ENEMIES TO LOVERS

A SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE SERIES (BOOK 3)

LAUREN WOOD
Copyright © 2019 by Lauren Wood

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 CONTENTS

1. Lisa
2. Lisa
3. Frank
4. Lisa
5. Frank
6. Lisa
7. Lisa
8. Frank
9. Lisa
10. Frank
11. Lisa
12. Frank
13. Lisa
14. Frank
15. Lisa
16. Frank
17. Lisa
18. Frank
19. Lisa
20. Frank
21. Lisa
22. Frank
23. Lisa
24. Frank
25. Lisa
Perfect Chaperone (Excerpt)
Also by Lauren Wood
About the Author
 BLURB

The many reasons why going back to an old fling, is a horrible idea.

1. He broke my heart in front of everyone

2. I never did get over him
3. Frank’s an old football star, who expects everyone to worship him
4. I never could say no…

There are many more, like the fact that he’s my boss now.
But none of that matters. I still do the unthinkable.
I fall back in his arms.
I give him a second chance.
Now my enemy is my lover.
I’m in way over my head.
I’ve fallen for him, again.
Worse still, I’ve gotten pregnant.
Our secret baby has to stay just that…secret.
No one can know, not even Frank.
Frank was the only one that could hurt me.
I couldn’t let him do it again.
No matter how badly I still wanted him.

***
 1

LISA

I
couldn't believe that Frank was acting this way. He was breaking up
with me, but not just breaking up with me. No, he was doing it in front
of the whole school it felt like. I was standing there in front of most of
his friends and all I could do was look at him.
He had just said some horrible things and they hurt. I wanted to run away
if I was completely honest with myself. There was no way that I should have
to deal with this. After everything we'd been through and what I thought we
were to each other. How could he do this to me?
“You don't get to talk to me like that, Frank. Just because we were
together, it doesn't mean that you ever get to talk to me like that. I should
have never gotten into your car that night.”
“I am not talking to you in any particular manner, Lisa. I just need you to
know that this is over. I don’t want you calling me, trying to get me back.”
I moved in a little bit closer to him and for the first time, his handsome
face looked ugly to me. I had never been so repulsed in all of my life.
“And this is how you chose to do it? You chose to do it in front of
everybody? You want to humiliate me?”
Frank had a bit of a buzz and maybe I should have given him some slack,
but I couldn't. I was trying to get over what he had said to me and the fact that
he had done it in front of so many people.
 “I am sorry, Lisa. Really I am, but you have to see that we don't fit.
You're just not my type. You like to read books and I want to party.”
By that he meant that he was the All-Star quarterback for the college and
I was the dork. Most of the time it didn't really bother me. I even used it as a
badge of honor, but to have it thrown in my face in such a way, did not make
me feel any better. I couldn't believe that he said that to me.
And it wasn't just what he said, it was where he said it and how he said it.
He was making a big scene and it felt like he was doing it on purpose. Now
all of a sudden, he was a class-clown and he was doing everything solely for
laughs. And they were at my expense.
I should have let it go, but I couldn’t. I should have walked away, but I
had to know why he was doing this.
“So the last six months meant nothing to you?”
I could hear my voice breaking and I knew that my eyes were getting
puffy and red. I hated myself at the moment and I hated the fact that he had
affected me in such a way. I wanted to be strong and just walk away. He
didn't deserve this conversation with me. I didn't deserve what I was getting
back. There was never going to be any closure from this. Not now, not ever.
But there was something inside, that wouldn't let me just walk away.
Maybe it was the fact that I really just didn't understand it. I thought
everything was going so well and then the next thing I know, he's doing this,
breaking up with me in front of everybody. It made no sense to me. If he had
any idea what I had to go through because I had chosen to date him to begin
with, maybe he would respect me a little bit more.
My mother and father wanted me to marry nothing short of royalty, and
while Frank was the All-Star player of the team, it wasn't enough. His family
certainly wasn't the type that I was supposed to marry. He did not come from
a good blood-line.
“It was just a fling. I had fun, you had fun. Why do you have to make it
more than it was?”
 A couple of people were laughing, because apparently my pain and
misery were entertaining to them. I could feel bile rising up in my throat and
it took a moment for me to be able to swallow it down.
“Let me tell you something, Frank. You have never been my type. I had
to fight my family just to date you. It's better this way, you're right. You
never were really on my level and once you blow out your knee in some
game soon, you’ll be back to being nothing.”
Now I was going to walk away. It was really the only thing I could do to
save my dignity. Or whatever dignity I could muster, but to be honest, it
really wasn't that much.
I could hear people laughing and carrying on behind me, but I refused to
allow myself to look back. I didn't want to see the looks on their faces and I
certainly did not need to feel how pathetic I had come across.
For whatever reason, I had completely misread the situation. I had fallen
for a man that I shouldn't have. Not only had it caused a rift in my family, but
it had also made everything else more difficult. I needed to spend time with
my studies, but I had spent all of it wasting it on Frank.
I told myself then that I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. It
was my own fault for letting myself think that a guy was worth all that
trouble. Never again would I put a man before my goals. I knew then that I
was going to have to focus on something else. Relationships were highly
overrated.
 2

LISA
10 YEARS LATER

I
was more than a little surprised to hear from Dina. The last time I had
seen her, I had done almost everything in my power to make sure that
she and my ex, broke up. John and I had not really been dating, because
we weren’t in love with each other. It was more like dating for convenience,
and since he was rich and my parents thought that there was more going on, it
made my life easier, because it kept them off my back.
I don't know what had happened with John. I think I kind of lost my mind
a little bit and the idea of him getting together with another woman had been
too much for me or something. I'm not even really sure what happened, but
seeing Dina’s number come across my phone, made me feel even worse.
Everything in me told me not to answer it, but I couldn't help myself. It was
time for me to apologize for my actions.
Over the years I had turned cold. I had heard that several times in several
relationships and I figured it must be true. It was hard for me to find
connections and it was even harder for me to trust that it was worth keeping.
After getting burned with Frank, it took me awhile to trust anyone, and to be
clear, I was still working on it. It was easier said than done sometimes.
I took a deep breath and answered the phone, because it was doing me no
good staring at the number and listening to it trill.
“Hello?”
 I was almost convinced that I had put the wrong name to the wrong
number. There was no way that she would be calling me. It did not make any
sense. I had a feeling that I was probably the last person that she ever wanted
to talk to again.
“Hi. This is Dina. This is Lisa, right?”
“Yeah, this is Lisa.”
My voice sounded hollow and I knew it was because I had no idea what
she was calling for. It just did not make any sense to me. There was silence
on the other line for a moment and I finally asked her if she needed
something.
“No, I don't really need anything. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”
It honestly threw me off and I asked her what she meant by that.
“I am not going to say that what you did was not completely horrible, but
I can also understand. Believe it or not, I would do almost anything to keep
John.”
It took me a minute to realize that she was actually apologizing to me. It
just felt wrong and I told her to stop.
“You would do that because you love him. I did all of that, because I was
trying to make my parents happy. And because I was jealous of you. He loves
you and he never did me.”
She told me that she understood how families could make us crazy and
she gave me a couple of examples of her own family and their impossible
demands. She had the same drive that I did, paired with overbearing parents
that wanted to run her life. Quite quickly, we started to realize that we had
many things in common. Certain things I didn't even expect.
By the end of the conversation, it was strange to think, but I started to
consider that we might actually be friends. She wanted to meet up and have
lunch sometime soon. There was still a part of me that was wary that this was
all some kind of ploy to mess with my head.
I knew that a lot of that came from what Frank had done to me so many
years before. It was almost impossible for me to trust anyone, men and
women alike.
I hung up with her and felt relief lifting off of my shoulders. It wasn't that
it was all done between us. Or that everything that happened was suddenly
gone, but I felt like for the first time, I was doing the right thing and it
reminded me that it was what I was supposed to be doing at that time. How
had I let myself get so far away from who I actually was?

A FEW MONTHS after that first conversation and many coffees together with
Dina, I got an invitation in the mail that she had not told me about. It was to
her wedding and of course I had to go.
The affair was lovely and I knew many other people that showed up. I
also got a few looks from people that knew the situation, that was the
complication of me and John at one point being together, but I just ignored it.
The real worry that I had, was the conversation that I had to have with John. I
had made my peace with Dina, but John was another story.
After a lot of the ceremonies were done and the reception was going on, I
found John off by himself for a moment and I took the opportunity to walk up
to him. I was so damn nervous and I knew it was because of my own guilt.
When he saw me, at first he was a little surprised. I could see it in his
face, but he also backed it up quickly with a smile. I'm sure that he knew that
Dina and I were friends now. I'm sure that that had thrown him for a loop,
just like it had done to me.
“I just want to tell you that I'm sorry. I know that things ended rather
badly for us and I did some really stupid stuff. I shouldn't have gotten in
between you and Dina. I know that what the two of you have together is real.
What we had, wasn’t. We both know that.”
“It is good to hear from you, Lisa. I was wondering if you were ever
going to speak to me again.”
I told John that the only reason I had done all of those things was because
I had been afraid of losing him. It wasn't because I loved him or anything like
that, but he was the ticket that I needed to get my parents off of my back.
They wanted me to marry someone rich and powerful like John. The idea of
having to go back to them empty-handed again, was just too much for me.
“I just don't want you to hate me, John.”
“I could never hate you, Lisa. I just didn't know how to tell you that it
was over and I could have done a better job of letting you know. That's why I
wanted you to come here today.”
“I half-expected that you would want to rub it in my face. You know, the
marriage to Dina and all.”
“That was not my intention ever. I just wanted to let you know that I
forgive you. And I hope that you will forgive me. I could have done better
with how I responded to everything. It really did come out of the blue.”
I waved him off and told him that there was nothing to forgive.
“Trust me, John. If anybody knows that love is complicated, I do. We
always seem to love the wrong person and I am happy for you and Dina. You
guys looked so happy out there.”
It was strange to be at my ex-boyfriend's wedding, but there had been a
feeling of peace that came over me when I saw the two of them together. That
was what true love was supposed to look like and before I knew it, one man’s
face came to mind.
It was a long lost love, or at least, that’s what I thought it had been. Frank
had made me cold, even though it had been forever ago. I would never forget
my first love, nor my first heartbreak. I doubted that I would ever find what
Dina and John had found together.
“Thank you, Lisa. It means a lot to us that you came out to see us get
married. I am glad that there isn't going to be any bad blood between us. I
know that you and Dina have made peace and I'm really happy about that. I'm
not going to lie, I was a little worried about it at first, but now I see that Dina
was right. You really have changed.”
“I don't know if I've changed, John, but I do know that I'm getting back to
my old self again.”
He smiled at me and I knew that for once I had done the right thing. It
was something that I had been trying to do for a while and I was thankful that
I had finally done it. Dina had been hard enough to apologize to. Somehow it
had been worse with John. Maybe because we had so much history.
Now that it was over though, I felt like things could finally get back to
normal.
I just had to find out what normal was now, which seemed to be no easy
task.
 3

FRANK

“F
rank, man, what the hell are you doing out here? The party is
in there and it's for you.”
I looked in through the glass doors and saw all of the
people drinking, talking and having a good time in my house. The problem
was, that even though I was surrounded by all of those people, I still felt
alone. It didn't make sense that I should feel this way, but it was a nagging
feeling that had come year after year more intensely.
“I'm good, Eddie. I am just starting to get a headache and the music is
kind of loud.”
“Do you want me to go in and have them turn it down?”
I told Eddie that I was fine and sent him back in. He was my old manager,
but also a close friend. He knew that I was in my melancholy mood and there
wasn't really much that could be done about it. It was one of those times that I
couldn't get out of my funk, and even though I was trying to calm myself, it
did not seem possible.
My drink was empty, but I detested the idea of having to go in there and
talk to one more person tonight. The only problem I had at the moment was
an empty glass and no way to get off of the balcony. After a few seconds of
considering, the only option that I had to stay away from these damn people,
was to jump off the second-story balcony into the pool. The lights weren't
even on, but I had done it so many times in the past, that I landed flawlessly.
I made my way to the downstairs bar, because obviously one wasn't
enough, and made myself another drink. I found a bench by the pool and tried
to push everything out of my mind.
“Hey, Frank. I have been looking all over for you.”
Tonya was all smiles and I could tell by her flirty eyes and her walk, that
she was a little tipsy. She wasn’t an ex, but we had been together in the past.
It had been a one-time thing as far as I was concerned. I would bet she
wanted to make it more than that.
“I am just out here trying to get some quiet.”
I was trying to be nice. I was trying to hint to her that I wanted to be
alone, but of course she did not take it.
Instead she sat down next to me and leaned in against my shoulder.
“I will be quiet out here with you.”
I didn't say anything, because there was really nothing to say. Unless I
was practically mean to her, I wasn't going to get her away from me. Women
these days didn't make any sense. They seemed to like when you were mean
to them and it made them crave you even more. I didn't understand it, but I
did not have the energy to play these games tonight.
After a few minutes, it became clear that she wasn't going to leave and it
was even more transparent to me that I wasn't going to be able to stand all of
her mindless chattering. While she said she was going to come out here and
be quiet with me, she had not taken a breath since she sat down next to me.
“I have to get some sleep, Tonya. I have something to get to early.”
She made a dramatic pouty face and asked me where I was going.
“I'm going to a friend’s wedding. We used to do a lot business together
and since I was just recently hired by a friend of the family, I have to go out
and send my regards.”
“Don't you mean congratulations?”
“No, I think I said it right. Have fun at the party.”
 I started to go in and she tried to stop me. Before I knew what she was
doing, her hand was going down my pants and she was asking me if I wanted
a little bit of company. Like I said before, Tonya was one of many women
that just could not get the hint.
“Not tonight, Tonya. Thank you though.”
I had to physically pull her hand off of my arm and again she started up
with the pouting. At this point I really didn't care if she was upset or not. I
needed my distance and for heaven’s sake, I needed some quiet.

T HE WEDDING WAS GRAND , although I knew that it would be. John had more
money than God and he spent about half of it on the wedding from what I
could see. I talked to him for a few moments and it was good to catch up, but
mainly I was surprised at how happy he looked. I always went with the
thinking that marriage was the first step into the grave, but I could tell that
John did not feel that way at all.
I was enjoying myself and all the festivities, but all of that came to a
shattering stop when I saw familiar black hair from across the room. It wasn't
just black. It was so black it was almost blue in the light because of the Indian
heritage. I knew right off the bat who it was and my heart started to beat a
little harder in my chest.
The woman I was admiring was curved with a nice round ass and long
legs. I would remember those legs anywhere and I knew if I got a little bit
closer and lifted up the tight red dress she had on, there would be four or five
tiny little stars going up the back of her upper thigh. The last one ended at the
bottom of her butt cheek, and I remember quite fondly kissing and following
the stars.
When she turned around, I realized that it was Lisa, but I also realized
that she had changed quite a bit. Lisa had always been beautiful, but now she
was sophisticated. She didn't wear those same glasses that had made her look
even more nerdy than she was. Lisa had an IQ that was far higher than mine,
and I had always liked the way those glasses looked on her. But now, there
were no frames to cover her delicate features and brilliant brown eyes.
Now I was seeing that it had completely covered her face and the only
time I saw her like that, was after we had been together sexually. She would
always take her glasses off before she would ride me and a few things played
in my head immediately. To be honest, I didn't want them there, because it
just gave me a tightness in my loins that I had to ignore.
Her dark brown eyes were scanning the room looking for someone and
they stopped on me. I could see the stricken look that came over her face and
I hated the idea that I was the one that made her feel that way. It was certainly
not the way that she made me feel and again, I felt guilty. All of a sudden the
reason for that look on her face came to mind and I felt like crap. The most
beautiful woman in the room, and I had turned her down so spectacularly
horribly, that I have never forgotten it in all of these years. Never could I
forget the pain on her face that I’d caused.
I started to go towards her. I didn't really know what I was going to say
yet, but I convinced myself that somehow I was going to say and do the right
thing so that she could finally forgive me. Hell, I needed to forgive myself. I
had always wondered what had happened to Lisa. She had transferred out of
school in the middle of a semester and went out west. I never expected to see
her here, but I’d hoped that she would be here to represent her father’s
company.
If I was a gentleman, I would have let her be. I had humiliated her before
and the same look that came over her face when she spotted me at the
wedding today, was the same expression that I had seen in the midst of my
beer buzzed rant back then. I had to make things right.
Lisa had always been my biggest regret. I don't know why, but I really
wanted to believe that somehow she would see how sorry I was and forgive
me. I don't know how complicated it all was, but I didn't want to think about
it. Maybe the whole reason that I had canceled meetings to come to this
wedding was because of this. Something had told me to agree to it and
RSVP. And I wanted to believe that it was because of Lisa.
 4

