Echoes in Eternity (The Pella Series Book 1) (8 page)

             
“Okay,” she swallows. Then nodding her head, “I’ll take the challenge,” she replies blushing. I close my eyes involuntarily hearing her acceptance. Step one complete. When I open them, I have better control over my feelings. It’s too difficult with her close proximity and her absence from my life for all this time; it’s taking all my effort to not close the distance, and embrace her, kiss her to unite our souls, and to lose myself in her for the kingdom come!

             
“Do you have a place to stay in LA?” I ask her to distract my thoughts.

             
“Uhm...No. I haven’t had a chance to look. I wasn’t sure if I was staying in LA, or moving even further away,” she answers.

             
“How much further did you have in mind?” I ask softly. San Francisco? San Diego? Atlanta? Maybe as far as New York?

             
“I haven’t made up my mind; I was toying with the idea of maybe London, Paris, Hamburg, Rome, Istanbul, Sydney or even Hong Kong...” she says trailing off. What the hell? What is she running away from? Or more importantly 
who
 is she running away from? I have to find out. I clench my teeth with the knowledge that someone is making her uneasy.

             
“Is everything alright in your life?” I ask unable to mask the concern, my arms crossed.

“Why
 wouldn't it be?” she answers my question tersely trying to distract me with an ill disguised question.

“If it is
not, I’d like to see what we can do to resolve the problem,” I explain nonchalantly.

“Do you always resolve
 
all
 your employees’ problems, Mr. Pella?” she asks with a quizzical eye. I smile wickedly in response.

“Only the ones I’d like to keep for a long time...” I reply. My response hitches her breath.

“But, I’m on trial,” she says confused and clasps her hand in front of her, fiddling with her fingers in a nervous gesture.

“Yes, you are. But, I’ll let you in on a secret. I never give a trial to anyone had I not thought it would work out. It’s just a matter of fine tuning the mechanics of how that person works with me. You might really like the job, Ellie,” I say standing up, and find myself towering over her. “I travel to all of those places you wanted to move to. My company has airfields and offices worldwide. You’ll get to go with me. But tell me, do you have an apartment, a local place
to hang your hat in, or, perhaps store your lovely Louboutins away?” I ask looking down at her feet.

Her face falls.

“Uhm... Actually, no. I was going to crash, I mean, stay with a couple of my friends until I’ve landed a job and actually worked a month or two,” she says swallowing. That concerns me more. How would she go overseas if she had no money? What is concerning her so much?

“You’re in luck, then. I provide a place for my assistants. Not a very big place, but a safe and secure one bedroom apartment in the
 
Centurion.
”

“
The Centurion
?” she gasps.

“Yes, unless they built another one,” I reply smiling.

“I can’t afford it! It’s got to be one of the most expensive apartment buildings on the entire west coast!”

“That would be part of your benefits package. I don’t like worrying about the safety of those who work for me,” I say and walk to the bar.

“Now that you agreed to the one week trial, would you like a drink?” I ask effectively changing the topic before she refuses the apartment.

“Diet Pepsi, if you have it, or ginger ale, please,” she replies politely.

“Well, I’m fresh out of Diet Pepsi. You sure you don’t want wine?”

“I have to drive back to Montecito,” she says by the way of explanation.

“Ginger Ale it is then. Can you be ready to travel tomorrow?” I ask casually, hoping she’d say yes.

“Tomorrow? Yes, I, uhm...” she pauses, then nods having made up her mind, “yes, I can travel. Where are we traveling to?” she asks curiously.

“Marana, Arizona. I have aircrafts which are scheduled to be auctioned for a week starting tomorrow. This will give you a chance to meet the kind of people I deal with, but on our home turf.”

“Marana?” she asks. “I’ve never heard of the place.”

“It’s a town in southern Arizona, close to Tucson. When you’re coming tomorrow, pack clothes for riding, hiking, golfing, and also take sunblock and boots; that is aside from what you would normally pack.”

When I see her puzzled eyes I say, “business can be done outside of the offices,” but I also want to do some excursions with her alone. Show her some of the
ruins; help jog her memory without coercing her.

“What time do I need to be here?” she asks.

“9:30 a.m. would be perfect.”

I hand her the ginger ale, and my finger barely brushes the tips of hers. I feel the usual burn on my marks, but since
 they've come alive, it’s a pleasant tingling burn, arousing even. I notice her eyes widen. She tries to shallow her breaths, and close her eyes to lower the intensity of our magnetic pull. Slowly making her way to the bar, she places the glass which she took just two sips of.

“I
had better drive back to Montecito since I have packing to do, and...” she lowers her voice to a level she thinks only she can hear, but my acute hearing never misses anything, “deal with the household reaction.”

She picks up her clutch, and hesitantly but intentionally and with a hidden want extends her hand. When I take her small hand into mine, her breath hitches as if she just experienced the most passionate pleasure in her life, and she closes her eyes. When she opens them back up again her pupils are dilated, she’s taking a step to be on her way. I rush to the door, and hold my hand in place over the doorknob without opening.

