You Belong To Me (25 page)

After Danielle hung up the phone she glanced around her new apartment. Well I guess
this is home sweet home she sighed. She was grateful to Victoria and Joe for letting her rent the place and for dirt cheap too, but she still longed to be with Mitch.

I’ve got to try and get over him, at least I'm going back to work, she thought to herse
lf. That’ll keep my mind off of him and I’ll make sure to keep to myself and stay in the office while I'm there. Wouldn’t want any unexpected run- ins with him, especially since he’s made it quite apparent that he’s already gotten over me.

The moment that
he unlocked the door and stepped into his home, Mitch could sense the feeling of emptiness. Although he soon discovered that Danielle’s things were still there, her absence made his heart quiver. Part of him expected to see her come running into his arms to welcome him home but deep down he knew that he and Danielle were no more. “Looks like from now on it’s just me and you buddy,” Mitch said to Samson and patted his head. The German Shepard laid down and let out a soft sigh. “I know,” he said. “I miss her too.”

Danielle was so anxious to return to work she hardly got any sleep. By the time her alarm went off she was already showered and dressed in a pair of denim capris and a black form fitting tee. While she sat in front of the mirror putting on her makeup
and sipping on her second cup of coffee, a knock on the front door brought her downstairs.

“Good morning,” Victoria beamed. “I just wanted to stop by and ask you if you’re sure you’re up to going back into work. You know Joe and I can handle things if yo
u’re still not feeling up to it.”

“Thanks Vic but believe me, I'm more than ready. This is just what I need; I just hope I don’t run into Mitch. I don’t think I could handle seeing him Vic, I’d break down, I just know it,” she frowned.

“Oh sweetheart, I hate to say it but you know it’s inevitable. The man is a contractor who is in the store practically every day. What are you going to do if you do end up seeing him?” Victoria asked.

“You know Vic, I'm planning on staying in the office from now on, and I’ll
come out only when it’s absolutely necessary.

But if I do see him, I'm simply going to look the other way, he didn’t respond to my letter so I'm assuming that he’s no longer in love with me. So that’s that. I knew we were moving too fast anyway,” Danielle
replied.

“Danielle Martins, how old are you? You really think you can spend all day in the office and shut yourself off from the rest of the world? Come on now you’re being ridiculous. Yes you wrote a letter and no he didn’t respond, but these things happ
en Danielle and you know this. Look, you want my advice?” Victoria asked.

Not waiting for a reply, she continued. “Danielle it’s been seven weeks and you haven’t heard from the man. Now it’s obvious that his mother is behind all of this so either you two
sit down and hash it out or you make the conscious decision to move on. Either way you’ll feel better about yourself if you do. You’ll both know for sure where you stand and then and only then can you start to pick up the pieces alright? Alright, now get going to work before I start docking your pay,” Victoria gave Danielle a tight squeeze before sending her off to work.

On the way to work, Jason wanted to stop by the job site where Mitch was working, he knew that it would be his first day back on the job and thought it’d be nice if he brought him a welcome back cup of coffee. “And make sure he’s good and miserable.” Shayla demanded when he mentioned that he would be stopping by to see Mitch.

“Oh come on Shay, you know I don’t like to get involved in mat
ters of the heart, besides, I'm sure he’s got more important things on his mind.”

“Oh? Like what Jason? Finding another woman to dump because his mommy doesn’t like her? Is that the kind of something more important?” Shayla asked angrily.

“No Shay, that’s not what I mean. Look the guy’s got a lot on his plate right now. Besides getting stabbed, and losing his girl, might I remind you that his work site was almost burned to the ground? That’s the something more important I am referring to. And don’t take that tone with me young lady,” he said, taking Shayla into his arms. “Or I just might have to take you over my knee,” he joked.

“You promise?” Shayla said in a seductive voice.

“You just wait till I get home babe,” he said as he gave her a kiss goodbye.

When Danielle sat down at her desk, she felt alive. She’d been away from her job so long she almost forgot how nice it was coming in and accomplishing something. Sure she’d done some work from her new place while she was recovering but it wasn’t the same as being able to sit at her desk in front of her computer. She really felt as if she was dead and was now returning to the living. This is definitely going to be good for me, she thought to herself as she booted up her computer.

By the time Jason arriv
ed at the work site, he saw that Mitch was already there. It appeared that he had jumped right in and was delegating to his crew as if he’d not been away.

