Let Me Love You Again
Chapter 39

Maya

I put Axel in the partially full bathtub, holding him from under the arms to prevent him from falling completely into the tub.

I pulled up my nose and squinted to prevent tears from escaping me.

I shouldn’t have cried. I wasn’t wrong. Maybe a little, but just to keep it from him. Jess had gone too far, didn’t even give me time to explain, to try to tell her how I felt. If she hadn’t caught us in the act, she wouldn’t have been so pissed.

Maybe if I had had a chance to talk about it more calmly, to speak openly with my heart in my hand, she would have understood more and she would have accepted it.

I rested on the edge of the tub and watched my baby having fun in the water, laughing happily with his toys.

Axel was growing fast and he was very smart, but on the other hand, I was sad. I didn’t want my beautiful baby to grow up so fast. Today is the first step and tomorrow will be college. My lower l*p trembled and this time I couldn’t stop the hiccups that ran away, along with the tears that began to flow on my face. The image of my cheerful child became blurry and I began to sob.

I couldn’t help but feel guilty, even though I shouldn’t. I didn’t have to let others decide for me. I wanted to be happy with the choice I made and I wanted her to be happy for me, for my happiness. I pulled up my nose again when I felt two arms encircling my pelvis and his scent invade my senses.

Nate put his chin on my shoulder and gave me a light k**s under my ear while I continued sobbing.

“She’ll get over it,” he said softly as he pulled the tears from my cheeks.

“Why can’t she just be happy for me?” I asked, sobbing and couldn’t stop.

“Because it’s Jess, I’m not kidding when I say she’s a harpy,” Nate replied, moving my hair from my face.

“Don’t call her a harpy”. I scolded him in tears. “She didn’t even let me explain”.

“Leave her alone, give her some time and see that things will work themselves out, and if she is not, it’s OK anyway”

“She’s my best friend Nate, I can’t let go,” I said, looking at Axel, who was now watching me and Nate carefully.

“But you can’t even give in to her. You know she’s not right, and she’ll understand that. Give her some time. Okay?” I turned to him and looked at him.

Nate leaned over and kissed me on the forehead, closed my eyes and leaned against him.

“I’ll take care of the little man now,” he said, reaching over to Axel and taking him.

“You won’t drown him?” I said, laughing.

“What do you take me for?” He got down on his knees and Axel immediately started playing cheerfully, even being pushed by Nate, who made funny noises with the toys.

I left them alone and went to the kitchen for a relaxing herbal tea.

********

Nate

I walked into my office and left the door open before I took off my jacket and put it on the chair behind my desk. I sat down and turned on the computer quietly while looking at my phone.

This morning I was particularly in a good mood and it was not only for the morning s*x with Maya, which I must say filled me with energy despite being particularly quiet, but also for the idea of returning to a house that wasn’t empty. Well, actually, it would have been, but still, I wouldn’t have been alone.

I immediately started working on one of my cases, not realizing the time that passed until someone knocked on my door.

I looked up from the computer at Zeke.

“Man, your sister is a demon this morning. I don’t think her honeymoon did her any good,” he said in a frightened tone.

“And what do you want from me?” I asked, crossing my hands in front of me.

“If you could talk to her for a moment to relax her a little, she’s making everyone uncomfortable,” Zeke answered frankly.

I could only imagine my sister’s mood and I had no intention of throwing myself into the fire of her office, knowing that the guilt for her mood was partly mine. It would have been a full-blown suicide.

“I’m sorry but I’m too busy for my sister’s moods,” I said as I looked back at the computer.

I heard Zeke sigh.

“Tonight we wanted to go for drinks after work, to celebrate the new year, maybe we will end up in a club and in someone’s legs,” he said and I could hear his voice blinking.

“Sorry man, I can’t,” I said calmly.

I heard Zeke approach my desk with quick strides, put his hands on the wood and looked at me as I looked up and met his dark eyes.

