Frozen Over Page 13
“Do you see this photo? This is the woman that he wants, not any of them. This is the woman that he’s ever considered an actual relationship with. I’ve known Tyson for going on six years now. I told you that he’s never brought a woman home that I’ve never met anyone he’s been with, let alone been photographed with, with a meaning behind it other than for a publicity stunt. But you were brought home and I met you. I then, saw him slowly fall in love with you as the weeks went on, and now I see him breaking as you have become a void in him. So tell me, is your choice worth it?” I’ve never heard Lincoln speak so passionately in the short amount of time we’ve known another, granted we’ve been in each other’s presence for short increments, but that was quite the speech.
“Do you want the truth? I don’t know. I haven’t been dialing into the service, I haven’t been doing much of anything since I left the house that night. I’ve only been doing things out of necessity. But he can’t buy me, he offered me money to stop working, and I can’t be managed like that. It’s probably best if we just continued living separate lives as if the other didn’t exist.” Tears begin welling in my eyes.
“Honey, Tyson doesn’t know how to navigate relationships. He says a lot of ludicrous things, and offering to give you money, would be one of them. But what you’re doing, what he’s doing… neither of you guys deserves to just exist.”
“He’s the one who let me walk away. If he really cares like you said, he wouldn’t have.”
“That’s Tyson, not forcing you to do what he wants, he wants you to be the one to decide. He hasn’t been far though. He hasn’t walked away from this. Besides, this is rare. Tyson is usually the one deciding how things go. With you, he’s giving you the choice, not being so… commanding. That’s something that doesn’t happen.”
Shaking my head. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you want him?” He asks as tears begin falling down my cheeks.
“More than anything.”
“Then come with me.” Lincoln starts to stand.
“What? Now? I can’t… I still work… He, no. I can’t go see him. He doesn’t want to see me!”
“Untrue. He sits out in front of your apartment nightly, just hoping to see you, even just for a second. He mumbles your name throughout the day when he’s home, at his home office, he sits in his office chair and stares at his desk. I honestly don’t think that any of that means that he doesn’t want to see you.”
He sits out front? I look over to the window. I knew it, I felt like someone was watching me!
“Lincoln, I really appreciate you coming over tonight. Thank you for sharing this stuff with me and for bringing me food. Thank you for being a great friend and caring so deeply. I need to figure out this on my own though. It’s the only way I know how. Please understand that, I do care deeply for Tyson, but I can’t just ignore the screaming in my head and make rash decisions without some thought first.” I stand to meet his stare. He smiles and opens his arms.
“I hope to see you soon. Please know, me coming here tonight was in the interest of the both of you. Tyson is my friend and I hope that we can become better friends as well.” He says quietly as he hugs me. And with that, a piece of Tyson remains in my apartment again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
TYSON
I should be pissed off when I see Lincoln leaving Allison’s apartment on Thanksgiving, but I know that he was in there out of kindness. Well, at first I didn’t know that. He spent almost an hour in there, and left with a smile on his face, of course my immediate thoughts weren’t positive ones. However, when I approached him about it, he told me why he went and apologized for going behind my back.
Now, I know that she’s just as unhappy as I am and that there is a hope for a rekindling in our future. I just hope that she realizes that what we have could be worth it and quit that job. I can make sure that she’s taken care of with anything she wants, even if that includes work. But of course a well-respected job and nothing that entails her voice jacking someone else off. Mother would have a field day with that information!
I walk into the office with a smile on my face, something that hasn’t been an occurrence as of late. Beth takes notice and follows me into my office.
“I heard that you left the bar last week with someone? Could this be the reasoning behind your smile?” She asks as she closes the door.
Suddenly, the smile is wiped off my face.
“Who the fuck said that?” my voice is louder than I intended, yet it had the same effect I was hoping for.
“Your brother may have mentioned something.” She looks down at her shoes.
I sigh and sit in my chair. I grab a pen and start clicking it quickly, a habit that I have when I’m frustrated. I look to Beth and motion for her to sit.
“You’re my friend, you’re my friend foremost before my employee. I made an attempt to meet someone else. But that’s all it was, an attempt. I let damn thoughts run my thoughts for a moment. I couldn’t go through with it and ended up leaving.” I hang my head in my hands.
“Fuck. Sorry. But, why the smile?” She asked with her eyebrows quirked.
“I have reason to believe that this break between us, may come to an end soon.”
“So sure of that?” She questions.
“B, when have I ever had doubt of something?”
“That may be true Ty, but this whole thing has been out of your hands the whole time. How can you be so sure that you guys will get back together?”
“She’s just as unhappy as I am. She told Lincoln that she wanted me.” I smile.
“Lincoln? When did she talk to Lincoln?”
“He went over to her place on Thanksgiving and talked to her.”
Her eyes went wide and immediately I placed my hands up.
“I didn’t know about it, until after the fact. I went over to Jacob’s for dinner, you know that, you were there too and then … I sat in front of her apartment. Linc came out and I questioned him over the weekend.”
