Sinful Pleasures

Chapter Eight

"We are just old friends Blaire. Let's not do this here. Why don't we just continue with the interviews?" I rolled my eyes, but decided he was right. I would ask him again later. I decided to just ask them the standard questions: Why do you want to work here, why should we hire you, how will you make our jobs easier for us. Those sorts of things.

Samantha went first, and then Jonathon. They both seemed like perfect fits. I hadn't decided who should be with who, so I just sent them off to Lexi to finish their paperwork. When they left my office, Damon made himself comfy on the couch opposite of my desk.

I sat forward and placed my hands on my desk. I tried to read his expression, but he was giving nothing away. I just had this feeling that whatever their past was, I wasn't going to like it. How could I think that we could just go back to the way things were?

"So, are you going to tell me how you guys know each other? And don't give me the 'We are old friends' bullshit. You might not be giving anything away, but I know you better than that." I glared at him, daring him to give me anything but the truth. I was growing more annoyed by the minute, and he finally let out a sigh.

"We met not long after we broke up. You had been away at Brown for only a few weeks. We were at a bar and decided to have a few drinks together. I can tell you have already figured out the rest. I don't need to say it." He gave me a sympathetic look. I know I technically have no right to be pissed off since we had broken up. But he just said that it was only a few weeks after we broke up. We had dated for 6 years! "Blaire, say something. Please."

I could feel myself getting red. I could feel the tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "Did I mean nothing to you? Did those 6 years mean nothing to you? You went off and what, f****d the first female you saw after I left?"

I couldn't help myself. I stood with so much force that my chair rolled away from the desk. I walked over so that I was standing right in front of him. He must have realized just how pissed off I was because, he immediately stood up. I was so pissed, that I didn't realize what I was doing until I felt my hand make contact with his face.

"Blaire, I will never forgive myself for that night. Or the night that I broke your heart. I am so sorry that I caused you so much pain. I promise that was the only time, with her or anyone else. Until you came back home."

I could tell that he was truly sorry, but that still didn't change how I was feeling right now. I didn't even want to look at him right now. "Get out. I can't even stand to look at you right now."

"Blaire, please. You know I love you. I always have. If you can look at me right now and tell me that you don't still love me too, then I will walk out now and we can go to having strictly a business relationship. I will take my stuff from your room and move out of the hotel. Just tell me that you don't love me."

He had moved close enough to lace our fingers together. The tears had started to fall. He knew what he was doing. He knew that I still loved him. But even though I still loved him, I needed to be alone. I needed him to leave.

"You know I still love you Damon. But I still need you to leave my office. I need time to think." He lifted his hand to wipe the tears from my face. He didn't argue with me. He simply kissed my forehead and walked out. Once I heard the door close behind him, the tears really came. I felt more hurt than when he ended things 6 years ago. It was like that night all over again. I wiped my eyes and grabbed my phone. It was only noon, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to get anything done today. I let Addie know that I would be out of the office for the rest of the day. I then text Lexi and asked her to meet me upstairs when she was finished working.

The first thing I did when the elevator opened was head straight to the kitchen and pour a glass of whiskey. Wine wasn't going to be strong enough for this. I was just pouring my second glass when Lexi came into view. She gave me a knowing look and joined me at the counter. "The last time you sent me an SOS, it was that night with Damon. Please don't tell me this is because of him again? I thought you guys were doing so well?"

I downed the second glass and quickly filled it for a third time. "We were. Until one of the PA candidates turned out to be some chick he hooked up with only a few weeks after I left for Brown."

Lexi's eyes went wide. It took her a few seconds before she could respond. "I'm so sorry babe. How could he do that to you? What are you going to do about the girl?"

"Well, it isn't exactly her fault. She had absolutely no idea who I was until my outburst right before the interview. Not to mention she seems to be really good at her job. I am going to have her be my PA, and Damon can have Jonathon. But that's not all." I downed the third glass, then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. I decided that 12:30 in the afternoon in the middle of the week was a little too early to be wasted.