LISA

D
amn it. Why was Frank here? Out of all the places he could be and
at all of the weddings that he could have been at, why was he at
this one? As much as I told myself that I had gotten over what he
did to me ten years ago, in that instant seeing him, I knew that not to be true.
The man had wrecked me and there was no way to get around that.
So, when I saw him coming towards me, of course I did the only
dignified thing I could do. I ran.
There wasn't very far to go though, so when I got to the coat room and
saw that I was at the end, I looked around for another door. There had to be a
way out of the reception hall, some way that I could get out of here and not
have to see Frank. He was the last person that I wanted to see, ever really. I
don't think I could ever get over what he did. There was no forgiveness for
Frank inside of me.
Then he was coming around the corner and I just stopped, frozen in place
like a deer caught in the headlights. I didn't know what to say, what to do and
when he took a step towards me, I took another step back.
“What are you doing here?”
“I am here because I know the groom. You?”
I had to say something and since I had barked the question and he had
answered so nicely, it seemed obvious that I had to at least give him an
answer.
“I know the couple.”
His eyes were roaming over me and I was trying not to do the same.
Frank had always been my Achilles Heel. He was too damn handsome for his
own good and of course, he knew it. He was the type of guy that walked into
a room and every woman in it turned to look at him. It was instant and
biological. There was just something about him, and those magnetic eyes of
his finally made me look away.
I almost wanted to see a little grey in his chestnut-brown hair, or some
kind of wrinkles across his perfectly sculpted face, or even a little bit of chub
around his Adonis body. But none of those things happened. He was still just
as delicious as he had been before and the charisma was practically pouring
out of him. It seemed like a professional NFL career had really done wonders
for his confidence. Unfortunately, that was the last thing that he needed,
because he had already thought that he walked on water. I can only imagine
what he thought of himself now.
“You look good, Lisa. I mean damn good. I almost had a heart attack,
seeing you across the room. Without your glasses on, you look a lot
different.”
“Do I look more like your type now? You know, dingy kind of women
with low IQs, that never challenge you?”
It all came out in a rush and I honestly wished that I could take it back. I
was being rude, even to my own ears and even knowing what he had done to
me. Just because he was that way, making a scene and humiliating me in
front of people, I knew that I wasn't going to do that. It wasn't just the fact
that I wanted to hold on to my dignity as best as I could, but also because I
was in the middle of a wedding. It wasn't the type of situation where I could
walk away and pretend like none of this had happened. I didn't want to do
that.
“Sorry, that was rude. I am just going to go. I would think that you would
have caught the hint when I started to walk away when you walked towards
me, but obviously that isn't the case.”
He was a little surprised by my venom and honestly, I was a little
surprised as well. I had spent all these years telling myself that I didn't care
what Frank thought of me. I did care though and that was the biggest surprise
of all. Just seeing him like this was really messing with my head.
I tried to walk past, but he stopped me.
“We should at least be civil to each other.”
“Why the hell would I be civil with you? You're lucky that I have a bit
more respect for myself than you did. Last time we met, you made one hell of
a scene in front of everybody. You're lucky I'm not into that kind of public
humiliation like you are.”
He tried to comfort me or something, I don't really know what he was
trying to do. All I know is, that he moved towards me like he was going to
touch me and I jerked back so fast like he was on fire. That was the very last
thing that I needed. Years ago, every time we would get into an argument, he
would distract me with touches and kisses. I couldn’t let him do the same
thing to me again. Not today, or ever.
“You know that I regret doing that, Lisa. You have to know that.”
“It doesn't matter if you regret it or not, Frank. I haven't thought about
that in a very long time.”
That was a lie.
“It seems like you're still a little bent out of shape about it.”
He was trying to make light of the situation and for a moment, I almost
took the bait. I wanted to rail at him and explain to him what his humiliation
had done to me. How I had changed and grown colder now. I was living a life
that I knew was a lie.
All of it was because of Frank. Everything would have been different if
that day after the football game, he wouldn't have said what he said at the
party. My whole life would have been different. Of that I have no doubt.
 “I'm not out of shape about it, but I have learned to keep certain people
out of my life. It was just for the best. Some people could really make me
crazy.”
“You know, they say that every bad emotion is because of a good one that
is felt for a person.”
He had this smirk on his face and so help me, it pissed me off so much. I
hated how he was just laughing everything off.
“Well, I hate to say it, but it was horrible to see you and I hope that I
never have to again. You can live with your regrets, because I have none of
my own.”
“Alright then. I wasn't trying to upset you. I really wasn't. I just thought I
would come over here and say hello to one of my new co-workers. I should
have waited until Monday I guess.”
He was the one that started to walk away now and I was the one trying to
stop him.
“Wait, what!?”
“Your dad didn't tell you? Of course he wouldn't. Well, he hired me last
week to take over Tony’s position. He told me that we would be working
together again. I was actually surprised that he knew that we had even dated,
but he said he remembered me.”
My head was hurting because it was running so fast. The last thing that I
wanted to hear was the idea that me and Frank would be working together.
“My father wouldn't do that. He knows what you did to me and how I feel
about you.”
Frank just shrugged, acting like nothing was a big deal and I couldn't
believe it.
“Maybe he thinks it's time that we bury the hatchet.”
“That is never going to happen. I will never be able to forgive you for
what you did.”
 5

FRANK

T
o be honest, I was not expecting her to still be mad at me. It had
been such a long time ago, but it was clear to me that Lisa was not
the forgiving type. When she said that she would never forgive me, I
felt that in my soul. Seeing her now, I can see all of the pain that I caused her
and I can't say that I liked the looks of it very much.
“Calm down, Lisa.”
“I do not want to calm down, Frank. I just want to leave. Can you please
move?”
I was standing in front of her because I did want to talk to her, but she
was making it clear, that talking was not something she wanted to do. When I
started walking over towards her, I had thought that this conversation would
go so differently. I wanted her to feel that same attraction that I felt toward
her. I wanted to tell her I was sorry, but I don't know if she would even be
able to hear it now. Maybe the best thing I could do was move to the side.
“Well then, I guess I will see you Monday morning. I just figured it
would be better to get this out before we were in front of everybody at work.
Your father just hired me and I do not want to start off on a bad foot.”
That made her scoff and she told me that she was going to do her best to
get me fired.
“Didn't you make enough playing football? Maybe you should just live on
that money and get out of the business world. Or, at least get out of my
world, Frank. You don’t belong here.”
She walked past me quickly and even though she was pissed off at me
and looking at me like I was some fresh hell, I couldn't help but smile. She
was just as beautiful as before, even more indignant, and all of the trappings
from the past were still in play. I still wanted her. I wanted her back then, but
it had been too complicated. My life was a lot less complicated now. Maybe a
good challenge was all I needed, to get back on the right footing.
John asked me what was going on when I saw him a bit later. I guess I
had some sort of look on my face. I really don't know. All I know for certain
was I felt embarrassed. I felt like all of the wind had been taken out of my
sails.
“Not much. I just ran into Lisa. I didn’t expect to see her here.”
“Yeah, we dated for a while. She was actually the person I was dating
when I met Dina. It got a little messy there in the end, but I'm glad that we
could all work it out. I'm glad that she's here.”
As soon as John said something about dating Lisa, this look came over
his face it pissed me off more than I could ever imagine. The last thing I
wanted to think about was John being with her. Anyone being with her.
I know that I was the one that had broken up with her. It really had been
the only chance I had though. It was something that I had to do. Lisa had
always been too much of a distraction.
“I'm glad that she's here too. I haven't seen her in a long time and I
wanted to catch up with her.”
We looked over to where Lisa was standing and she was giving me a
death stare from across the room. That made John chuckle and he told me
that it looked like she was not so happy to see me. He obviously found it all
funny, but I had a feeling that he had gotten the same looks. Lisa's face was
always pretty clear about how she felt and right now she was not very happy
with me at all.
 “Maybe you should go over there and try to make up with her?”
I shook my head. There was no way that I was going to do that.
“Why not? She is single now you know.”
The last thing I was thinking about was getting with Lisa. It had certainly
been on my mind when I first got to the wedding and I figured out that she
was here, but that had quickly changed. It did not matter if that's what I
wanted, I certainly was not going to get it. I was going to have to wait, and
even though I wasn't very good at it, I knew that I had no other choice.
“No, I don't think she is ready to have that conversation. She likes to hold
a grudge.”
John emphatically agreed and I felt a little bit better. I wasn't the only one
that had disappointed her. I didn't understand how it was going to play out
though. I did have to go to work with her on Monday, and since her dad
owned the company, I didn't want to make things any more complicated than
they already had to be.
Somehow I had to make it up to her. Not just because I had thought about
her over the years and realized my biggest regret was breaking up with her,
but also to make it easier at work. I had made a lot of money playing football,
but at the same time, money went by a lot quicker. I had a little bit saved up,
well a lot saved up, but I wanted to finally use my degree.
I didn't talk to John very long, because he was the groom after all, and
everybody wanted to have a conversation with him. Everybody was wishing
him well and I was keeping my eyes on the woman from across the room that
kept looking at me. A song came on that we used to dance to and I started to
approach her to see if she wanted to dance, but once again, she retreated. This
time I didn't chase her.
I knew things were going to be complicated with Lisa, but I had no idea
how complicated they were really going to be. This was not going to be the
easy conquest that most women had turned into. This was going to be a
challenge and it reminded me of why I first started noticing her to begin with.
 When we were in school I noticed Lisa because she was one of the only
women there who didn't notice me. Now she noticed me, but it was definitely
a different type of attention than I was used to. I was used to women
practically falling all over themselves to get to me, but not Lisa. Never Lisa.
She was the type of woman that needed to be chased and I was ready to
go for it. I wasn’t going to let her slip away, not again.
 6

LISA

D
ina came over and asked me if I was okay. I didn't know the
answer to that if I was honest with myself. I never knew that I
could feel so many emotions in one moment. Or maybe I was just
unused to the attraction and the need that I felt when I was with him. It was
different than anything I'd ever felt before. I've never felt this way with John,
or anyone else. Frank had always been different.
That was what bothered me the most. It wasn't the fact that he was here or
the fact that my father had hired him for some ungodly reason. What
bothered me the most was how he had affected me. He was the only man who
broke my heart and it felt like he still had that power. That was the scariest
part of all to me. I didn't want anybody to ever have that power over me
again. I was never going to let someone hurt me like that again. I wouldn’t let
it happen, not again.
“Who was that guy?”
“He was a guy I dated a long time ago.”
“You don't seem very happy to see him.”
“He broke my heart freshman year when I was in college. And he did it in
front of everybody. It was the most humiliating moment of my life and it was
something that I never forgot.”
Dina had that pity look on her face and I didn't like to see it. I didn't want
her to pity me. I didn't even really care if people understood me. But I was
trying something new and I told her a little bit about the situation.
“So you really loved this guy, didn’t you?”
I agreed that I did. “I think he was the first and maybe only person, I’ve
ever really loved.
“That's pretty deep, Lisa. Are you sure that you don't want to work things
out with him? Maybe you just need some closure.”
The last thing I needed was closure. What I needed was for him to just go
away, so that I didn't have to think about him. How was I supposed to do
better and be a better person when the main reason that I had gone towards
the dark side was in front of me? I just needed to get away from him and it
wasn't going to be possible at the moment. At the moment, I was supposed to
go to work with him on Monday and I couldn't even imagine that. How in the
world was I supposed to just let it all go?
“No, I don't think I need that at all. For some reason my father hired him
and I'm going to have to see him Monday morning at work. I don't even know
what position he has, but from what he said, it's pretty high up.”
“Wow, I can't even imagine that.”
“What I can’t imagine is that my father would even hire him to begin
with. When we were dating and I was in love with him, my father found out
about it and told me that I had to break up with him. More than once. He
actually at one point, said that he was going to cut me out financially if I
didn't find someone more suitable.”
Dina looked over at Frank. “More suitable than that?”
I waved her off, because she didn't seem to understand much about my
family. But truthfully she did. She had her own family that did the exact same
thing. When a woman came from such a well-known name, it became very
clear very early on that they were expected to do more and to marry better.
“Back then, he wasn't what he is now. He did not have all this money
obviously and he didn't come from a very wealthy family. He was playing
football, on a full ride scholarship, and my dad said that he was another
charity case. Of course he didn't realize what was going to come of Frank. I
always knew that he would do something great.”
The emotions were too much and I felt my voice break. Why did I care so
much?
Wetness that ran down my eyes just made me even more upset and I
brushed them off angrily. I wasn't going to let him get to me. He had made
me cry many years ago when he embarrassed me, but I was never going to let
him do that again. I had always promised myself that I would never allow
anybody to treat me badly like he did again.
Dina gave me a hug and most of the time, I would have just pushed it
away but she was different. I had learned a lot from her, and even though I
knew I had a lot more to learn, she had helped me immensely.
“The wedding was so beautiful, Dina. Thank you for having me. I think
I'm going to take off though. I think I've had enough fun for one night. I wish
you guys all the best. I really do.”
Dina smiled and kind of shook her head. “I never thought that we would
be in this kind of place.”
“I know. It's kind of crazy, but I'm glad that we're friends.”
“Me too.”
I left the wedding not long after that, because I said all the goodbyes that
I needed to. One person that I avoided was Frank. I wasn't ready to have any
kind of conversation with him. What I wanted to do was get home and get
some sleep. It had turned into an extremely long day.

T HERE WAS a heavy knock at the door Sunday morning, and when I looked at
the clock, it was only nine o'clock in the morning. That was too early for me,
especially since the weekend was the only days that I didn't have to wake up
at six o'clock in the morning.
“Who is it?”
I hollered through the house as I was getting my clothes on. I didn’t know
who it was, but I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I knew that much for sure.
When I got to the door, it was a man holding flowers. The delivery guy
asked if I was Lisa and he handed me the flowers.
“Thank you, but I didn’t know I had some coming.”
“There is a note in there. Would you like me to read it to you?”
I disagreed, because there was no telling who they were from. I thanked
him, gave him a few dollars for a tip and then smelled the roses that were in
the vase. It was a pretty arrangement, but I swear, I was looking at it like it
might blow up. Why did someone send me flowers?
The note was folded in half and had butterflies on the front. They’d
always been my favorite and now my curiosity was peaked. I had no idea
who had sent them, but they must know me pretty well. Then I saw the name
on the card. I almost threw them away. Of course it would be Frank.
‘I hope that you can forgive me. I hope that we could go back to the way
things used to be. Love, Frank.’
Now I felt like I wanted to be sick and I pushed the vase away from me.
Not only had it ruined my mood so early in the morning, but it got me out of
bed as well.
I heard another knock at the door and I sighed loudly to myself. There
was no way that Frank should even know where I live. This better not be him.
 7

LISA

“W
hat?!”
I opened the door so quickly because I was so sure
that it would be Frank on the other side of it. I don't
know what came over me and I don't even know what I was going to say to
him when I confronted him, but that was exactly what happened on my mind.
“Chill out, geez. I was just coming to say good morning.”
“I'm sorry.”
This time it was out of relief. The last thing I wanted to see in the
morning was Frank and the roses with a card with his name on it, had been
bad enough. I don't think I could have taken him in person. Not today.
I moved out of the way so that Angie could get in and she asked me who I
was pissed at so early in the morning.
“You would not believe the day that I've had.”
“It's nine o'clock in the morning, Lisa. How bad can it be?”
The thing with Angie was, that even though she was my cousin, we have
been raised as siblings and I didn't have to say anything more to her about it. I
just handed her the card and watched her face change as she read it. There
was a bit of shock on her face, just like I knew was on mine.
“You can't be serious?”
“No, I am. Can you believe that?”
 “No, I really can't. Why in the world would Frank send you roses? What
happened that I obviously don't know about?”
I told her about the wedding and Angie told me that it was strange enough
that I went to it to begin with. I had to agree, but at the same time I was
happy that I had made my amends with Dina and John. I still felt bad about
all of that.