“What’s wrong with you, Dare?” he asked suddenly “You haven’t gone out with us for months, making excuses for months, and I’m pretty sure you haven’t talked about anyone you’ve been with in months. Are you giving yourself chastity?”

I laughed and leaned against the back, crossing my hands in front of my face.

“I’m simply not interested in friends nights,” I replied.

Zeke looked at me almost stunned and then opened his eyes, “Who is her, little a*****e?”

“I don’t know what you talking about”

“Ah no? I think I meant the one who has you by the balls so much that you forget your friends,” he replied grimly.

“I have not forgotten my friends”

“So you don’t deny it. Who is she, Dare?” he asked again, shook my head and I started to speak when my sister’s gloomy voice blocked me.

“Dad wants us in the office,” Jess said on my office doorstep.

I looked at her for a moment but she turned and left immediately. I sighed and got up.

“I don’t envy you at all,” Zeke said before turning around and leaving. I sighed and walked to my father’s office.

When I came in, I found my sister sitting quietly on one of the armchairs in front of the desk. The blond hair was tied in a high tail, the tips brushed against the back of the chair while she, with her legs crossed and wrapped in a pair of trousers with an elephant’s foot and a high waist, dangled a foot, as if bored.

Jess was admiring her nails and, when I sat down, she didn’t even look at me, rather she kept looking at her nails with colored nail polish.

My father stared at my sister. His eyes as green as those of the harpy next to me, were pointed at her figure that, even if she wanted to look relaxed, you could see how tense she was.

My father took off his jacket and was only wearing the white shirt with the blue tie matching his pants. His blond and gray hair was combed and pulled in the back, he was completely shaved. The gold ring glittered under the sun’s rays that penetrated through the glass behind him. Dad put his elbows on the table and crossed his hands in front of him, looked away at me and smiled cheerfully at me.

“I think congratulations are in order,” my father told me.

I could feel Jess next to me immobilized as her head shot forward, looking carefully at Dad’s face.

“Thank you,” I answered hesitantly.

“Needless to say, we are happy that you have found the right path and that you are with Maya” my sister opened her mouth to reply, but my father struck her with his eyes before continuing “Maya is a good girl and it’s like she’s already family, I hope for you that you are taking this seriously and not looking for a distraction as usual otherwise you would not only deal with Jess but also with me and your mother”.

“It’s serious,” I said with conviction as I nodded my head. Jess next to me snorted loudly.

“Well,” my father concluded, then he looked at my sister, “Get over it. Isn’t it more important that your brother is happy?”

“I don’t care about my brother’s happiness,” Jess replied sourly.

“Thank you very much” I replied ironically. “And that of Maya?”

“I’m very interested in Maya’s and I know she won’t be with you,” Jess replied, without even looking at me.

“Both of you, enough,” Dad said, “I didn’t call you for that. This year is going to be an important year for the office. The court is going to give us several proxy cases, and I want you two to take care of it. You are my two heirs and in a few years I will retire. I have to be sure that when the time comes you will be ready and placed on the market. I have to make sure that this office stays in good hands. So please put aside your personal problems and work together. This year will be your test. I have to see if you are a team that can carry on with what I have built or not. So put your heads together and start working together. In February, you’ll have a big lawsuit with a big company, and I want you both to get to work and replace solutions before the end of the month.” My dad looked at us all the time when he was talking.

The confidence and pride in her eyes made my legs tremble and I was anxious. I didn’t know if I was ready, if I was able to take the reins of everything Dad created. I would have tried in every way to exceed those expectations that had been created and to make him proud.

“Am I clear?”

“Yes,” we answered in chorus.

“Well, start studying the case now. You can go,” he said goodbye.

Jess got up first and I immediately followed her.

“Jess”, I called her when I got out.

“Study the case and write down your solutions,” she said without looking at me before turning around and leaving for her office.

I sighed and went back to my office.