"What else happened Blaire?" Lexi had taken a seat at the counter. I handed her a bottle of water and took another drink of my own.

"He told me that if I could look him in the eyes and tell him that I didn't love him anymore, that we could go to a strictly business relationship." I looked down at my hands. Lexi knew me better than anyone. She would be able to tell exactly how I responded to him.

"Of course you told him that you still love him. Even if you would have lied, you don't have a very good poker face when it comes to Damon. Although, I'm sure he would have let you try to believe yourself."

I rolled my eyes at her. I just didn't know what to do. I knew that I was probably being irrational. I mean, so they had s*x like 6 years ago. It was just a one time thing according to Damon. I finished off my water and decided to make some coffee. It was still early, so I figured I could just work from here, instead of in my office.

"Well Lex, thank you for being my shoulder to cry on. Maybe I overreacted. I just need a little more time to myself. I am going to drink some coffee and work for a bit up here. If you see Samantha again, will you let her know to be in my office by 10 in the morning? I think I am going to get a late start tomorrow."

I made myself a cup of coffee and savored my first drink. This was just what I needed. "Anytime babe. What are best friends for? I am going to finish off the new hire papers then keep working on fixing the filing system. I should have everything updated by the weekend." She smiled at me before giving me a hug. I waved as she made her way to the foyer. I grabbed my laptop and made myself comfortable at the counter.

I didn't realize how long I had been working until I looked at the window and noticed that it was now dark outside. I looked at the time and it was already 7:30. I decided I did a lot of work in those few hours. I had decided to go through all the emails that involved future events and make a system to separate them according to event type. There were a few minor complaints from guests that I took care of. There were also a few celebrities that had asked about making reservations here. I made a list of proper precautions for security to take, and made a note to figure out which suites to block off for them.

I jumped out of my seat when I heard someone clear their throat. I turned to see Damon in the living room with a box of pizza in one hand, and a dozen sunflowers in the other. I had decided a few hours ago to not be mad at him anymore. I guess now was a good time to apologize.

"I'm so sorry for how I acted earlier. I completely overreacted. It was 6 years ago and we weren't together anymore. I was just hurt by how quickly you said it happened."

He had made his way to the kitchen and placed the pizza and flowers on the counter. He walked up to me and pulled me against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. "Blaire, I never meant to hurt you. I had just realized how stupid I had been, and that I had actually let you leave before making things right. She just happened to be the first female I saw. I just wanted to forget everything."

I tightened my arms around his waist. "I forgive you. I had a lot of time to think while I was up here alone working. Samantha will be my PA, and Jonathon will be yours. Not because I don't trust you, but because I think it would benefit us more this way. Also, the new EC also happens to be Amanda's sister."

"Are you serious? What are the odds of that happening? Oh yeah, I figured you hadn't eaten yet so I grabbed your favorite pizza. I might have been planning to use it as a peace offering as well."

He grabbed two plates and made his way to the couch with the food. I grabbed us some waters and joined him. I grabbed the remote and turned on my favorite movie: Hocus Pocus. We spent the rest of the evening finishing off the large pizza and talking through how to move forward with Samantha. I told him that I wasn't planning to go into the office until around 10 and he agreed that I deserved it.

We finally made our way to the shower and then to bed. I cuddled up against him and fell into a peaceful sleep. I must have been exhausted because when I woke the next morning, Damon was already gone. I didn't even hear him leave. I made my way to the kitchen to see a pot of coffee already made, and some waffles on a plate. I quickly ate, but took my time with the coffee. I decided to go with a more laid back look for the office today. Black dress pants, blue tank and heels. I left my hair down and just threw on some mascara. I made a coffee to go and headed to my office. Samantha was just reaching my door as I pushed it open.

I could tell she was nervous as she followed me in. I mean, I couldn't blame her after my little outburst. I sat at my desk and noticed that she was fidgeting with her iPad. "It's fine Samantha. I promise I won't bite. I am sorry for my outburst yesterday. It was highly unprofessional. Can we just move passed that?"