I' M glad I went to the wedding, but I wouldn't have gone if I had known
Frank was going to be there. As soon as I saw him, I swear my stomach
dropped and I tried to literally run away. Do you know how long it's been
since I felt that way?”
“Ten years. That was when you stopped feeling anything, Lisa. Frank
really did a number on you. So why is he sending you flowers now? Is it just
because he saw you at the wedding? I feel like I’m still missing something.”
I told her about the short confrontation and she was all for it, telling me
that it was good that I got it out.
“But you haven't heard the worst part.”
“It gets worse than seeing your ex that destroyed your life ten years ago?”
I shook my head in agreement.
“Well lay it on me, cuz. What happened?”
“Well, he also told me that my father hired him into the company. Not
just that, he hired him into the branch that I work in.”
Her face dropped and her eyes got a little bit wider and it made me feel
better, because that was exactly how I had reacted to it as well. I was still in
shock if I was honest with myself. I knew that my next step today was going
to be going to my parents’ house, but I wasn't looking forward to that at all.
“Are you kidding?”
“I wish I was. I really do. I don't know what to even think about this. If
I'm honest with myself, I feel like my own family has betrayed me. They
gave me such a hard time when it came to Frank and now, they are
completely fine with it. It just doesn't make any sense to me.”
I could tell that she agreed with me and that was all I needed to hear. I felt
like at least somebody was in my corner, because she knew about our past
and everything. I wasn’t crazy for feeling this way. The man had done all
kinds of things to me and I think he had changed me completely.
“So what are you going to do, Lisa?”
I just kind of shrugged because that wasn't something I really had an
answer for. I took a sip of coffee that she had brought in and sighed. “I think
right now, all I'm going to do is drink some coffee and try to wrap my head
around it. I'm not really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.”
“I bet not. Do you want me to come in with you?”
I waved her off and told her that she didn't need to. Angie was pretty
protective of me, which was kind of funny, because she was at least six
inches shorter than me. She was tiny, but she was mean, and I thought about
it a little bit longer and harder than I should have. Of course I didn't need her
help. I had spent all this time becoming a strong independent woman for a
reason. I could handle Frank, even if he made every single bone in my body
ache.
The more we talked, the more I was able to relax. Angie was single and
she understood how crazy it was in the dating pool. Not just that, she had her
own heartbreaking relationship and it changed her as well. It made us bond
and feel closer to each other. There was nothing like shared experience to
really drive a point home. It also made us feel like we weren't alone.
Finally she got me out of my funk that I didn't even realize I was in and
we decided to go out for lunch. Knowing that Frank was somewhere lurking
around the city, even though it was big, didn't make me feel any better. My
luck had run out when it came to Frank.
I didn’t think much about it the rest of the day. Angie grabbed a few
friends and we made our way out to the beach. It was later in the season, so
there weren’t a lot of people. But since the weather had been so hot, it was
still a beautiful day.
We stayed most of the day there, having a bonfire when it started getting
dark. It was the perfect ending to a rather emotional and stressful weekend. I
was able to put all of my cares aside and think less about the fact that I was
going to have to come face to face with Frank again, real soon.
 8

FRANK

I
sent the flowers, to hopefully send an olive branch to my new
employee. She didn’t realize yet that not only did her dad hire me, but
he hired me for the position right above her. As mad as she got just
from seeing and hearing that I would be working in the same building as her,
I couldn't imagine how upset she was going to be if she found out the rest.
Now that I was in the building though, realizing that I was going to be
right next to her office, I realized that this probably was the worst way for her
to find out. I had tried to smooth things over with her so it wouldn't be so
awkward, but it really wasn't possible. She would not listen to any sort of
reason and once again, I really don't blame her for it. I knew damn well she
had her reasons.
As I waited for the rest of the office to get there, I sat in my own office
and tried to get my mind right. Since seeing Lisa again, I wasn't able to eat
right, play or even sleep right. I wanted to spend every waking moment with
her, nothing else mattered.
When I was young, virile, I wanted to spend my life playing a game I
loved, and it was hard for me to give it all up on love. Love was something
that would come again. I was so sure of it then. I questioned everything, my
feelings and emotions towards her. In the end, I had to do it so publicly, I had
to break her heart, because I knew that it was the only way that we would be
apart. I had to make it so she would never want to be with me again and in
doing so, I had screwed my future without even realizing it. Now I wanted all
of those things back and I didn't think I would be able to get them.
I saw Lisa walk in. I had left the door open because her father wanted me
to have a meeting with everyone, just to introduce myself.
She stopped when she saw my nameplate on the door. It was a change
that must have happened over the weekend because it hadn't been here when
her father had showed me the office when he hired me. Lisa was instantly
mad, and I actually braced myself for attack because I figured it was coming.
If the meeting at the wedding had anything to do with it, I was expecting her
teeth and claws again.
Instead of coming into my office though, she went right to the source.
Lisa jerked the door open to her father's office and shut it rather loudly. It
wasn't exactly slammed, but no care was taken for the noise level. I started to
wonder if the offices were soundproof. Very quickly, me and pretty much
everybody else on the floor, realized that it wasn't.
“You hired him as my boss?! Are you fucking kidding me?!”
I had never known Lisa to curse very much, but she seemed very open to
it now. She was speaking these words to her father after all and I was in
shock.
“Now calm down, Lisa. This is not the time or place for this.”
“It's going to have to be, father. You did not even tell me about this. You
did not think to warn me.”
“You were supposed to see Frank at the wedding. I figured that you two
kids would work things out.”
There was a sound of frustration and then nothing. The silence was
damning and definitely not the same time. I wanted to hear what she was
saying. I wanted to know what was going on in the room, but apparently one
of them had calmed down the situation enough so that it was not broadcast to
the rest of the employees. At this point, I really wanted it to be.
 Then I heard a beep on my phone and I pushed the blinking red button.
“Frank, why don't you come in here so that the three of us can have a
conversation.”
There was a sickening feeling in my stomach because I didn't want to deal
with both of them at the same time. One on one was bad enough. Each of
them was more than one person could take on average, their intensity hard to
handle. They were both overwhelming and demanding. I took a deep breath
and went towards my new boss’ office. My new boss, that was also my
would be ex's father-in-law. This was going to get complicated.
I knocked on the door and for a moment, I hoped that they would tell me
never mind and I could walk away. This was not a situation I wanted to be in.
I don't think anybody wanted to be in this particular situation, so it was a little
bit harder than I would have imagined to get myself together. How do you
steel yourself for this sort of moment?
“Come in!”
The words were said sharply and I could tell that Clinton was aggravated.
Clinton Gibson was used to getting his way. He most certainly was not used
to being talked to in such a manner, especially not by his own daughter. I
couldn't even imagine what the old man was thinking right now. I could see
that neither one of them looked too happy to see me come through the door
and that was not reassuring at all.
“Good, Frank. I'm glad you're here. I am sorry for the ruckus that my
daughter has created. I'm sure that's going to get you a few looks until they
get to know you a little better. She can be a little excitable at times.”
For a moment, I wanted to agree with him because it was the truth. She
really was excitable and dramatic and had been known to have more than one
conflict with people hearing it. She had no problem getting her point across
but on the other hand, I kind of felt bad for her too. Her father was making a
lot of assumptions and I felt like I had to set the record straight. It may mess
up my job that I just spent months getting, but I didn't care.
 “Well to be fair, sir, I think your daughter has a reason to have this anger
towards me. You know a bit about our past and I'm sure you know that I did
not handle things all that well.”
I could see Lisa looking at me a little surprised. I don't know why I had
said that. I shouldn't be contradicting my boss, but she didn't deserve the way
he was talking. He was talking about her with her in the room, like she was a
child. Lisa was most certainly not a child.
“You may be right, son. All I know is, that this is the work place and we
have to put all of that behind us. That happened ten years ago. A lot has
changed.”
I agreed with him and told him that I was willing to do what it took to
make the transition easier.
“I think we just need to all get together, Frank, and have dinner. Why
don't you come to the house tonight? Then you guys can hash it all out and
figure out how you’re going to work together. I have several projects that
you're going to be heading up together, so we need to let bygones be
bygones.”
The last part was pointed towards Lisa, but anger just masked any other
kind of expression on her face. Maybe there was nothing else behind it but
madness. As much as I hated to see her upset with me the way she was, I did
deserve it. I had been an ass and I had been rather naive to think that I could
come back into her life and everything was going to go back to the way it
was. That had been my mistake, but now I realized that maybe peace was just
going to be a longer road than I first expected.
The funny thing was, even with that realization and knowing that I was
going to have to put more work into it, there was nothing that I wanted to do
more. Being without Lisa all of these years taught me one thing. I wanted her
back in my life. It didn't matter how long it took. I was in it for the long haul,
which was one of the main reasons that I even got this job.
I was going to make Lisa forgive me. One way or another I would get her
back.
 9

LISA

I
tried to get Angie to come with me to the dinner. She was family after
all and I felt like I really needed somebody on my side. The problem
was that Angie knew it was going to be a complete shitshow and she
refused to go. I couldn't really blame her. Not really. I didn't even want to go
to this family dinner, so why would I expect her to want to?
That left me going all by myself and I can't say that I was too happy about
it. I felt like I was being attacked on both sides. My father had chastised me
for the way I acted at work today. I don't really blame him for that, because I
had been completely out of line. I was just so shocked to see Frank there. I
knew he was going to be there, he told me that he would be, but I couldn't
believe it. He was not only working for the company, but he was my boss
now. It had just been too much and I had lost my cool for a moment.
I told myself that I wasn't going to do that again. I was going to go over to
my parents’ house and be as civil as I possibly could be. At the same time
though, it wouldn't have hurt my feelings all that much, if they would have
decided that it would be easier if he went to another branch. He could be one
of the VPs somewhere else. He didn't have to be here. Or I could go. I didn't
even really care at this point, as long as I didn't have to see Frank every day.
There was a small hope inside of me that my father would see how
distressed I was about the whole situation and he would fire him. That would
probably be the best scenario that I could think of, but I knew that the
chances of it happening were very small.
When I got there, there were several other cars in the driveway that I
didn't recognize. I hoped that there would be that many more people there. I
think that dealing with my parents and Frank at the same time, was more than
enough excitement for me.
Frank was outside and he was standing next to my father on the porch.
They were smoking a cigar and laughing about something. That just grated
my nerves even more than before. Why was my father all of a sudden buddy-
buddy with him? Ten years ago, he didn't even think he was worth dealing
with and now something had changed. The problem was that none of it made
any sense. Why was Frank worth it now? He had some money, sure, but his
bloodline was still the same and that was what they said was the problem.
My father greeted me and I said hello to be polite. I did not say hello to
Frank and before I was forced into it, I went into the house. I know that this
was supposed to be a time for us to reconcile, but I still do not think I wanted
to do that. There was no reason for us to be friends. There was no reason for
us to be anything as far as I was concerned.
When I got in the house my mother was in the kitchen and I gave her a
hug. She had this weird look on her face and I could tell by it, that she had
talked to dad. He never understood me and this was just a prime example of
the fact that I don't think he was ever going to understand me. My mom
though, she had been a little bit more easy to deal with in my younger years.
My father was unrelenting, but my mother had learned to give in a lot. Most
likely because she was married to him.
“Are you ready for this evening?”
I told her that I wasn't and she agreed. “I didn't think it would be a good
idea, but you know how your father is. He thinks that he could make things
happen whether they are meant to or not. Just do the best you can.”
I had to wonder for a minute what exactly that meant. Did she mean that
she wanted me to try and get along with Frank? My mother had been very
vocal about the fact that she didn't think Frank came from a good family. My
father had been right along with her, but it was my mother that had been
against Frank from the beginning. She had told me that he was too much of a
player to ever be a husband.
‘How could you be with somebody if you are constantly looking over
your shoulder to see if they were doing you wrong?’
That's what she had told me then and it had stuck with me. It helped make
it easier to deal with the fact that he had pulled my heart out of my chest and
stomped on it. My mother framed it in a way that made me feel like he was
doing me a favor. At least he was revealing himself and his true nature then,
instead of years down the road when I’d wasted all my time.
“I just want this night to be over with.”
“Believe it or not, Lisa, so do I.”
“Really? I would have thought that this was your doing. You are the one
that always wanted everybody to get along, as long as we weren’t together.”
“I know what that boy did to you. I remember you coming home that
night. You stayed in your room for almost a week and you would have gotten
a failing grade in math because you weren't there for the test. Everything that
you had been working so hard for, would have been for nothing. All because
of him. I remember quite well and I will admit that I was a little surprised and
upset with your father for hiring him. I knew there was going to be
problems.”
My mother didn't usually speak ill about my father at all, so I was a little
surprised at that. But I was feeling a little bit better. At least someone else
knew what I was going through. My mother had brought up a lot of memories
that I didn't want to think about. All of that hurt that I had experienced for
those dark weeks after we broke up had changed me in a way that I could
never really explain.
“I couldn't believe he hired him either. Not only that, he's my boss!”
 I was working myself up thinking about it and then I heard the door close
and the screen door slam. They were now in the house and my mother looked
at me. She had a look that told me it was time to stop the conversation, but I
was already way ahead of her. I just wanted to get through the night.
Dinner was as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. We spent half of it
listening to how great Frank was. If I didn't know any better, I would have
thought that my father was trying to set me up with Frank. It would have
been funny, if it wasn't so maddening. Ironic more than anything else.
After it was over, I tryied to get myself excused from the table, but
instead, I was sent out to have a drink with Frank on the porch. It was on my
father's request and for some reason I just went with it. I don't know why my
father was acting the way he was, but I just played the part of a good
daughter and went out for a minute.
As soon as we were out there, Frank started to talk and I just told him to
shut up.
“I don't know what the hell you said or did to make my father act the way
he's acting, but just know that I see right through you. I don't care if you have
convinced them that you're a good guy. I know better.”
Frank looked at me a little strangely for a moment and I could tell that he
was taken aback. It was much like the first time I had seen him after all these
years at the wedding. It felt like so long ago, but it really wasn't.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
“Do I really have to answer that?”
“So you do hate me?”
“Yeah, I really do, Frank.”
It wasn't the first time that I had said or thought that, but I knew that it
was the truth. After everything he had done to me, the only thing I could feel
was hate. I wish I could get to the point that I didn't care, but I wasn't there
yet. Right now it was still hate.
“You know what they say about hate, Lisa. To hate someone, you have to
have strong emotions for them.”
I scoffed and shook my head. He really didn't get it and I was starting to
wonder if he was genuinely delusional.
“You can think whatever you want, but I'm done talking to you. I'm going
to stay out here for a few more minutes to please my father and then I'm
going in the house. I really have nothing to say to you.”
“And how are we going to work with each other? You can't just pretend
like nothing happened and keep this hostility between us.”
“I have worked there for a long time and I'm going to go to work
tomorrow and do my job. That's what I do every day. If you don't want my
hostility, then maybe you should find a different job. I'm not going anywhere.
This is my family’s business.”
“I never said that it wasn't. I just want to find a way for us to get through
this.”
This time I snorted, because I couldn't believe what he was saying. He
really just didn't get it, did he?
Instead of waiting around to make my father happy, I just walked away
from the house. I really didn't care what he thought at the moment. I needed
to get away from Frank. There was no way that I could be around him right
now.
 10

FRANK

J
ust when I thought our last meeting couldn’t get any worse, we had
this one. It all started out so well. I knew that her father was trying
to mend bridges and I still wasn't sure why exactly, but it certainly
had not worked. I think she was even more mad at me, now she told
me that she hated me. I mean, it wasn't really a surprise, considering what
happened between us, but it was still hard to hear it. I loved her and I didn't
want to hear about how she hated me. That was literally the last thing I
wanted to hear.
Even in the midst of it though, I liked to see her anger and how beautiful
she was in it. She said she hated me, several times, but I liked to think that
there was something more there. I didn't want to believe that there was no
way for us to work through this. I even felt like being yelled at by Lisa was
better than nothing at all.
It made me smile and I went inside for a few more minutes before I
bowed out gracefully for the night. I wanted to mend things between me and
Lisa, but I wasn't going to be able to do it with everyone around. This was
something that was going to have to happen between us and I was sure of
that. All I had to do was spend some more time with her alone. Then, she
would see that I was for real.
I have never had a woman turn me down and I didn't think it was going to
start now. She just had to remember what it was like when we were together.
We had some good times, before I screwed everything up. All I had to do was
remind her of that.

