50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

50SOD II: Chapter Eighty-Eight

    Destiny chewed on the inside of her cheek and nervously tugged on her pink plaid button-down shirt as the elevator made its steady climb to the thirty-fifth floor. Other Graham Enterprises employees were crowded around her, and nearly all of them were buzzing about the latest scandal to hit their fearless leader. She tried to shut out their words and their concerns, but that was tough to do when their worries were quite justified.

    Brian told her to take the day off. He had the power and authority to tell her that, since he was her manager. She hadn't come to Graham Enterprises to work. She'd come to check on her man and make sure he was okay. The weight of the world was coming down on his shoulders, and she knew that she was supposed to stay away from him. But she couldn't, not now.

    The elevator doors slid open on the eighteenth floor and a few of the employees stepped out.

    "Does anyone know the girl he was with in the video?" a petite brunette in a taupe pantsuit asked the short, Asian woman standing beside her.

    The short Asian woman shook her head. "No one knows. You can't tell from the video. She had her back to the video for nearly the entire time."

    That shouldn't have made Destiny feel relieved, but it did. So her face hadn't been shown in the entire video...that was good for her. Her heart still went out to Aubrey, though. It was because of this situation that she'd wondered why he would show his face in a club like that, no matter what his fetishes were. He was too well-known. All it would take is for one of the club patrons to tell a friend that they'd seen Aubrey there. That friend would tell a friend, who would tell a friend, who might tell four friends over brunch one day. Gossip like this was too juicy not to share, whether a non-disclosure agreement had been signed or not; Destiny was shocked that his activities in that club were only just now coming to light.

    The elevator doors opened again and she lifted her eyes to the lights above the door. She didn't know what Aubrey's reaction would be when he saw her. She was actually nervous to see him. There was a chance that he would send her back home, or a chance that he wouldn't even be in his office. He now had multiple fires to put out, after all. He could be in back-to-back meetings for all she knew. But she had to at least try to see him. If their roles were reversed, she would want him to come and see her in a trying time like this.

    When the elevator finally reached the thirty-fifth floor, she stepped out. She felt very out of place, wearing a plaid button down shirt, jeans, and sneakers. The employees that stepped out with her were dressed in suits or dress suits, or at the very least, business casual attire. She hadn't gone through the trouble. After seeing the news report and after taking a few moments to regain her composure, she'd practically flown upstairs, flat-ironed her hair, and got dressed as quickly as she could.

    She walked down the aisle of the thirty-fifth floor. Everyone was talking. Everyone. The buzz of energy was electric; it caused the hair on her arms to stand up.

    Bridgette was fielding a phone call by the time Destiny reached Aubrey's office. The administrative assistant's eyebrows hoisted upward. "I'm...I'm sorry, could you please just hold for one moment?" she asked the caller.

    "Is he in with anyone?" Destiny asked.

    Bridgette raised the mouthpiece on her headset. "No, but he is most likely on a very important telephone call. I just transferred one over to him."

    "I don't care," Destiny said flatly.

    "Destiny-"

    Destiny didn't have a desire to hear one more word from Bridgette. She opened the door, walked into the office, and closed the door from her back.

    Aubrey was leaning back in his chair with the office telephone receiver to his ear, but at the sound of his office door closing, he turned his head. He stared at her for a long time without speaking to her or the person he was on the phone with.

    She clasped her hands together and started moving forward.

    "Can I...call you back, actually?" he said into the phone receiver. "It won't be long, I promise. Thanks so much, man. You bet." He hung up the phone and stood up from his chair.

    Intense feelings coursed through her at the sight of him. I just saw him yesterday but it feels like I've been apart from him for weeks. "Hi," she greeted softly.

    He walked around his desk and moved to stand in front of it. He leaned back against the desk and gripped its edge with both hands. "Hi," he returned.

    She approached him and stared up at him. "How are you?"

    "I've had better days."

    She lowered her gaze and stared down at the floor.

    "You shouldn't be here, Destiny."

    "I know," she said, still staring down at the floor. She felt tears coming on, but tried to blink them anyway. "Brian gave me the day off and I saw the news. And when I saw it...I had to see you."

    "I appreciate you coming here," he said slowly. "But people don't know who the girl on the video is. If you continue coming to my office like this, it won't take long for them to add two and two together. You should leave."

    She looked up at him. "That's it?"

    "It's the best."

    "I'm already here. Everyone already saw me come here. So you might as well talk to me."

    He reached up with one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't have the time to talk, Destiny. There is business I have to take care of."

    "I want to help," she insisted.

    "The way you can help me is to go back to Brian's house and do as he said. Take the day off. Relax. Get your mind off of all of this."

    She frowned. "No."

    He sighed and turned his head.

    She closed what little distance there was between them and raised a hand to his jaw. "You are taking on this huge mess and you are trying to resolve it by yourself. And this mess is too big for you to resolve by yourself."

    "I have help already, and I refuse to involve you in this."

    "But I can-"

    "Destiny!" he shouted.

    Her eyes widened and she drew back from him, letting her hand fall away from his face.

    He closed his eyes, exhaled, and opened them again. "I appreciate you coming here. I do. But you being around me right now is not good. Okay? For either of us. I need you to leave."

    With tears frozen in her eyes, she nodded and backed away from him. She left his office and closed the door, but didn't remove her hand from the door handle right away. She pressed her other hand flat against the door with her head bowed, and finally allowed the hot tears to fall.