Chapter 16

AURORA. By the weekend, I was discharged from the hospital Nathaniel and I headed back to New York. Italy had been a terrifying experience for me, which was quite sad because I’d never been there before and now, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there again. I was glad to be home. By Monday, I was ready to go back to work. Nathaniel had requested I take some time off to fully recover, but I assured him I was fine. Staying at home all day doing nothing would drive me crazy, I was sure of it. I still felt a little pain in my leg so I limped a little when I walked, but other than that, I felt perfectly fine. **** It was almost lunchtime and I was getting ready to leave Nathaniel’s office and head to the lounge when my phone rang. Throwing Nathaniel a small look to be sure he wouldn’t be upset by my answering a call at work even though it was my break time, I swiped at the screen and held the phone to my ear. “Hola, Aura.” Justin’s terrible Mexican accent floated through the speaker and into my ear and I chuckled instinctively. My friends had fussed so hard over me when they’d found out about the accident and had even threatened to harm my boss for taking me all the way to another country so they wouldn’t reach me. Though I’d explained to them that the plan was never for me to get hit by a motorcycle, it all fell on deaf ears. Now, they did not give me an inch of breathing space without calling or texting. “How are you? I hope your boss isn’t working you to death. I swear, you should’ve stayed home like he asked.” “And do what?” I chuckled, holding the phone to my ear as I went about the office, arranging today’s files in alphabetical order. “Stay at your face? I do too much of that already, thank you very much.” “I’ve been told my face is very nice to stare at, love. I know it and you know it.” I laughed, couldn’t help it. Justin was the most arrogant man I knew if I didn’t count Nathaniel on his good days. Justin knew he was handsome and he wasn’t afraid to flaunt it. it was refreshing to see in a man. Such a shame for us girls that he was gay. “Shut up.” “But seriously, Aura,” he cooed his pet name for me, “I don’t want you exerting yourself.” “I’m really not, love,” I said. “I enjoy what I do and I’d rather be here than at home doing nothing.” “What you want doesn’t matter, Aura.” He sounded a lot like he was scolding me. “What matters is what’s best for you.” Chuckling, I filed the last of the documents under ‘W’. “Wow. I didn’t know you were such an expert on how I should live my life. Why don’t you keep going while I take notes?” Justin released a burst of laughter. “What time do you close from work, you sassy chica? I’ll come pick you up.” “Aww, sweetheart,” I cooed. “You don’t have to. I’ll catch the bus. It’s not far from here.” “I insist. Don’t want you getting hit by—” “Okay, okay, Jesus.” Ever since the accident, nobody wanted to shut up on the motorcycle jokes. It was annoying. “Four p.m. Don’t be late.” “I’ll see you then, love.” “Bye.” I ended the call, shaking my head and laughing. After my grandmother, my friends were my closest family. It was amazing how people one didn’t know could one day become everything to them. When I turned, Nathaniel was staring at me with a look in his eyes. I met his gaze, unmoving. What had happened? Had he said something that I didn’t hear because I was on the phone? I noticed he had loosened the black tie at his neck, probably carelessly drawing back on the knot because it now lay askew at his neck. His jacket was hung on the wall behind him. In just a white shirt, disheveled hair and tie, he looked sumptuous. Sumptuous, but vexed. “Next time, Aurora, you would do well to remember to not make personal calls during office hours.” The corners of his lips were turned down in a frown as he stared back at me. God knew what was going through his mind. I nodded. “Understood.” I swear, he was bipolar. **** NATHANIEL. Four hours later… Another glance at his Rolex told him it was three minutes to four. Almost closing time. He had been biding his time, waiting so he could take Aurora. She had insisted, but Nathaniel would have felt better if she’d taken him up on his offer to stay at home and recuperate. She did not strike him as a workaholic but when she’d turned him down, he had been surprised. He would be the first to admit that she was an ardent employee, definitely better than his last assistant who had the attention span of a cat and forgot the simplest things. No, Aurora never forgot. She was always on time, as daring as anyone could be and was passionate about her job. It was the reason he threw on his jacket and headed for the door. He found her at her desk, packing up, a corner of his lips lifting up in a smile. “Come on, I’ll take you home. I don’t think you’re strong enough to catch a bus.” Aurora’s head snapped up, her eyes wide. “Oh,” she murmured. “Thank you so much but uh… someone’s coming to pick me up.” His lips flattened. He had been right then. Earlier, it was her husband who’d called and he was obviously coming to pick her up. Nodding, Nathaniel took a deep breath as quietly as he could. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said to her, wondering why he was displeased at the news. He could not go back to his office or he would look like a fool, so he headed straight to the elevator. Getting in, he counted from one to one hundred to steady himself but it did not work. Nathaniel knew he had no right to feel any type of way about Aurora’s personal life. Other than being her boss, he held no true weight for her. She did not owe him an explanation of any sort. Still, it did not keep him from disliking it. When he got to his car, Ramos started the engine but something suddenly overcame him. “Hold on a minute.” The instruction was unclear but Ramos did as he was asked. Nathaniel stared ahead, wondering what he was doing acting like a child who'd lost his favorite toy. He was about to tell Ramos to drive when he saw Aurora walking down the sidewalk. His breath hitched as he watched, his eyes following her movement until he saw her cross the street. Then his frown deepened when she walked towards a tall man with sandy blond hair and hugged him quite intimately. Her husband then, he concluded sourly. This should have been a wake-up call to him, now that he had confirmed with his own eyes that he was pining after a married woman. It should have slapped him awake to the fact that he had his own wife, even if he was about to divorce her. But something ate at him. Aurora’s husband seemed oddly familiar. He couldn’t see the man’s face as it was turned away from him but he thought he recognized the man’s back. But how? If it was true, then where had he seen him before?