T HE NEXT DAY AT WORK , I went in early and I was surprised to see that I was
not the first one there. It wasn't even seven o'clock in the morning, yet I could
hear someone clicking on the keyboard. When I got down to where the
offices were, I could see that it was Lisa.
“Good morning.”
She looked up from her work for only a minute and then back down. She
mumbled something that could have very well been a good morning, but I
couldn't tell. Whatever it was, it was half-ass, but I wanted to stop and talk to
her for a minute. It still didn’t feel like it was the right time. I had to find a
way in and at the moment, I was coming up with nothing. How was I
supposed to win her over?
When we were in school together, it really came down to just coincidental
meeting. She had been my tutor and one moment she looked at me, those
eyes, that face, and I had seen how beautiful she was. And just like that, we
were together.
The problem was, that I couldn't use that tactic this time. We weren’t
young anymore and I had realized a long time ago, that women just got more
complicated with age. Considering the distance between us lately, it wasn't
that hard to come to terms with.
The hardest thing I was having a problem with, was the fact that I was
stumped. I never felt this way before. If I wanted something, I just got it, it
was just that simple. Now, everything was questioned and it was not a normal
feeling for me. It wasn't a feeling that I liked either.
Later I had to call a meeting to get everyone on board. The company was
very large and it had many components to it. There was research and
development of new technology, as well as all sorts of manufacturing arms
that took care of not just the production of many products sold by the
company, but there were several contracts to build others people’s products.
Since we worked in the main headquarters, everything was filtered
through here. It was a big job and a big opportunity. I was new to this sort of
work. Everybody knew that I was a football player, so I had a lot to prove.
Now, I had to show them that I also had a business side. I went to college
for four years to play football, but I had also gotten a diploma like everybody
else. I had spent a lot of time proving how tough I was, but now I wanted to
prove that I was more than just a guy who could take a hit.
The meeting started at nine oh five and most everybody made it in to
work on time. There were a few people that I noticed coming in a little later
and I was going to make sure that I said something to them later. There were
a lot of little problems that had to be taken care of and Lisa's father brought
me on for that reason. He figured that I could be tough and get the job done.
A lot of my experience had come with being my own manager and making
some good contracts. I had done it to better myself. It was then that I realized
I really enjoyed business. It was a revelation that took me by surprise.
So I was nervous, because not only did I have Lisa mean-mugging me
from the other end of the long table, but I also had twenty other people
looking at me for answers. There was a little hostility and I wasn't sure what
it was from. I had a feeling that a little bit of it must be from the fact that
many thought I had taken Lisa’s job. She had been working at the company
since she left college and it would have seemed natural that she would have
taken over. She was family after all.
I never really asked Clinton why he did not want her to be the VP. But as
I looked out at all the people looking back at me from the conference table, I
could see that they were wondering the same thing. Why would he hire an old
football player to be the second in command of his company, when his
daughter was right there? She had done a damn good job of keeping
everything in line and the company was more profitable than it had been
ever.
“Thank you guys for come into the meeting. I believe in quick meetings,
but every day. It's good to get a stock of what needs to be done for the day
and I think this is the best way.”
I could already tell that some people weren't too impressed with it. I don't
know if they had many meetings before, but especially at first, I wanted to
get to know everybody and I wanted to know everybody's strengths and
weaknesses. I also wanted everyone to get to know me, so that I could open a
line of communications. I was more of a hands-on boss and I was hoping for
a better reception than I got. I had several note cards that I didn't even go over
because there was just a weird vibe in the air.
At some point, I asked if they had any questions. I knew the only way that
I was going to be able to strike up a conversation with everyone was to be
completely transparent. I told them if they had any concerns, I wanted to hear
about them. I wanted them to know that I was there to make it better.
Then the questions started and of course, the first one was about me
playing football. Several of the guys in the office knew that I played
professionally or they had seen me play. They wanted to ask specific
questions about specific games and plays that I’d done many years ago. I
tried to answer as many questions as I could, but it became clear that nobody
had anything to ask about the actual job itself.
At that point, I just kind of ended the meeting, though I knew I didn't get
near what I wanted to get done, done. I was just going to have to be happy
with slow progress for the moment.
Everyone was filing out of the room slowly and I could see that Lisa was
falling behind.
“I don't think I've seen you choke that bad since homecoming.”
“Tough crowd.”
 “Maybe just like then, you don't have the skills to deliver what you
promised.”
And for a moment, I forgot that she hated me and had told me so the night
before. I got a little closer to her and whispered something in her ear.
“Of all the problems that we had, Lisa, me delivering my skills was never
one of them. You being able to handle them…now that was something.”
I almost kissed her cheek, but I pulled myself away and at the same time,
she pushed me back on the chest.
“That may be so, Frank, but I learned a long time ago that it certainly
doesn't mean everything. Lust is just a distraction more than anything else.
Although I am glad that I came to the meeting to see you fail so miserable.
It's good to see somebody else getting humiliated.
She walked away again and as much as I was peeved at her comments, I
still enjoyed the fight. What was it about Lisa, that made me want to keep
trying? I didn't have to. I could easily call up several women and have them
in my bed every night of the week if I wanted to. But at some point, I realized
that it wasn't enough. Just like at the party last week. I was surrounded by
people but I still felt alone. I have never felt that way with Lisa.
 11

LISA

A
s much as I wanted Frank to keep on failing at his new job, after
the first initial meeting, he really hit the ground running. Within a
couple of weeks, everyone had pretty much gotten used to him
and even though I still couldn't stand him, even I had to admit that he was
doing pretty good. He spent a lot of time learning the job and I even saw him
down in the factory a couple of times. On all accounts, it was far better than I
thought it would be.
On some accounts though, it was worse. I was nervous around Frank
pretty much all the time. Since he was my boss, that meant that I had to work
with him quite a bit. There were some issues with some of the contracts we
had and the machine fittings of certain factories. It was a big problem which
required us to go out to several of the factories. That meant that I was going
to have to travel with him for about a week to four different locations. That
meant more time together and I knew that it was going to be hard.
The first few days were okay because we were so busy that we didn't
even have time to be awkward. We were at the factories most of the day and
left about six. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was dinnertime and I
would just order something in. He asked me several times to go out with him,
but I just told him I preferred room service in my pajamas.
That worked alright for three days, but then on the fourth day after I hung
up the phone with him, I heard a knock at the door. It was Frank and I was
already in my pajamas.
“I thought the pajamas thing was just a thing to say.”
I looked down at the shorts and camisole and shook my head.
“I hate business attire. I wear it because I have to, but it is a necessary
evil.”
“You use the word hate a lot.”
“Fine, I dislike business attire. It's more comfortable this way.”
He was looking me up and down and making me nervous. I moved so that
my body was behind the door a little bit.
“What do you want?”
“If you keep asking me those kinds of questions, Lisa, I'm going to give
you an honest answer.”
“It doesn't matter what you want, Frank, because if it's what I think it is,
you're never going to get it.”
“You know I always like a challenge.”
This little back and forth that we had going on between us was not
working for me. I didn't want to laugh or drink with him. I didn't want things
to become easier between us. I didn't want to forget why I couldn’t be around
him and why I couldn't have feelings for him. If I did, then I ran the risk of
making the mistake that I had made before. He was not going to make
everything better. He was not going to somehow take away the last ten years
and all the feelings that he had brought up. Nothing could, and being around
him was bad enough.
“Seriously, what do you want?”
“I just wanted to see if you wanted some company, Lisa. You have been
eating in here alone by yourself and you haven't had any fun at all. We are in
Chicago. There is deep dish pizza places everywhere that I hear are the best.
Why don't we go and get some real food?”
“I have real food coming.”
 “What is it?”
I sighed and shrugged. “Steamed fish and vegetables, I think.”
“That doesn't sound very appetizing.”
He was right. They really had a limited menu for the room service and
since I had tried almost everything else, I had gone with the salmon tonight.
As soon as I ordered it, I knew that I didn't want it, but going out with him
was something else altogether. I could feel that it was going to turn out badly,
and I knew it would turn out worse for me. Frank never got hurt, because
Frank didn't care.
“Wouldn't you rather have deep dish pizza from an authentic Chicago
pizzeria?”
It did sound good, but I knew that it would be a mistake. Even as I
nodded my head in agreement and said that it did sound good, I knew that I
was making a mistake. I should just tell him no and be done with it.
“Well then, let's go.”
“That means that I have to put on some work attire. I really don't want to
do that. Besides, my dinner will be here in a little bit. There's no sense in
wasting it.”
“Always so sensible. How about I go get it and bring it to you? Then you
can have the best pizza in the city, from your hotel room, and you don't even
have to take off your pajamas. Well, I mean you can, but you certainly don't
have to put on a suit. You wouldn’t have to put anything on.”
He was talking fast and before I could tell him no, he told me that he
would be back in a few minutes. I didn't have time to protest. I didn't have
time to do anything except watch him leave and wonder how the hell I got
myself into this. I should have just said no. How hard was it to say no?
The answer to that question was clear. It had always been almost
impossible to tell Frank no and this time was no different.
 12

FRANK

I
got back as quickly as I could with the pizza and I beat the room service
guy by about thirty seconds. I actually passed him in the hallway and
for some reason, I felt like if he got there first, I was going to get turned
away. I don't know why though. The pizza smelled amazing and it looked
even better.
When I got to the door, I knocked and waited for her to answer. She told
me to come in and I did. I also slipped the room service guy a nice tip and
grabbed the plate that was going to keep me out. I set it by the door with the
lid on and wasn't even going to mention it to her.
“You know that it's wrong for you to bring up pizza. It's my only
weakness.”
“I seem to remember that you had several weaknesses. Like that spot on
the small of your back that used to make you shiver. The fifth star to the
north…”
She gave me a dirty look and I just smiled innocently at her. She had to
know that this was going to happen. There was no way that I was going to be
able to keep my mouth shut. She used to like that about me, all the
compliments and innuendos, but she was not as happy about it this time
around. That much was for sure.
We watched a movie and ate pizza. I had known that she loved it, from
when we were together before. When she picked what we had for dinner or
where we were going for a date, nine times out of ten, she’d wanted pizza. I
was glad to see that not everything had changed.
The movie was a romantic comedy and there were a couple make-out
scenes that she got really nervous through. I caught her looking at me
strangely out of the corner of my eye and when I turned to her, she looked
away.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Why did you take this job?”
“It's a good opportunity, Lisa. I can't play ball anymore because of my
knee and I wanted to get into business. That's what my major was in school.”
“I know that you were studying business back then, although you weren't
really studying anything, except women's underwear if we're going to be
truthful. But what I mean is, why my dad's business. I'm sure that there were
other opportunities that you could have taken, so why did you choose to work
here?”
There wasn't really an easy answer to that and I felt like if I told her the
truth, then whatever game was going on between us, would be over. She was
just not going to be able to accept it. It would seem like a conspiracy to her. I
knew Lisa and she would not be happy with the answer. So I lied. It wasn't
the kind of lie that I felt guilty about though. It was a necessary evil because
she still wasn't ready to know what was going on between us.
“It was just a good opportunity, Lisa. I wanted to get into a good
company and your father's is one of the best. The opportunity was presented
and I took it.”
I knew that I was not being 100% honest in the way I was wording it. I
was leaving a lot out and being just as shady as if I was straight up lying to
her. She would not see the technicalities. And I knew that.
“Didn't you think that it might be a little difficult working with me? I
mean, after all of the history that we have together.”
“I want to work with you, Lisa. That's what you don't seem to
understand.”
She set down her piece of pizza and just kind of looked at me. “Maybe it
doesn't matter what you want, Frank. You certainly didn't care what I wanted.
This is just ridiculous, you know that, right? I mean, this is my family
business and you just show up and take the job that was supposed to be mine.
How did you think that was going to go?”
“I guess I didn't think about it like that. I didn't know that you were going
to take the VP position. I didn't realize that that was in the works.”
It wasn't as in the books as it sounded.
“I have been waiting for my father to let go of some of the controls for a
while now and then he goes and gives it to you. Surely you can see how that
might be a little upsetting to me.”
I told her that I could see how she would feel that way. Hell, I would
probably feel the same way. The truth was that the opportunity was brought
to me after her father heard that I was in town. I had also made some
inquiries and once he heard about it, he decided to give me a call. This was
an opportunity that I couldn't pass up, and I had thought it would be a good
way to get back into Lisa's good graces.
I admit to thinking about her a lot over the years and it just felt like fate
was stepping in to bring us back together. Maybe that whole idea had been
naive.
“I don't want to upset you, Lisa. If I'm being honest with myself, I still
care deeply for you.”
That made her scoff and she just kind of shook her head. I had a feeling
that I went too far.
“People don't do that to others if they care deeply for them, Frank. I really
don’t think you actually know any better.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
 “Because I think you're incapable of love.”
“I saw how quickly you moved on after you publicly humiliated me and
dumped me in front of the whole school. You did not seem to deeply care
about me at all.”
There had been a couple of moments, where I thought that everything
could be behind us, but once again I hadn't been really thinking straight. I
was more believing what I wanted to believe, instead of what the facts were. I
knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy road, but I somehow thought that
after a couple of weeks, we would be further along than we were. If I asked
her now, I could almost guarantee that she was going to say that she still
hated me. That bothered me more than I could explain.
“I will always regret that. Really and truly.”
She didn't seem as mad, but there was definitely not conversation of how
she forgave me. I honestly didn't know if she ever would.
It was the first time that I honestly thought that maybe all of this was just
a horrible idea. Maybe she was right. I hadn't even thought about how it was
going to affect her. All I have been worried about was the idea of seeing her
again and having her back in my arms.
It was selfish now that I think about it. I had tried to see it as romantic.
After all this time together, how could I have imagined such things would
actually happen? I never stopped to think if me showing up out of the blue
like this and thrusting myself into her life would cause her pain and strife. I
was rather embarrassed about that fact all of a sudden.
“I wish there was something I could do to make you understand how
sincere I am.”
“Maybe what you could do for me is pretty simple. Maybe you can just
back off. Not try to be nice. Stop trying to be my friend. Stop trying to get me
to forgive you, Frank. Just leave me be.”
She was getting a bit emotional and if I was true to myself, I was a little
happy to see that. It gave me hope that she still cared, at the same time it hurt
me to see her upset.
Seeing Lisa cry when we were breaking up at the football game was one
of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. I can still see her face very clearly
and the way her eyes had welled up with tears. It was not my finest moment.
“If that's what you really want, Lisa, then that's what you get. I really
never meant to hurt you.”
She didn't scoff that time and it was a little bit more comforting. I know
that I could not stop what I did, but I really hoped that she would see I
regretted it immensely. It really was going to be one of the biggest regrets of
my life.
I left the hotel room and I was losing hope that I could pull this off. I had
kept telling myself that all I had to do was show her how I had changed and
how things were different, that she would finally see that I was sorry and
accept my apology. I had all these grand ideas in my mind how everything
was going to work out, but it just hadn’t worked out that way. Instead, I just
lost hope that we could ever work things out. Maybe I really had just messed
it up to the point there was no going back.
Why did it hurt so much now, to think that I lost her for good? Too much
hope had been given to another chance, that now I didn’t even know if I
would actually get it or not.
 13

LISA

I
watched him go and I was actually rather surprised that he left. He had
been so adamant about spending time together and reliving all of our
past, that I found it rather strange that now he was going to listen when
I told him that I didn't want to be involved with him. It didn't seem to matter
the other ten times I had told him or when I was quite clear and said that I
hated him. But now he seemed to get it. It didn't make any sense and at first I
figured that it was just something he said and that everything would go back
to the way it was the next day.
That didn't happen though. The next day he was nothing but professional
and cordial with me. There was no smile that promised pleasure and there
were no more innuendos that I had grown accustomed to again. There was
nothing and as strange as it was, I actually kind of missed it. It felt like Frank
had changed and I didn't really care for the change. I didn’t know what I
wanted, but not this.
This was what I asked for. I asked him to just leave me be and that was
exactly what he did. And once I told him to leave me be, of course I didn't
want him to anymore. It was crazy how my mind worked sometimes and now
that he was finally giving me peace and quiet like I wanted, I wanted
something else.
I don't really know what I wanted, just that I knew that pretending like
nothing happened and there was nothing between us, was not an option
either. It was also hard for me to pretend like I felt nothing for him. I had told
him that it was hate, but I was afraid that wasn't true. I felt a lot of things for
him, but it wasn't hate. As soon as I lost his attention, I wanted it back.
Convinced that I must be losing my mind, I decided that the only way to
combat all these strange feelings, was to avoid him at all costs. That meant
staying away from Frank as much as I possibly could. He was my boss, so it
wasn't all that easy, but I did my best. I knew that if I got around him, I was
only going to think silly thoughts that were going to get me in trouble.
That worked pretty well for about a month. He was super professional
and I just avoided him until I didn't have the option. As much as I liked to
think that I was stronger and independent and I could avoid feeling anything
for him, I knew that wasn’t true.
It only worked if I stayed completely away from him and again, my plan
was thrown off course with another business trip with just me and him. Frank
was supposed to go with my dad, but I had been roped into it somehow.
I wasn't as nervous about this road trip as I had been the one before. We
only had to go to two places and since they were pretty close, we were just
going to take a car. It was only one night instead of four, and those were all
good odds.
There was also less anxiety about the situation because I knew that he
was respecting my boundaries. It still gave me mixed emotions that I didn't
quite understand, but at least it was one less thing that I had to worry about.
When it was time to leave, I noticed that we had a driver and it reminded
me of taking trips with my dad. He had never liked to drive very much.
Frank opened the door and waited for me to get in, before he closed it
behind me. All of a sudden, he was a gentleman and it was still rather
confusing to me. I had never seen Frank that way and it was strange to see it
now.
My thoughts stopped when he got into the back of the car. It was quite
roomy, but Frank was a very big man. He was well over six and a half feet
tall and his shoulders were wide and his biceps were bulging. He looked
every bit the football player now, that he did then. Unfortunately, he was just
as good looking as he used to be as well. None of those factors were really
helping me at the moment.
I hadn’t been worried about the trip, until now. How was I going to last
several hours in the back of this car with him? How was I going to do that
and not feel anything in the process? That was the real quandary and it was
one that I didn’t have an answer to.

