Page 15 of The CEO

“Sarah,” I called firmly as I pulled on her leash. She stopped fighting me but continued to bark incessantly. I held Jimmyand Orvy’s leashes in my left hand and Sarah’s in my right. I switched so I could hold hers in both hands. I needed all the strength I could get to hold her back from trying to cross the street and chase after that damn squirrel. Luckily, my dead weight had eventually stopped her, otherwise, I would have been sprawled out in the street and probably hit by a car.

My phone started ringing again. Tugging on the leashes, I turned in an attempt to start looking for my phone. It obviously wasn’t broken or it wouldn’t be ringing which was a plus. All three dogs had their noses to the ground sniffing. I only hoped it wasn’t to find any other rodents to chase. They seemed amenable to following behind me as I tracked my phone with Beyoncé belting out the lyrics to “Single Ladies.” I’d changed it from “Time After Time” right before I got in the elevator the other night and broke down. Kingston finding me had not been in my plans. I thought I’d been alone and free to finally let loose the tears I’d been holding back all day. I was wrong. Just like I was wrong about so many things in my life. Haider was my biggest mistake. I’d lost years of my life to him only to find out I’d been replaceable with a leggy redhead. My phone had been silent since I’d changed my ringtone except when Kingston called me earlier and now it only reminded me how I was now single and probably always would be. Although, right now, I was fine with that. I didn’t need a man in my life to be successful. I only needed myself.

The ringing stopped and my heart dropped. I was never going to be able to find my phone. It could be anywhere. Under a car, in the bushes, or hidden behind a bike tire. Then as if God was listening, the ringing started back up again. I’m not sure how I saw my screen light up with the bright sun shining down making it nearly impossible, but I saw it between a trash can and a newspaper stand. Dragging the dogs behind me, I fought to reach my phone before whoever it was that was calling hung upor the dogs started to drag me in another direction. Picking it up, I fought against the taut leashes to answer.

“Hello?” I hated the sound of my voice wavering, but I couldn’t hide the toll the dogs had taken on me. Well, not all the dogs just Sarah. She was now my nemesis. No treats for her this afternoon.

“Pria?” A deep baritone rang with worry. I pulled my phone away and looked down at the number again. It was one I didn’t recognize. “Pria, are you there?”

“Kingston? Is that you?” Who else sounded like Kingston Avery with that deep voice that usually sounded so cocky? No one, but why would he be worried about me? Maybe he was worried about the dogs. That had to be it.

“For fuck’s sake, Pria, who else would it be? We talked only a few minutes ago. How is it you didn’t recognize my voice or my number?”

“No one,” I sighed dejectedly. Tears stung the backs of my eyes at my realization. “I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. Things were a little crazy. Can I call you when I get back to your apartment?” There was no way I was going to be able to talk on the phone and walk the dogs back. And try not to cry because there was no way in hell he was going to see or hear me cry again.

“Are you okay?” The worry in his voice did funny things to me that I wasn’t sure if I liked.

“I don’t know. Nothing’s broken. At least I don’t think there is, but you put me in charge of a demon dog and she’ll probably kill me if I try to walk and talk at the same time.”

“Pria, I’m—” I cut him off. I could hear the apology in his voice, and it was the last thing I needed in that moment. I would have broken down and never would have made it back the half mile to his apartment. Either that or Sarah would have sensed my weakness and killed us all by pulling us into the street.

“Don’t. Please.” My chin quivered, and I hoped it was impossible to hear my weakness through the phone. “I’ll call you back once I get back and things are settled down. Is this the number I can reach you at?”

There was a long pause. I wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to argue with me or if it was because he could hear the defeat in my voice. “This is my cell phone. You can reach me on it day or night.” He paused again. “Call me back.” That time it was a demand. I wasn’t sure if it was the command of him being my boss or if it was his personality. Either way, I’d call him. Eventually.

My right hip throbbed with each step I took making the trek back to the apartment slow going. Sarah had calmed down and was following beside me dutifully. Jimmy Chew kept looking up at me with his sweet little eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was checking to see if I was okay or if he wanted me to hold him. Even though he probably only weighed five pounds, I couldn’t hold him. There was no way I was going to keep myself vulnerable for Sarah to strike again.

