Chapter 10

We exited the lift into a hallway. The polished glossy flooring shone like it was made of glass, there was warm golden lighting from the spotlights that were embedded into the white ceiling, a few wooden doors were spaced generously along the hall, each leading to different apartments. Sean made his way to the one at the furthest end from the lift, I followed after him, waiting as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. A soft light came from a few lamps that were placed around the room inside. Sean flicked a switch on the wall, as we took a few steps inside, and immediately the entire room was lit up, showing the immaculate interior of his home. The hardwood floors, grey carpet and modern yet tasteful furnishings. The large glass window caught my attention, overlooking the illuminated city from our great height. The sea of lights glowing like an entire galaxy, laying just a short distance below the blanket of silver stars in the inky blue sky.

"Take a seat, I'll be right back," Sean said with a small wave of his arm at the seating area before making his way in the opposite direction.

I did as he asked walking towards a soft and generously cushioned sofa, as I took a seat my gaze wandered around the room, taking in my surroundings. A few personal items were scattered around the room and a couple of framed photographs of Sean at different ages were situated on various surfaces. A tall mirror sat above a marble fireplace and a small bouquet of white roses stood in a vase on a glass table just to my side. I sighed slightly at the sight of them as they reminded me instantly of Mel. White roses had always been her favourite flowers. I wondered for a moment whether that's why they were here. Before I could shake the thought Sean had rejoined me, his footsteps echoing slightly on the hard floor before becoming quiet shuffles when he crossed on to the carpet.

"Not a fan of roses?" He asked curiously.

I looked up at him in time to see him place a small glass bowl, and a first aid kit on to the table and take a seat beside me.

"I like them, they're pretty, not my favourites though."

"Roses are most girl's favourites aren't they?"

As he asked, he opened the first aid kit, taking out a small bottle of antiseptic, some cotton balls and a bandage.

"Not mine." I shrugged.

He paused for a moment and fixed me with a thoughtful look before asking.

"What are your favourites?"

I gave a small laugh as he raised his eyebrow his expression becoming playful whilst a smirk played at the corners of his lips.

"If you must know, Freesias," I replied.

He nodded in response before reaching over and taking my injured hand in his own. The sudden contact caught me unaware, instantly causing a tingle to run through me.

"It's not bad thankfully, but it will probably hurt for a few days." His voice was soft and gentle whilst his fingers brushed over my bruised and scraped knuckles.

"It's not the first punch I've thrown, this is nothing."

He glanced up at me, I saw something dark flash through his warm eyes, turning them cold in a second. Before I could ask what was wrong he redirected his attention to his supplies, gathering what he needed. I watched him closely whilst he began to slowly and delicately dab some of the antiseptic liquid across my skin cleaning the small wound. The sting barely registered to me, my mind focusing on the feeling of his other hand wrapped around mine, keeping it still whilst he tended to me. Once cleaned he unwrapped a small piece of dressing and held it gently over my knuckles, lightly applying enough pressure to keep it in place, he took the bandage and began to wrap it around my hand, securing it in place.

"There, all done," he said with a small smile.

I expected him to release my hand, but he didn't, his thumb brushed lightly over my wrist, his eyes now focused straight at me.

"Thank you," I replied in a whisper, my voice unable to manage a normal volume.

This man affects me so, even with a simple look, touch or word I find myself weakened, my body betraying me in the way that no one else can cause. Trying to regain some control I pulled my hand free of his grasp, clearing my throat a little.

"Why did you bring me here tonight Sean?"

He looked a little taken aback at the sudden question, but he quickly recovered as he fixed me with a defiant look and answered.

"Because I wasn't ready to see you go again."

Silence spread between us for a moment as I tried to figure out the words to say. Before I could, he continued.

"I've been trying to speak to you since that day in the park, you haven't answered a single call or text. I told you that what I and Mel have isn't real and yet, you ran away and have avoided me ever since."

I felt a twinge of shame when I looked into his face. He had been upfront and tried to tell me everything, and yet a part of me panicked. That part made me run away.

