The time continued to tick by and she was getting seething mad once an hour had passed. She figured she’d be in his office no more than a half hour but if she didn’t get in there soon she wouldn’t be able to visit her sister. She stepped up to the desk, thinking he’d forgotten about her.
“I wanted to make sure Mr. Titan knew I was still here,” she said to the receptionist. She knew she had a bit of bite to her tone but it was rude to make someone wait this long. He must assume he was the only one who had a life. The secretary looked up startled, like she couldn’t possibly believe Nicole would dare to question her boss’s intentions.
“Mr. Titan’s a very busy man. You’ll have to wait for him to call you in,” the woman rudely replied. Nicole nodded and took her seat again. Another half hour passed, still with no word from Ryan and she could no longer wait. She couldn’t afford to be late to her job. It looked like he’d played her for a fool. He was most likely in his office, watching her fidget from some hidden camera and having a nice laugh to himself.
She slowly got up and headed off towards the elevator. She didn’t approach the reception desk again, why bother? She took the elevator back downstairs and returned the badge to the security guard. She held her head high as she exited the building. She was going to barely make it to work on time so she wouldn’t allow the tears fall, which were trying so hard to escape.
She felt like she had failed her baby sister. She really didn’t see any other options of being able to pay the surgery bill. She’d already given up her tiny apartment. She was living on friend’s couches and her sister’s hospital room chair. She had sold everything of value she owned and it still wasn’t enough. Her car decided when it wanted to work, which was only about half the time. She wasn’t a person to give up on anything but she didn’t see what more she could possibly do.
She rushed in the doors of the second rate, all-night truck stop, where she waitressed and put her purse away. She made it out to the floor with a minute to spare. Her boss looked up with a glare and pointedly glanced at the clock. He then went back to his paper and ignored her. It was going to be a long night, as she hadn’t gotten a descent night’s sleep in forever. She was used to that and would deal with it like she did everything thrown her way.
Ryan hadn’t expected the business call to take so long and was about to pull his hair out, when he finally managed to get off the phone. He’d been planning on making Nicole wait for a while, just to make sure she squirmed in her seat a bit. He wasn’t normally so rude though as to make someone wait two hours.
“You can send Ms. Lander in, now,” he said into his intercom. There was a pause before his efficient secretary came back.
“It looks as if she left,” came the reply. Ryan didn’t say anything else. He hung up and called the security desk asking if she’d left the building, only to find out she’d indeed left about a half hour earlier. She wasn’t acting like someone who wanted a favor. If any other person had walked out before he was ready to speak with them he would’ve scrapped the whole thing but this wasn’t business, it was personal.
He made some phone calls and found out where she was. When he discovered where she was working, his bad mood deepened even further. He really shouldn’t give a damn where she worked, or what she did. She shouldn’t matter to him in the least but when he thought about her working overnight at the dive of a truck stop, his stomach clenched. He knew the kind of people who habituated a place like that in the wee hours of the morning and it was certainly no place for a woman.
He gathered up his things and called his driver. It looked like he was dining out that night. He smiled to himself, when he pictured her reaction to him entering the joint. Hell, when his car pulled up, he was sure there would be a bit of a stir. People like him simply didn’t go to places like that. At least people like him nowadays. He would’ve been happy to go anywhere when he was a kid. That would’ve been a real treat.
It took the driver about forty minutes to navigate traffic and pull up in front of the diner. It was fairly busy and he looked through the windows, spotting her almost immediately. She’d changed in the years since he’d seen her last but not much.
Her young, sleek body had matured and now she had curves, though he couldn’t see them well beneath the loose clothing and apron she was wearing. Her hair was still dark and hung low on her back in an unflattering braid, which looked like she had made up in minutes.
As he stepped through the diner doors and quickly browsed before she noticed him, he could see the weariness in the set of her shoulders. When she finally turned to see who’d walked in and caused a silence to fall over her customers, he felt a kick in his gut by the sheer exhaustion of her expression.
She’d always been so full of life and now she looked drained, as if she bore the weight of the world on her shoulders. She approached him slowly, as if he was a dangerous animal ready to strike any moment. His lips turned up in a sardonic smile because he was a dangerous animal, far more deadly than any four legged creature she may encounter.
“Do you want a table?” she asked him suspiciously. She knew he normally wouldn’t be caught dead in a truck stop restaurant.
“That would be great,” he responded overconfidently. Her manager was watching the pair of them and she couldn’t afford to get fired so she gritted her teeth and showed Ryan to the table. She didn’t get why he’d come to her place of work but she couldn’t make a scene and as humiliating as it was she was going to be forced to serve him.
“What would you like to drink?” she asked through clinched teeth.
“I’ll take a coffee,” he replied. He’d determined within minutes of walking in, she’d be leaving with him. He knew exactly what he wanted in payment for helping her sister and he would get it. He would enjoy a little bit of cat and mouse in the meantime. He knew he would win, so he could be indulgent for a while.
“Here’s the menu. I’ll be right back with your coffee,” she said and walked off. He enjoyed the sway of her hips, which were slightly thicker than when they were teenagers. She’d definitely turned into a woman and he couldn’t wait to explore the new her. She was still stunning, even with the stress and exhaustion etched into her features.
She returned with the coffee and he noticed the mirth in her eyes, as he took his first sip and a grimace passed over his features. It was horrible tasting and he had the feeling she was enjoying his suffering. He controlled his face and took another long sip, just so he could wipe that smug look off her face. She controlled her own expression but couldn’t hide the twinkle in her gorgeous brown eyes.