The One Who Holds It All

Wall

Maximus

Once we had things settled down in Virginia, we loaded up on the jet for Columbus again. We wouldn’t have had to rush back, normally, but the expansion of our business further north has a lot of impact on our hometown. The revenue we acquire from this branch is detrimental to the direct care we can give to the members back home, as well as keeping the day-to-day operations running smoothly. This new branch of the company will allow us to expand our outreach efforts for the many nonprofits we house. Once we get this major deal settled later this weekend, my team leaders and I should be able to resume operations back home while keeping a separate Columbus crew here.

The plane ride back was uneventful. Which, in our line of work, is a good thing. As the plane starts to descend into the airport, Xavier takes a seat beside me.

“Megan just told me that she forgot your meeting note binder in your office. We will have to swing by the office before we head back to your place.”

I nodded to him as I sat back in my seat, daydreaming about the scent of the one thing I want most in this life.

…

Once we land, we unload our baggage. I tell the other guys to go ahead and load up in the SUV and head to the house, while I take the car and head to the office.

I got to the office and said hey to Jace, the security guard, and I took the elevator up to the 41st floor. The smell of floor cleaner taints my nose as I exit the elevator into the office space. We periodically have a cleaning company come in and give the office a deep cleaning. Chemicals are too pungent for our noses to handle on a regular basis, so I try to schedule it to happen when I know we will be out of the office for a day or two. It seems like they just finished up, as I don’t see even a shoe print on the pristine floor.

I headed back towards my office and entered the room.

Her scent.

How in the world is her scent all over this room? My heart starts racing, knowing she has been here, in this very room. I just can’t believe it. Maybe my chances of finding her aren’t completely gone.

But how? How was she here? The cleaning company? That must be it. Eyes glazing over, I know just who to contact for this. I’ll get a list of all of the cleaning personnel that entered this office today and I will find her.

I walk over to my desk; the smell is so intoxicating. I sit in my chair to open a drawer when I realize, her scent is all over my chair. Was she sitting in my chair? I chuckled, wondering what in the world she was doing in my chair. It doesn’t bother me, it makes me curious, craving to know what she was doing, thinking, feeling.

I quickly grabbed my binder and ran out the door. Today is the day I find her. My one and only.

Kylie

As we walked to the front door, I realized I had to make myself intentionally take a breath. This is the largest, most beautiful home I have ever been to. Walking inside, a grand double staircase leads up to the second and third levels of the home. The works of art adorning the walls are obviously expensive, the furnishings are like the ones I’ve drooled over on Pinterest. The ones that no normal person can afford ; Me, being normal.

“Welcome to the A.M.Pack House.” I am trying to take it all in, as Megan leads me down a hallway to the right. She opens a door that leads into a very homey, yet very roomy conference room. She wheels her bag over to the side of the grand, live-edge table and starts to set up her work space.  

“Kylie, you can set up right across from me, as Max will want you beside him for note-taking. He always sits at the head of the table,” she smiles as she motions to the seat by the window.

“Sure thing,” I said a little nervously. As I take out the laptop Megan brought for me, I glance up to see Megan staring off into space. When she focuses back again, she catches me watching.

“Um I need to make a phone call,” she says as she reaches for her phone and steps out of the room.

As she finishes up her phone call, I decide to head to the kitchen to see if there are any refreshments I can set out for the team when they arrive. I look through the cabinets and find a glass pitcher, add some ice and water and start grabbing some cups from another cabinet. Suddenly, I heard the door open.

A loud group of men entered the house and the sounds of laughter and stomping feet fill the air as I placed the water and some snacks on a tray.

I really hope my sweaty hands don’t drop this tray on someone!

My nerves start skyrocketing as I carried the tray to the meeting room. The door was open, so I walked in. And I’m welcomed by complete silence. My face turns bright red as I step into the room. I'd be darned if I didn’t almost drop the tray. And not even from embarrassment, but from sheer surprise of the room full of supermodels in front of me. I’m pretty sure my chin hit the floor as my mouth dropped open at the sight of the men standing there.

Before I could even think, Ross was at my side, taking the tray from my hands and trying to get my attention.

“Uh, hey Kylie,” he says with a grin. “Guys, this is Kylie, Kylie, these are the guys.”

I blinked myself back to reality and closed my mouth. Trying to recover my strange behavior with a smile. I allow him to take the tray, as I gulp and take a step forward to shake the hands of each of the Goliaths in front of me. I’m not exaggerating. These men were all equally huge, each one rising at least two feet taller than myself. I made my way to each of them, as they told me their names. They all seemed to be content with the fact that I was a shrimp, comparatively.

Just as I am about to head over to take my seat, Megan calls me out into the hallway.

“Hey Kylie, will you come with me upstairs to help with Max’s bag?”

“Uh, sure,” I said a little uneasily. I’m unsure about going upstairs in a stranger's house. I shake it off as curiosity gets the best of me. I asked her what had been on my mind all day.

“Um, Megan, forgive me,” I started as we went up the stairs. “but shouldn’t his wife be the one to take care of his clothes?”

“Yes, I suppose she should,” she replied with a wry smile. She looked back at me, “if he was married.”

Feeling a little joy in my heart at that sentiment, I chuckled and nodded. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I asked that. I think I’m just nervous about meeting the boss of a successful company and the owner of this mansion.”

Megan can sense my hesitancy. She steps in rhythm with me as we arrive on the third floor. “Listen Kylie, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Max is one of the kindest, most selfless men I’ve ever met. You have no need to feel nervous or ill-equipped. Just be yourself. I promise, it’s all going to work out just fine.”

I can’t help but notice the slight smirk she has when she says this last part. Why is she always smirking? It almost seems as if she knows something that I don’t.

 We get to a large door at the end of the hallway, and as she opens it, I don’t know why, but my heart starts racing. An intoxicating smell hits me like a slap in the face. It smells like a mixture of Axe and the outdoors. It makes my brain mushy-and I'm embarrassed to admit-my core clench. We entered the large room, and I was surprised at how tidy it was. Usually, bachelors are kind of slobs. I frown thinking about how he probably most definitely wasn’t the one making his own bed- or sleeping in it. You can’t be this rich, this well-liked and not have someone to spend your time with.

Megan led me to the ensuite. “You go ahead and pick out a couple of shirts and I’ll grab the shoes.”

I head into the closet, which is more like a whole additional bedroom without a bed. There are so many shirts to pick from, all hanging neatly and separated by color.

 Yeah, this is definitely the work of a woman.

I get to work and grab a couple of shirts, unsure of what to choose, considering I don’t even know what he looks like or what will complement his features. I hold them up next to each other and decide two would probably be better than 1, and I turn around and bump straight into a wall. Stumbling, I trip over my own foot and just as I am about to fall, a pair of arms reaches out from the wall and grabs me, holding me against it. The sparks between our skin catch me completely off guard, as if I wasn’t off my rocker enough already. Trying to ignore the way my body is reacting, I notice I can hear the wall breathing. Catching my breath, I then realized that what I just bumped into was not a wall at all.