Forgetting Him Page 5

  "Oh Marie, do you never learn?" He tried to sound disinterested and provoke a reaction out of her, almost as if he truly didn't care that she was seeing someone.

  "I just learned that I shouldn't get caught up with men like you and that I shouldn't believe them." She said as she forced herself to smile. She grabbed his folders and went around her table.

  "That lesson, I'll never forget." she said as she placed the folders in his hands, turned around and walked away from him.

  As she closed the door of her office behind her, she leaned up against them. Her heart was beating fast and her legs became shaky. She covered her hot cheeks with her cold fingers, hoping to cool them down a bit.

  Her whole body was shaking, she lowered her hands knowing that only Nathan's cold look could cool her body down.

  She took a deep breath as she tried to stop her heart from beating so fast. At that moment, one of the security officers walked past her. She was all red in the face and leaning against her door. Her shoulder were relaxed, and her arms hung loosely at her sides. Her head was leaning against the door and her eyes looked lifeless.

  "Are you alright Ms. O'Conner?" The woman asked as she looked curiously at her.

  Marie jumped at the sudden question. She put her finger on her lips, signaling the woman to be quiet and then she pointed towards her office, signaling that there was someone inside.

  "Excuse me?" The woman asked, confused.

  "I'm alright." She whispered after she took a deep breath. Once again, she gave her the sign to keep it quiet and just keep on walking.

  The woman walked away as she shook her head.

  "This is just what I needed today." Marie sighed.

  As she heard Nathan's footsteps inside her office, she shot up from the door and disappeared down the hallway.

  Chapter 15

  Nathan stayed in her office, he turned around and sat at the edge of her table, he crossed his arms on his chest and stared towards the door, completely lost in thought.

  A lot of times in his life, consciously, he would do things which weren't right, a hundred times he swore to himself that he would stop, but somehow, his pride would always win out and he would make the same mistakes that he made before.

  He knew that he loved to see her smiling more than anything, but everything he did simply annoyed her, and he continued doing it, knowing full well that she would only get angrier and angrier with him.

  He thought seriously about talking to her about what happened and finally leaving the past where it belongs. However, he felt that he still wasn't ready for that, he still wasn't ready to let the book close on him.

  He knew that logically, what he was doing was a long shot and not even worth pursuing, but for some reason he kept trying to follow his heart rather than his brain.

  She wasn't to blame because she couldn't love him enough to leave the man that she was dating, he started to think logically again. It would be best if he simply forgot the past and everything that happened between them and simply establish a professional relationship with her, which was necessary for him to finish the work that he was sent there to do in the first place.

  It would be nice if he could only have the courage to stand in front of her and wish her all the happiness in the world with her new love. And then he could finally man up and realize that there are plenty of other fish in the sea.

  He stood there for a good while, trying to persuade himself to forget about the hurt that he felt and the promise that he made to himself that he would have her once again.

  He planned how he would finish the business he had here and realized that the only way he could get any work done is if he locked himself in his office and just throw himself at it.

  But, that wouldn't last and he knew it, he simply couldn't forget about her. He left the office, not even knowing where he would go.

  Suddenly, he remembered a small restaurant in the city that he would go to with Marie. It was a small family owned place that always made him feel good. He sat in his car and drove there.

  When he pulled up to the parking spot he noticed Marie's car. For a few seconds he sat in the car and thought about if he should just stay in there or not. In the end, he got out, all the while remembering the times they would go to the restaurant together and he would spend the time getting lost in her deep green eyes.

  Nathan caught himself as he looked through the window of the restaurant. He saw groups of people enjoying their food, engaging in lively conversation all around, and then he saw her.

  His gaze suddenly stopped on her. A smile appeared on his face without his will. She stood at the front of the restaurant, ready to be seated. She wore dark pants with a dark grey dress shirt. Her hair was tied in a bun and she seemed to look more like a teenage girl than a young woman.

  Her face look relaxed and soft, her eyes, wandering and curious. Her hands would reach to her neck, then face, then they would roll through her hair, as she made sure that everything was as she wanted it to be.

  He wanted to go in and approach her, but he realized how quickly that happiness would fade from her at the simple sight of him. He gave up on that idea, but not on the enjoyment that he received from reveling in her simple beauty.

  Suddenly, her phone rang and she picked it up. It was probably her boyfriend, Nathan figured, a bit annoyed at the fact that the very thought of him erupted feelings of jealousy within him. As he looked back inside, he saw the hostess show her to her table and had her seated.

  He went to the front of the restaurant and walked in.

  "Good afternoon sir, please wait to be seated." The hostess said in her bubbly voice.

  "I'm not looking to be seated. I just have a request."

  "How can I help you then, sir?" The hostess asked with a smile.

  "The woman over there." Nathan pointed towards Marie. "Can you order her a bottle of Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port?"

  "Sir, that is our most expensive wine." The hostess looked up from her paper.