“Hey buddy, just stopped by to see how you’re getting along and I thought you could use this,” Jason
said while shaking Mitch’s hand and handing him a cup of coffee.

“Thanks Jason, I appreciate it man,” he said taking the sip.

“So how does it feel to be back at work?”

“I gotta tell ya, that it feels good. My crew pretty much has things back to the way the
y were before the fire so that’s a definite plus, now all I have to do is muster up the courage to go in to see Joe and Vic, I need to pick up an order.” Even though Mitch wanted to pay a visit to Victoria and Joe, he was reluctant to go to the store. Vic had told him, when she had called to check up on him that Danielle was due to be returning to work and that meant whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to see her.

“You could always send someone else Mitch,” Jason responded. He wanted to tell M
itch that it was his mother who had ruined things between him and Danielle, but he felt that it wasn’t his place. He’s got to find out for himself, he silently told himself. “Look, maybe you go there Mitch and maybe you run into Danielle, who knows what’ll happen. Listen, I know it isn’t my place but I think you two need to sit down somewhere alone, away from friends and away from family Mitch and talk, just talk. God, listen to me,” he shook his head. “I sound just like Shayla,” he snickered. “You know what Mitch? Scratch that, you do what you feel you need to do alright buddy?”

Mitch knew that Jason was right, he needed to talk to Danielle, face to face. “Jason man, you’re right. Not seeing her has been tearing me up inside and that letter she wrote me? So
mething just doesn’t feel right about it. It just didn’t seem like it was coming from Danielle, I mean I know it did but… it’s hard to explain man,” Mitch said confused.

“Look Mitch go and see her, if she’s receptive then make plans to take her out for din
ner or something. I happen to know for a fact that the woman hasn’t eaten a decent meal in weeks. In fact she hardly eats at all Mitch so go to her, find out what the hell is going on.”

“And if she isn’t receptive Jason? Then what?” Mitch questioned him.

“Well if she isn’t then at least you’ll know where you stand. But you won’t know shit unless you go see her, so what are you waiting for? Go… now!” Jason urged his friend.

Danielle sat staring at the picture of her and Mitch on her computer screen. She had forgotten that it was there and now she couldn’t stop staring at it. My god how things have changed, she told herself. Well you better get used to not having him around Danielle, because he’s out of your life for good, her conscience reminded her. “So what if he is?” She spoke out loud to herself.

“Just because Mitchell Conway doesn’t love me anymore doesn’t mean that my life is over,” she said with a new found strength. “Victoria is right, why should I sit back here and hide, I didn
’t do anything wrong and who wants to be with a momma’s boy anyway!” She huffed as she left the office in search of Victoria and Joe, she wanted them to share in her new epiphany.

Deep in thought and on a mission, she walked out of the office and straight
into Mitch. “Jesus Christ, you scared the hell out of me,” was her response. Danielle couldn’t believe her eyes, her first day back at work and standing in front of her was Mitch. She had hoped to avoid seeing him, at least for a few days anyway.

But here
he was blocking her in, his eyes boring into her. For a moment neither one could think of the words to say. They stood there staring at one another until finally, Mitch broke through the silence. “It’s good to see you Danielle. I take it things are going extremely well for you?” He asked.

Danielle sensed a hint of sarcasm. “How the hell do you think I'm doing Mitch? You dumped me remember?” Her conscience spoke for her and she cursed herself for letting her true feelings spill out.

Mitch was taken aback; he certainly wasn’t expecting that kind of response from her. “What the hell are you talking about Danielle? I dumped you? Sweetheart, you’ve got it all wrong or maybe you forgot about the letter you wrote me?”

He was getting angry now, not only was Dani
elle accusing him of something he didn’t do, but she looked damn good while she was doing it. He was at a one-sided disadvantage and he didn’t like it, he didn’t like it at all.

Danielle took a step closer to him; she didn’t like the fact that they were ha
ving this type of discussion at her work place and in front of her co-workers none the less. “Look Mitch, this is neither the time, nor the place to talk about this. So I suggest you leave. Get what you came here for and leave.”

She could smell his after shave and it was driving her insane, she knew that if she didn’t get him to leave that she would beg his forgiveness for whatever it was that she did wrong and ask him to take her back.

“Danielle you and I need to talk. I need answers, face to face answers. Now I realize that you’re at work and we can’t talk now, but we are going to talk. I'm picking you up and taking you to dinner after work. And I won't take no for an answer.” He demanded.