I WOKE up on Frank's shoulder and there was a little bit of slobber on his
shirt. I hoped that he didn't notice it, but it still did not stop my face from
turning red. I was hopeful that I could wipe it off without him knowing it, but
he made a comment about it just to make sure that I knew that he knew.
“I don't think I have ever seen somebody sleep so hard. Did you take
something?”
“No, I guess I was just more tired than I realized.”
“It's okay. I think that is the first time that we have been together this long
and you haven't yelled at me.”
I stretched a little bit because I was aching from the strange position I had
my neck in.
“Well, just give it time. I am sure that it will change.”
He chuckled at me and I sat back up, but I was being more serious than he
realized. Every time I was around him, he did something to me and all I knew
for certain, was staying away from him was becoming harder and harder to
do.
There was a silence that stretched out between us for quite a while and I
tried to deal with it. I didn't want to feel the nerves though, so I decided that
maybe it was easier on both of us if we talked. There was one thing in
particular that I was curious about and I knew that I wasn't going to get the
answer that I needed from anybody else but him. I certainly wasn't going to
get a real answer from my parents.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course. What do you want to know?”
“Why did my dad hire you for this job? I mean, out of all the places that
you could have worked, why did you pick here?”
“I told you before, that the opportunity presented itself and it was a good
opportunity. I couldn’t pass it up.”
“Did my father come to you about the job?”
He looked at me a little strangely for a moment and asked me why my
dad would do that.
“If I remember correctly, Lisa, your dad pretty much hates me.”
“That's what I thought too, yet here you are. That's what makes me
wonder why you're here. If he hates you so much, why did he hire you to be
my boss?”
He told me that he didn't know why my father did the things he did, but I
didn't believe him. It was just the way that my dad was acting, that told me
there was something else there. The problem was, I didn't know what and I
felt like nobody was telling me the truth.
“So you're telling me that my dad didn't try to get you to work here, that
this was all your idea?”
“I don't know if I'd say it's all his idea. I did apply for the job after I heard
about it.”
He was being purposely obtuse and I wasn't sure why. I know what my
mind had come up with and it was some big conspiracy that didn't make any
sense. None of it made any sense and it certainly didn't make sense the way
he made me feel. Why did I have such a pull to him? It really pushed the
bounds of my reality and knowledge.
 “I don't feel like you're being honest with me.”
“When I heard about it, I jumped at the chance because I wanted to see
you again. If you want to know the truth. You’re the main reason I even got
this job.”
I kind of laughed a little bit, because I thought he was joking. I realized
quickly that he wasn't.
“Do you know how crazy that is, Frank? I mean, we were together and
you broke up with me and humiliated me in front of everybody. Why would
you want to get together now? And why do you think that I want to get with
you?”
He was quiet for a moment, looking out the window like he was going to
find the answer he was looking for there.
“Let's just say that after ten years away from you, Lisa, you're the only
girl that I can't get out of my mind. That has to mean something.”
I wish that I didn't want to hear the answer so badly. It was really rather
tricky, because it was what he had done before. But for one reason or another,
I really liked his answer. It was good to know that he was affected by me,
because I was certainly affected by him. He had changed my life completely,
twice now.
“It does, Frank, but I don’t know what.”
 14

FRANK

T
he meeting in Chicago went as planned. We had implemented a few
changes to the factories and how they did business. Basically we
were just there to make sure that everything was going the way it
was supposed to. I didn't need Lisa to come with me, but when asked who I
wanted to come, she was the first person that came to mind.
Things were a little more open between us and once we were done with
the meeting, I asked her if she wanted to go out for some dinner. Every time
before I had asked her, she had made an excuse and basically got out of it.
This time I wanted to make sure that she said yes. I was getting very
frustrated with the speed at which Lisa was taking forgiving me. It was time
for her to hurry it along.
“Fine, we can go out. I am starving anyways. I haven't gotten anything
since we left.”
“Do you want to go to the Thai place or Chinese?”
“You don't like any of those. Remember? You only liked meat and
potatoes from what I remember.”
“A lot has changed, Lisa. I have broadened my horizons.”
That just made her smile and she just kind of shook her head in
agreement.
“Well in that case, why don't we go out for some Thai. It's good to know
that you have changed a little bit.”
“I've changed more than you think I have, Lisa. I've grown up from the
guy that thought he had the world at his fingertips.”
“The world is at your fingertips though, isn't it?”
“It is, but like everything else, all the things that are really worth having,
are a lot harder to get.”
Lisa looked down and then out her window when I was giving the driver
new instructions. I didn't know any places in New York with that kind of
cuisine, but he said that he did and within a few minutes we were at a
restaurant. I told the driver that we would be a little while and I would give
him a call when we're ready to leave. I figured that he wanted to have some
dinner as well.
I took this as a good sign. Now at least she was going out with me. That
was the first good news that I had had in a long time. At some point, I knew
she had to forgive me, but I was hoping that it would be sooner rather than
later. I had never been a patient man and when it came to Lisa, it was harder
than I could've imagined. I just wanted her to see the potential.
When she’d asked me questions about her father earlier, I was maybe a
little nervous, because I was just as curious about her father’s change of mind
as she was. Her father had decided that he wanted me back in her life, for one
reason or another. I had heard some stories about Lisa having trouble with
getting married. I wanted to think that it was because of me, but I didn't want
to be wrong.
“This place looks nice.”
I told the hosts to sit us in the back because I wanted a quiet place for the
two of us to talk. I could have had a conversation with her anywhere, but Lisa
had always been a lot more shy than I was. Or at least, the old Lisa was. She
had changed quite a bit as well. Sometimes I couldn't even see the same
nerdy girl that I remembered. It almost made me sad, because her weirdness
was what made her unique.
 When I got to the table, she looked around and I could tell that she was a
little nervous. Did she know what my plans were? Could she tell somehow
that I wanted to ravish her right here and now at the table?
“It's really dark back here.”
“I thought it would be good to give us a little privacy. I think we have a
lot to talk about.”
“I don't know if I want to talk about it. It's been a long time, so what's the
point of drudging it up? Maybe just not tonight.”
“Can we then forget about it and move on?”
Lisa agreed and smiled at me. I started to move towards her for a kiss and
she stopped me.
“What are you doing?”
“I thought it was pretty obvious. You said that we could put it all behind
us, so I would like to move forward.”
She giggled, but then she was shaking her hand.
“You really don't get it, do you? Just because I don't want to get into the
past, and just because I say that I can look past it, doesn't mean that there is
going to be any kind of future for me and you. You're my boss, and that's the
end of it.”
I leaned a little closer to her. I could see that she was shivering. Lisa
didn't move though. She wanted to prove to me that I wasn't bothering her,
but I knew it was a lie. I could literally see her shaking and I just moved a
little closer to her ear.
“If I am just your boss, then why are you trembling so much, Lisa?”
The heat from my breath made her shake with electricity from me and her
breath then hitched in her throat. It was the sound, or the lack of sound, that
may me close my eyes in pleasure. Lisa never really did get what she did to
me. She made me a little crazy.
When I pulled back, her eyes were glistening a little bit and I could tell
that she was trying her best to hold herself together. The waitress came
through and took our drink order, giving us both a minute to catch our breath.
I had kissed a lot of girls and this time around, and in truth, the first time
around, Lisa affected me more than all the rest. Why did it take me so long to
realize that? The biggest mistake of my life was thinking that she could
somehow be so easily replaced.
The waitress left and Lisa asked me what that was.
“I thought it was pretty clear.”
“It was, but why did you kiss me?”
“I've been wanting to do it since I saw you at the wedding and you ran
away from me, Lisa. How do you not know this?”
“Because I don't understand you. One minute you want me, the next
minute you're humiliating me and breaking up with me in front of everybody,
and then the next minute you're popping back into my life years later and
kissing me like that.”
“I made a mistake all those years ago and now that I know that I made
this mistake, I want to fix it. I just want you to let me fix it, that's all.”
She wasn't certain if she believed me or not, while I could see that there
was a softening of her features. Lisa may not be completely in my corner yet,
but I was just so sure that it wouldn't take long at all. All I had to do, was
figure out how to get past the last few bricks of her inner wall. I could see it
crumbling, right in front of me.
That’s at least what my optimistic mind was thinking anyways.
 15

LISA

T
he kiss was too much. As soon as I felt his lips on mine, I knew I
was in trouble. It was just like before. The world stopped and all that
was left was Frank. Now he was talking and it looked like it was
important, but I couldn't pay attention. I was just kind of out of it and all I
could see was his lips moving.
“I feel like you're not even listening to me, Lisa.”
“I am, really I am.”
“Even now, you're not a very good liar.”
“That isn't true. I have been a very good liar in the past. Trust me on that
one.”
“You don't seem to be so good at it now.”
“And why do you say that?”
“Because I know that you are trying to hold in your feelings for me, but
you can't. You're sitting there shaking, and I'm not doing anything but sitting
next to you.”
“That doesn't mean I'm lying. That just means that you are different. You
always have been to me and for one reason or another, you seem to get under
my skin more than anybody else.”
“Is that so?”
He had that smile back on his face and it was hard to look away. He was
going to kiss me again, and for the life of me, I was unable to move. All of
the desires and pleasure that he had given me before, were still involved.
Even though Frank could be cocky about his skills in the bedroom, I would
be the first to say that everything he said was true and more. That was a place
that we had never had a problem.
The kiss was deepened and I’m not even sure who did it. It very well
could have been me. I felt like I was outside of myself, watching someone
else get touched and seeing Frank devour me.
I don't know what came over me, but a glass hitting the table pulled me
out of the moment. I was able to get my bearings and remember that we were
actually in a restaurant. This was the last place that we should be doing this.
My face was on fire and my heart was beating hard in my chest. There
was tingling in most of my body and especially in places that I wasn't
supposed to think about. He was doing exactly what I knew he would do.
This was why I had to keep my distance from him. And it was also the reason
that I didn't want to.
“When you kiss me, Lisa, I almost think that you want me just as badly as
I want you.”
I didn't answer because there was really no point. My hand shook a little
bit as I took a drink of the wine, but it's settled rather quickly. He was right
that I used to not be a person that could deceive someone, but recent events in
the past, showed me that obviously that wasn't the case. I had changed
throughout the years and sometimes not in a good way. Why did Frank get to
bother me so much and no one else could?
“So how long are we going to play this game?”
“What game?”
“The one where you pretend like you want to do anything besides get
together?”
“Are you so sure that that's what's going to happen?”
“Are you telling me that you do not want it to be?”
 I shook my head and stopped. It was just a bunch of questions and I didn't
really have an answer to any of them.
“It was just a kiss, Frank. I think that you’re getting ahead of yourself.”
He agreed, but then kissed me again.
I stopped him.
“We are in a restaurant and there's people around us.”
“You never used to mind when there were people watching before. And
like you said, it's just a kiss.”
Like so many times before, I found out he was using my words against
me and this time I was going to do my best to not let it happen.
I was thankful that the waitress brought our lunch and even more happy
that we had picked Thai. It was one of the faster to-order foods, so now we
didn’t have to chat anymore.
If I could have moved my chair a little bit farther away from him so that
he couldn’t get ahold of me, I would have done just that. But, I didn't want to
show him how much I was bothered by it all.

B Y THE END of the evening, I was coming to several conclusions in my mind.

None of them were much different than what I had thought before. I had told
myself so many times over the years that if I ever had a chance to see Frank
again, I would give him a piece of my mind. And I had done that. But now
what? Before, I thought I would just ignore him, but there was no ignoring
Frank. And there was no ignoring the nagging need that came over me every
time he was around.
I should have gone up to my room after we got out of the car and say
goodnight. Nothing more. That's what I should have done, but instead I asked
him to come over and have a nightcap with me. I wasn't quite ready to leave
the evening behind. There was much to think about and after all the thoughts
were through me, the only thing I could come up with to do was get the need
out of my system.
I had convinced myself that it was only physical. Obviously all I had to
do was have sex with him. It was no big deal. It's not like we haven't done it
before. But then I would be able to get my mind back and I wouldn't have all
of these crazy reactions every time he was near. How was I supposed to work
with Frank, if I couldn't even be in the same room with him without shaking?
I just needed to get him out of my system. That's all it was.
As I had become a good liar to others, I had also become a good liar to
myself. I had actually convinced myself that I would be able to control my
feelings for Frank. The truth is I should have known better. I hadn't been able
to control him before and that's why I had left the way I had. What made me
think that I was any stronger than before?
Even while I thought that though, all of the doubts that whirled around in
my mind, I knew what was going to happen when he came up to my room.
It's what I wanted to happen. All I had to do was get him out of my system
and I could go back to the way things were. I could go back to not feeling
again. I really, really missed it.
 16

FRANK

T
here was definitely something different in the air. I wanted to think
that it was because of the kiss, but it was becoming clear that it had
nothing to do with me. Lisa had decided that she wanted to be with
me. It was just that simple and I could see it in her face. I could also see it in
the way that her body moved towards me. Lisa always had this hold over me.
That's why I was here, and she was there.
She handed me a drink and I took a step, before I took a bigger drink.
“You remembered that I like whiskey.”
“I remember a lot of things, Frank. I remember the things you do when
you're on whiskey. That is more what I have in mind.”
There had been a thing with us and for some reason, every time I started
to drink, all I wanted to do was please her. The drunker I got, the more I
wanted to make her scream and I used to take my time with it. I would go as
long as I possibly could, licking and tasting her, before I would finally slide
inside of her to finish us both off. It was all I could think about right now and
I finished the glass.
“You know what whiskey does to me.”
“I do.”
“Are you telling me that's what you want?”
Inside I was begging her to make that the reason. I don't know what was
going on with me. I really didn't. But I did know that she was finally coming
to terms with it. We were meant to be together. I had figured it out years ago
and now it was her turn.
“Maybe it is what I want.”
“All you have to do is ask, Lisa. Hell, all you have to do is tell me I can
and I would be more than happy to make you scream till your hoarse like old
times. I still remember the way you change after the third or fourth one. You
become a wild woman. I don't need whiskey to push me over the edge.”
She looked away for a moment and I could tell that my words were a bit
too forward. I was so used to women that liked it that way. They wanted me
to talk dirty to them and call them names that I would never want to call
them.
But not Lisa. She was more delicate and I had to keep reminding myself
of that. She had always been my delicate little butterfly and nothing had
changed. I don't care what anybody said and I certainly didn't care to hear
about all the rumors. Lisa was always going to be Lisa to me. I would always
see her as perfect, because there's no other way to see her.
“I see that you still have hesitations.”
“You have a power over me, Frank, that scares me. I just don't want to be
hurt again.”
I saw her bite her lip and she turned away again quickly. I don't think that
she had expected to say that, because it certainly looked like she wasn't
wanting to. Had it just poured out of her, like my words before had poured
out of me? Where there was no reason to say it, but only because of a need
inside of me that I didn't understand? Something inside wanted me to get it
out or it was going to leak out somewhere else.
“I'm never going to hurt you again, Lisa. You just have to believe me this
time.”
“I believed you before and it didn’t work out. Even though you promised
not to hurt me, you did. You know that I still play that day over and over
again in my head? It's something that I can't stop thinking about. I don't know
if I will ever be able to forget about it.”
She paused. “I want to forget about it. I know that you used to be able to
chase all of my worries away. Can you do that again?
“Yes.”
Just like that, I realized that talking wasn't helping the situation. We had a
lot between us and maybe the only way that we were going to be able to work
it out, was the way that we used to. Just because we were older now, did not
mean that we had to work things out any differently. I was so convinced if
she would just give me a chance, I would be able to erase all the worries. I
had been able to do it before.
I moved closer and touched her cheek lightly, letting my fingers run down
to her chin and then down her neck. I stopped for a moment at her shoulders
and moved so that she was in front of me. I rubbed her shoulders lightly,
focusing the long digits on the back of her arms. It had always been one of
those things that Lisa liked. It was so simple, but I could see goosebumps
going over her flesh. The lightest touch had always done it for her.
Finally she looked up at me and her eyes held more emotions than I think
I had ever felt in my whole life. Save for her.
“Are you just saying all of this so that you could get in my pants?”
“Well technically, it's your skirt, and I will admit that I will do close to
anything to get there, Lisa. I don't think you quite realize how much I have
missed you. If you want to know the truth about why I got the job, I went for
it. It didn't just land on my lap, but it took a while to even get an interview
with your father. He had been a lot more open to the idea then I would have
thought. I figured that was the universe's way of telling me that I was on the
right path.”
I was so close to kissing her, but there was still some sort of hesitation in
her face. It was one of the expressions that I had seen before, the one was
desire and need that was pouring out of her. I didn't want to see the doubt
anymore.
“Why don't we just see what happens?”
“I think we both know how this is going to end.”
She said that, and then at the same time, she handed me another drink.
That told me what I wanted to know. This is what she wanted and even
though I didn't need the burning drink to do what was needed, I am sure that
it was going to help it along. It was a lot to have her back into my arms and I
could feel the pressure of it all. This is one moment that I didn't want to mess
up.
I finally pulled her in against my body hard and kissed her like I wanted
to the whole time. I didn't hold back any longer and I could taste the same
whiskey on her tongue. The soft moaning sound that she made, just made me
want her more. Everything that Lisa did, drove me crazy and made me need
her even more than before. She had always had this power over me and now
it was driving me to want her so badly, that I thought my throat might
actually close up altogether.
My hands move up and down her hips and thighs, delighting in the fact
that I actually remembered each and every curve that she had. This was how
she was supposed to feel. This was what I remembered and a surge of desire
came over me. Pulling her against the hard length that she had created, I
wanted her to know how badly I needed her. It was impossible to hide it any
longer.
I walked her into the living room, her going backwards and me sort of
leading the way as I kissed her. I did not want any more interruptions. I didn't
want to talk anymore. At this point, I was here for only one reason and it was
to make sure that she didn't change her mind. If she did, I don't think I would
be able to back off. I was too worked up and in far too much need, to turn
away now.
When she got down to the couch, I sat down and moved in between her
legs, me on my knees. Her legs opened for me almost immediately and the
skirt flipped upward, so that I could see her panties. The quick view that I had
of them, showed a darkened spot in the middle. I really wanted to believe that
it was her wetness, showing me how ready she was.
“You don't know how badly I have been waiting for this, Lisa.”
Lisa couldn't even look at me as I pulled her panties down her thighs. The
panties hung on one of her legs, as I put them on my shoulders. I remember
quite clearly how much she would fight this. Every time she would get close
to an orgasm, Lisa would try and run away from me. I was ready for it
though. I wrapped my arms around her thighs to make sure that I had a good
hold of her. I knew that I was going to need it. I wasn't going to stop until she
begged me to take her.
Lisa was going to remember what I had been remembering all along. And
then she would come back to me. I was sure of it.
 17