“Be on time... Ellie,” I say with darkening eyes.

“Alex,” she says in acknowledgement.

“I’ll see you to the elevators,” I say opening the door, showing her the way. Both James and Melissa jump to their feet, surprised to see me sending off anyone out the door, they first look at each other and then quickly look away. I walk her to the elevators, and press the call button.

Elissa shifts uneasily next to me. Our proximity is too intoxicating for both of us, and she feels it too. Thank God for that! The elevator door dings open. Henry walks out, and she takes a look at him gaping, but, he lowers the brim of his hat, and says, “Ma’am,” obscuring his face with a disguised greeting, and walks out of the elevator and towards the back of the office. She leans back behind me with curious eyes, trying to remember something. Then shakes her head, and, looks up at me.

“Who..” she asks unable to finish her sentence, her breathing increases. Then her finger points at the direction where Henry disappeared, and looks up
 with questioning eyes, “who was that?” she asks in a soft, barely audible voice. He’s the man who aligned himself with your father, dedicated his existence in protecting us; put his existence on the line in our defense, in your defense countless times. One of the two people I ever let to question me to my face. My respect for him is immense; because he delivered you in your last existence after your mother died before giving birth to you, and brought you back to life when you weren't breathing. He’s Doc Henry. He’s my friend...

“Someone I’m going to need in Arizona tomorrow,” I reply nonchalantly. She looks disappointed as if she was hoping for a different answer.

A little “oh!” escapes her lips like a whimper. She straightens her back, nods, and walks into the elevator car.

Still shaken, “Ciao, Alex,” she murmurs, making my heart lurch.

“Ellie. Until tomorrow,” I say with longing as the elevator doors close.

CHAPTER III

DAYBREAK

Elissa Cassandra Duncan

I’m confounded, thunderstruck! I could swear I saw someone out of my dreams.
But he just turned out to be someone Alex... Mr. Pella, the painfully attractive, my possibly future boss needed in Arizona tomorrow. How long have I been in his office? It felt like years, and then no time at all. How could that be possible? I feel like I’m under some sort of spell, a spell I don’t want to wake up from for a change. My heart never stopped beating at top speed. I’m exhausted just with being in Alex’s... Mr. Pella’s presence. I better get used to calling him Mr. Pella if I’m going to work for him. I’m quite sure that all women who are in his acquaintance and men who are not straight as an arrow are just drooling over him.

“Mr. Pella, Mr. Pella, Mr. Pella, Mr. Pella...
 Alex,” I murmur unable to stop myself from reciting his name over like a soliloquy or mantra. Then my insecurity which I now wish to murder chides me, “He’s going to be your boss. Better get used to calling him ‘Mr. Pella’!” I sag against the elevator wall. I need the job. It's everything I would want from a career; something different every day, different places to go to with different cultures to learn. I am still freaked out about having to liaise between an intense, in control and utterly gorgeous man and the top businessmen of the world idea. But I have to get out of Sarah’s vicinity and her odious shrink.

Can I really work for the most intense man I have ever met in my life, a man I feel a profound attraction
to from the second I met him? But then this experience might give me something to break away from my dreams. God knows I’ve been trying something, anything and everything intense short of dying just to be able to feel, not to be so numb to my existence here and now, and not live in some dreamland. Maybe this intensity is exactly what I need, something to jolt me into joining the living in the daylight hours... I exhale a breath I didn’t know I was holding. He’s so incredibly good looking and one frigging ultimate manly package and ridiculously rich. Oh shit! We’re in totally different leagues. He’s probably got women lined up all the way into the corners of the earth considering all the places he’s been, just to get a glimpse of him or thirty seconds of his precious time. Women who are beautiful, smart, equally wealthy, confident, and with sexual prowess... My heart sinks. Qualities I don’t possess...

“
So unlike you
...” my subconscious reminds me as if I need reminding. I’ve got nothing in my name, what I should get, will be taken away, otherwise it will get me locked away; Sarah made that much clear to me. My checking account boasts a whopping $63.27; my own nanny gave me the money for gas to get here. I’m a new college graduate, and the only reason I don’t have student loans is because my uncle insisted on paying for my college education. He and Stella purchased my first brand new car as a graduation present, a silver Mustang. I have two best friends Melie and Rose, and I haven’t had a boyfriend to speak of. Most guys, especially the last one I had dated had the sole purpose of getting me to fourth base without going through first, second or even the third which is why I broke up with him last year. When it comes to sex, the neighbor’s two year old puppy probably has better sexual prowess than I do... I shake my head at me sadly. The only sex I’ve had was in my dreams with a man who doesn’t exist. Suffice it to say that the extent of my experience is pitiful at best. That about sums up the poor inventory of my life. ‘
Just worry about retaining the job!
’ I remind myself. He can probably hire the best employee he wants; why would he want someone who doesn’t have any job experience? I have to work my ass off this week to prove myself.