Beauty and the Sexy Beast

[26] Wake Up Call

Julian refused to take me back to the hotel so instead I called my father and told him that I wouldn’t be returning. He told me he’d give Jeremy the news and hung up.

The great thing about my father was that he was a great listener and an ever better judge of character.

Sure he liked Jeremy on a professional level since he worked with his parents on and off since we were kids, but he always told me there were bigger and better things out there. That I shouldn’t settle for comfortable but for something wonderful.

“Chloe?”

I turned my head to face Julian from the passenger seat, “Hmm?”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” he said without glancing my way.

I just stared at him as we drove through the dark lit streets. I had known he had been hiding things from the beginning but had chosen to ignore it all.

I knew him well enough to know he wasn’t going to tell me anything until he was absolutely ready.

We fell into a comfortable silence up until we reached my house.

I reached for the door handle waiting, hoping, for him to say something.

He didn’t.

He will when he’s ready, said the little voice in the back of my mind.

Before getting out I leaned over and gave him a light peck on the cheek.

I didn’t know if this was good bye, and I knew it would break my heart all over again if it was, but I wasn’t going to push him into something he wasn’t ready for.

“Goodnight,” I whispered into his ear before slipping from his car.

When I made it inside the house after digging through my extremely messy bag for the key, I found my mother in the family room in the sofa closest to the window facing the front of the house.

“Hey, mom. What are you still doing up?”

“Who were you in the car with? That wasn’t Jeremy,” she asked, averting the attention away from the fact that she waited up for me.

“A friend from out of town,” I said nonchalantly as I removed my damp coat and hung it on the hook in the hallway outside the family room.

“What happened with Jeremy,” she asked following me into the kitchen.

Grabbing a glass from the cupboard I went over the to the fridge and grabbed the orange juice, “I left him at the restaurant with day and Shay.” I took a drink of the juice before remember, “Oh, and by the way, Dad and Shay have great news you’re absolutely going to love!”

“Don’t change the subject, young lady,” she snapped, but then said, “What news?”

I laughed, she seemed surprised and pleased by my outburst. I haven’t laughed once since I’d been back.

“You’re going to have to talk to them. I’m sure this is news they’re going to want to share with you themselves,” I guzzled what was left in the glass and placed it in the sink. I walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and gave her a quick embrace, “I’m tired, mum. I love you.”

I left her in the kitchen either mulling over what the news was or the fact that I had just willingly hugged her.

I wasn’t in rush for sleep to overcome me for once, but I just needed to be alone.

I jumped in the shower washing the rain water out of my hair and imagined his lips on mine. Over thirty minutes had passed since are make out session but my lips still tingled.