“So you think that she’s going to quit her job and then come back to you, like it’s nothing?” Beth doesn’t sound so convinced.
“I know it.”
“Such a smug bastard sometimes.” She shakes her head.
“I know what I want Beth, and you know that I get what I want. One way or another.”
“Glad to see that you’re returning to your normal pain in the ass self.” She says as she stands. “By the way, she’s on the 8th today.” And with that bit of information, my heart started beating rapidly and I smiled again as she left my office.
***
I walked into small dressing area on the 8th floor photography studio, it was empty aside from a shadow that I saw on the wall dancing. The song that was playing was sung by the girl who sang at the Super Bowl a few years ago with sharks with the left shark was a bigger hit than she was for days afterwards.
For the life of me I can't remember who the singer was, but right now that’s not my focus as I turn the corner and see a scantily clad Allison shaking her hips wearing boy shorts and a racer back tank top. Her back was to me so she didn't see me staring at her just yet.
I stayed there until the end of the song and as the next song was starting, I cleared my throat starling her and nearly causing her to fall over from my intrusion.
I lean against the wall and smirk.
I missed her, I've kept my distance, but this is the 2nd time she's in my building. Without Beth telling me that she was here today, I would have never known. Since I had the optimism on my side, I wasn’t going to not see her today. I had to try to see if I could get back with her.
She looks like she's a cornered animal as I slowly approach her. I put my hands up in surrender.
"I just want to talk." I say my feet firmly cemented to where I’m standing just mere feet away from her.
She looks like she wants to say something, but she has no voice to do so. She grabs the robe and wraps herself up in it, not like I haven’t seen her entire body up clo
se before, but I don’t want her feeling uncomfortable. So I don’t say anything like I normally would.
“You shouldn’t be back here.” She finally says.
“I know, but I can do what I want.”
“Right. This is your company.” She repeats words I’ve said before and I smile. I grab a nearby seat and drag it to me to sit. She does the same. We don’t move any closer to another. Silence aside from the music is surrounding us. I notice we’re the only ones in the studio.
“It’s lunchtime.” She says as if noticing my puzzlement.
“And you didn’t want to go and eat?” I ask.
“I brought a sandwich with me today. Saving money and all.” She shrugs.
A few moments go by before either of us speak again. I’m the one to break the silence.
“I miss you Allie.” I say finally. I adjust my seating, to avoid getting up and getting closer to her.
She doesn’t say anything, but I see that her eyes have unshed tears, just waiting to be released.
“I don’t want to continue missing you. I want you to be present, with me.” There I laid myself out there.
“Tyson. I don’t know if I can. I want to, but I think you may expect too much of me.”
“What do you think I expect of you?” I ask. I know the answer, but I need to hear it from her.
“You want me to chance everything, without any certainty that you and I will last.”
“Isn’t that what every relationship starts out like? Uncertainty? No one knows jumping into a relationship that it will work, but they try so they can get that chance.” I sound like a pussy, I’ve been watching too much Lifetime lately. “If people didn’t just try they wouldn’t be able to experience life. I didn’t want to experience life for the longest time, then you came along and now I want to experience it. I want to experience all it daily, with you.”
She sniffs, the tears now falling. I scoot my chair forward, our knees are touching, and I pull her face up to look at me and with my thumbs brush some of those tears away.
“I want to be with you, I’m a miserable fuck without you. I can’t tell you that I won’t be a domineering asshole at times, or that I won’t fuck up. It’s been seven years since I’ve had a relationship; it took you to bring my cold heart back to life.”
“You know what my secret was, will you tell me your secrets?” She asks finally speaking.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. Please just come back to me?” I beg.
“I quit my other job.” She says quietly.
I take that as my cue and I pull her face to meet mine. Not being close to her for so long has given me the raw need to consume her, but I know with where we are, that’s not possible. I pull back slightly with her face still in my hands. We’re breathing the same air, and I feel so complete.
“Come home with me tonight?” I plead.
“I can’t. I have to work on my final project, tomorrow?” She says.
“When does break start?”
“It starts in three weeks.”
“I don’t want to come between finals or school, I know that’s a big no with you, but I want to be with you. I want to spend every waking moment with you, to make up for the time we’ve missed. But I will give you time, whatever you need.”
“If you can manage with me studying some while together, then you can come over tonight.” She offers.
I smile and kiss her again as I hear the studio doors open and chattering between the models coming closer. I kiss her one last time, quickly and stand.
“When you’re finished, come to the 6th floor, I’ll be there waiting for you.” I say and then I leave. Walking through the girls huddled at the entrance staring at us. I smile as they clear a path.
I’ve got my girl back!
