His Secretary: BBW Romance (Her Second Chance Book 2) Page 5

  "No."

  The pilot announced their descent into the airport. Helen did her seatbelt up and sat quietly watching the city appear below them. Closer and closer, they edged. Her head full of how she would break the news to Dan and Max that she had slept with Oliver. Then she would have to explain to her mom and dad that she was a different person to the one who left only two days ago. She would have to tell to them how she had taken a chance on love.

  She also needed to track down that husband of hers and divorce him. Helen was sure she wouldn't get any argument from him. She was willing to let all the money issues slide if it meant a quick clean break.

  Her stomach flipped nervously, not from the plane touching down. This was from the realisation that Joel had never done anything to help her. If he had any idea that she wanted a divorce so she could move on, he was bound to make things awkward. But would he dare when he had been the one to leave, to run off with their savings?

  She looked up to find him staring at her. "Are you OK?" he asked.

  "Yes. Just planning how I'm going to explain all this to my family."

  "Do you want me to be there?"

  "No. It's better if it comes from me alone."

  "How do you think they'll react?"

  "I think. Well, I hope anyway, that they'll be happy for me." She smiled weakly. "But they're obviously going to be worried too. I've just got myself back on my feet, and now I've found a new man. And I don't just mean that they'll worry about my financial security. When Joel left I struggled some days not to let depression get a grip of me."

  "But you didn't."

  "No. Don't get me wrong, I know I can cope with whatever life throws at me. But it's only natural for your parents to worry about you."

  "Your parents. I don't think that's ever been a problem for me."

  "I'm sure your mom has worried about you at times."

  "Only how much trouble I've got myself in. All her concerns went towards my brother. I can't blame her."

  "Well now you have me to worry about you. If you need to talk, about work or anything. Please ring me. It will stay between us, whatever you say. You have my confidence, but you also have to realise that if Max tells me things privately. Which she probably won't. But you know... It will stay with me; please don't expect me to talk behind her back."

  His smile broadened. "I would expect nothing less, Helen, than your complete loyalty to your family."

  The plane came to a stop and Marion left her seat to open the door. Helen grabbed her purse, standing waiting for Oliver to collect his briefcase. She stood nervously looking out at the familiar skyline, a twinge of nerves making her stomach lurch. Life was so much easier if you didn't mess around with it. If you kept on a constant steady line, it was so much easier. She had completely abandoned that steady line; she had now started down a long bumpy road to who knows where.

  Her only concern is that she wasn't travelling that bumpy road alone. She was about to take her children by the hand and lead them down it too. When Oliver brushed past her, his hand resting on her arm, she realised one thing that reassured her beyond belief. As she went along that bumpy road, he was going to be there by the side of her. Every step of the way.

  "Ready?" he asked, the full meaning of his words not lost on her.

  "Yes," she said. "I believe I am."

  "Thank you Marion," Oliver said as they departed.

  "Good bye Sir," Marion answered.

  "Good bye, Marion," Helen said, still not meeting the other woman's eyes directly.

  "I hope we see you again," Marion said. Helen's eyes flicked up to see the air stewardess smiling. Not in any malicious way that would leave Helen feeling like a cheap slut. Instead, Marion nodded, and smiled warmly.

  "Thank you, Marion." Helen said, and stepped off the plane to start the next chapter in her life.

  Chapter Twelve - Oliver

  Oliver glanced across at Helen. "Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?"

  "No. I'll be fine. I might not say anything tonight. The girls will be so excited to see me. Hopefully."

  "Of course they will be. Oh, I nearly forgot. I picked these up on the way back to the hotel this afternoon." He reached onto the back seat for his briefcase, and pulled it onto his lap.

  "I thought I wasn't your employee any more."

  "You're not. Don't worry it has nothing to do with work. I bought your daughters a souvenir."

  "You didn't!" she exclaimed, her face colouring beautifully. "That was so thoughtful of you. I never even thought about it."

