Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 32431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
That night he didn’t come to me, but I guess twice in one day was enough for him. I just wish for once he’d thought to lie next to me in the night, to hold me close until I fell asleep. That’s something we’d never shared.
I didn’t look too closely at his possible reasons for that. Jonas never let anyone get too close, not even the woman who was sharing his bed. There was a wall around him that was almost impenetrable. One I wish I knew how to break through.
I fell asleep with that one word he’d whispered in my ear playing over and over in my head like a loop; so forceful so heartfelt ‘mine’. I slept through the night for the first time in a long time and woke in the morning feeling refreshed.
Chapter 4
***
I took care with my morning toilette and chose a suit I knew he would approve of, one that he’d shown appreciation for in the past. It was the first intentional move I’d made since this whole thing had started.
I don’t know what drove me this morning, but instead of fear and uncertainty of what the day might bring, I felt empowered. Sometime during the night I had solved the puzzle. Jealousy! It was jealousy of Andrew’s unwanted attentions that had pushed Jonas to do what he did on that desk. To say that word to me that revealed more of what he felt than anything else had ever done thus far.
That had to mean something didn’t it? Why else would he be jealous if he didn’t care? And why would he show me that side of him, when he was so secretive and selective with everything else he shared? It must mean something.
I hummed on my way to the kitchen for my morning tea and a piece of fruit. It was the only thing I could keep down this early in the day though I hadn’t been sick yet. I wasn’t looking forward to that, but at least I’d be able to keep my condition hidden a bit longer when it started because he was never here in the mornings.
I played the radio in the car on the way to the office, a vast contrast from the day before. My first blip came when I saw that his car was missing from its usual place. That wasn’t like him. From my first day here he’d always beaten me to the office everyday.
I walked into the building on unsteady legs. “Hey Thalia, how are you?” I looked up at the greeting from Amy, one of the junior secretaries who I’d once shared a cubicle with before I was promoted to the great man’s assistant.
“Hi Amy, I’m good and you?” She shrugged her shoulders and walked next to me. “Oh I’m fine haven’t seen you at the café for lunch in a while, are you doing okay? The big guy keeping you busy?”
What did she mean by that? I looked at her sharply but there was nothing in her face, nothing that said she was being anything but sincere. “You could say that. He’s a workhorse as you know, so it stands to reason that I’m kept just as busy.
“Well a few of us are going to the club this Friday night if you want to come along. It might be good for you.”
“Sure, I’ll think about it.” It had been some time since I’d gone anywhere but home and work.
Jonas was very clear that I needed to be available any hour of the day in case he needed me. There would be days when he didn’t come to me, but it didn’t matter, as long as I was where he wanted me to be then all was fine.
I left her at the lift and made my way up to the office. Rachel wasn’t in yet so I got the coffee started and straightened out my desk. Today was the follow up to yesterday’s meeting. In the next few days Jonas would finalize his takeover of what was it now, his third company in a year?
He’s been an automaton since burying his family, snatching up failing companies left and right as if to fill the void left by the loss. I grew more and more apprehensive when he didn’t show up in an hour.
Where was he? He didn’t show up by noon and neither did Rachel. My mind went to the only place it could. They were together. My world imploded at the thought. I was at a loss as to what to do. I’d never been in this situation before and though I tried convincing myself that I was jumping to conclusions their very absence spoke volumes.
Where could I look for evidence? What could I do if it were true? What were my options if the man I loved had lost interest in me? I had no answers, only uncertainty and panic. Jonas was so private, so secretive it was hard to know what he was thinking. For as long as I’ve been sleeping with him, I still know no more than the people who followed his life in the gossip rags.