Page 37 of Taking A Chance
“In what way?”
“She’s not her bubbly self. At first, I thought it was because of her mum and the stress of flying backward and forward from Bratislava, but I’m not so sure.”
“She’s living back here now?” I can’t believe I didn’t know. Then again, the only time I’ve actually seen her, as soon as I got near, she ran. “How often does she go back?”
“At a guess, a couple of times a month at least. I’m surprised she hasn’t got shares in Ryanair. Must cost her a bloody fortune.”
“That’s crazy. So, is her mum still sick?”
“Not sure. Come to think of it, she’s a bit cagey about that too. Oh, you need to come off here.” she waves her hand, pointing to the next exit.
She continues with the direction, then tells me to pull up so she can take over the driving.
“Isaac will shit a brick if he sees you driving it into the carpark. Best keep him in the dark,” she whispers, as if he’d be able to hear her.
Once we arrive at the offices and park up, we both enter the building, Amy walking slightly in front. When we get to the top of the stairs, she veers off to the right, in the opposite direction of Isaac’s office.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“To see Kat,” she waves at me over her shoulder, without turning around. “I’m going to find out what’s going on with Petra.”
While I walk down the corridor towards Isaac’s office, my thoughts and emotions are a mix of concern, uncertainty, and downright annoyance. If Petra had only talked to me, told me about her mother, then I could have done something. Don’t know what, but something, maybe. Why did she come back to Bath if it meant traveling backwards and forwards to home so much?
Why did she run? I remember how her body quivered, the flush of arousal, how her pupils dilated. Was she scared of what could be if she’d given it a chance? But why?
It might have meant nothing to her, but that’s not how it felt for me. Sure, I wasn’t looking for anything other than a few nights of fun, but the more time I spent with her… it became more than that. When I was holding her, fucking her, both of us coming together, it was so much more than that. It’s so different from with other women I’ve been with. With her, I felt a closeness, a connection.
I hammer on Isaac’s door hard, because now I’m pissed and not in the best of moods. The door flies open. Isaac stands before me, a scowl on his face matching the one that’s undoubtedly plastered across my face.
“What the fuck, Cade? It’s a door, not a fucking punch bag, you douche,” he roars. “Come in and sit down. If this mood of yours has anything to do with my wife, if you’ve upset her, I’ll kick your ass. She’s pregnant, you asshole.”
“Fuck you Isaac, do you really have such a low opinion of me? You honestly think I’d do anything intentionally or otherwise to upset Amy, pregnant or not pregnant? If you must know, we get along fine. I really like her.”
Isaac rubs the back of his neck, something he tends to do when he’s trying to calm himself down. Despite our strained greeting, we still do the man hug thing before he walks to the other side of his large dark wood desk. I drop into the seat opposite him, and he slips into his own seat.
“What’s going on, Cade?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out, so I close it again. I don’t want to lie to him, so I toy with the idea of coming clean, not that I really want to do that either. I go to speak again, but stop when Isaac does instead.
“I know you’ve been drinking far too much, fucking around and Jesus Christ Cade, the size of you. I’m all for keeping yourself fit and all, but man, I think you need to slow down a little.” I had been hitting the gym pretty hard, but I hadn’t really taken much notice of how much muscle gain I’d achieved.
“Don’t tell me; Ben’s been spouting his mouth off again?” I tut. “You shouldn’t believe everything he says.”
“Ben’s not a liar, and you know that,” he says curtly. Isaac lets out a long sigh before continuing with the conversation. A conversation that I don’t really want to be the subject of. “He’s worried about you Cade, and so am I. You’ve got a stick up your ass the size of the Empire State Building and I want to know what’s put it there.” I honour him with one of my best dark looks, but all I get in return is genuine concern. “It’s something to do with Petra, isn’t it?”
I know I’m busted. So, I relent and tell him everything.
As I get to relay what happened at Sam’s party, Isaac’s desk phone rings.
“What’s up.” He glances at me, then swivels his chair around so he has his back to me. “Okay, but why?” I sit and wait. “I don’t understand. Okay, okay. Of course, I trust you. Bye.”
“Problem?”
“Can I ask you one thing, Cade; do you really like her?” I run my fingers through my hair and avoid eye contact. “Cade, do you fucking love her?” My eyes snap to his, not only because of the sharp tone of his voice, but because he’s said the one thing that I had been telling myself wasn’t possible.
“How can it be love when I’ve spent so little time with her?”
“Shit, Cade, you’ve got a lot to learn. It’s not about time, it’s about how you feel in here,” he stabs a finger to his chest. “I think I knew the first time I kissed Amy. It was like she had cast a spell over me that turned me into a love-sick puppy.”