The Business Affair: Forever Mine (7 page)

“In my life I have only loved two women. I know
that might be hard for many of you to believe in light of the fact that I was
involved with numerous women. But you must understand that I did not know what
love was until I met Stephanie. She led me to understand what love really is,
and she got her definition from the Bible – love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
preserves. Love never fails.”

“By this time Paula was weeping. “Stephanie gave
me so much pure love in those ways that it broke my persona. She taught me that
life was so much more than what I had achieved. You know, those things I could
boast about and the ways I could be rude to people and women thinking it was so
cool because of who I was. The great Marcus Grant.  As I was learning to become vulnerable she protected my
heart and I trusted her with all of me. Her love softened me and made me see
life from an entirely different perspective.

I will never forget the first time I slept with
Stephanie. She made me wait so long that I was just eager for the act for my
own self-gratification. I would have gladly taken her clothes off and had a
most pleasurable moment as I had done with so many others. But she refused and
taught me to make love to her mind before her body. If I intended to get
anywhere with Stephanie she would have to be completely assured that I wanted
her, that she was the total object of my affection and not the pleasure she
could bring to my member. That’s a revelation that I had absolutely no
knowledge of. But she taught me and I loved her from mind, to spirit and then
to her luscious body - in that order. She loved me in that order too.”

“Oh God…” Paula cried. “For five beautiful years
I had that kind of love in my life. I had all the stability that a man could
ever want. She brought such balance into my life. I learned I could have love
and an empire. I never thought that could happen. Then when she was taken from
me, I went into the abyss and came out a very hard and cold man. I had lost my
love and my mind. I became strictly business and did not let anyone enter my
world.

“I can’t read anymore of this.” Paula sighed but
yet she could not put the book down. “ I have only loved one other woman since
Stephanie. That woman does not even know that I exist.  I have been safe in that regard. I can
love her at a distance and yet not ever put myself in a position to loose
someone that I care for, ever again. It is a shield that needs to be shattered.
It is a shield that I want shattered but have failed to gain the strength to
crack through it with a hammer. This woman has stabilized my life in so many
ways and since she does not know the real me, she does not know the extent of
what she has done. She is the only person not afraid of the businessman that I
have become. She tells me the truth when I ask and even when I do not ask. She
makes sure that I stay organized, that my ethics are in line and she keeps me in
check. She doesn’t listen to me when she does not want to. She will hang up the
phone in my face, tick me off and then be right back in my life the next day as
if nothing ever happened. She is the first face that I see in the morning and
the last face I see at the end of my day. She threatens to leave me but never
does. If she ever did I would go out of orbit.”

It was nearly noon when Paula finally woke up.
She was scheduled to meet Roman at 3:30 but had no intentions of making that meeting.
She looked at herself in the mirror and saw a terrible mess. Her hair was matted
and her eyes were puffy and red. There was no way she could explain to Roman
about Ann Benet. He confessed that he trusted her, now what would he think. She
was going to fly back to New York, turn in her resignation and start a new life
somewhere far away from Roman.

She showered and then restored herself to Paula
Anderson. Then she called and charted a plane back to New York. She contacted
the concierge and made arrangements to be transported to the airstrip within
the hour. Her entire body was in a state of mental and physical fatigue.
Afterwards she called Don.

“So how did things go last night?” He said.

“It was one of the most perfect days I have ever
had in my life.”

“That is great. I am happy for you! I did well
too. I met a nice lady at speed dating last night. We are going to have dinner
this evening.” Then Don heard Paula crying. “Paula what is the matter?”

“I am leaving. I just charted a plane at the
Riviera plane strip and am going back to New York and then I am leaving the
company.”

“What? Wait a minute you just said it was a
perfect day. What are you talking about?”

“I kissed him yesterday. I just lost it
emotionally and kissed him. Then he kissed me back and it was so searing that I
knew I had to get out of there.”

“But that is good isn’t it?”

“Good for Ann, but not good for Paula. I
couldn’t sleep last night so I stayed up and read his book. In that book he
confessed that he loved me and that he trusted me with his life. Now how can I
go back and tell him about Ann. He would never be able to trust me again. I
can’t do that to him. He is an idiot for not telling me how he felt. Yet at the
same time he explained why he did not.”

“Why did he not tell you?”

“He said that he was afraid to get too close to
a person for fear of them dying like Stephanie did. He just can’t get passed
that.”

“Paula, we can fix this. We can find a way to
make it work. Don’t do this, it would be a huge mistake.”

“I’ve got to go Don. I will call you when I get
to New York.”

When Paula clicked off the phone Don was
devastated. He truly did not want to see Paula throw all of this away. Within
the hour Paula was on her way to the landing strip. When she got there Don was
waiting for her.

“You can’t do this Paula. True love doesn’t
happen that often.”

“I would hurt him Don. I can’t do that.” He
could see the tears swelling back in her eyes.

“He can handle this. I promise. Just keep an
open mind.”

