“You need to come into the office and fill out some paperwork. Confidentiality is a must while working for this client. You’ll have to sign papers you understand and won’t speak about what happens in the household. You’ll also be required to submit to a drug test. Your background check is already complete. If you come into the office this afternoon we can interview you. I want to let you know there are a few other people interested.”
“I’ll be down there in a half hour. I have no problem signing whatever you need,” Nicole told her. She hoped she wasn’t sounding too desperate.
“That sounds great, Nicole. I’ll be waiting for you,” she said before disconnecting the call. Nicole thought the client must be one of those wealthy hermits who didn’t like the world to see them. She really didn’t care. Her temp company wouldn’t send her to an unsafe place. Even if her room was tiny it would be better than the studio she currently resided in. She was on the verge of losing the place anyway because her sister’s hospital bills were depleting her bank account.
Even though she hadn’t gotten enough sleep, she was wired with excitement running through her veins. She jumped into the shower and made it to the offices in just under thirty minutes. She walked from the interview confident she’d be selected. By the time she got back home and crawled into bed, sleep overtook her and she felt some peace, which she hadn’t felt in too long.
When she got the call the next day, she hung her head and barely managed to hold the tears back. Someone else had gotten the position. She was running out of options. She didn’t know how she was going to take care of Patsy’s hospital bills and still keep a roof over their heads. She got dressed and headed towards her waitressing job, where she would be lucky to take home thirty dollars in tips for a ten hour shift. It wasn’t much motivation but it was better than nothing.
Three months later, Nicole sat by her phone trying to work up her courage. She had to call him, there was no other choice. Nicole was cringing at the thought of groveling at Ryan Titan’s feet but she really didn’t see any other options. Her sister needed the operation and as hard as Nicole worked she still couldn’t pay for it. The hospital didn’t care if it was a life or death matter. They only cared about the bottom line. She couldn’t believe they said it was an elective surgery. It was something slowly killing her though and not an emergency. They wouldn’t perform it without payment in full.
Nicole took a deep breath, with her hand resting on the phone. She’d been in the same position for the last hour, trying to force herself to pick it up. Her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating irregularly, out of control. The tear tracks down her cheeks had long dried but the terror was still there.
She hadn’t talked to Ryan in twelve years and the last conversation hadn’t gone well. He still believed she’d cheated on him. It had been so much easier to let him believe that but oh how it had broken her heart.
She told herself repeatedly it wasn’t about her. It was about her little sister and no matter how much he may hate her he’d always loved Patsy. There was no way he’d sit back and let her die when he could help her.
She wiped her hands on her jeans and picked up the handle of the phone, trying to control her trembling hands. She had to redial the number three times. She was shaking so hard she kept misdialing.
As the phone started to ring her nerves were at the breaking point. She was hoping it would go to voicemail. Then she could just leave a message and not have to face hearing his voice.
“Who is this?” a voice demanded, startling her.
“Th…this is Nicole,” she stuttered. There was an uncomfortably long pause on the other end of the line.
“Nicole who?” came the same voice, as cool as ice.
“Nicole Lander,” she said, barely above a whisper.
“How did you get my person number?” his voice demanded. She was thinking she’d made a really bad mistake. It sounded as if he didn’t even remember who she was. Maybe their time together had been far more significant to her than to him.
“I got it from your uncle,” she finally managed to say. There was another really long silence at her words.
“What do you want?” he demanded to know.
“I um, wanted to see if I could, um, talk to you about something important,” she forced through her trembling lips. “We used to know each other, a really long time ago, I don’t know if you still remember me,” she finished.
“I don’t have time to beat around the bush. Spit out what it is you want,” he demanded of her. She didn’t want to ask him for money over the phone but what choice did she have.
“My little sister is in the hospital and she needs an operation and we don’t have any other options. Your uncle said I should talk to you,” she finally pushed out, on the verge of crying, once again. She could tell by his tone of voice he was simply humoring her and in no way was going to help them out. She was going to lose her baby sister and she didn’t think she could possibly make it through the horrific experience.
He was silent for so long she thought he hung up the phone. He didn’t remember her, or her sister and he was far too important a man to sit there on the phone with her. She’d failed her last resort and she felt an overwhelming sense of grief. She was starting to take the phone from her ear when he finally spoke again.
“Do you know where my office is?” he demanded.
“Yes, in the city,” she mumbled.
“Be there tomorrow at five,” he said and then she heard nothing but a dial tone. She sat there for a couple of minutes in shock as the phone continued to beep at her. She finally managed to hang up and allowed the tears to fall down her cheeks. It wasn’t hopeless. He was willing to hear her out. She didn’t care what it took. She had to convince him to help her baby sister. She couldn’t lose her.
Ryan sat at his desk, feeling a myriad of emotions coursing through him. He had known who was on the other end of his line from the very first word she had whispered. He could never forget that voice. It had haunted his dreams for the past twelve years. She’d been the girl who got away; hell not only got away but thrust him from her life.
He ran his hands through his hair and let out a sigh of frustration. How he wished he could’ve simply told her to go to hell and hung up the phone. There was no way he could be that much of a bastard. He’d loved Patsy as if she was his own little sister.