"I'm sorry. I should have let you explain. I just... I don't know what the hell is going on," The words were coming faster. My voice rising in frustration. "I met you that night, and I thought you were just a single guy in a bar. The next thing I know you're my sister's fiancee, then before I can even begin to know how to process that, you tell me it's all fake."

"I get it, I do. The whole thing is complicated and ridiculous and something I wish I'd never gone along with now, trust me." He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair looking exasperated.

Without even realising I'd moved forwards, placing my hand over his forearm, giving it a small squeeze. Looking into his eyes, I fought down the desire to ignore everything about this thing between him and Mel, and instead, found myself asking.

"What is going on between you and Mel?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a small breath.

"Your sister and I have worked at the same firm now for a few years,"

I knew this was it, the moment that would bring all the complications between me and Sean to the surface. I felt the need to run again. I didn't need complication in my life, I had avoided it for as long as possible. This is what happens when you let people into your life. You have to deal with the issues, the complications, the heartbreak. I looked at Sean's face whilst he continued to talk and inside I couldn't help but hear the words in my head... in my heart... maybe he's worth it all.

"...The firm specialises in divorces as you know, and we are a successful group. But there was a big blow-up recently about a possible scandal, saying that the partners weren't hiring enough successful married lawyers at the firm. How the only married members of staff were far lower on the company ladder."

His words were slow-paced, clear as if he was hoping I would jump to the conclusion myself. Figure out how this meant that my sister was going to end up married to the man that was fast breaking down every rule, wall and guard that I had built up over the years.

"So yours and Mel's firm was getting bad press over it... I don't get the big deal."

"It's not just the bad press. There was a member of staff that had been let go a few months before this came to light. She had recently gotten married and had her first child,"

He shook his head slightly and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Her work had been great until then, but soon it started to go downhill, she was distracted, she made mistakes. She took on a case and well, she fucked it up."

"How bad?" I asked earning a small, cold laugh from Sean in response.

"Bad. Her client was a successful man, owner of his own business. He ended up married to a younger woman, the love of his life supposedly. Until he found out that she had been sleeping with half of his staff and just using him for his money."

Sean rolled his eyes this was something that he was more than familiar with hearing in his line of work.

"He wanted a divorce and provided proof of her infidelity. Elizabeth lost that evidence. It was unable to be resubmitted and without that, the case fell apart. The other lawyer jumped on it, painting the picture he was an abusive, controlling husband who was insistent that she was cheating on him when in reality she was meeting friends. She instantly became the victim and then was rewarded fifty percent shares of his entire worth."

"Shit. That's quite the fuck up right there... but I'm still not seeing the point."

"Well after she was fired she was furious, insisting the fault didn't lay with her, blaming interns and anyone else that she could. When all of this kicked off such a short time after her dismissal, she jumped on it, saying she was forced out of the company due to being married with a child and threatened to sue."

Sean stood up and made his way to a cabinet in the corner of the room, grabbing two glasses he reached over and picked up a bottle of whiskey.

"Your brand." he smiled.

I couldn't help but laugh as he gave it a little tilt and I saw that it was in fact my favourite. He poured two glasses and brought them back over. He sat down, took a sip and continued.

"Anyway, all of this bad publicity was getting the partners into a state. The company name was being tarred with a new reputation, and not a good one. They began to worry about the work drying up as there was a small lapse in the number of new clients. I and Mel had been dating whilst this was all kicking off. Nothing serious, in fact, I'd known after just a few weeks that it was unlikely to go anywhere. I soon decided that it wasn't working out at all, but with our schedules, we were never really around enough for me to properly end things, and so we continued to be a 'couple', in the loosest term possible."

His eyes flicked to mine, a softened look to his eyes as if trying to gauge my reaction, hoping that his words weren't hurting me.

"When I was finally able to end it, I realised Mel didn't feel the same. She wanted to keep trying, said that I meant a lot to her already and she didn't want to give up that easy."

I laughed, as I played his words through my head, I could almost see the scene unfold in front of me. Typical Mel. Never gives up that easy.

I took a drink myself, sinking back into the cushions of the sofa and cradling my glass in my hands. I had a feeling I knew where it was going now. I knew my sister well enough to know how this turned out, and it made my blood begin to boil that she would be willing to drag someone else into one of these self beneficial schemes of hers.

