Page 65 of One More Kiss

Axel

The soundfrom the club leaked into my office through the cracks in the door frame and I rubbed my temple to try and prevent my headache from spreading. The fingers from my right hand lightly drummed against my desk as my annoyance with the woman on the other end of the phone shuffled through whatever papers she was searching for. “I just want to make sure you received the papers that I faxed over,” I said again. The annoyance in my voice was evident and there was nothing I could do to tame it.

“I am so sorry Mr. Bryant. I am new here and the girl from the mail room just threw a huge stack of papers from the fax machine on my desk,” the new receptionist from my lawyer’s office said quickly. There was fear in her voice and I knew I was the cause of it.

“Heather,” I said as my fingers started to drum faster.

“Hadley,” she correctly me.

“Whatever. Do you see the signed paperwork for the purchase of the commercial space or not?” I demanded as I balled my hand up into a fist and slammed it against the desk.

“Could you possibly send it over again?” she asked.

“Could you possibly check to make sure it is not in front of you before you ask me to do extra work?” I snapped. I knew I was being a major asshole to this girl but I needed her to do one simple task.

“I…I…I.”

“Spit it out. I don’t have all evening to sit here and wait while you attempt to do your job.”

“I think I found it,” she informed me in a soft voice. The sound of more papers shuffling floated through the speaker on my desk and I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling. I was definitely going to have to talk to her boss about his choice in employees. She was probably young and sexy as hell but dumb as a doorknob.

“You think?”

“I have a purchase agreement for a commercial property in Brooklyn. You are paying way too much for the property in my opinion.”

“No one asked you,” I snapped as the pain in my temple spread across my head.

“I apologize Mr. Bryant. Everything looks to be in order and I will get these documents over to Mr. Lockheart right away.”

“I’ll stay on the phone to make sure the papers don’t get lost,” I huffed out as pulled open my top desk draw and grabbed the bottle of aspirin that I keep for moments like this.

“Very well Mr. Bryant,” she said as the sound of heels clacking against the floor floated through the speaker.

* * *

“What are we toasting to?”Asher called out over the sound of the preforming band as he passed me a drink.

“To Bella’s dreams coming true,” I replied as I gladly accepted the offered drink. Bringing the glass to the lips, I tipped my head back as the cold liquid filled my mouth before sliding down my parched throat. The burn from the alcohol was just what I needed to bring me into the present.

“I can’t believe you are doing this for Bella,” Sabrina called out over the music as she threw her arms around me. “You really are a knight in shining armor.”

“Speaking of Bella, where is she?” Asher asked as he looked around the table.

“She had a long day at the community center and wanted to call it a night early,” Callie, Bella’s other best friend informed us. I could feel my excitement die down a bit at the news that she wouldn’t be joining us tonight.

“I’ll just have talk to her later,” I said.

“So, everything is all set?” Sabrina inquired as she pulled away from me and grabbed her drink.

“Everything is all set,” I assured her. “Thank you for helping me find the property.”

“Bella has been eyeing that store front since it went on the market. It is right around the corner from where she grew up,” Sabrina told me. “She was so bummed when she left Juilliard and it became available.”

“When she told me about it, you had to see the excitement in her eyes. There was no way I was going to let this opportunity go,” I admitted as I finished up the drink Asher had gotten for me.

“Let’s make a toast to Bella,” Callie screamed as she motioned for the waitress to bring me another drink. Withing seconds, another drink was placed in front of me and I was raising it with my friends.

“To Bella! May all her dreams come true,” Sabrina said before taking a sip from her glass.

“To Bella!” Everyone called out.

Turning her attention to me, “You know she is not going to happy about this when she finds out what you did,” Sabrina whispered in my ear with a giggle. The scent of her the alcohol on her breath tickled my nose.

“I know,” I said with a roll of my eyes. Bella Armstrong was as stubborn as she was beautiful. The last thing that she would ever want is a handout and that was exactly how she was going to see the gift I was getting ready to present to her. I know I didn’t think this idea through clearly. I just wanted to try and make right what my father messed up when he threatened her education at Juilliard. My heart was shattered when she looked at me with tears in her eyes and told me that she was quitting the prestigious school. She didn’t want to be a pawn in whatever game my father was playing. I couldn’t blame her. I just hated that she became the ultimate causality in this latest game he decided to play.

“Earth to Axel!” Callie said as she snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Where’d you go?”

Shaking my head to clear the thoughts of my father, I focused on my group of friends sitting around the table. “I am going to prove to Bella that I love her and all I want to do is spend the rest of my days providing for and protecting her.”

“Uh-oh, you’ve got it bad,” Sabrina sighed as she took another sip from her drink.

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