I gave her a smile and she finally started to relax. She took a seat on the couch and pulled up her iPad. I wanted to make a list of questions to ask the clients next week regarding their events. Samantha took note of everything I started to ramble off to her, and added some of her own thoughts. We went on for almost 2 hours between the few events. Once she cleaned up her notes, I had her email it to Amanda, Haley and Damon. We got my calendar set up on her iPad so she could easily keep track of all my meetings, interviews and whatnot.

Once 1:30 finally rolled around, we decided to go downstairs to the restaurant for lunch. Damon and Jonathon were already down there, so the hostess kindly seated us with them. We talked about how Samantha and Jonathon's first day was going. If they were liking it so far, even if it had only been a few hours. We sat and talked for another hour before we made our way back to our offices.

I decided to let Samantha leave after we spent the next 3 hours deciding which suites we should keep on hold at all times for celebrities. I stayed back to finish going through my emails. As I was replying to my last email, my phone lit up with a text message. I groaned and rolled my eyes as I saw it was from Mother. I should have known she would be wanting to know if I let Damon help or not. She wanted to get dinner tonight and discuss a few things. I told her I would meet her at the Italian place down the street at 6. I text Damon to let him know what my plans were, so he could get dinner for himself.

I locked up my office and made my way to the restaurant. Mother was already there so I made my way to the booth she had. I ordered a glass of water and a simple chicken alfredo. I took my time as I could feel her staring at me, waiting for me to say something.

I returned her look before finally caving. "Why don't you just get on with it Mother? I know the only reason you asked me to dinner tonight was to see what decision I made regarding Damon." I took a long drink of my water as Mother rolled her eyes. "Yes Mother, I decided to let Damon help run the hotel with me. Are you happy now? Even though you seem to be the only one who doesn't think I can do it own my own."

The waitress chose that time to bring out our food. I took a bite, if only to try and calm myself down. I hated the fact that my own mother was the one person who didn't think I could be successful on my own. I was so annoyed that I might have stabbed a piece of chicken a little too hard.

"Blaire, don't be so dramatic. Of course you could do it alone. You can just accomplish more with his help. That's all." She took a drink of her wine. I was already half way finished eating when she spoke again. "I'm sorry dear, but I am going to have to head off. I have a very early flight to Greece in the morning. I will call you when I get back. There will be a little get together with a few important people. I will send you the details."

Mother took care of the tab and set off without even a goodbye. I would be hurt if I wasn't already used to it. I gathered my purse and made my way back to the hotel. I was just walking through the doors when I spotted Lexi and Derek mid kiss by his office. I knew it was bound to happen by the way she acted around him. I quickly pulled out my phone when I saw Lexi about to head toward the door. Can't have her knowing I was just gawking at them.

"Blaire, where are you coming back from? It's going on 9:30." Lexi gave me a hug before adjusting her purse on her shoulder.

"I think the better question is what are you still doing here at 9:30, and what were you doing making out with the head of security?" I smiled slyly at her. I knew I was embarrassing her but I was having fun with it.

"Of course you saw that. I'm sorry for not telling you, but I wasn't sure if the feeling was mutual. He did just ask me out a little bit ago though. We are going to dinner Saturday night. If I come over, will you help me get ready?"

She gave me a nervous look, like I would ever say no to her. "Of course Lex. When have I ever passed up an opportunity to glam you up?" I laughed as she threw her arms around me.

"You are the best! This is why I love you! But I should really get going. I probably won't be in until closer to 11 tomorrow though. Mother wants to get breakfast beforehand. I will text you once I get here though. Love you!" She waved as she made her way out the door.

All I wanted was a shower and my bed. I couldn't wait until the weekend so I could finally catch up on some sleep. As I waited for the elevator to reach my floor, I checked my phone and realized Damon hadn't text me since I told him about dinner with Mother. Once the elevator opened up to my foyer, I realized why. I couldn't believe my eyes.