Personal Possessions, page 22
“Trev…”
I heard Sara’s voice close…real close, standing here in my office.
“I gotta go, go work…call you right back.”
I didn’t allow Kip time to say goodbye, I just hung up the phone, put a smile on my face as though I was dealing with business and continued on as any normal day but yet, my mind was fixated Elle.
“Sara, I see you had a chance to meet Elleny.”
She didn’t answer me, just went into her spiel like she did every other day.
“Trev, I am up to my neck in paperwork, Mary called me up here and now there is no way I’m going to be done by lunchtime. Ya know, I don’t think I ask for a lot here, is there any way she can work with me here on this problem? I have asked her and asked her not to buzz me, but every time I turn around…..”
“Yes Mr. McHale, thank you for asking. I did have a chance to introduce myself to Sara here. I have a wonderful feeling the time we spend together is going to be an enjoyable one, don’t you think so….Sara?”
There it was…I knew that Elle could take care of herself, and I had a feeling that I was now going to be pulling apart a catfight, but it would’ve been totally worth it to see Elle take Sara down. I could look over and see the disgust that Elle’s face was covered in. It couldn’t be, really was it…she was…jealous?
There was nothing more that I wanted to do right at this very moment than to bend Elle over my desk, pull her skirt up, rip her silk panties off and fuck her blind. My dick was hard just thinking about it. This woman was going to be the death of me and I loved every minute of it that included her.
I noticed the small lines that were indented in her skin by her mouth as she turned it up into a grim reminder that she did feel emotion…still, they were just buried deep down. Jealousy suited her, and I didn’t want to see it leave her face.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“Perfect… well Sara, I’m pulling you off the Brooks and Fairfield account. You’ll now be working under Elle here helping her with anything she needs. Nate will be swinging by your office to pick up everything you have on them.
Sara was fuming, but as I looked over at Elle, I could see a small smirk glaze over her lips, she approved with my decision.
Very well, it was done.
“Trev, this is bullshit! I have been working with them for months now, they won’t deal with anyone else, and they told me that. They’ll pull out.”
Did she really believe that ultimatum shit was going to work with me? She had another thing coming if she did.
“I’ll deal with them, you don’t worry about that.”
My head turned back towards Elle.
“Elle, what was it that you said you needed this morning? Oh yes, I need for you to have Mary order up from supplies a box of 500 memory sticks, also call Chris over in the IT department and have a laptop checked out brought up to my office for Elle by 1:30, we have an appointment that is in need of our attendance.”
Sara didn’t say a word, she couldn’t. She knew she was on thin ice with me. Every week it was something with her, and I was done listening to the bullshit. She had more wrongs than rights lately and if she didn’t want to sit downstairs checking in guests she’d better watch how she played her cards.
Elle’s turned towards me quickly, caught off guard by my announcement. She wanted to ask for about my doctor without telling me what was going on, I took care of it and all was ready to be dealt with. Next time she will think carefully about what the consequences are.
“Ummm, where are we going and why are we not working.”
“You said you needed a physician, I made you an appointment and I’m taking you.”
She knew exactly what I was talking about and now she was going to act like Sarah…Jesus…women aren’t happy…ever and I had two of them in my office at the same time, ready to bite my head off.
Elle put her hand on her waist and showed me that Elle attitude I loved so much.
“Oh fuck that, you’re not going. I don’t need you to go. I simply asked you what his name was, I was totally capable of finding him.”
Walking over to her, I felt the need to calm her down before her head exploded.
“Shhhhh, don’t work yourself up. We are taking by the doctor’s and then we will have an early dinner and then we will take our work back to the hotel and will do as much as we can together. Possibly with a bottle of wine….or a bottle of whisky…..your choice.”
I informed her in a sarcastic, satirical tone bringing back the memories of last night.
“You’re an ass, Trevor McHale.: Elle retorted as she relaxed her stance. “You’re not getting me drunk tonight, we have too much work to do, and I think we’ve played enough for one day. Now can I get someone to show me to my office?”