LISA

H
is mouth felt as good as I remembered. He always liked to play
games with me, starting at my ankles and slowly moving his way
up. We both knew where he was going and usually I was good
with the anticipation of it. If I was honest with myself, that had always been
the best part. Knowing what was going to happen, waiting for it, and not
being able to do anything to speed it up. It was maddening to say the least.
This time though, I found myself wanting to speed it all up.
When he finally got to his destination, I let out a loud moan, because it
just felt that good. How long had it been since my body had been so ready for
it? I had been with many men in the last ten years, many very skilled lovers
that had done wonders to my body, but there was always something special
about the way that Frank made me feel. It always felt different and he always
left me wanting more.
The first orgasm came in a heartbeat and literally took my breath away. I
couldn't do anything, but stare off into the distance. That's how I knew there
was no going back. I was never going to be able to walk away from him
again. I knew at that moment, that all of my assumptions about how I would
get him out of my system and move on, were wrong. There was no other way
to describe it.
His tongue flicked in and out between my slit, rubbing generously the
already engorged nub that was waiting for him. Each time he did so, it was
paired with damp heat that really drove home the crazy feeling that was
inside of me. As much as I wanted to believe that I could handle the situation,
that I could handle him, Frank always did have a way to completely run over
the top of me. It was to the point that I couldn't say no, no matter how badly I
wanted to.
I could hear hunger noises from him and I looked down to see his eyes
staring back up at me, while his mouth was busy pleasuring me. They were
so dark and needy, that I had to look away. It was too much when added to
what he was doing to me. I knew that there was no way I was going to be
able to handle myself. It just wasn't possible.
I called out his name loudly, my head falling back as another wave of
pleasure took over my body. I tried to escape his tongue lashing, but I wasn't
able to get away. He held me fast and even if I struggled, all it did was move
his tongue on me again. I got to the point that I was almost hysterical and he
finally pulled away, chuckling and wiping his mouth.
He leaned down and gave me a kiss, making it so that I could taste myself
on his lips. His tongue snaked out and touched the inside caverns of my
mouth, reminding me very clearly where he had just been. I was dying inside,
came more than I had in a long time, but I knew that wasn't all. Frank had
always liked to go above and beyond and I know that this time wasn't any
different.
He got off of me and started to take his clothes off. I still had mine on,
except for my panties. He had left it all on, because there was no need to take
it off. He had just thrown my skirt up to my waist and started playing around.
I watched his hard form come into view and I had to swallow hard. Every
hard line that I remembered from before, was still there. Every ripple and
muscle. It was all more than I had expected. I almost wanted him to have
some gray hair or something. Frank being perfect was too hard to handle.
Before I could say something that I was going to regret, like I didn't want
to do this, he was back over the top of me, his body pressed on mine. My legs
had widened to let him in and now he was wedged between them. At first I
thought that he was finally going to push deep and take me out of my misery,
but that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
Instead, he wanted to play with my emotions just a little bit longer. I
jerked every time his fingers passed over the already sensitive part of me. For
one reason or another, Frank really liked to watch me squirm.
“Please, Frank. You know what I need.”
He grinned at me and said that he did. “I also know that you sound so
damn sexy when you beg. Why can’t you do that for me?”
I gave him a dirty look and his finger stilled and then left my core. I was
able to breathe, but I didn’t want to breathe. I wanted him to suck the life out
of me. I knew that he could. He had done it so many times before.
“Please.”
He slammed in quickly and possessed every inch of me. I tried to pull
myself together, but it was impossible, it really was. He just felt so damn
good and I wasn’t able to hold it in any more. I knew that I should. I didn’t
need him to know how desperate I was because of him. He didn’t need to
know these things. The truth was, that I figured that he was going to use it
against me somehow.
I clung to him while he moved inside of me quickly. I wasn't the only one
that was sick of waiting for copulation from the feel of things and the way he
was acting, Frank was ready for it as well. He kissed my lips and then pulled
back and went to his knees. He dragged my body with him and moved faster
in my depths.
I exploded around him and my whole body tensed up painfully. I never
knew that it could feel like this, not after all this time. It felt like it did when I
was younger and the reminder was not helping at all. I was trying my best to
get over him. But being in his arms, him inside of me, I knew there was no
way it was going to happen. Little did I know, I had just made everything
worse.
Several times he slowed down enough for me to catch my breath and
hope for a minute that he was through with me. It wasn't like it didn't feel
good, On the contrary, it felt too good. There was just too much and it was all
overwhelming. I spent most of my time trying to collect myself and hoping
that I would be able to. The other half of the time I was just trying to get
through the next orgasm. I was so sensitive at some point, that I told him he
needed to come or get off of me.
“Surely you don't mean that, Lisa.” He looked aghast.
I told him that I did and he must have seen that I was being for real,
because it was only seconds later that he was filling me full.
“There's no way that I can be done with you and get off. I just never
wanted it to end.”
When he finally pulled out of me, I was able to lie back. Every muscle
was sore from contracting over and over again. My insides were sore, as well
as my hips from being pushed to their own limits to get me exactly where he
wanted. I felt like I had just run a long and very dirty race. All I wanted to do
was look at the ceiling and watch the fan go round and round.
He lay down next to me and when I finally caught my breath again, I
looked over at him.
“Well that did not turn out the way I thought it would.”
“How did you think it was going to turn out?”
I just kind of shrugged because there was no way that I was going to tell
him what I had been thinking would happen. All it would do is prove how
wrong I was and how right he was. I think that he had enough of that for the
night.
“I don't know, Frank. I just didn't think it would turn out like this.”
“Did you think that I would forget how to fuck?”
“No, nothing like that. From what I have read about you, Frank, you were
always get in the bedroom. Not just with me.”
 “So you kept up with me all these years?”
I nibbled on my lower lip and just kind of shook my head. That was
something that he wasn't supposed to know. I was supposed to be this cold
hearted woman that never thought about him again. It was of course false, but
it was something that I had tried to portray for a very long time. It was hard
to tell the truth now. Especially to him.
“It's okay, Lisa. I kept up with you as well.”
 18

FRANK

I
felt like things between us were finally going to move forward. After
ten years, I finally had the woman that I wanted, but now what?
I woke up the next morning and she was gone. Since I was in her
hotel room, I had no idea where she went. There was no ‘Dear John’ note to
tell me why she had taken off, so I started to look around the hotel room.
There was still a chance that she was in the bathroom or on the balcony or
something.
I didn't see her though. I called out to her, before I realized that the
clothes that were on the floor from the night before, were gone. Everything
that she had brought into the room, her backpack, luggage and everything
else was gone. Where had she gone?
I was still naked and I was rock hard. My dreams had been filled of Lisa
and I think it was the reason that I woke up to begin with. I hadn't even slept
a couple hours, but now the opportunity was gone. I wanted her, but she was
nowhere to be found.
Finding my phone, I dialed her number and expected her to answer.
Maybe she was going to tell me that she was down getting us some coffee
and something for breakfast. Anything would have been better than her just
disappearing for no reason. I had to know why.
There wasn't any answer though. I left a message, asking her where the
hell she was and then hung up frustrated. It was then when I was looking at
the screen that I realized that I had a voicemail and I got that sinking feeling
in my gut. It was a voicemail that was going to tell me that she was gone.
Maybe it would go further to say that it was a mistake, what we did the night
before. I'm not really sure.
I dialed up my voicemail number and waited for it to ring. After two
rings, it went to the recording and sure enough it was Lisa. I knew that it was
not going to be good news.
‘Hey, Frank. I hate to do this, but I needed to get back home. I had my
cousin Angie come and get me. I know that we had another meeting to go to,
but I'm sure that you will be just fine without me. This is just way more
complicated than I am looking for right now. Surely you can understand
that.”
There was alarm inside of me for a minute. I thought that was all that she
had left, but then she said quickly that she had a good time and it was good to
see me again. If I didn't know any better, she was acting like we were never
going to see each other again. Obviously that wasn't the case, because I was
her boss. How are we not going to see each other anymore, when we work
together every day?
I hung up the phone in frustration and after a minute, I threw it across the
room. What had gone wrong?
I felt like everything had been going so well and now I was right back to
square one. I was really starting to think that there was no winning with her.
How could I ever get her to trust me again, if she would never give me the
chance?
After a few minutes, I knew I had to get out and get to the meeting that
was scheduled. Someone had to show up and even though I didn't want to go,
I did leave for it. I was still trying to prove myself to Clinton and I certainly
wasn't going to do that, by taking off when there was a job to do. It would not
be the first time that I had to let it all go before. This was obviously one of
those times and the only thing that I could do was move forward, no matter
how hard it was.
I think the worst part about it all was that I’d really thought that Lisa and
I were getting to a better place. I’d falsely thought for a moment, that she felt
the same way. But then again, I’d felt the same way before, and I tried to hold
onto a sliver of hope. Maybe I just needed to give her some time. Then we
would be able to move forward.

I WAS on my way back home after the meeting and I got a call. It wasn’t
unusual to get many throughout the day because my assistant would send
them through to my cell phone if it was important. But that didn't seem to
matter, because I was really hopeful that it was Lisa. The chances were that it
was someone else but her, but I answered with hope anyways. I didn’t even
look at the number.
“Frank, how is everything going over there?”
“The meeting went well and I'm just now leaving. I'll be back in the office
tomorrow morning to tell you all about it.”
“I was told that you were there by yourself.”
“Yeah, your daughter left a little early. I think she had something to do
with her cousin.”
There was silence on the other end and it gave me time to wonder why
the hell he was asking me about Lisa. Then I have to wonder how he even
knew about it. Did he have somebody reporting back to him and if he did,
who?
“Are you sure that something didn't happen between the two of you?”
When he had agreed to hire me, I was wondering what was on the old
man's mind. He certainly didn't like me, had made that more than crystal clear
several times before, but now all of a sudden he was way too interested in our
personal life. What was it that he was getting at?
“I don't know if that's something that I particularly want to talk to you
about. You know that me and your daughter have history and sometimes I
think it's just a little too complicated, that's all.”
There was another silence and I waited for him to say something. I didn't
think that it was really his place, but that had never stopped him before. He
was always putting his nose in other people’s business.
“I think that I should tell you why I contacted you in the first place. When
I heard that you were looking into our company, I have to say, I was pretty
curious. Considering the history that the two of you have together, it was
strange to see you came out of the blue.”
I had no idea where he was going with this, but he had my attention now.
“Then I met with you again and I realized that you had some kind of
feelings for my daughter. I'm still not sure if I'm too happy about it, but there
is something you should know about Lisa.”
The conversation got so serious, so quickly that I was actually worried
what he was going to say. I did not want to argue with him about anything,
but I also wanted to know what he was going to say next. What was it that I
needed to know about her?
After a minute he finally kept talking.
“See the thing is, my daughter changed when you left. I know that it was
our fault. We pushed the two of you apart and then you broke up with her. I
don't really know your reasoning and I can't pretend to think that I know what
happened between the two of you, but I do know what it did to my daughter.
She has never been the same since that happened.”
“What do you mean, she's never been the same?”
“It's just what I said. I think something broke inside of her. I won't blame
it all on you, I share some of the blame, but you have no idea the effect you
had on her.”
I wanted him to tell me more, but at the same time, I was a little worried
about it. Did I really want to hear how I ruined his daughter? And if he really
felt that way, I don't know why we were having this conversation right now.
Why was I working for him?
“Lisa has never loved again. I know that you two were young and we
made it even harder to be together, but I think my daughter really loved you.
After you, I’ve never seen her get close to a man again. I know that it's my
fault. If we wouldn’t have intervened and put that stress on you two, maybe
you two would still be together. And I know that she is too old to meddle, but
I want her to be happy.”
“I broke up with your daughter because I couldn't pay attention to her and
to football. It was the worst time to fall in love. I thought that I would find
another woman just like her. I realized pretty quickly, that was not the case.”
“And then what happened?”
It was kind of uncomfortable to talk to her father about it, but I figured
that the best I could do was just be truthful.
“Then nothing. I went my own way and I haven't seen her since. I looked
you up because I wanted to see if I could get close to her again. We used to
be close and I figured that all we would have to do is be around each other
and then we can remember how good it was between us. I haven’t found love
again either.”
“Well that does not seem to be going according to plan, winning her
back.”
That was a damn understatement.
“No.”
Clinton chuckled on the other end of the phone and then told me that he
was inviting me over for dinner. This was the second invitation I had gotten
in a very short amount of time. I don't know what I was supposed to think
about all this. I really didn't.
“You want me to come over for dinner?”
“Yeah, I will make sure that Lisa is here. You just figure out a way to
convince her to give you another chance.”
“I just don’t get why you’re getting involved.”
“I told you before, I only want to see her happy and knowing that she was
only ever happy with you, I want my daughter back to her old self. You’re
the one that’s going to do it. She’s going to be taking over the business one
day soon, and I need her mind cleared and on task.”
I was a little surprised about the last part, but it made sense. Lisa was very
good at her job and even knowing her father had skipped over her and hired
me instead, she had showed up to work every day and gave it her all.
“I will be there. I don't know how it will work out.”
“We shall see, Frank. You do the right thing. I will do what I can on my
end.”
When I got off the phone, there was a strange feeling that came over me. I
had not expected to have someone like her father in my corner. It made me
think that maybe, just maybe, this might actually work. It was the first time I
had thought that way since it all started.
 19

LISA

“S
o are you going to tell me what is going on, or what?”
I looked over at Angie and I tried to explain to her that I did
not want to talk about it. I'm pretty sure that she already knew
it, but she still was going to ask. I also knew that she was going to ask until I
answered her. She would drive me crazy if she had to. She really didn't care.
“I just didn't want to stay up there with Frank, that's all.”
“Didn’t you have another meeting that you were supposed to go to?”
“Yeah, but that's just not how it worked out.”
She sighed loudly and told me that she didn't know what to think.
“You spent all this time trying to get over him and now I can't even
believe that you were going to meetings with him. He’s dangerous.”
“You think everything is dangerous.”
“When it comes to Frank, yeah I do. He has always had some kind of
control over you and I never did get it. I just don't want you to get hurt again.
I feel like you're setting yourself up for failure.”
“That very well may be, Angie. You would definitely be giving me hell if
you knew what happened last night. And to answer your question, it was
probably the sex. He’s really good at certain things.”
“I knew that you guys had gotten it on as soon as you got in the car.”
“Are you going to tell me that I smell like sex?”
 She made a face.
“Of course not.”
“Then how do you know?”
“I don't know how, you just have this glimmering in your eyes. Used to
have it when you two were together before and it’s been a while since I saw
it. Once I saw you get into the car with that stupid on look on your face, I
knew that you had been with Frank again. Good sex, huh? I hope it’s worth
it.”
I sighed loudly because I couldn't believe that she’d said it out loud like
that. She made it sound so dirty, even though that's exactly what happened
and precisely how it was.
“So was it worth it?”
I looked at her like she was being silly.
“It was Frank, of course it was worth it. That man can do things to my
body that I didn’t even know was possible. He really messes with my head.”
She just kind of shook her head at me, like I was the one being silly and
maybe she was right. Truth be told, I don't think I was ever going to feel that
good again. Never had I felt so good and I think that was why I ran. I was just
scared.
“So what are you going to do?”
“I don't know. At the moment, I think running is a pretty good idea.”
Angie didn't have much else to help me out with. She was still under the
impression that I had this basically under control, but I did not. This was a
mess that I had nothing I could do with it. I had no idea what I was doing, or
what I was supposed to be doing. All I know for certain, was I was more
confused than ever.

