Alyssa's Second Chance [Completed]

13-The Kind of Woman You Marry

Amir's Point of View

The time that I spent with Alyssa on the day of Geoff's funeral was better than I expected. She was so strong and supportive during the service. Then, I spent the afternoon with her alone. Alyssa was smart and fun to hang out with. She was finally opening up to me. I started to see what she was like when she wasn't guarded and uptight at work. Alyssa was funny and she made me laugh on one of my worst days.

She was incredibly attractive. Especially while she was sleeping in my bed, but I didn't want to ruin anything by coming on to her. I seemed to earn her trust and I didn't want to put that at risk. I spent an hour in that room watching her sleep and feeling like I needed a cold shower the entire time. I kept my hands to myself and tried not to think about all of the wicked ways that I could wake her.

The afternoon was going so well. Then, I started feeding her dessert. I didn't set out to kiss her, but there was this moment and I really looked at her. She was so beautiful. The air was thick with tension and the attraction didn't seem one-sided. I stared at her lips and couldn't resist trying to kiss her. It was just a small kiss to test the waters. She seemed surprised, but she didn't push me away. I would have kissed her again if my phone didn't ring. 

In a split second, something changed. I could see it in her eyes. She used her ride to the airport as an excuse and dashed through the yard to avoid talking to me. She ran across the lawn in her heels like an Olympic sprinter leaving me in the dust.

I recovered from the shock pretty quickly, but it was too late. I was hot on her trail, but I only made it to the front porch in time to see her ride pull away from the curb. For a moment, she looked over her shoulder at me. Our eyes met and I saw something different in her eyes. Maybe, I saw fear or sadness or perhaps it was regret.

If she was any other woman, I would've moved on. She had her chance. It's not like I have a hard time finding women, but she's different from other women that I've met. She's beautiful with an amazing body, but there's something more. I can't describe it.

Over an hour later, I was still thinking about Alyssa. During her escape, Alyssa announced that she was going on vacation and wouldn't be able to talk for the next two weeks. I decided not to let things go that easily and started to try to reach her. I called her and texted her, but she didn't respond.

I spent that night sleeping in the bed that she had napped. I could smell her perfume and the sweet tropical scent of the shampoo on her pillow. I barely slept that night. My thoughts kept coming back to what it would be like to have her rolling around in these sheets with me. The fantasies were great, but not very satisfying.

I waited until 6 am her time to call her. I needed to talk with her and make sure that I didn't screw anything up. I needed to set a date to see her. I figured that I could fly out to California or meet her wherever she was vacationing. If we just spend some time together, we could pick up where we left off.

I didn't have the opportunity to set that meeting up since she wouldn't pick up any of my calls. I called her on and off all day on Saturday. By the end of the day, I realized that I needed to come up with a better plan. Then, the perfect opportunity landed in my lap.

Our CEO emailed me insisting that I needed to send him finalized sales, revenue and personnel plans for the next fiscal year for each of the offices in the US. He wanted all of the plans by the end of the week. I know that he makes these demands of Geoff every year in June, but the plans don't really need to be finalized and submitted until August. Our CEO has always built in two months for Geoff's procrastination. Taking the CEO's request at face value, I could reach out to Alyssa. She was still covering her boss's vacation until Monday. It gave me the perfect chance to get on the phone under the pretense of business.