What took us five minutes to walk before took close to forty-five minutes on the way back, I was walking so slow with my now bum hip. I was proud that I kept the situation under control and didn’t cry as I walked back with a huge hole in my leggings. I still got looks from all the people who passed me, but I didn’t care; I wouldn’t see them again after this week.

Stepping inside the apartment, I let out a sigh of relief. We made it. I dropped the leashes and headed into the kitchen for a bottle of water and to give the two male dogs treats. They’d been wonderful. It was almost as if they knew I’d been hurt and tried to take it easy on me. Sarah lifted her snout up in the air and walked out of the room. I didn’t care. She could be pissed all she wanted. I had the scrapes and bruises to show for why I wasn’t her biggest fan.

After giving Jimmy and Orvy an extra treat, I headed to my room to take a shower. I had dirt all over me and I was hoping it would help me feel better like when you’re sick. It seemed to take half an hour to remove my clothes without causing too much pain. If I didn’t have a scrape on some part of me, I had a bruise. I guess it was good that I was working from the apartment until Kingston got back. I didn’t want everyone at work to see me looking like I’d gotten into a fight. After all the adrenaline left me, I’d be feeling every little bump and scratch. Maybe once I got out of the shower, I’d start drinking the bottle of wine Kingston had in the fridge. It couldn’t hurt.

Relaxing backon the couch with a dog on each side and an almost empty wineglass in hand, my phone started to ring from the other room. Shit. I’d forgotten to call Kingston back, and I was sure he was unhappy with me.

I felt very little pain as I got up, thanks to the almost empty bottle of wine, in search of my phone. Had I left it in the kitchen or the bedroom? With how big his apartment was I deduced it was in the kitchen since I wouldn’t be able to hear it if I’d left it all the way back in the guest room. Both Orvy and Jimmy followed me into the kitchen. Their tails wagged happily the entire way. They were probably hoping for more treats. I’d give them all the treats in the house for being so sweet to me. I hadn’t seen Sarah since she lifted her nose at me and walked away and that was fine by me. If I had to see her, I’d only think about the next time I had to walk her later today and that almost gave me a panic attack.

The same number lit my screen as before when Kingston called me. Once I got off the phone with him, I’d add him to my contact list. I hated not seeing the name of whoever was calling me. Just like I hated having any notifications whatsoever on my phone.

“I’m so sorry. I forgot to call you back,” I rushed out. I headed to the pantry to get my new friends their treats as I waited for my boss to go off on me. My phone was quiet for so long, I had to pull it away to make sure the call hadn’t been disconnected. Had he hung up on me? One look told me he was still on the line, so either he had a bad connection or was speechless. I was going to go with him having a bad connection. “Hello? Kingston?”

“I’m here,” he cleared his throat. “You apologized, and it shocked me.”

I wasn’t the hard-ass out of the two of us. I had no problem apologizing when I knew I’d done wrong.

“I’m sorry if you were worried about the dogs. I should have called you once we got back to give you an update. They’re doing fine. Jimmy and Orvy are so sweet and I’ve got two new friends.”

Again, he was quiet for so long I had to look down at my phone. What the hell was going on with him? Maybe he was sick or jet lagged from his flight. That had to have been it. Or a bad connection.

“I wasn’t worried about the dogs, Pria. I know how big and strong Sarah and Orville are. Fuck,” he cursed. “I should have thought about you taking care of them. You’re not trained with dogs and they’re a handful when out to say the least. If anyone should be apologizing it should be me.”

Had hell frozen over? Kingston Avery had apologized to me. I turned to the window to see if pigs were flying by.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked when I didn’t see either pigs flying or the world outside turned into the Arctic.

“Tired. Jet lagged, but beside that I’m fine. After I ate dinner and hadn’t heard back from you, I decided I should check on you to make sure you’re okay.”

Oh, that was nice of him. Nice and uncharacteristic.Do you really know him? You haven’t seen him in at least ten years, and he was a sweet boy growing up.And that reminded me that I still hadn’t told him I knew him and his family when we were younger.

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