T HE WEEKEND WAS about me when I got back home and I was thankful for
that. I tried to keep myself busy and spent the day with Angie. Come
Saturday night, though, I needed to find something to do. Dina called. She
and her sister-in-law Bella were going out. She wanted to know if I wanted to
go as well. I agreed quickly, because a night of drinking with them, would
help me forget what I was running from. Anything would do, as long as it got
my mind off of Frank.
I was close to leaving, when I got a call. If I would've realized who it was,
I probably wouldn't have answered. Nothing good was going to come from a
conversation with my father. It hasn't happened thus far.
“Lisa.”
“Hey, dad. How are you?”
As soon as I heard his voice, I knew that he wanted me to do something.
He would get this sound in his voice. I think it helped him to get people to
agree to whatever it was that he wanted. My father was a hard person to say
no to. I had found it difficult most of my life.
“I need to speak to you.”
“Sure, dad. What's up?”
“I was thinking that you could come over tonight and have dinner. I
haven't seen you in a couple of weeks and then we didn’t have a chance to
really have a conversation.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to turn him down and tell him that I didn’t
think it was a good idea. There was a reason that he was calling.
“Are you sure we can’t do this another time? I had plans…”
I put it out there just to see what he would say, although I already knew
the answer before I asked it. My father did not know how to the patient. He
was used to everyone listening to him. That meant that basically everything
he said was law. The problem was, that I did not want to go over to my
parents’ house. Whatever they were going to want to say or do, was certainly
not going to help my situation. What I wanted was to go out with the girls
and forget about emotions and feelings that I’d had the last couple of days.
 “I would not call and waste my time inviting you if I thought it wasn't
important. You can go out and finish your plans later. Family comes first.”
I sighed inwardly and I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere. He’d brought
up family, so now I knew that he had something up his sleeve. If I didn’t go,
he was going to be mad, so of course, I wasn’t going to be able to say no.
It wouldn't have done me any good anyways. I knew then that I was going
to have to cancel my plans with Dina. There was not much of anything else
that I could do about it. My dad had something for me to do and I had to
answer the call, even if I didn't want to.
I tried to get off of the phone with him pretty quickly because I wanted to
call Dina and tell her that I wasn't going to be able to make it. I hated to
cancel, but she seemed to be understanding enough about it. That was one
thing that Dina and I had in common. We were used to all of the demands
that were put on us by our family. She had gotten her prince and now there
were a lot less demands on her, but it was not the same for me. My prince
was nowhere to be found.
I was starting to think that maybe I didn't have one. Maybe it was all
over-rated.
I was frustrated with everything going on. I was sure that there was still
some conspiracy afoot. Why was my father asking me to come over again?
Last time Frank was there and I really hoped that it wasn't the case again. I
really couldn’t do with another awkward family meal like that.
 20

FRANK

I
f I had to be one hundred percent honest with myself, I wasn't sure if I
felt very comfortable with my boss’ plans. He was convinced that all
Lisa and I needed was a little bit of time to work things out. What he
had told me was still running through my mind too. Was it true that Lisa
loved me? I really wanted to believe that was true, but apparently I was afraid
to believe such things.
It was hard, because I didn't know if I wanted to believe it. I certainly
didn't want to get my hopes up, to have them dashed again. Since Lisa wasn't
answering the phone anymore, I figured that this may be the only way I was
going to be able to see her and talk to her outside of work. It wasn’t ideal, but
if this was it, it was going to have to be enough.
When I got to my boss’ house, Lisa still wasn't there. I was waiting for
her to get there when Eleanor, Lisa's mother, came into the room. She asked
her husband to take care of something for her and I really didn't think much
of it. It was actually kind of cute the way she needed his help. I thought about
how one day I wanted Lisa and I to be that way. I know that it felt premature,
considering that we hadn’t talked in days, but I was an optimist when it came
to Lisa. Always had been and since getting her back into my life, I was going
on hope, even when there wasn’t a cause for it.
“It is good to see you, Eleanor. You are looking lovely as always.”
 “What are you doing?”
I do not remember Eleanor being so clear spoken. I was actually rather
surprised by her question.
“I'm sorry?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, your husband invited me over for dinner.”
She looked at me like she didn't believe me, and Eleanor asked me again
the same question. It was obvious that there was an answer she had in mind,
however I wasn't really sure what it was.
“I know that this has something to do with my daughter and I want to
know what.”
I could tell suddenly, that this was basically her way of trying to protect
Lisa. Both of them knew what happened between the two of us, but Lisa's
mother had been far more vocal about all of it. I had gotten a visit from her
and it had not been a pleasant one. She also had her daughter’s absolute non-
compunction to start an argument. She wanted to get her point across and had
no problem doing it, no matter how difficult it was for anyone and everyone.
“I love your daughter.”
It just came out and, honestly, I'm kind of happy that it did, because it
was the truth. The only way I was going to be able to convince Eleanor that I
wasn’t going to mess with her daughter’s heart again was to have some
humility. I don’t like to leave myself so exposed with the truth, but I was
willing to do about anything to get Lisa back.
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
“And what did she say about it?”
“Well, she won't talk to me or answer my calls.”
Eleanor smiled for a moment and it looked like she was happy that her
daughter was putting me off. Maybe she felt like I deserved it and it was one
of those things that I couldn't really argue with. Things had ended badly
between us and it was all because I had handled it so poorly. I wanted to tell
her that it wouldn't happen again and I would not make the same mistake
twice, but I don't think it would have done me any good.
Like with Lisa, I was going to have to spend a little bit more time proving
myself. They were not so easily forgiving as I would've hoped.
“Whatever happens between the two of you, don't hurt her. If you don't
want to be with her again, that's fine. But don't do her like you did before. I
won’t stand for it. Be a man about it and do better, or you will have me to
answer to this time. My husband isn’t the hard ball in the relationship.”
Damn if I didn’t believe her. She had this crazy, wild-eyed look that I
would never forget. I could see where Lisa got her temper from.
Her husband came back in and Evelyn smiled at him like nothing had
happened. For a moment, I wasn't even sure if something had happened. She
was all of a sudden completely different. I was amazed at the change.
Evelyn's husband knew better though and asked her if she was being nice.
“Well of course I am, dear. What do you take me for, a woman with no
manners?”
“I take you for my wife. I know how you are sometimes, especially when
it comes to our daughter.”
“What, can you blame me?”
“No, I can't. You're just going to have to trust me on this one.”
The two of them went into the kitchen, while I stayed in the dining room
and I knew that they had gone in there to talk about me and Lisa. It was a bit
unnerving, especially considering that he was my boss as well. This was the
situation that was kind of ridiculous, but I had done it to myself.

L ISA CAME in and she scoffed when she saw me. “I had a feeling that you
were going to be here.”
 “Well, I guess good things come to those that wait.”
I moved to give her a little bit of a kiss. I hadn't seen her in a couple of
days and the night we stayed in Chicago and fooled around, was still very
clear in my mind. I don't know what was holding her back, but I couldn’t let
her pull away. I just refused.
When I started to give her a kiss because we were alone in the dining
room, she shoved me away and asked me what I was doing.
“You know what I'm doing. I'm just giving you a little peck on the
cheek.”
“We are at my parents’ house. I don't think that's wise.”
I didn't think that it had much of anything to do with her parents. It had
far more to do with Lisa and her feelings. She was still trying to pretend like
us being together was the end of the world. She still wasn't ready to be with
me, but at this point I didn't care. All I cared about was getting her back in
my arms. I knew that I would have all the time in the world, soon enough.
This was just an evening set up by her parents, which was already weird
enough.
I pulled her up to me and she didn't resist very much. It was pretty clear
that as much as she wanted to fight what was going on between us, it was
impossible. I just knew it.
Her parents came in and I pulled away from her, trying not to look as
guilty as I most assuredly did. Her father gave me a look and kind of smiled
my way. This was just too damn strange. It felt like I was in some alternate
universe that didn’t make much sense at all.
“I'm glad to see that you could make it, Frank. I think we all have a lot to
discuss.”
I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was clear by the way Lisa looked,
she felt like she was being set-up. I think she was actually right on that front,
because something was definitely going on here and it was a bit
uncomfortable to be in the middle of it. I had no idea what her father had up
his sleeve. It was something though.
 21

LISA

F
or one reason or another, my father was trying to set me up with my
old flame. Here I was going to try to put some distance between the
two of us and my dad kept making sure that we were in the same
room all the time. Not only had he invited us for dinner several times to bring
us together, but he also made sure that we had to go on several business trips
together.
Even though I had caved to Frank, I regretted it and it scared me to be so
vulnerable, especially to a man that had already broken my heart once.
Second time, shame on me…
I decided that the best thing that I could do, was keep my distance from
Frank. It was just too easy to lose everything because of him again. I didn't
want to go back to that dark place. Just being with him for one night, opened
my eyes to how quickly I could be pulled back in. If I was truly honest with
myself, I had already been pulled back in already and I wanted out.
It had been almost three months since we were together and I did my best
to make sure that nothing else happened. I had not been with him since, but I
found out that it didn't matter if I tried to fight it or not. He was going to be in
my life, whether I liked it or not.
When I started getting sick to my stomach in the morning, I didn't really
think about it. It was just kind of a crazy feeling that came over me and it
usually went away around noon. It wasn’t too bothersome, and I just blamed
it on the fact that I didn't usually eat breakfast, but would have three cups of
coffee in the morning on an empty stomach. I started having a piece of toast
when I had my first cup of coffee and it seemed to help a little bit.
I was feeling very bad one day and I made a comment to Angie about it.
Then she made a comment back about how I was probably pregnant. Angie
had just been joking of course, but her words were like a little seed in my
mind that I kept thinking about. What if she was right? What if I was
pregnant? Frank and I did not use protection. We’d had other things on our
minds then.
I took several tests that verified my greatest fear. I was pregnant and I still
wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with that. I always wanted kids,
eventually, but I had always seen that happening with my husband, not a man
that I had not seen or been around in years. Certainly not Frank.
After I found out, I got a call from dad, asking me to come over for
dinner. It was another thinly-veiled attempt to push us together. It was getting
cumbersome, his plans, but I agreed. I had something to say to Frank and I
knew that he was going to be there.
Not knowing how he was going to respond was nerve-wracking. I wasn't
even thinking about the fact that my parents were going to be there. They
always found time to leave in the middle of dinner or right afterwards. I knew
that it was to give us time to talk and make-up. Today I knew that I had to use
their schemes for a better reason.
When they were gone, I turned to Frank and told him that I needed to talk
to him about something.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“I wanted to talk to you about something serious, but I don't really know
how you're going to take it. It’s a lot.”
“That sounds pretty ominous.”
“It kind of is, Frank. I am freaking out over here. I don't want you
freaking out as well.”
“I'm quite sure that I won't freak out. I can usually hold myself together
pretty good.”
Of course that's what he would say and think. I just wasn't sure if he quite
understood what I was talking about. This was a serious situation, or at least
it felt that way to me. I had a child growing inside of me and quite honestly, it
was freaking me out. I don't know how I was supposed to feel about it, just
that I felt like a ticking time bomb. I was happy, I really was, but at the same
time, I was afraid, because this didn’t feel like it was going to end well.
Instead of sitting there lamenting for an eternity, I just came out with it
instead. It seemed easier that way.
“I am pregnant, Frank. That's what I wanted to tell you.”
He looked at me a little funny and I can imagine that it was the last thing
that he was thinking about. I wanted things to be over between us, but a baby
together, dragged us back together in a real way and I don’t know if I would
be able to hold it together. I was a mess and my emotions were on a rampage.
These hormones were no joke.
“You’re what?”
“You heard me, Frank.”
“It’s mine?”
“We didn't use protection and now I'm pregnant.”
He still had this vacant look in his eyes and to be honest, it was starting to
frustrate me. I didn't want to see that look on his face. It wasn't just me that
was in this, we were supposed to be in this together. He wanted to be
together, or at least he did until he heard about this. Now he was looking at
me, like I was a ticking time bomb as well.
“You have to say something, Frank. Do you know how hard it was for me
to say that to you? You have to have something to say about it.”
I was starting to get frustrated, because he was just staring at me like
some kind of idiot. The more I thought about it, the more upset I got and the
more I wanted him to stop looking at me that way. Did he understand what
his reaction was doing to me?
“Lisa, it's just going to take me a minute. I don't really know what to say
right now.”
It didn't seem to make me feel any better, if I was honest with myself. I
wanted to know how he felt about it, but he was still in the middle of being in
shock. I really couldn't get upset about that, because it took me quite a while
myself, to get over the shock of it. I had not been expecting any of this to
happen.
Now that it had happened though and I was over the surprise of it all, I
was actually looking forward to having a child. This, telling Frank, was the
part that I had been dreading the most and it felt like it wasn't for any reason.
Obviously he was not handling it as well as I would have liked him to.
“Well, I thought I would let you know. I am going to go outside for
minute. I think I need some air.”
I was shaking when I got out there and I knew that it was because of how
Frank reacted. I had been naive to think that he would be happy about it.
While I told myself that he probably wouldn't be over the moon about it, I
had still hoped for something better. Now that hope was gone. He didn’t even
think it was his.
I went outside and tried to pull myself together. I felt a really hard knot in
my throat and it basically refused to go down. My hands were shaking as I
grabbed the railing and I had to fight back tears. His silence was far worse
than I gave it credit for.
I think the worst part of all was the absolute fear that came over me.
There was not an ounce of happiness anywhere to be found. I couldn’t see it
anyways.
I don't know how long I stood out there, but I was actually cold when I
finally got away. I just left. I didn't say a word to anybody. I was too wrapped
up in my own thoughts.
 22

FRANK

I
was still in shock when Lisa's parents came back into the room. Her
father sent his wife out into the kitchen to get something, but I knew
what it was. He wanted to ask me what happened between me and Lisa.
That was really something that I did not want to discuss with him or anybody
else. My mind was still trying to process what she had just told me.
“Are you okay, son?”
“Yeah, I just got some news that I wasn't expecting.”
He asked me if it went as bad as my face made it out to be And I had to
agree that it did. It couldn't have gone any worse. Not only had she given me
the information that I was finding very hard to process, but she also walked
out because I was left just looking at her. I should have said something or
done something. I should have done more than just look at her, but I really
didn't know what to say. She had just come out with it quickly and then I
didn't get much time to work through it.
“You don't want to tell me what happened, do you?”
There was a part of me that actually did, because then he would be able to
give me some kind of help. Maybe he knew what to do in this situation,
because I sure the hell didn't.
“If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell her that you heard it from
me. Your daughter is already livid with me.”
 He waved me off like he wouldn't say anything, but he did not know what
I was going to tell him. I had a feeling that his idea of staying out of it was
not going to last very long.
“Your daughter just told me that she's pregnant.”
For a minute, I think he wanted to hit me. That's the only thing that I
could think of and he had this look in his eyes.
“She's pregnant?”
I agreed and tried to be as casual about it as I could be. It was a big deal
and I was freaking out about it, but it seemed like he was far more upset
about it than I was.
“So why did she rush off like that?”
I shrugged. “She caught me by surprise and I don't think that she liked my
reaction.”
He put his arm around my shoulder and asked me if I wanted to drink.
That was definitely something that could help at the minute.
“You know, when I found out about my oldest son, her mother and I
weren't married yet. That came later, but it was a mess at first. I passed out,
literally. I will never admit to it again but right here. I think this is good news.
Her hormones are raging, but she will calm down soon.”
He was taking it better than I was and he went on to tell me that they had
been waiting for a grandchild. Apparently, they had not had one yet and had
given up on Lisa ever giving them one. She had made it clear for a while now
that she was not too invested in marriage.
“Well, I'm glad that you're happy about it. I did not handle it well and I
don't know if she's going to forgive me. Again. I ask a lot of her.”
“Just give her a little time and I'm sure she will. She's just like her
mother. She gets mad quickly, but doesn't stay mad for too long.”
“I hope you're right about that. Because at the moment, I don't think she
wants to talk to me.”
He told me that I just had to give her some time.
 I went home with this sick feeling in my stomach and I tried to call Lisa.
She wasn't picking up, but that wasn't really a surprise. I knew that she was
going to avoid me, but she wasn't going to be able to do so for very long. We
had to go to work tomorrow and then I would find a way to finally have a
conversation about this. I told myself that I would do better the next time
around.
The more I got used to the idea of it, the more I actually liked it. This was
what I had been waiting for. I had not thought about having children, but
when I had, those few times, it was always with Lisa in mind. She’s always
been the one and now she couldn’t walk away from me, from us. Now we
were connected forever.

