50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

Chapter Sixty-Two

   The return back to Toronto was bittersweet. Destiny was excited to embark upon her career in public relations. She was also excited to have alone time with Aubrey. That being said, she would miss her family. She would also miss the normalcy between her and Aubrey.

    On the flight back to Toronto, he was quiet. Lost in his own thoughts. He would stare at her for long periods of time, as if she were a mystery he was trying to solve. She wished she could read his mind, the way he seemed to be able to read hers. She'd love to possess that ability, if even only for a day.

    The minute they stepped in the door, she headed to the bedroom. Located her collar on the nightstand next to the bed. She brushed her hair to the side and strapped it around her neck. He came to stand in the doorway and leaned against the doorframe, watching her put it on.

    "I'm proud of you for remembering that," he said softly.

    She clasped her hands together in front of her and kept her head bowed.

    "I have to get caught up with work today, so I won't have much time to share with you. But you are free to relax. Watch a movie, read, whatever you want... just relax and enjoy yourself. Since I'll be so busy, you should spend the night in the guest room. Tomorrow morning, I want you to work out with me. But I will be going into the office tomorrow. Understood?"

    She nodded. "Yes, Sir."

    He pushed himself from against the doorframe, turned, and walked down the hall.

    She looked around the bedroom, biting her bottom lip. The first thing she did was run herself a bath. While the bath water ran, she scoured through the bookshelf in his bedroom. The collection of his books ranged from non-fiction studies of human psychology to erotic fiction with a BDSM twist. She plucked one of the erotic fiction books from the shelf and returned to the bathroom.

    She read and bathed to her heart's content. Made herself a sandwich in the kitchen while wearing one of his fluffy black, unbelievably soft robes, and settled in to watch a movie. She could hear him typing upstairs.

    While trying to focus on the movie, her mind ran a mile a minute. Dwelling on how quiet Aubrey had been on the flight back home, on how he'd secluded himself upstairs. It felt like he was trying to distance himself from her. She tried to tell herself that she was overanalyzing. After all, in taking the time to train her and accompany her while she visited her family, he had skipped out on a lot of work. It was understandable that he'd need to catch up.

    She lifted her eyes. From where she sat on the living room couch, she couldn't see him or the desk he was no doubt sitting at right now. She could only see the railing that sectioned off the loft area, a second bookcase that was filled with work-related literature, and a tall potted plant. He's really into his potted plants, she thought.

    The sounds of typing upstairs stopped. Destiny looked hopeful. Maybe he was going to take a break from work, come down and talk to her for a few minutes. Her heart stopped beating as she waited.

    Her waiting was in vain. The typing resumed moments later. She lowered her eyes and made an effort to ignore the feeling of disappointment that settled at the bottom of her stomach.

~~~~~~

    Aubrey tapped the end of his pen on the top of his desk while leaning back in his chair in thought. As much as he attempted to direct his focus on his work, all of his attempts were futile. He would successfully work for a few minutes, and then his thoughts would jumble into an incoherent mess. All he could think about was Destiny. How beautiful she was, how amazing her family was, how naturally maternal she was with her little cousins. Thoughts of how amazing her family was lead to troubling thoughts. Thoughts he hadn't had in years. Thoughts involving whether or not he could possibly have his own family down the line.

    He set the pen down and leaned forward. He rested his elbows on the desk and put his face in his hands. Those were thoughts that he didn't want to have. He'd come to terms with the fact that most likely, he was fated not to have children of his own. Children didn't fit into the lifestyle that he'd chosen for himself. He couldn't imagine putting his future son and daughter to sleep and then taking their mother into his red room. The corners of his mouth turned downward. Theoretically, I could have the room constructed to be soundproof. The children wouldn't hear a thing.

    He stood up from his desk and pushed his chair back. Stop it, Aubrey. Stop it. No kids. No wife, no kids. No family. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he paced the length of his home office. This was no good. He was beginning to lose sight of who he was. He was beginning to lose sight of the path he'd laid out for himself.

    He closed his eyes and tried to push out the visuals of Destiny playing with her cousins. He tried to push out visuals of Destiny altogether. But the image of her stuck in his mind, stubborn. Resilient. The visual refused to go away. And if I can't get rid of those visuals on my own, I'll have to force them out, he thought, walking over to the railing and looking down.

    Destiny was seated on the couch, watching a movie. Wearing his robe, which was ridiculously oversized on her. Her hair piled up into a topknot, with her legs tucked underneath her. As if she sensed that he was watching her, she tilted her head up and looked at him.

    His pulse quickened the moment her eyes met his. He shook his head sadly. If I can't get rid of those visuals on my own, I'll have to force them out, he thought again. And there's only one way to do that. He turned away from the railing, returned to his desk, and picked up his cell phone. He held the gadget in his hand for several moments before powering on the screen and dialing in a number he hadn't used in a long time