I laughed heartily, she had come to accept the decision that I would be accompanying her to the doctor’s and then would continue on with the plans I had made. I grabbed her hand and followed her out of my office.
“Allow me, Miss Barker.”
Finishing the afternoon, we stepped into the elevator going to the hotel so that we could drop these boxes of confidential client information off.
“What’s the story with Sara? She seems like she wants to be your BFF”
I could hear the jealousy slither out of her mouth as she said Sara’s name. I decided to leave it alone…for now.
“She’s just very dedicated to her job.”
“Uh-huh”
Elle’s eyes never would come to me. That was another way I knew that it was eating her up inside that I worked with Sara. She was not an ugly woman, by no means. She was young, yes but she was gorgeous and if I was twenty-four or twenty-five, I’d totally be tappin’ it.
But deep down I knew it would never happen…I would never let it happen.
I snickered at the blush that was now flooding Elle’s face.
“Why Miss Barker, do I detect a hint of jealousy there?”
Immediately, she affirmed what I knew to be a lie.
“I don’t get jealous Mr. McHale.”
She could tell herself that, but I knew better. I saw it in her eyes, they were so green they were jade…jealousy has always been associated with the color of jade.
The bell chimed, and I felt that the elevator had come to a stop. The doors opened and several executives stepped in. As I stepped over into the corner I noticed one of the men were Sam, his eyes caught me and then immediately flashed over to Elle as a smile began to form on his lips.
“Elle, how are you doing so far?”
I was furious! Sam was doing this shit on purpose. I wasn’t sure who he thought he was, but I still owned this company, goddammit and he was overstepping his boundaries.
“Sam, it’s going great so far. I’m just on my way with Mr. McHale to a meeting, thank you so much for asking.”
Elle was just trying to keep it professional, she didn’t know Sam the way I knew him. Through the years, we had gone to meetings…conventions, anywhere we could go to network and market our services. Sam wouldn’t think twice about going home with the VP of a company after he had just banged her receptionist in the coat closet, it didn’t matter to him. He would sweet talk them and then they would be putty in his hands. That was not going to happen to Elle, I would make sure of that.
“Well, again if you need anything, please feel free to give me a call.”
He smiled his cheesy ass smile as he reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his card. I could see as he was looking for a place to put his card he made sure his eyes glazed over her cleavage. I felt like knocking him across the elevator.
Sam and the others got out as we waited a moment for them to get ahead of us. I had boxes in my hands but I didn’t give a fuck, that card was not going any further as long as I was here.
“Where’s that card, Elle?”
“It’s in my other hand….why?”
“Hand it to me now, Elleny”
I had to hold my temper back, I was ready to blow. I either wanted to knock Sam into next week or mark Elle so that when she was in his presence, he would know she was mine.
“Hold on, the box is heavy”
I stopped right where I was, in the middle of the walkway and dropped the box of files. That was paperwork, this was my life…my future I was working on, none of that mattered to me. If Elle asked me to leave all this behind right now, I wouldn’t even question it. I would grab her hand and walk away, no questions asked.
I had all this before, the money…the recognition, it meant nothing to me. At the end of the day, coming home to an empty house that held no love, no emotion…I had lived it, all my life…I was ready to have what I needed; Elle.
“Here…..Christ it’s only a business card.”
It’s only a business card…yeah right. Maybe she was truly naïve.
“Don’t fuck with me on this, Elleny.”
“Why Mr. McHale, do I detect a hint of jealousy?”
I could hear that soft Georgian accent come through in her voice. That tone was what she used when she’d tell me that she loved me. I closed my eyes as I ripped up the card and let the wind blow it everywhere. The gardeners would pick it up. I didn’t care who got a hold of it, as long as it wasn’t her. No one was going to hear that tone, other than me.
I grabbed her hand and began walking to the car…
“Fuck yes you do!”