“No Don, I am going back to New York. Every
story does not have a happy ending.” She pushed passed him and headed for the
plane.

“You are going to regret this.”

“It is what it is. I love you Don and thank you
for all your help.”

“Keep in touch.”

“I will and let me know about the lady you met
too.”

“I will do that.”

Paula boarded the plane and strapped herself in
the first seat she saw. Then leaned her head against the window and wept. As
the plane made lift off she looked over the beautiful world she had just been a
part of for so many wonderful days. This had been an incredible adventure and
one she would never forget. She closed her eyes determined to sleep the flight
away. Exhausted from the night before Paula did not feel the plane as it lost
altitude and landed in a remote airstrip. Nor did she see Roman when he walked
on the plane. He was so emotional that he did not know what to do. He stood
there just beholding her beauty. After a few minutes when he gained his
composure he sat down gently in the seat next to her and softly called her
name.

“Paula.” She did not hear it the first time and
he called her again.

Slowly she roused up, immediate alarm raced across
her face. “Roman!”

She passed out shocked from seeing him. He gently
lifted her out of the seat and took her back to his house.

Several hours later she woke up, cradled in
Roman’s arms on his bed. He looked deeply into her frantically panicked eyes. His
emotional walls were caving; love began to flow out of his lips. “Paula shhh,”
he calmed, “It’s okay. Don’t panic. I already knew you were Ann yesterday. Don
called and told me you were leaving. That can never happen. You can never leave
me. I paid the pilot to switch directions. I love you so much. I would be lost
without you.” He gently began kissing her across her face.

She was shaking and her hot tears were staining
his shirt. “I love you. You can’t leave me. I saw your hand. That is how I knew
it must have been you. I could not put all the pieces together, but Don filled
in the gaps.” Paula wanted to slap herself for allowing her hand to become the
“Achilles heel” of the entire master plan.

“Remember when the lady knocked the book out of
your hand?”

“Yes.”

“That was the first time I saw it. But it did
not make sense because that person was not you, and I could not imagine someone
else having that kind of burn. After Ms. Gonzales took the picture, what did I
do?”

“You kissed my hand.”

“Yes, because I wanted to get a better look at
it. When I realized that it was the same as the one you showed me before you
left I knew it was you. Two people in the world could not have a burn like
that. Then Don explained to me the plan. I love you for it because I should
have been man enough to tell you myself. I am so sorry for what I put you
through.” This time he gave a lingering kiss that spoke volumes to her soul.
Erasing all questions and doubts. “I have been out of my head over you. Marry
me.”

“Oh God, Roman…”

“Marry me.” He said trailing his lips down the
side of her neck.

“I love you and will marry you.”

Her body was aching for him and she willingly submitted
to him peeling away their clothing and devouring her with his passion. Every
place their bodies fused ignited her. Like the threading of a needle, he sowed
his love into her in a way that shattered his glass and rocked her world. He
loved her from head to toe. Enamored with sounds of her satisfaction, prompted
him to pleasure her more, until they both collapsed, well spent, under loves
weight. Sleep wasn’t far behind. But it did not last long, as they found
themselves enraptured continually throughout the night.

The brilliant sun peaked through Roman’s window
and awakened the lovers. This was one morning that he wished his side of the
estate did not get the full rising of the sun. He pulled the covers over their
head but it was still too bright to sleep. She rolled on top of him and nestled
her head to the side of his neck, he wrapped his arms around her back. Nothing
had felt this good to him for a very long time. They stayed in that position
for a while soaking each other in. “I love you.” She whispered. “After last
night, I am surely convinced of that.”

She laughed and slid to the side of him, “You
know I meant to ask you, how did you become Marcus Grant a best selling New
York Times author? Out of all of this very baffling experience I am still
amazed that you have another life as a romanticist and relationship expert. It
blows my mind.”

“I am Marcus Grant. That was my father’s name.
He was Marcus Grant Neilson. I am Roman Marcus Grant Neilson. I started
journaling my pain and so many women resonated with it that I just kept sharing
my story. None of this was planned, it just happened. A few of my friends and
associates had gone through some very traumatic relationship experiences and we
would get together on Friday nights to try to deflect from the pain for a
while. Then we wound up talking more than most men would feel comfortable
doing. Each of us in our way wanted to start over and that became the seeds for
The Business Affair. We had no idea it would be as huge as it is today. So what
started off being a place to heal lives, wound up being a place to build lives.
I am so grateful for the success of it all. So many people are happily hitched
through our efforts.”

“I read the book. Were you ever going to tell me
how you felt?”

“You don’t know how many times I wanted to. Many
of those nights that we worked late, was not because I had so much to do. It
was because that was the only time I could be alone with you. Fear has a way of
silencing even the strongest people. When you left for vacation, it was too
much. I could not handle it. I knew I was going to have to do something, but I
never thought it would have turned out like this. Having you here with me like
this is better than anything I could ever have dreamed.”