  "Well, you had more important things on your mind."

  "Don't say it like that. Now I feel like a bad parent."

  He leaned across and kissed her cheek. "You are a wonderful mom. Here." He handed her two small bags with Monaco emblazoned across them. "There are some small things in there, caps and things."

  She laughed. "So that's what a billionaire keeps in his briefcase. I thought it was full of important business papers."

  "There, you've learned something new about me. I store all my important stuff in here." He closed it back up and put it on the back seat. "Now, let's get your suitcase out of the trunk. Do I get to kiss you goodbye, or do you think we're being watched?"

  "I don't know. This is real cloak and dagger stuff, I feel like a fugitive. But I want a kiss; I don't know when I'm going to see you again."

  "I'll call you tomorrow. If I can hold out that long. I might have to call you tonight. Although I don't want to interrupt you're evening."

  She leaned forward and kissed his lips softly. "Call me whenever you want. If it's a bad time, I'll tell you. But don't be offended."

  "You know that might be a first. Usually my clients drop everything for my phone calls. With you I'm going to be the one who gets rejected."

  "Is that going to hurt your ego? Having a girlfriend that doesn't drop everything for you."

  "A girlfriend. I haven't had one of those since high school."

  "I'm sorry. I haven't been a girlfriend since high school. What am I supposed to be? Your partner?"

  "I know what I'd like you to be," he said, stroking a loose strand of hair away from her face. He kissed her lips, murmuring against them. "Soon, Helen. I really hope we can make our relationship public and that your daughters are happy with it all. I am already beginning to feel I'm losing you."

  "You aren't Oliver, this is just the beginning."

  "I've never felt so sad to say goodbye. I've enjoyed the last couple of days more than you know, Helen."

  "Me too. Now we have to move on and make this work. And I can't do that sitting in your car." She kissed him. Filling the moment with her passion for him and her need for him to know that she was going to miss him too. Then she pulled away from him and opened the car door.

  He followed suit, climbing out and going to the trunk to fetch her suitcase. "Do you want me to carry it for you?"

  "No. I don't want Max and Dan to see us together. I think they might guess and I would rather not have to tell them in front of Jess and Laura."

  "So this is it. I will call you and hopefully we can meet up. Sunday?" he asked.

  She looked at him with surprise. He wondered if she really didn't get how keen he was to see her again and maybe meet her children.

  "I don't know."

  "The park, the zoo. You name it."

  She giggled. "Anyone would think you were a desperate man, Oliver Pierceson."

  "I am, Helen. I want to see you, to share my life with you."

  She opened her mouth to speak. Before he heard what she said, the front door opened and out spilled two very excited little girls. In that moment, she was swept away from him. He was relieved that he felt no jealousy towards the two girls who now reclaimed their mom. Instead, he found himself smiling. They loved her. She looked so happy hugging them both. He knew he should just slip away. That's what he decided to do. He closed his trunk and went around to the driver’s side.

  As he opened the door he he
ard her call, "Bye Oliver."

  He waved. "Bye Helen. Thanks for everything. I'll speak to you soon."

  She stood up and waved back to him. "Soon."

  He got himself into his car and the key in the ignition. Only after he had driven down the road did he allow himself to feel the pain in his heart. What the hell had she done to him? He had never felt like this about a woman. About anyone come to think of it.

  With a heavy feeling of loss, he took himself back to his hotel. He didn't even order a meal. Instead, he showered and climbed into a lonely bed, flicking on the TV for company.

  Oliver Pierceson never watched TV. Especially not for company. But the bed felt too big and too empty without her. In normal circumstances, he would have simply gone out and picked up a woman for company. But that was a thing of the past. So he flicked onto a game show and let his brain slowly shut down. It was the only way he would be able to sleep without her.