We walked into the hotel room with our hands full of boxes. Elle placed the one’s she was holding on the table so I followed. She excused herself while I went to wait for her on the couch. I opened my phone to check for any messages from Kip…there was nothing. I was kinda curious what else he had been working on.
It didn’t take Elle long, but she had gone in and changed her clothes…was she serious about wearing that…I think she had lost her mind. Did she really think I would be able to stand beside her while she wore that outfit, smelling of that perfume and not try and touch her? Her hair was pulled back and now that I knew that she had that ink behind her ear, I could see it now so clearly. I had to stop thinking about shit like that.
“You changed….” He said as he put his phone down
“Well yeah, I figured it was such a nice day and you said we would go out to dinner maybe we could drive with the top down so I could see the sights along the way.”
Well I was not going in this suit if she was looking like that. I decided to go casual as well. I walked up to her and wrapped my hand around her neck, bringing her into me. I needed to feel my skin against hers.
“Give me ten.”
I said as I laid my lips to her forehead.
I didn’t let her reply, I quickly stepped off into the direction of my suite. I heard her phone ring, since the couch was right up against the wall of my room, the walls were paper-thin.
“This is Elleny Barker- Jackson.”
I heard her answer her phone just as clear as if she was sitting right next to me. I made the decision to go into the bathroom to finish getting ready when I heard her voice change.
“Ah…Bear….. I thought we had discussed this the other night, I left you that note because you weren’t home telling you I had a business trip to go on…ummm…remember?”
“Where the fuck are my kids?”
She had placed it on speaker so I could hear every word that mother fucker was saying to her, and what I heard made me want to vomit. Did he just seriously talk to her that way?
“They’re safe, Bear.”
“That’s not what I asked you, whore!”
Bear yelled at her, I jerked to a standstill. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Elle’s voice was trembling, she was terrified. I needed to keep my wits about me so that I could catch everything he was saying to her. Did he just call her a fucking whore? Oh, I’d make sure he’d pay for that. I wanted to throw the door open and threaten Bear with death, something I should’ve done the other night…
The other night came into my head. What had happened out in the alleyway. Did he take that out on Elle, everything that had happened between me and him the other night? Was that what the bruises were from?
I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t think like that. There was no way he would ever lay a hand to her, if he knew what was good for him he wouldn’t.
“Bear, I’m not out whoring around, can you please stop calling me that?”
“Listen here, you nasty pussied whore-“
Hear him call her that was it. I couldn’t take any more of this fucked up shit. I was beside myself; numb. Bear, I had come to know was not the man I knew from elementary school, even from high school. Even though he had changed, Elle hadn’t. Whether he had changed or not, we had known Elle all of our lives. He knew she was selfless and genuine. Never would he have had a more loyal companion and he threw it all away on a stripper crack addict. As soon as Elle caught wind of me, she took the phone off speaker and put it to her ear. I think she thought I was unaware of her whole conversation.
Elle looked at me with pain and sorrow in her eyes. She knew I heard it as shame and humiliation washed over her face, she knew now that I had heard how he was talking to her. She quickly, put my index finger to my mouth trying to silently ask me not to say anything. She could see my anger rising and could tell that I was about to lose it. I tried to look at things from another perspective, I tried to step away and say that the two of them had to deal with this, I was not a part of this, but that was until I heard Elle’s voice, silently begging and pleading and Bear walking all over her.
I couldn’t get it out of my head that he had called his wife a “whore…a nasty pussied whore.” The woman who was heavy with his babies, who gave him offspring. The woman who I would’ve given anything to see pregnant with my own. I was infuriated at the image I was painting in my mind, when he said that he would beat her so bad-
That was it, I couldn’t listen anymore…I had to walk away. I was going to lose my fucking mind all over this hotel room and he would hear every last word that would come out of my mouth, and not only did I worry about the safety of Elle but now, I had to worry about the safety of her children and whoever they were staying with.