I CORNERED her at work the next day. Admittedly, it wasn’t my best move,
but by the way she was acting, it seemed like it was my only one. Lisa gave
me a dirty look and told me to get out of the way. I was standing in front of
her in my office, but I wasn't going to move until she gave me a few minutes
of her attention.
“I really do not have time to do this right now, Frank.”
“Well you keep running off from me, so when are we going to talk about
it?”
“I don't think there's really anything to talk about, is there?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that you made yourself clear the other night and you've made
your decision. Now I'm going to have to make mine.”
I didn't like the sound of that at all and a part of me was worried that she
would run off again, like she had done before. The last time was my fault as
well. I reacted badly then too. Then it might be another ten years until I see
her again and she would have my child this time around.
 “We have a lot to talk about. You're pregnant with my baby. How would
we not have anything to discuss?”
“Like I said, you made yourself clear and I am not going to push the
matter anymore. I almost didn't tell you at all, and I kind of wish that I hadn’t
now.”
“How can you even say that? That is my kid. What do you mean you
weren’t going to tell me?”
“Because I knew better. I knew that if we were together again, it would
somehow hurt me and it has. You have never understood what you did to me
before. I don't even think you care, but I am not going to let myself get
dragged down again.”
The more she said, the more she got upset and I felt even worse.
“I am sorry that I handled it so badly. It was just a shock. You have to
give me another chance.”
I really couldn't imagine going back to not seeing her anymore. I had
been too long without her and I refused to walk away from this. I was not
going to make the same mistakes again. There had to be something that I
could do to make her see that I was a different man.
“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to move?”
I moved out of her way and watched her take off in the other direction.
As much as I wanted to believe that everything I felt for her was returned, the
truth was I didn't know. Had it been too long and I had really lost her for
good?
She stalked off and I tried my best not to let it get to me. It really wasn't
possible though. The whole day I sat there wondering how I was going to fix
this. I knew that a big gesture had ended things between us so long ago and
now it was going to take an equally big gesture to get us back on track. I just
wasn't sure what yet.
 23

LISA

“W
hat do you mean that you want to leave the company?”
“You heard me. I want to try something else. I don't
think that this is for me. I want to thank you for the
opportunity, but I am going to find somewhere else to work. I just think that
it's the best thing to do.”
“Why in the world would that be the best thing to do?”
I looked over at my dad and I just made this face at him. He should know
what he is doing. I know that he doesn't pay much attention, but even he
knew that Frank and I had been together. I don't think he really knew how it
all ended between us, but it obviously had not ended well. He wanted us to
not be together and that was exactly what happened. I think after that, he
probably didn't care how it had happened.
“I can't let you do that.”
“Usually it's not really your choice. I have made my decision and I have
already found another place to work. I don't need a reference or anything.
Everybody knows the work I have done here.”
“I would never try to stop you from getting another job, Lisa. But…what
are you thinking?”
“I'm thinking that for one reason or another, you brought Frank back into
my life. I really don't know why you would do that, but I cannot work with
him any longer, so I must go.”
“This has to do with Frank?”
I agreed that it did, but I wasn't sure why he was so surprised about it.
Surely he would see that working with Frank with our history would be
complicated. It was just more complicated than I was willing to deal with.
“Does he know that you are quitting?”
“Why would it matter?”
“One thing, he’s your boss.”
“And that is one of the main reasons I'm leaving. After all this time, you
would give that job to him. It just makes no sense to me. What was the point
of teaching me everything you knew if I was going to be second in the end?”
“Are you saying that he hasn't done a good job since he took over the
position?”
I gritted my teeth for a moment because I didn't want to admit the truth.
The truth was that he had actually been doing a very good job with it all, but
that did not change why I was upset. I have been working for the company
for almost ten years since I moved out here, and while he had never told me
that I would get the company, I guess I had figured that would be what
happened. Now I could see that I have been naive in that area as well. Even
my own family has let me down.
“No, I'm not saying that at all. But I'm your daughter. I guess I thought
that it would mean something to you.”
I was almost afraid to talk to my father that way. Nobody did and by the
look that he was giving me, he was not appreciating my candor at all. I
decided to wrap it up because that seemed like the best way to go about it.
“Well, I just wanted to tell you what was going on. I am going to
officially put in my two-week notice with HR but I wanted you to hear it
from me first. I know how you don’t like surprises.”
“If I got rid of Frank, would you stay on?”
The question actually threw me off for a minute because it was so out of
what I thought would happen. My dad was always worried about business
first, so the idea that he would fire someone for me, was actually really nice. I
liked the idea that he would do it if I asked, but I knew that I couldn't ask for
such a thing. I didn't want to get Frank fired. I just wanted to put some
distance between us. Especially now that I was starting to show. The last
thing I needed was to see him around with a constant reminder of how
everything had fallen apart.
“No, I don't want you to fire him.”
“Then what do you want?”
The truth was that I really didn't know. All I knew for certain, was that I
needed a little bit of space between me and Frank. I certainly wasn't going to
get it here.
“I don't know. I just think I need a bit of a break. All of these emotions
are going through my head and these pregnancy hormones aren’t helping. I
need some time to think it all through and I don’t think that I can do that
here.”
He just shook his hand and told me that it wasn't going to happen. “Come
to dinner tonight and we can work through this.”
“Every time I come to dinner, you have Frank over there. I'm really not in
the mood tonight. You can’t just keep throwing us together and hope for a
different outcome.”
“I keep putting you guys in same room together because I was hoping that
you could figure it out by yourselves. I know that you're pregnant and I know
from being with your mother, that there is a lot of differences going on, that
make you say and do things that are not what you would usually say or do.”
He was way too careful with his words and it frustrated me. He was
acting like I was delicate and going to break at any moment and of course, I
was being silly about it all. For some reason, that just aggravated me even
more. I wasn't just some woman that was being too emotional. I had a reason
and working with my ex-lover while I was pregnant with his child was just
far more than I was willing or able to deal with.
He wouldn't let it go, until I agreed to go to the dinner. I knew that Frank
was going to be there, yet I still did not know why my father kept pushing us
together. It couldn't be because of the baby, right?
I might have actually believed that, if he hadn't been pushing us together
long before the pregnancy. What was he up to?

I MADE IT TO MY PARENTS ’ house a little bit later than I said I would be there.
I almost canceled, but I knew that it would just bring about more
conversations. It’s not like my dad was going to forget about it and not bring
it up anymore. He would and I was just not in the mood to talk about it. So, I
was going to play his little game for a while, and then I was going to leave.
What I told him was true. I had put in several places for a new job and I
found one that would hire me. It was our competition, but I didn't want to get
out of manufacturing altogether. It was what I knew best after all. It was what
I had spent all of this time learning and I didn’t want to waste the last decade
of my life.
Frank was waiting for me when I got through the door, but I really wasn’t
all that surprised. I knew that something was going on, even if it didn't make
much sense to me. For a family that hated Frank so long ago, they really
seemed to have changed their minds about him. Now all of a sudden he was
the golden boy. It would have been nice if they had done this a long time ago.
When we were still together and I wanted to be with them, it would have
been helpful. But even then, I don't know if that would have kept us together.
He was someone that had broken up with me, not the other way around.
“I need to talk to you outside, Lisa.”
“I don't think that would be a good idea.”
“I think that it is a good idea or we can discuss it right here, although I
don't know how much you want your family to know about our sex life. That
is up to you.”
I gave him a dirty look because I did not like being played like this. He
was hoping that I would just give in to him, like I always had before. I had
learned my lesson from the past. The amount of drama that was caused from
a few hours of pleasure was still rocking me to my very core. How could I
pretend like everything was okay when it so obviously was not?
“Fine, Frank, but you’re going to have to make it quick. I'm not going to
be staying too long. I don't know why my father has been putting in a good
word for you, but I don't want to hear it. It's bad enough now, my own father,
trying to get me to forgive you. I just don't know what you did to him.”
“I didn't do anything to him, Lisa. He just realizes that we’re meant to be
together and that I care for you deeply. He also thinks that you care for me as
well.”
I didn’t want to discuss this in front of the family. They were in ear-shot
distance and I was already pretty embarrassed. I pulled him outside and
waited until he shut the door to say anything more.
I swear he’d done this on purpose.
 24

FRANK

“F
rank, I don't know what you have going on with my father, but
just because he invited you here, doesn't mean anything. Just
because he hired you to run the company, doesn't mean
anything to me. I am actually leaving...”
Everything that was coming out of her mouth, I didn't want to hear and
the best way to stop it, was to kiss her. It had always been the best way and I
did so mid-sentence, so that I didn't have to hear the rest of it. Truthfully, I
didn't want to. Nothing that she was going to say was going to come out right.
She pushed me back from her and asked me what I was doing.
“It's the only way that I could get you to stop yelling at me, long enough
to listen.”
“So now I'm listening. Now what?”
“Marry me, Lisa.”
She smiled and then scoffed.
“What are you talking about?”
“I'm serious. Marry me, Lisa. I should have asked you to do it ten years
ago, instead of breaking up with you. I was so sure that I would be okay, that
we’d be okay. I thought that I would find another woman like you, but I
didn't realize that you are someone that would never be able to be replaced.
I'm sorry for what happened in the past, but I can never be sorry that we have
a past together.”
She looked a little out of it and I can't say that I really blamed her all that
much. There was a lot going on and even though I knew that I was going to
ask her, had planned it out so much better in my head, it just came out.
“I can't marry you, Frank.”
“Why not? You're about to have my baby and we both know that there is
an attraction between us. There always has been. And I love you, Lisa. Why
wouldn’t you want to get married and start a real family?”
I was stunned that she said no. That hadn’t been the way it went in my
head.
“Attraction is not what I'm looking for. It leads to heartache.”
“Then what about love?”
“Love?”
“Yes. I love you and I always have.”
“Then why did you break my heart the way you did? Why did you have
to do it in front of everybody? I don’t know if I will ever get over that,
Frank.”
“I know, Lisa. I am so sorry I hurt you. I thought I was making it easy.”
“How would that ever be considered easy?”
“I did it that way because I knew that if I did, you would never speak to
me again. I thought that was what I wanted, because I was never going to be
able to get you out of my mind. The only way to move on and forward, was
to make sure that you never talked to me again. I knew that I wouldn’t be
strong enough to refuse you.”
“Well, you got your way. I stopped talking to you.”
“I know, and I have been miserable without you. I've thought about you
every single day since we broke up.”
She just kind of looked at me and I could tell that she did not know how
to respond to that. While she was trying to figure it out, I pulled out the ring
that was in my pocket and asked her again. “Will you marry me, Lisa?”
 “How do I know that you mean this?”
“Well, I've already asked your dad. He has given me his blessing. He also
said if I hurt you again, he will put a contract out on my life.”
I was only half-joking about the last part.
“You asked dad if you could marry me?”
I agreed and that seemed to get through to her a little bit. She just needed
to understand that I wasn’t joking. I loved her and I think I always had. I
knew that there was never going to be another woman that I loved like I did
Lisa. Not in a million years.
“I don't know what to say.”
“Just say yes. We both know that this is what is supposed to happen. We
did not just get back together for nothing.”
“I know how you are, Frank. You have had more girlfriends than
anybody else that I know. Are you sure you think you can give it all up?”
I just kind of shook my head. “I have waited all this time to get back
together with you. I am one hundred percent sure that I never want to live
another day without you. That is what I know for sure.”
I waited for her to answer. I was actually on pins and needles waiting.
She could easily tell me no, but I didn't even want to think about it because I
had no idea what I would do then. All my eggs were in one basket. She was
carrying my child and I had to make this work. This was the family that I said
I wanted but never knew if I would actually get it. When I thought about
having a family, it was always with Lisa. I never was able to see it with
anybody else. All I had to do was get her to agree.
She still seemed indecisive, so I pulled her in for another kiss. I was
hoping that if my words would not get through to her, then maybe my passion
would. I knew that the only way I was going to be able to breathe again was
to know that she was going to give us a chance.
When I pulled back from another kiss, she had this wide-eyed look and I
was hoping that it was a good sign. She had need in her eyes and I knew the
same was present on my face. All she had to do was agree and she would
make me the happiest man.
“I can't believe this is happening. I keep thinking that I’m going to wake
up in my bed and this will have all been a dream.”
“It’s not a dream. I can't believe that I waited this long. I should have
tracked you down when you first took off. I knew that you left because of me.
I convinced myself that I was going to be okay without you, but I really had
no idea how hard it was going to be. How hard it has been.
“I just don't want to get hurt again, Frank. Last time about killed me and I
honestly don't think I can do it again.”
“I will never hurt you again, I promise you. I will spend the rest of my
life making it up to you. Then one day, you’ll be able to forget.”
I thought that she was going to tell me no. I was literally holding my
breath, waiting for her to answer and then she finally agreed. It took me a
minute to actually hear the words. I was just so sure that it was going to be
no. “Are you serious?”
She agreed, and I pulled her in for a big hug and kiss. I really had not
thought that this would happen. I was so convinced that no matter what, she
was never going to be mine. Now she was mine and even as I knew that I was
holding her too tight, I couldn’t let her go. The truth was, that I didn't want to.
Ever. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake, ever again.
When I finally pulled back away from her, I could see that there was a
tear in her eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
“I don't know, Frank. This is just, I don't know.”
I dragged her back in for another hug and then another long lingering kiss
before the porch light turned off. That was clear indication that we needed to
go in for dinner. We had good news to spread around and for one reason or
another, her father was going to be happy about it too. He was now in my
corner, even if I didn't understand why.
 “Come on, Lisa, we need to tell your folks the good news.”
She just kind of shook her head and told me she could not believe that
this was happening.
“It is happening and everything I promised is true. I am never going to
make you question my intentions again. You will never live another day
wondering what I feel for you. I promise that you’ll always know.”
 25

LISA

“T
his is quite a party, Lisa. Are you going to tell me what’s
going on?”
I smiled at Angie. “You’re just going to have to wait like
everyone else.”
She pouted for a moment and I could see that she was eying me, trying to
figure out what the big news was. Father had insisted that we have this big,
lavish party, but I wasn’t sure what he was announcing. I liked to believe that
he was going to announce the engagement between me and Frank, maybe the
baby. I wasn’t really sure, because a lot had been happening lately. It felt like
life was moving a mile a minute, forcing me not to blink. I didn’t want to
miss anything.
“Come on, you can at least give me a little hint.”
I should have told her. I was dying to in one way. In the other, I knew that
she was going to give me a hard time about being with Frank. Not only was I
with him, but I was marrying him and pregnant. She wasn’t going to take it
well and I had a feeling that she was going to corner him and threaten him
before the day was done.
“You’ll just have to find out when everyone else does. I really don’t
know what father is doing. I think I know, but you know how he is.”
She stuck her lip out dramatically and made me laugh. I was nervous,
though I tried not to show it. Everyone I knew was here at the party. When I
saw my dad making his way to the stage that was setup in the corner, I was
really worried then. What was all of this about?
He had a microphone and people were already getting quiet before he
started to clink his glass with a butter knife.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank you all for coming to share in our
family’s good news. As you all know, I’m getting older and in these final
years, I’ve came to realize that the only thing that matters is family. So I am
thankful that I can share this all with you, my friends and family.”
The way he was talking, I was worried that he was going to say next he
was dying. What did he mean, final years? The knot of anxiety was growing
by the minute and I wished that Frank was around. I needed his support, more
so now, than ever before.
“We’ve had some good news come to our home recently. My only
daughter Lisa, has recently gotten engaged. Frank is a tremendous man, and I
wish I would have seen it before. He loves her, like I love my wife. I can see
it in the way he looks at Lisa. Not just that, I know that he will be a good
father. And soon.”
There was a murmur in the people and I felt eyes on me. None were as
intense as Angie’s. I knew what she was thinking, I really did. She was
thinking that I was an idiot, so I didn’t even look at her. Not even when she
gasped about the baby part. I had a lot of explaining to do later.
“Not only that, as you can imagine with my age, it’s time for me to step
down from the company. It wasn’t hard to find a replacement though. I knew
this year, that it would be my last.”
Another shock from the audience and I steeled myself for what came
next, or rather, whose name was going to be next. When I saw Frank get
motioned up on stage, I knew that this wasn’t what I wanted to see. I was
going to be happy for Frank, but it was still going to sting. Bad.
“Lisa, come up here please, darling. I feel strange talking to you from all
the way over there.”
I was afraid this was going to be another humiliation. I didn’t want to go,
but everyone was looking at me and I didn’t have a choice. It felt like that
break-up with Frank, all over again. Couldn’t he just get it out.
I got to the stage and he hugged me next to him. I felt like a prop, until…
I didn’t and I understood why I was up there.
“My daughter Lisa has worked under me for almost a decade, learning
everything I could teach her and more. She has done her job with grace and a
business sense that I admire. She is always coming up with unique ways to
solve our problems. She never disappoints, so of course, there is no one else
in the world that I would like to run my company and to keep our legacy
alive, more than my own daughter. As of today, I will be stepping down, and
Lisa will be the new president of the company.”
I was in shock. This was too much. He turned to me and told me that he
knew I was going to make him proud, just like I did every day. He hugged
me to him and I was still unable to speak. Had that really just happened?
There was applause and then I felt Frank’s hands on me. I could tell that
he wasn’t surprised by the news.
“How long did you know?”
“Since I started there. It was never a secret.”
He smiled and pulled me close before we left the stage and I was left
wondering what had just happened. How had I not seen this coming?
“I thought that he was going to leave it with you?”
“Never was on the agenda, but he didn’t want me to tell you and ruin the
surprise.”
“Do you know how many times I cursed you because of it?”
He chuckled. “I have always loved that dirty mouth and your spirit. I
knew you would find out soon enough.”
“So you let me hate you?”
“I have big shoulders, Lisa. I can take it.”
 He kissed me and I was lost for a moment, before I heard more
announcements that dinner was served. It was quite an eventful night, but I
still found myself wanting to steal away from the rest. I had a fiancée that
was in need of some attention.
We found an empty room upstairs at my parents’ house and I was more
than ready when he shut the door and told me to strip. I was already one step
ahead, pulling my skirt up and bending over. “How’s that?”
He moved towards me with dark need in his eyes. “Perfect, Lisa. Just
perfect.”

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 PERFECT CHAPERONE (EXCERPT)

My new boss is also my accidental husband.

A week-long girls’-trip before my new job starts. How can I say no?

It’s just a week. What could go wrong?

Short answer:
Everything.
Add in a bad boy next-door neighbor I had a crush on as a chaperone, too
many shots, and you have chaos.
Casper knew my weakness and used it to his advantage.
All night long.
Then come regrets.
Accidental marriage.
And a ring to prove it, with a piece of paper the next morning.
It gets worse.
He’s also my boss now.

But what will he think when he finds out about our secret baby?
 “End of Preview”
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Lauren Wood
 ALSO BY LAUREN WOOD

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