Danielle felt confused and embarrassed,
she wasn’t sure what was going on, but she needed to find out. She stood on her tippy toes and pointed a finger in his face. “Will you leave if I say yes?” She fought hard not to shout.

Mitch felt like a child being scolded by a parent and fought hard not
to snicker at the sight. “Yes I’ll leave, if that’s what you want.” He lowered his voice.

No it’s not what I want Mitch, what I want is for you to take me back into the office and bend me over the desk! She struggled to get the image out of her mind. “Ye
s, now please go.”

“I’ll leave Danielle but remember, I’ll be at Joe and Vic’s to pick you up,” he said and stared intently at her before walking out of the store.

“Well you certainly handled that nicely,” Victoria smirked as she came out from behind the lighting aisle.

Danielle held her hand to her chest. “Victoria! How long were you over there?” she asked surprised and amused.

“Long enough to watch you stand your ground Danielle, bravo! I’d say you handled that quite nicely.”

Danielle let out a sigh of r
elief. “You think so? I was beginning to falter towards the end there Vic. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be able to hold it together but I did it and it’s done. Thank god!”

“It’s done for now Danielle, but you make sure you don’t stand him up tonig
ht. He’s right, you two need to talk and I'm glad that he initiated it, shows he still cares and from the look of things so do you.”

Danielle stood there perplexed. “It’s all so strange Vic, I mean he didn’t respond to my

letter, has made no attempt to contact me what so ever, and seven weeks later he decides to come into the store to tell me that we need to talk. And to top it all off, I have no idea how he even knew that I was renting your cottage, something is very fishy here Vic.”

Danielle couldn’t he
lp but notice that while she was talking to Vic, Vic was trying desperately to hide her smile. “Okay I get it; you’ve been in contact with him more than once haven't you? That’s how he knew where I lived isn’t it?” Danielle sneered.

Victoria held up her ha
nds in surrender. “Alright, alright you got me Danielle I admit it, I'm the one who told Mitch where you were staying. What?” Victoria questioned innocently. “The poor man was worried sick about you and I figured it was the least that I could do. Look Danielle, this whole situation is nothing but a big misunderstanding, you’ll see. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Joe here, he’s been saying the exact same thing, isn’t that right Joe?" Joe, who had come from around the corner carrying a box of tools gave them both a confused face.

“Isn’t what right?” Joe asked his wife.

Victoria let out a heavy puff of air. Honey, really?” She questioned him annoyed at his obliviousness.

“I was just telling Danielle here that you and I both agree that whatever it is that happened between she and Mitch has got to be a misunderstanding, right?”

Joe stood speechless for a moment while he tried to figure out what his wife was talking about. “Oh, oh yeah. Sorry about that Danielle, my wife seems to think that all I have to d
o all day is meddle in other peoples affairs,” he said mockingly. “But this time I have to agree with her, this thing, whatever it is has gotten way out of hand and the two of you need to act like grownups and solve it. Now that’s all I'm going to say on the subject and if it’s alright with you Victoria, I’d like to get back to work,” he said as he shifted the box he was holding and headed out back.

“Oh go on ya old fuddy duddy.” Victoria shooed him away. “See Danielle? We both agree, you two need to talk t
his out. Now I’ll just shut up about the whole thing for now but remember, Mitch came here to see you, he is giving you an opening and I suggest that you take it.”

After asking Shayla’s advice and finding out that she had ardently agreed with Victoria,

Danielle decided to go out with Mitch and talk things out. She hoped that he would see her side of things and talk some sense into his mother. She knew that It was going to be a touchy subject talking about his mother to him, but he had to be told that she was the cause of it all and if he wanted proof, she had plenty of that. The restraining order was the first thing she would show him.

“Thank you for calling Pat’s flowers how can I help you?”

“Yes I’d like a dozen roses delivered to someone today, is it too late for that?” The voice over the phone said.

“Not at all, I’ll just need some information from you and we’ll get them delivered later on this evening.”

“Perfect, I want them to go to a Miss Danielle Martins; the address is 255 Meadow Lane. It will be the small cottage in the back of the house.”

“Yes, and would you like a card attached?”

“Oh absolutely, on the card I’d like you to write: You belong to me.”

“Anything else? A name or anything?” The sales associate asked.

“No, nothing else thank you.”

“Okay then that’ll be a dozen red roses, with the words, you belong to me inscribed in the card.”

“That’s correct, thank you.”

