Falling for Her Boss Again

12. Rejection

Larry

I have never had a woman reject me before and it stings. Gemma makes me think twice about everything. She clearly has an issue with me making decisions without her knowing. Maybe I need to step back and concentrate on work. Argh, this is too much for me, I never knew relationships needed this much work.

"Larry? Brother, what's on your mind? You look like you need a drink." Tyler asks as he waves at the bartender and orders for both of us.

I'm meeting my brother at our favorite bar a block away from our office. Yep, I am that desperate.

"Eh...probably a couple of glasses, maybe more." I shrug as Tyler smirks, telling me he has time then he coaxes me to spill what's on my mind.

"I know you had an office thing with Jessica before you married her, tell me...how did you do it?" There, my older brother raised his eyebrow as if he couldn't believe that I was reaching out to him for his advice.

"Wow, I never thought there would come a day when you, my player brother, would ask for dating advice from me."

"Fuck you, Ty...you're as much as a player as me...or was, anyway, that's not the point here," I sip my drink then call out to the bartender to order their craft beers before getting my brother to move from the bar to the nearby booth. I am dead set to pick his brain, and I'm going to do it at my leisurely pace. Beer will need to be in the mix if I want to stay sober enough to listen to what he has to say.

Dinner with Gemma was a disaster and I have been avoiding her like a plague. I've been keeping myself in my office, and today I decided to call Tyler and leave the office early, promising him free drinks, not that he needs it. But like a good brother, he came when I called.

"So, tell me who she is?"

"Gemma, my PA,"

"Wow, okay...I thought she has been working for you for a while now."

"A year."

"So, this is a new thing, then?"

"Kind of...I think I ruined things before we even started it."

"How so?" He finishes his drink when the waiter arrives with our beers. Sensing we were going to stay for a while, he ordered us some food to soak the alcohol.

"You know Samuel Chong, right?" I continued when my brother nodded. "Well, the guy wants to work with Richardson Worldwide in Hong Kong. His family is planning to set up roots back in their home country."

"Yeah, I am aware of his family account. A big one. Congratulations. I bet Dad is really happy."

I chuckle, telling him that our Dad was ecstatic when I told him.

"Anyway, I booked Gemma a flight, I thought it'd be a nice getaway for both of us, you know? It's not like I'll be working all week."

"O...oh..." Tyler shakes his head and I can already see his disapproval.

"What, why?"

"Women, are complicated beings." He starts in between munching the tacos in front of us.

"Jessica was no better. You need to talk, like actually talk and listen to her. I don't know how, but with Jess, I already know that she was different from the beginning, you know? Well, maybe you don't. But that's not the point. The point is communication. If you feel Gemma is worth your effort in going forward then you need to talk to her. And listen to her."

I sigh and shake my head. My mind is already wondering if Gemma is worth the hassle or will I be embarrassed for wanting more when she doesn't. "And how did you know? I mean with Jess?"