"They wanted a new partner, it had been common knowledge for a while. As you probably know, Mel wanted to be that partner. But now it looked like she'd miss her chance. It had spread to some of us potential candidates, that they had decided to promote someone who was married, something to squash the rumours and fix the company's fast crumbling reputation."

"But let me guess, my sister came to you with an idea," I said bitterly. Sean nodded his head.

"Mel and I had remained friends, even though we weren't together and she knew I hadn't moved on, and that I wasn't looking to either."

That hurt. He wasn't looking to get into a relationship. Is he still not looking to be in a relationship, even if he could be in one, with me. Realising what he said he corrected himself.

"Not like that, I just--"

"It's fine, carry on." I took another sip of a drink, feeling the familiar ease of calm as the burning liquid slipped down my throat.

"To cut the long story short. Mel asked me to help her become a partner. She said if I pretended that we were engaged, she'd be back in the running, and in fact, she'd stand the best chance ever that she was going to become a partner."

"And you just agreed to that?"

"Of course not." Sean sighed. "I thought it was mad, I told her so. But she convinced me it wasn't as mad as it sounded."

The calming effect is gone, I immediately sat upright sure I could imagine what she did to convince him.

"Not like that," Sean said, clearly interpreting my icy glare at his previous words. "We were both single, we both cared about our work and weren't interested in dating in the time being. She said it would be no big deal. We would just tell them we got engaged, convince a few friends and family that it was real, and then we'd get married, she'd get her promotion. After a year we'd get a divorce and go back to our regular lives."

"You honestly don't hear just how mad that is?" I half yelled in shock and exasperation.

"I do now. I cared about your sister, she's still a friend and being a partner is her life's dream. She told me about your parents, saying they were always pressuring her to get that promotion, she wanted to make them proud."

"Okay, so say that insane idea even made an ounce of sense, who would believe it? I mean it's clear she wants the job, she's never hidden that. Isn't it a little convenient that suddenly she's engaged, just at the right time? It would be obvious it was fake and they'd still get sued."

"Not really, everyone knew we were dating, but no one knew we'd broken up. So they all had no problem believing that we were moving on and getting married."

"So you were willing to give up over a year of your life to my sister, just so that she could have something that she really wanted? What do you even get out of this arrangement?"

I couldn't believe Mel was this selfish. Or that Sean could be so... stupid? sweet?...kind? I didn't even know what to think of it now that I knew what was going on.

"I didn't do it to get anything. To me, when I agreed, I had nothing to lose. I was helping a friend to achieve her dream."

I shoved my fingers through my hair in frustration, to have the first man I've ever truly wanted, taken by another woman was hard, it being my sister was harder, it is because she wanted to use him... was infuriating.

"I had no idea that in doing this, I'd find something else. Something that I couldn't have, and yet never want to lose." Sean whispered softly, leaning closer.

I looked into his face, my own desire and longing mirrored in him.

"Can't you get out of it? Say no to her, tell everyone it just didn't work out or something?" I half pleaded.

Sean reached out, his hand skimmed over my cheek, his thumb gliding over my lips.

"I can't, I can't break that promise, and it's not like she could suddenly get engaged to another man. It would be clear what she did and she wouldn't stand a chance. She could even be fired, the way they are handling things."

"I don't care." It was half true. I did care about her getting what she wants, I didn't want to stand in her way, even after how she treats me. But I want something too, I want Sean, and she is the thing standing between us.

He gave a small smile, his eyes glinting in the light.

"Yes you do, you care about her more than she realises. More than any of your family realise."

I couldn't argue with that, even after years of trying to squash it all down and pretend that I was past caring about all of them, I couldn't deny it. I love them all regardless of how they treat me.

"So what now?" I whispered, savouring the feel of his touch on my skin.

His answering smirk was one of mischief and suggestion.

"Now you know everything, do you still want me?"

Everything raged inside of me for a second, the words he'd said, images of him and Mel at my parents and the sight of him in front of me, his lips so close. I didn't hesitate, I launched myself forwards and wrapped my arms around his neck, our lips sealed together in a heated, passionate kiss.