Once the sales associate finished taking the required payment information, she thanked the caller again, hung up the phone and be
gan processing the order.

Danielle had managed to stop thinking about her date with Mitch long enough to get through her work day. Joe and Victoria were smart people but they hated having to use the new system, so Danielle had her work cut out for her. When five o’clock came she was glad that she had taken some time and did some of the inventory from home. “All caught up Vic,” Danielle motioned to Vic and showed her the computer screen. “See, everything is in order,” Danielle smiled proudly.

“Thank god f
or that, Joe and I both hate that system. I have to admit Danielle, I couldn’t be happier that you decided to come back to work; you’re a godsend as usual. Now get on home and get ready for your date with Mitch,” Victoria winked.

“Will do Vic, I have to a
dmit, I'm nervous and excited,” Danielle grinned.

“Well that’ll pass the moment you see him again, oh and just one more thing Danielle,” Victoria said as she held Danielle’s hand. “Try and have some fun,” she smiled.

“I will Vic, and thank you,” she said as she walked out of the store.

I can’t believe I'm seeing Danielle tonight, Mitch thought to himself as he got dressed.
  After reading the letter, he was sure that she wanted nothing more to do with him. Yet here he was getting ready to take her out on a date. It doesn’t make sense, he told himself. If she doesn’t want me anymore, doesn’t want us anymore then why did she accept my dinner invitation so willingly? Something’s not right, he told himself. Someone is somehow playing games and tonight I'm going to find out who.

As Danielle showered and got ready for her date with Mitch, she hoped that things would turn out okay. In the back of her mind though she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that his mother had served her with a restraining order weeks
ago and now here she was, about to violate it. I wonder what Miss Gail would think about you taking me out to dinner Mitch? She said in her mind. Well after tonight, I'm sure she’ll find out and have plenty to say. But for me? I guess some things are worth going to jail for. She snickered as she stood in her closet deciding on what to wear.

It had been a hot and humid day and even though it was evening, the weather didn’t seem like it was going to cool off, so she decided on a light tank style dress, it fel
l over her body with ease and hugged her dwindling curves. Ever since the kidnapping she had not had an appetite, it seemed lately that if someone wasn’t around to force her to eat, that someone being Shayla, she would probably starve to death.

“Once I se
e Mitch, I know I’ll get hungry,” she grinned. “Just not for food.”

When she heard a knock on the door, Danielle could feel her anxiety rise. He’s here; she thought nervously and took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. Opening the door she expe
cted to see Mitch, but instead was a delivery man holding a large box. “Danielle Martins?” He asked after glancing at his clip board.

“Yes?”

“These are for you, have a nice day,” the young man smiled.

Danielle couldn’t stop grinning. How sweet of Mitch to
send me flowers, she beamed. I wonder why he didn’t just bring them with him though.” A sultry feeling came over her as she remembered all the times that Mitch had given her flowers and after each and every time, they would make love. Looks like I'm not the only one who misses making love, she thought to herself.  She felt good knowing that Mitch still wanted her, she wanted him just as much. As she opened the large box and took out the small envelope that held the card she smiled brightly. “Everything is going to be okay,” she said and opened up the card.

When Mitch pulled into the driveway he noticed that Danielle’s car was there. Well that’s a good sign, he told himself. He half believed that she was going to stand him up. “Never underestimate the power o
f love Mitch.” Victoria had told him when she called him to tell him that Danielle was more than a bit anxious to see him again. “Victoria, I just want to try and work things out with her, you know we never even got to talk about that terrible night.  I want her to know that I tried so hard to save her, to protect her but I failed. And all I want to do now is spend my time making it up to her, if she’s willing that is.”

“Mitch you did no such thing, you didn’t fail her sweetheart. You and she were set up by
that animal, nothing more and nothing less. And now that he’s dead and gone, you and Danielle need to try and move on from this, give it another go, you two are meant for each other.”

“Yes we are Vic, yes we are.”

He nervously smoothed out his clothes before knocking on Danielle’s door. “Here goes nothing,” he murmured as he knocked. When no one came to the door, he knocked again, still there was no answer. “Danielle? It’s me Mitch, are you there?”

Hearing her crying, Mitch opened the door. Once insid
e he panicked when he saw her sitting on the floor surrounded by torn up rose petals.

“Danielle? What the hell happened? Are you alright?” He asked picking her up from the floor. She fell into his arms and began to sob uncontrollably as she handed him the
card.