently got in some trouble with drugs and a bunch of debts she owed to drug dealers. Then these two guys came to our house one night when my parents weren't home and…" Brandon shook his head angrily. "I just prefer not to talk about her right now. I promise I'll tell you the whole gory story later. Just… not right now. Right now I want to go out and do something fun with you. Not talk about Mitzi. Alright?"
Wait, what? Mitzi was a druggie? She definitely cleans up nicely because you can't tell that by how she looks now. Still, I don't understand why she applied for that job if she never even went to college. College experience was one of the requirements. I also remember Sky saying she had an impressive résumé. How is that possible if she was on drugs?
Whatever it is, Brandon really doesn't want to discuss it now so I say, "Fine. I forgive you. And I also apologize for being a bitch about Diaspro and Baltor. You were worse, but," I smile ruefully, "I'm sorry."
Brandon grins widely and tucks some of my wayward hair behind my ear. "I forgave you a while ago. And here…" He ran over to the table and pulled out a rose from Bloom's bouquet. "It would've been more romantic if I bought a Gardenia flower instead, but I wasn't thinking." He handed me the rose with a smirk and I laughed.
"You're right and the fact that you just stole it right in front of me kind of takes away the romance as well," I say but can't seem to wipe my smile away as he lays his hands on my hips.
"Well, it's the thought that counts, right?" He asks innocently.
I stand on my tip toes so that we were almost the same height. "I guess I can let it count this one time," I whisper as his lips descend on mine. My hands move on their own accord as they tangle in the hair at the back of his head. Brandon tightens his grip on my waist and pulls us impossibly closer to one another. He breaks the kiss suddenly but the tingly feeling on my lips still remains.
I look at him, confused before he explains. "I forgot to tell you. Wednesday night is Flora and Riven's engagement party. She really wants you to come so should I pick you up after work?"
I stared at him blankly. "You broke our make-up kiss so you can tell me about a party invitation?"
"I knew I would forget if I didn't tell you now." He shrugged. "I wanted to get it out the way."
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, picking me up from work sounds good."
"Great, now would you like to get back to our previous activity or have I totally ruined the mood?"
"Shut up, Brandon," I say and pull his head back down to mine.
3 days later…
"This place looks great, Flora!" I exclaim as I turn in a circle to see the ceiling decorations.
"Thanks! It took some preparation, but we got it all done in time." Flora replies with a sweet smile. Riven sneaks up behind her and wraps an arm around her shoulders.
"We should go make the toast soon, Babe. Everyone's getting pretty hungry now."
"By everyone you mean you," Flora laughs.
"You know me so well." Riven practically beams at her. Wow, that's the look someone gives when they are hopelessly in love. It's a really beautiful glance that he gives her; absolutely radiant. The only problem is that I can tell it is more one-sided than anything else.
Flora looks at me with widened eyes. She must have seen me studying them a little more than normal. She clears her throat and smiles a little uneasily. "Stella, you should go find your seat. I'll see you soon."
I nod and they both walk off towards the front of the room. Sky and Bloom are out on the dance floor along with Roxy. Flora let me invite her along and I was extremely happy to do so. I see Brandon break through the crowd and walk towards me.
"Let's find a seat," he says in my ear and puts his hand on the small of my back. He leads me to one of the round tables in the front of the room. Riven tapped his glass cup to gather everyone's attention and asked us to be seated. Sky and Bloom eventually make their way over to the table as well. Brandon rests his arm around the back of my chair and says, "This will probably be one of the worst speeches in history. Riven is terrible at talking to crowds in the right way." I just laugh.
Once everyone was seated, Riven stood up and cleared his throat loudly. "Um… thanks for coming everybody."
I lean into Brandon. "I think you might be right," I whisper and he just nods with a smirk.
"I… just wanted to say that this night means a lot to Flora and me. And considering how much I spent on decorations for this place, it shows further proof on how much I really love this woman." That got laughs from all around the place. Flora lightly hit him on the arm, but couldn't help grinning.
"I just wanted to thank you guys again and you are officially allowed to eat. Dig in!" I laughed. Riven is so greedy. Just before everyone got up to go to the buffet line, one of the heavy back doors closed with a bang. Everyone turned to see who the newcomer was.
It's Helia.
Sky whistles lowly. "Looks like shit is about to hit the fan. Again." I think he may be right about that.
A/N: Hola, readers! Thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooo much for your continued support for this story. You guys rock!
How was Brandon's apology? Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know.
Okay, so you got a little information about Mitzi's issue. Can anybody guess what happened next in that story? I bet you can't ;)
Well, I apologize for the continuous cliffhangers. I just can't help myself. I can be a drama queen sometimes. Trust me; you will get a break soon.
Last chapter, I asked which secret you guys wanted me to reveal and guess what? It was a tie. So you'll have to wait until next chapter to discover some juicy secrets. But of course, you have to review to let me know if you even still want more…
So… Review!