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In His Bed
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Stay the Night Losing Her
BLAKEAston and I were in my car, on our way to the hospital. Since it was Saturday, traffic was light, and we were making good time down a wide, double lane road. Palm trees swayed in the light breeze outside, splashes of bright green against an otherwise clear blue sky.“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Aston breathed. Her eyes were glued to the scenery as we drove, and she kept pointing things out to me. Seeing Tampa through her eyes warmed me to the place in a way I hadn’t been before.“Yeah, it actually kind of is.” I agreed. I never really understood why Dad chose Tampa but being here with Aston caused it to begin to make sense to me for the first time. There was a serenity here I hadn’t felt before.“How are you feeling?” She tore her eyes away from our surroundings to look at me. I glanced at her and saw she was wearing a concerned frown, fiddling with her fingers.“I’m okay. I hope my dad’s doing better. They expected him to have woken up by now.” It was worrying me that he wa
Stay the Night Succession
Blake“It’s true,” he nodded. “I lost her because of the company. I gave up so many things in my pursuit of success, but your mom was something I could never replace. No matter how hard I tried.”A quiet sob shook my mother’s shoulders. She placed her pointer fingers beneath her eyes and wiped the first tears away. As if I was looking at her through a prism, my view started to change.Her actions had by no means been justified or validated, but my father’s side of the story corresponded with hers. She still tore my heart out and irrevocably changed our lives forever, but if Dad was willing to give her a second chance, maybe all the blame didn’t belong at her feet.“What does this mean?”They stared into each other’s eyes for a few quiet beats, then my dad spoke up. “We’re going to try again. Your mother will be coming home with me when I leave here. She’ll stay by my side for my recovery and we’ll take it from there.”“You’re serious?”He nodded. “As a heart attack. Or a stroke—appare
Stay the Night He's My Hero
ASTONBlake stuck his head out the door and motioned for me to come back into the room. I nodded but took a deep breath before I stood up. I’d been drinking my coffee in the waiting area while Blake had a conversation with his parents.It had been awhile, and my nerves were frayed. I had no idea what was going on inside that room, I only hoped it was good.Blake deserved an explanation from his parents, I just hoped he’d gotten one he could live with. He looked okay, though. He was smiling as he waited for me to make my way to him. “My parents want to meet you.”Blood started pounding in my ears, my nerves sparking at their frayed edges. Not only was I about to meet one of my heroes, but I was also going to meet the parents. Meeting the parents was a big step in any relationship, but in ours it was even bigger since his dad was also my boss.“Okay,” I swallowed past a lump in my throat. People said never to meet your heroes. If mine disappointed me, it would be a double whammy. It wo
Stay the Night No Time to Waste
Aston“It’s not boring to me at all.” His mother’s eyes shone with humor. The corners of her mouth were pressed in as if she was fighting a smile. For a woman who hadn’t been around for so long, she looked positively motherly at the moment.“I’m not bored either,” I piped up, but Blake started moving toward the door anyway.He cocked his head, holding his hand out for me. “I’m sure, but we should get going.”“Okay.” I smiled at both of his parents. “It was lovely to meet you both. I hope to see you again soon.”Both of them nodded. His mom said goodbye and his dad grinned like he knew something I didn’t. “I’m sure you will, dear. Keep up the good work.”“I will,” I said, then followed Blake out the door. He took my hand when we were out in the hall, guiding me back to the front exit. “What did you two talk about that I’m not allowed to know?” “It was nothing, just him rambling about all my traveling and stuff.” There was probably more to it, but he would tell me when he was ready. A
Stay the Night Not a Fling
BLAKE Dad was awake. Mom was apparently back in our lives. It remained to be seen how long she would stay around this time. Aston was here, then she was gone. I would be seeing her again soon, though.Everything was different than it had been when I opened my eyes just a couple of hours ago, but nothing more so than I was now walking into our corporate headquarters as the acting CEO of the company.I didn’t know how long Dad would be out for, but he hadn’t mentioned coming back at all. I got the distinct feeling that he was retiring for good, not just taking some time off to recover. I was sure he would still be around, and that he would never step out completely, but it felt like he’d placed the reins firmly in my hands.They were heavy, but they felt good. It was like I could see everything more clearly now, like the world had shifted on its axis and everything had finally come into focus. I’d never even considered that I might head up the company one day.In my mind, it had always
Stay the Night Telling Danny Where to Go
BlakeStepping off the elevator onto the floor where Dad, Danny and I had our offices, I pushed Aston and my thoughts from my mind. I had to get my head in the game and give everything I had to the conversation ahead of me now.“Is he in?” I asked Norma. Her face split into a wide smile as she nodded. It made me wonder how much she knew about what was about to happen. One day, I would ask her, but that day wasn’t today.“Thanks, Norma.” I strode past her desk and into Dad’s office where I knew Danny had set up shop. Choosing to work in Dad’s office instead of his own was yet another sign to me that he didn’t respect the chain of command and simply took what he wanted.Danny was sitting behind Dad's desk barking orders into the phone. He had spun the chair to be facing the ocean instead of the door and didn’t notice me walking in right away.I didn’t hesitate or wait for him to see me. Instead, I walked right over to the desk and hung up the phone for him. Danny stopped midsentence and
Stay the Night Not Feeling It
ASTONIt had been a month since I had gotten back from Florida and today was the first day that I wasn’t quite feeling the sparkle from getting to meet and speak to Wayne McAllen in person. I had powered through this last month and the branch was doing better than ever.But maybe it was time that I started listening to the staff when they told me to slow down, because I was pretty sure I was coming down with something. The long hours had really worn me down.Exhausted, I trudged into my office two hours before my shift was supposed to start. I fired up my computer but nearly fell asleep before I had done so much as log into my emails.Enough, I told myself. A strong cup of coffee and a little bit of blood flowing through my veins was what I needed to get going.Ignoring the kettle in my office, I headed to the staff break room where there was a state-of-the-art coffee machine we had just received last week. It was a gift from Wayne McAllen himself. The card had been addressed to all o
Stay the Night I'm Not Sick
AstonChuckling, I imagined Blake’s reaction if Tiffany called to tell him she thought I was overworked and burning out. Once I imagined his reaction though, I realized he would probably agree with her that I needed to go home and take some time for myself.I stopped laughing immediately. “You wouldn’t. Please don’t. He’s got enough on his mind as is. The last thing he needs is to be worried about me for no reason.”She sighed but agreed. “If you’re not feeling better by tomorrow, stay home or I might actually just call him for real. If you won’t stay home for yourself, stay home for us. If you’re coming down with something, you don’t want to infect the rest of the staff.”“Fair point,” I told her. It would be catastrophic if I ended up being contagious and inadvertently passed it on to the staff. We had tons of events coming up. There was the anniversary party tonight, a birthday and a bar mitzvah this week and a special tasting menu at the restaurant up on the deck on Friday night.
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