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ALLISON
Tyson beat me to it, he came and found me before I could find him. I was dancing out all my nervousness when he came into the studio and found me. My plan was to approach him after the shoot for today was finished. I was getting up the courage to ask for him to take me back. Lincoln put a lot of perspective in my thoughts with his visit on Thanksgiving, and later that night I resigned from the call service and began looking for a potential second income. Lincoln was correct when he said that my contract with Mad Designs was enough to pay my bills and more, but I didn’t want to blow my entire savings.
I did have a conversation with my agent about making sure she knew the timeline for securing new jobs once my contract was finished at the end of the summer. She assured me she had some things in the pipeline which was assuring. She also mentioned that with the rollout of the summer line and with my face being plastered everywhere, she expects phone calls to start coming in by the dozens. So with that information, I felt even more positive that I could further pursue a relationship with Tyson if he would have me, and I wouldn’t be losing my independence after much thought.
I took the elevator to his floor and stopped by Beth’s office first. I knocked on the doorframe and she looked up from her computer and jumped out of her seat. I was a little anxious that I was back on this floor so soon, although it felt like it’s been forever. Beth looks up with a smile on her face as if she had been waiting for me.
“Hi! It feels like forever since I’ve seen you!” She says excitedly.
“I know. I’m sorry. I just... couldn’t.” I say looking away.
“So, he found you today, did he?” She smiles as I nod. “Is everything copacetic?”
“They will be, at least I hope so. I quit the…uh, other job last week. I have my ducklings getting in their rows hopefully and I think Ty and I…”
“We’re back together.” Tyson says from behind me. He pulls me by the waist into his body. I can feel his straining erection as his lips find the soft spot under my ear and he places a tender kiss.
I feel my face reddening as Beth’s smile is even larger than before and she starts jumping and clapping like a little girl.
“B, if you don’t mind. I’ll be leaving early today. Try not to call me unless its life or death. Ring Lincoln and tell him that I won’t be home this evening as well. Move any of my meetings from the morning to the afternoon tomorrow; I plan to be in late.” He says against my neck, his lips firmly attached to my skin.
“You got it. Have fun kiddies. And congrats to you both on… everything.” She smiles as she waves us out of her office.
We await the elevator and as soon as we’re inside, he has me against the wall. His hands on either side of my body, trapped.
“Remember the first time that I kissed you?” He asks his eyes full of desire. I nod as I bite my bottom lip and he groans leaning in, his lips slant over mine. “I wasn’t lying when I said that I would have taken you over my desk up there in my office that morning. It’s still something that I would love to do. I sit at my desk at home all the time and think about all the times I’ve had you there.” He nips at my neck.
We’ve arrived to the garage, without any interruptions and we walk out.
“Follow me home?” I ask.
“I’ll follow you anywhere.” He whispers against my lips as we stopped at the rear of my car.
We depart and I slide into my car and catch a breath. I insert the key into the ignition and am greeted by silence. I try a few more times, and then I hit the steering wheel. I hit the button to open the hood and notice Tyson walking in my direction. A feeling of déjà vu taking over, I smile.
“Car problems?” He asks leaning down as I rolled my window down.
“Yup.” I say stepping out of my car and walking over to the peer at the motor. Tyson rolls up his sleeves and slides into the driver’s seat like last time and tries to turn it over. Same click. What are the odds!
He’s smiling as he gets out of the car. He leans back in and grabs my bag, removes my keys and shuts the door.
“I’ll drive, you call your dad and let’s go to your place.” He instructs, offering me his arm.
“So, it would appear that we’ve come full circle.” I say.
“Yeah, except this time, you’re my girlfriend.”
***
I worked on my project and even gave Tyson some small duties, he took my direction and we worked well together. Granted, he was only doing the minimal work, but he didn’t seem to mind. It was late by the time I finished as we were sitting on the couch watching re-runs of SVU.
“Do you want to talk tonight or do you want to just go to bed and fuck?” He asks while massaging my hand his tone playful and also hopeful.
“You’re giving me the choice?” I ask laughing.
“Well, of course I would prefer the latter, but I don’t want to screw anything up. Not when there’s a choice.”
“Would you be incredibly hurt if I asked to talk first?”
“Not at all. I’ll still get you naked tonight by default, that’s what happens when you’re in a relationship, right? So, what do you want to know?”
“Shit, I wasn’t prepared with questions. Um… shit.. fuck…” I start to think.
“How about I start talking?” He offers.
“Okay.”
“I want it known that this is beyond my comfort zone, only a select few know the whole story, but you said you wanted to know my secrets and I plan to be fully honest with you? As you know, I have trust issues. I have problems with trust when it comes to relationships, because I was in a long term relationship before, back in college and it didn’t end well.” He sighs. “Penny was amazing and everything that I could have ever asked for at the time. She didn’t give a crap about my family’s money or the benefits of dating someone who basically owed a fashion empire. Her family had some money, so it just worked, I guess. We were great, or so I thought for two years.” He runs his hand through his hair and then over his face. I could feel the tension and stress rolling off of him from just opening up that little that I feel guilty for kind of pressuring him into telling me his secret.