“Bear, you were out….wherever you were and I wasn’t sure if you would be home, so they’re staying with Lilly.”
…Lil’s and Curt’s safety.
I couldn’t hear what Bear was saying but suddenly as I was walking into the kitchen, I could feel the air get thick as I heard Elle’s voice turn frantic; terror was visible in her stance.
“NO!!....No Bear, please don’t do that! Lilly and Curt have been planning so much with the kids, and you know how much Austin looks up to Luc, he was planning on teaching him some of your best football plays. JoJo, Harlee and Lilly were planning on going shopping. It’s fine, they wanted to stay over there and they have plenty of room. You just enjoy your time alone, go out, have a good time…”
I couldn’t hear anything that was being said since all that I was aware of was my heart racing. The thumping was so loud, it drowned out everything that surrounded me. Not only was I infuriated at how Bear was talking to Elle like she was a piece of trash; like the piece of trash he loved and adored that he was fucking on the side, outside a nasty drug-infested titty bar, but also, how Elle cowered to him. She took what he had said to her and bore it; she owned every name he called her.
That wasn’t the Elleny I knew. My girl would’ve pushed up against him and told him to suck her dick! I wasn’t even sure my Elleny existed anymore. Why wouldn’t she have just filed for divorce and kicked that dumbass out to the curb. Maybe she had grown to love being treated like the victim. Hell, it had been seventeen years, people become different people in less time than that.
I couldn’t see that…I wouldn’t allow myself to see that. Elle had bucked up to me in the last three days, what was so different between her doing it to me and her doing it to him. Then I began to think…
I haven’t laid my hands on her.
I closed my eyes, I couldn’t bear the thought. I leaned over the sink so sure that whatever content I held in my stomach, wanted to make itself known again. I swallowed a couple of times and attempted to calm myself as I heard Elle’s voice trembling.
“Just give me a moment, would ’ya, please.”
I couldn’t get that voice out of my head. She sounded so desperate, so inconsolable. I didn’t know how to act or even what to say, so I didn’t answer her.
Thoughts and memories of my own parents ran through my mind. The emotions that my mother showed seemed so existent, so real; even after all these years. It was as if I was laying in that bed, hearing that familiar, frantic voice of my mother’s coming out of Elle’s mouth.
“Luc”
I wondered who Luc was. Was he a friend, with Bear holding her on such a tight leash, I had a feeling she didn’t have many friends.
“Hey my sweet angel baby.”
Her son, that’s who Luc is.
I didn’t realize it but I was pacing back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen as she spoke. I didn’t know whether to call Kip and have him keep Bear under constant surveillance or just allow Elle to handle it. It wasn’t really something I had to think over very much, I made a mental note to call Kip and keep an eye out, especially since Bubba was threatening Bear.
“Hey baby, do your momma a favor this afternoon, no practice, I call coach. Just get in Auntie Rachel’s car, pick up JoJo and Harlee and go back to Auntie’s house, k?”
My hatred for Bear grew deeper and deeper at the thoughts of what he has put his children through.
“Baby, I’m fine….everything is wonderful, my love. Just do this for me? Send me some pics of ya’ll swimming this evening, ok? I will video conference ya’ll before I go to bed so that I can kiss you good night.”
I loved hearing how Elle interacted with her kids. You could tell in her tone the astonishing love she felt for him, not only in her voice but in her words. God, how things would’ve been different if that was my son. He wouldn’t have any worries, he could be a kid, concentrate on his football and not have to worry about looking over his shoulder.
I walked out into the living room to check on Elle, even if I could be there for her just for support, I knew she needed someone on her side. Her eyes met mine and they almost brought me to my knees. The twinkle that I fought so hard to put back in her eyes was completely extinguished. There was no sign of it anywhere. Nothing but tears and utter heartache filled where once the brightest of lights could be found; a light that was built from a fire that illuminated not only Elle’s eyes but her whole being; that light was what made me fall in love with Elle. It drew me to her.
