My Summer in London (My Summer #1)(44)
Margery, of course, fawned over her youngest and made sure he got everything he wanted, which wasn’t much. Apart from iced water and cappuccino, Archer didn’t have any desire to eat.
I could easily see the difference between how Margery treated Archer compared to Cruz. With the oldest, she was straightforward and didn’t fawn over him like she was with Archer. She still treated him like he was a baby in dire need of cooing and wooing. While Archer played and partied the night and day away, Cruz was busy running their business, making sure everything was going smoothly. It was crazy, but I suddenly realized I felt protective of Cruz. It must have been hard to see your own mother show more love towards your other sibling. My parents had never displayed favoritism between Grace and me, and I would forever be grateful for that. I could only imagine the insecurity and whatever else that could root from that.
After dinner, Archer tried to cajole me into go swimming with him. Seeing the state that he was in, though, I declined. It would have been fun, but after how Saturday had unfolded, I didn’t want to put myself in a situation where Archer would perceive my acceptance to something more than what it was. Besides, I wanted to indulge myself in a long, hot bath after today. I was sore in places I hadn’t even known existed.
Sex with Aaron was vanilla compared to the kind I was getting from Cruz. I got what everyone was saying now, so thank goodness for Cruz.
#
The next day at work, I waited for Cruz’s return from an emergency meeting out of town, but it took longer than expected, so it was a letdown that I didn’t get to see him. I was so looking forward to seeing how he was after yesterday, even though the parting was a little strained for my liking.
The same thing happened the next day. He got caught up with contracts in Scotland and would be staying overnight. To say I was having major Cruz withdrawals was an understatement.
When Friday rolled in, I was in high spirits, knowing full well he was going to be in the office. I had made sure to check his calendar. Given that he would be spending a lot of time in calls and meetings, he would be on the same floor as me, and that pleased me to no end.
Though guilt still weighed heavily on me, I had learned to cope by telling myself there were certain things in life that were out of my control. Cruz had pushed me and only came to me after he had broken things off with her. I just needed to learn how to deal with it.
While my conscience suffered, it didn’t negate the fact that I still managed to dress as he had requested. It was a cream-colored, A-line dress that went just above the knee, formal and demure enough to be worn in the office.
My upbeat mood lasted until right before everyone took their lunch when I witnessed a stunning redhead enter his office. She wore all white, impeccably dressed and alluringly sexy. My bitch radar was on high alert. From then on, my eyes were practically glued to the clock on my desktop, counting down the time. The unnamed woman was there for over an hour.
What did they have to talk about? I worried as I watched the time tick away. Each passing second was like a nail into my coffin. The comparison might be on the extreme, but it was how I felt, and damn him for making me go through such crushing jealousy.
It seemed like I had waited forever for her to emerge from Cruz’s office. When she came out, there was a victorious smile pasted on her face as she strutted down the hallway, readying to leave through the elevators. I couldn’t stop staring at her while feeling my heart slam hard against my chest, clearly troubled.
If I didn’t see him right at that moment, I would very well lose it. If he was busy doing something, he had better spare me a minute or two, or I would do something I might end up regretting.
My mind was dead set on interrogating him, never mind the fact that I didn’t have the authority or the right to do such a thing. I couldn’t care less. Jealousy was a rotten thing, and it was eating me stupid. There was no better explanation than that.
Swiping my sweaty palms on the sides of my dress, I briskly strode towards his office. What I planned to do the moment I saw Cruz … Well, that was yet to be determined.
It was rude not to knock, but I couldn’t control myself from exploding, so I just barged in there like a damn lieutenant, meaning to bark for some immediate answers. When I got in there, however, I was greeted with the sight of him in the bathroom with the door barely cracked open while he thoroughly washed his hands.
For what insane reason did he have to do that? He didn’t have sex, did he? He might have felt the need to simply clean them like normal people would, but if he did have sex… Then there was that f*uking stupid smile that woman had on her face that insinuated she’d had the yummiest cake for dessert… f*uk! Cruz wouldn’t, or would he?
On the verge of serious outburst, I marched across the room and into the bathroom, unceremoniously pushing the door open, surprising the bejesus out of him.
“Please don’t tell me you f*uked that woman here, in this office, while I was working nearby!” My eyes wildly flashed at him, sending daggers, hell, and all of its deadly accouterments as I held nothing back in my tone.
After biding his time by washing his hands, he took another lengthy moment to dry them off while he avoided my furious glare.
“You sound as if you’re jealous, Serena. Try to be careful, my sweet, or I might take it as if you want to be my girlfriend.”
“Did you or didn’t you?” I was a loose cannon, and there was no stopping me. “Because, if you did …” My heart began to ache so badly I had to pause for a second. “Because, if you had sex with her, then I don’t want anyone’s sloppy seconds. I’d rather f*uk someone else.”