  "Yes, it's her favorite. I'll pay for the whole bottle right now." He said smiling, remembering the many times they've enjoyed a bottle together.

  "As you wish sir, that will be $1,100."

  Nathan handed her his business card and looked back at Marie as she sat at her table, texting. He didn't feel jealousy at that moment, just happiness, happiness that he could bring a small drop of joy into her life.

  "Thank you sir, would you like anything else?" The hostess asked as she handed Nathan his card back.

  "No, thank you." He replied as he turned around and walked out the door, happy that he could see her smile again.

  Chapter 16

  Maria noticed his mood change instantly.

  "You look a lot better Mr. Greco." She commented. "You should really go there more often." She said, curious about where he went that fix his mood so drastically.

  "I was at a small restaurant." He said honestly, letting her mind wonder about who he was there with.

  He loved to play these small games with Maria. He wanted to make her mind wander about who he could have possibly taken out for dinner, but he didn't want to give her too much information so she would find out.

  He came into his personal office, which overlooked the city of Austin in his penthouse. He yelled out of the room for Maria to make some sandwiches for dinner and that she's free to do what she wishes after. He liked to be alone in his home, to be able to think without distraction. He worked late into the night, e-mailing his findings thus far to William before turning off the monitor.

  He went downstairs into the kitchen, poured himself a drink and went out on the large terrace. He looked up at the full moon, admiring the way the moonlight hit the pool. He grabbed one of the chairs and brought it closer to the pool, loving the freshness of it all and the fact that this was possible in the middle of a busy metropolis like Austin.

  As he gazed into the distance and sipped on his drink, he began to think. He felt how his muscles slowly relaxed and how much h
e enjoyed the quietness and stillness of his high oasis.

  The sound of knocking knocked him back to reality. He walked into his penthouse and looked through the peephole of his large door. To his surprise, it was Marie, looking as angry as he'd ever seen her. He sighed and opened the door.

  "Marie!" He announced loudly, trying to sound enthusiastic.

  He smiled at her, hoping that his happiness would rub off on her. Maybe she didn't have a problem with him and she had troubles with work, he hoped.

  "You are just ... you." She said, pointing her finger at him.

  "A horrible man!" She finally let out.

  "And what did I do to deserve such a lovely compliment?" He tried to joke with her.

  "Jokes? It's always jokes with this guy." She shook her head.

  He had never seen her so angry before and, worse of all, he didn't even know what caused it.

  "Marie? What's going on?" He tried to calm her by placing his hands on her shoulders.

  "Don't touch me! You think I'm stupid and I won't find out who bought that wine for me? You followed me!" She screamed at him. "You're a stalker now Nathan?! That's low, even for you!"

  "It was a complete accident that I saw you at that restaurant."

  "Why didn't you say anything to me, if you happened to be there "just by accident"?" She asked, still furious at the fact that she could never get away from this man. It seemed to her that he followed her everywhere she went.

  "I didn't mean to seem like a stalker and sorry you wasted your time trying to find out who sent you the wine."

  "You're acting all stupid now, you really don't understand the type of trouble you caused me with this?" She asked, seemingly more furious than before.

  "What trouble?" He asked seriously, noticing how close she was to crying.

  "I turned out to be the real idiot." She said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

  Nathan instinctively came close to her and hugged her, laying her head gently against his chest. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her go.

  "Let me go! You're the one that caused all of this!" She yelled out as she hit his chest with her hands.

  "I didn't mean for this to happen." He tried to explain himself. "What happened? Why are you like this?" He asked, still confused at why she was crying.

  "Bruce lost it from jealousy." She said as she looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.

  "I can't say I'm sorry about that." He said and immediately regretted it. "Hey! I was joking!" He quickly added as she got even angrier and tried to push herself away from his arms. "I'm sorry it came to this." He said and hugged her even closer. "Come, tell me what happened." He said softly as he pulled her into his penthouse and closed the door behind her.

  "I thought Bruce bought me that wine, since I was meeting him at the restaurant." She said in one breath. "I thanked him when he came to dinner but he said that he never ordered anything. You can imagine how I felt and how he felt. Like two idiots, we stared at each other, unsure of what to say."

  "Marie, I'm sorry, really I am." He wiped her tears with his hand. "I only had the best intentions." He said as he gazed into her eyes, they sparkled with her tears.

  Without thinking about it, he dropped his head and looked for her lips. She helped him find them. He felt how she didn't resist and he eased his way into her.

  A second later, she moved away from his embrace. She blinked her eyes furiously, her lips moved, but she couldn't get anything out. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

  She moved her hands around, unsure of what to even do with them, then she just stopped and looked at him. He stood at the very edge of the pool, on the terrace. With all her strength she pushed him and Nathan fell into the cold water.

  She turned around, grabbed her things and disappeared into the penthouse.

  Nathan heard the large door of his penthouse open and slam shut. At that moment, he couldn't even understand what happened to him. The cold water completely rattled him. He couldn't believe that she could do that, to push him into the pool like that.