  Chapter Thirteen - Helen

  Bittersweet feelings swept through her. She scooped Laura up into her arms, positioning her daughter on her hip. Clutching Jess's hand tightly in her free hand she walked back to the house. Before she went inside, she watched his car disappear from view. Torn between two things she loved. Her family and Oliver. At the moment, there could only be one winner, or winners, and they were here with her now.

  "I have missed you so much," she said kissing Laura's cheek. "Oh, I just remembered I have gifts for you."

  "Gifts. From Monaco?" Jess asked excitedly. "Max said that lots of rich people live there."

  "Yes, they do. Very rich people."

  "Is your boss very rich?" Laura asked.

  "Yes. He is. He works very hard, and has a lot of money."

  "I bet his kids have ponies." Laura had moved on to horses as her favourite animal. She constantly longed for a pony.

  "He doesn't have any kids," Helen said wistfully.

  She put Laura down and turned back to her suitcase and the gifts lying by the side of it. "Here. Oliver chose them for you," she couldn't help saying.

  "Thank you," they chorused.

  "You'll have to say thank you to Oliver when you see him next."

  "Why will we be seeing him? I thought he was going home now." They were both pulling the gifts out of the bag, putting their pink caps on and giggling.

  "He might be working in London for a while."

  "Will you be working with him? Will he give you some of his money?" Laura stopped herself from adding, for a pony.

  "No. I won't be working with him."

  "Hi, Helen. I thought we'd better let you say hello before we came out. They've missed you so much. I think we managed though. Didn't we girls?"

  "I can't thank you enough, Dan." She went to her brother and hugged him, kissing his cheek.

  "It's given us some real life experience of being parents."

  "Is that a good thing?" she asked, looking at his tired face.

  "Let's just say we've had a struggle to fit it in around Max's hours and my shifts. But with Mom's help, we pulled it off."

  "Where is Max?"

  "She's in the kitchen."

  "Shall we go in and see her?" she asked the girls.

  "Yes. She's cleaning up. We iced you a cake to say welcome home."

  "Wow. I can't wait to try it."

  "We decorated it ourselves."

  "That makes it extra special. I have missed you both," Helen said, her voice catching in her throat.

  "We missed you too, Mommy." Laura planted a kiss on Helen's cheek, making her tears erupt.

  "I'm so silly. It's only been two days."

  "Come on. Have some cake," Jess said, dragging Helen by the hand into the kitchen.

  "Hi Max," Helen said, struggling to maintain eye contact with Dan's fiancée.

  "How did it go? I heard through the office grapevine that the meeting was cancelled."

  "Yes. Long story. Did you also know Bob Pierceson isn't coming back to work?"

  "I did hear that. Then I spoke to him on the phone this afternoon after Oliver had been to see him. He's in two minds."

  "Oliver is convinced he will change his mind about letting the bank go."

  "But do you think it would be sensible, with his health problems, to come back to work full time?"

  "Who knows with Bob?"

  "Cake!" Laura shouted. "We've missed you mommy, don't talk business right now. We spent ages icing it."

  "Sorry, let's see this wonderful cake." Laura and Jess went over to the counter and lifted the cover on the most perfect cake Helen had ever seen. It had pink icing on it, and they had written 'Welcome Home Mommy' on it. "You did that all yourselves?"

  "Yes. Jess did the writing because she's got neater handwriting. I spread the pink icing."

  "You make a great team. Can we eat it now?"

  "Yes. I can't wait to try it," Jess said.

  It's quite safe," Max said. "Robin made it. We just decorated it."

  "You weren't supposed to tell her," Laura hissed.

  "When she tries it, she’ll guess." Max fetched a knife and some plates. "It seems a shame to cut it when it looks so beautiful"

  "Don't be silly. We want to eat it," Jess said eagerly.

  Helen thought of Oliver and wondered if he would ever fit into a scene like this. He was probably used to eating the finest foods from all over the world. Would he look down his nose at homemade cake? Now he wasn’t at her side it made it hard to believe anything had happened between them. She couldn't imagine anyone believing she was having an affair with him. Not when she was beginning to disbelieve it herself.

  "Are you OK?" Dan asked, placing his hand on her back reassuringly. "You look a little distant."

  "I'm just tired, that's all." She smiled at him. "Thanks again Dan."

  "No problem at all. I only hope it leads to you getting the job you want. It would be good to see you happy Helen."

  "No matter what?"

  "What does that mean?" His face creased, a frown appearing along his forehead. "Did something happen?"

  She rubbed her temples, pushing her hair behind her ears. "I expect you and Max want to get going."

  "Do you need to talk Helen?" he asked. "We can hang on if you need us."

  Laura came over with a plate with a large slice of pink cake on it. A big grin decorated her face.

  "Even the cake is pink," Helen exclaimed.

  "That's what we asked Robin for. She's so amazing at cakes."

  "Yes, she is. I will have to give her a ring and thank her tomorrow." She took a bite of the cake. "Mmmm. Delicious. Especially the icing."

  Soon they were all indulging in pink cake. Helen acutely aware that Dan was watching her, a worried expression carved into his face. She was beginning to wish she hadn't said anything. But she couldn't keep it to herself. Oliver was not going to become her guilty secret. She had done nothing wrong. So why did she feel as though she had?

  ***

  Helen wanted to collapse into bed. She was exhausted. The girls were now in bed, having been bathed and read a story. Whether it was the cake, or that they were simply happy to see her she didn't know, but they had been so full of energy that it was late. Way past their bedtime making them over tired.

  Max and Dan had stayed downstairs while she went through the bedtime routine she had missed so much. The smell of their clean hair, the silly chatter. It all made her realise how much she loved her daughters and everything about them. How could she fit a new man into her life and not lose this?

  "Goodnight my darlings," she said, kissing them one at a time.

  "Night Mommy. I missed you."

  "I missed you too Jess."

  "You won't be going away again will you, Mommy?" Laura asked. Then she lowered her voice. "We love Uncle Dan and Aunty Max. But we really wanted you to put us to bed every night."

  "No. I won't be going away any time soon. Although sometimes they might baby sit."

  "We're not babies," Laura insisted.

  Helen tickl
ed her, making her squeal in delight. "I know. But you'll always be my babies."

  The two girls settled back down. Another round of hugs and kisses and Helen found herself going wearily downstairs. In the kitchen, she found Max and Dan with a fresh pot of coffee. She sat down and accepted a cup, sipping it slowly to give her time to collect her thoughts. Dan and Max allowed her to relax, talking about what had been happening when she was away. Letters home from school, homework and play dates.

  "It's all on the calendar," Max said. "I don't think we've missed anything."

  "You've both been so kind. I can't thank you enough."

  "We've had fun. On the whole." Max looked at Dan. "It's made me realise being a parent is harder than working in the bank. Even if I do think some of my colleagues act like five year olds. There is so much responsibility with children."

  "It'll be different when we have our own," Dan said, rubbing Max's shoulder tenderly.

  "I haven't put you off having kids have I? Because it's the best thing in the world, honestly."

  "I'm trying to persuade Dan to be a stay at home dad."

  "That is a conversation for another time. Right now I would like to know what's upset you Helen."

  "I'm not upset. At least not in the way you think."

  "Something went on between you and Oliver?" Max asked.

  "You knew," Dan accused.

  "Not really. I suppose I could see the spark was there. I wasn't sure whether he would act on it though." Max directed her question to Helen. "So what happened?"

  Helen went through the motions of explaining about the deal going wrong. How Oliver was sure, there was something wrong with it anyway. She glossed over exactly what happened after he knocked on her hotel room door. Not wanting to share intimate details in front of her brother.

  "So there we are," she concluded.

  "He slept with you thinking his job here was finished. What so he thought you were the kind of woman who would service his needs before he jetted off to god knows where?"

  "Thank you Dan for making it sound so cheap and sordid."