  He made his way to the edge of the pull and climbed out. Still confused at the suddenness of it all, he made his way into the penthouse and straight to the bathroom.

  Chapter 17

  Marie jumped when the door to her office opened. She held her breath as the door opened to reveal her father.

  "Seems like you were expecting someone else." He noticed the paleness on her face.

  "No, I'm not expecting anyone. I was too focused on my work so I didn't hear you knock." She tried to lie.

  "You were never a good liar." He said with a smile.

  "You tried though, but let's hear the truth now." He pulled a chair out and pulled it in front of her desk.

  "I lost control yesterday." She looked away from him, not really sure how to tell him the truth.

  "Not like it's the first time." He said with a laugh, trying to make her smile.

  He hoped that whatever she did, wasn't really as bad as she was trying to make it seem.

  "It's the first time I've lost control to this degree." She said as worry appeared in her eyes.

  "Marie! What did you do?" He yelled out.

  "I pushed Nathan in the pool." She admitted and immediately covered her face with her hands.

  "Which pool?" He asked, not believing what his daughter just told him.

  "A small pool in his penthouse."

  "Marie ..." He shook his head in disbelief.

  "I know now that it was wrong but ..." Her shoulders sunk.

  "That's why you jumped when I came in, because you expected him to come in."

  "I hope I don't see him today."

  "You know that Nathan didn't even come in today? He didn't even let me know." O'Conner looked worried. "Who knows what happened to him. God, I hope he didn't hurt himself or get sick from that cold water." He got up from his chair.

  "Nathan didn't come in today?" She looked worriedly at her father.

  O'Conner moved towards the window and leaned on it.

  "You should go and check up on him and apologize." He ordered her. This was the first time that he did that but, right now, he didn't have a choice.

  "I can't." She shook her head.

  "What do you mean you can't?" He asked, a bit furious at the fact that she would even answer back to him.

  "It's like you don't even understand that our future and this companies futures rest on him! It's like you don't understand that from his report and his view of our company ..."

  "Alright! I'll go." She cut him off.

  "I really don't know what's gotten into you lately, but every single time you are with that man you do something stupid and rash." He looked worriedly at her.

  "He brings it out of me ..." She shook her head. "I don't know, he's the only one that can get me that upset."

  "I know why, and you know why too." He crossed his arms on his chest.

  "No, it's not why you think it is. Whatever happened then is in the past."

  "Do you even feel anything towards him?" He asked her, hoping that she could work out her feelings towards the man, regardless if she would answer him or not.

  "I don't know. I feel bad for what I did to him and I can't think about anything else at the moment."

  "Do you know when a person is sure that they don't feel anything towards another person?" Since she just looked at him, he continued to explain it to her. "When that which is happening to the other person doesn't make any sort of impact in their life." He added, hopeful that she would understand what he was trying to get across. "And it seems to me that you're very shaken up about what you did to Nathan."

  "Of course I'm shaken up about it, but that doesn't mean ..."

  "I don't want to argue with you." He interrupted her, turned around and headed towards the door. "When you come back from Nathan's, please, tell me how he's doing." He added and closed the door behind him.

  Marie sat in her office, alone and confused.

  Chapter 18<
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  Bruce tried to work, but he just couldn't focus. All he could think about was seeing Marie with that expensive wine, bought by a man that he didn't even know.

  When they were back in his apartment, he heard as she called someone. Curiosity got the best of him and he slowed down to hear who she was calling. He stopped completely and listened in when he heard that she had called the restaurant they came back from. She asked for the name of the man that bought the expensive wine for her table. He heard as she whispered, "Nathan".

  After that, he turned around and left his apartment. He knew who Nathan was, the entire company talked about him. He discovered recently that Nathan was the one sent in from New York to examine the company and he was the one personally working with O'Conner.

  But, he still didn't know what he had to do with Marie.

  He was angry. He thought that he could just go to her and ask her about Nathan, but he knew that she would never tell him. She was stubborn like that.

  Because he really didn't know anything about this mysterious man, he decided that he would ask around about him. Everyone in the company seemed to know him well, so he figured that some of his questions would be answered. He wanted to know if he was really the one that bought the wine for Marie and why.

  As much as he hoped that nothing was going on between them, ever since he heard Marie whisper his name, he has felt a pure kind of hatred towards him. He felt like a rabid animal whose territory has been taken. He didn't have much reason to think like that, since that man just recently came, and Marie has been professional with him for some time now, but still, something didn't feel right.

  He spent too much time and effort to just to give her away to some stranger. He's always loved Marie and wished for nothing more than to marry her and build a family with her. He wanted to enjoy her beauty, her smile, and in everything else that he loved in her.

  As he thought about how to subdue his rage towards the stranger, he thought about Adam; a man whose worked for the company for well over two decades. He knew that he could trust that man and that he could find out a lot from him, so he got up from his chair and immediately went to see him.