Falling for Her Boss Again

21. Coming home

Larry

"Welcome aboard Mr. Richardson."

I barely hear the flight attendant as I quip a quick thank you, wanting the pilot to get the damn jet off the ground already. It is late afternoon on Friday. I hate that my flight schedule was pushed back because I had to attend a late lunch with Alix, Samuel, and his fiance. Though the business coming from the four-hour business lunch was worth the annoyance.

When the jet is finally off the ground, I accept the champagne given as my welcome drink. I finish it swiftly and inform the flight attendant that I wish not to be disturbed until we land. This whole week has been so stressful that all I want to do is to get back home, call Gemma, send a driver to pick her up and spend the rest of the weekend with her. That was the plan until I started getting shorter replies to text messages. I haven't got the time to call her, aside from the non-stop rescheduling of our new clients, and contract negotiations , I had Alix to deal with. And Samuel was not helping at all.

The dude basically said to marry his sister and have a mistress on the side, because that was what he intended to do with his fiance. He's going to marry her and live elsewhere with his mistress. It's a marriage of convenience he said.

Fuck...this is not what I sign up for. My head throbbed and it had been a couple of hours since I took the aspirin so I might as well just sleep it off, hoping to wake up and rid of the headache.

Hours after I am awakened by a slight tap on my shoulder, the flight attendant telling me that we are ready for landing and advising me to buckle my seatbelt. God, it shows just how much I was lacking of sleep. The stress of the job doesn't bother me much, I am used to it by now. But Gemma is another kind of stress, there's no manual on how to handle her situation, and my situation with Alix.

I am sure that the gossip from our Hong Kong office with reach our headquarters in a matter of days. That means by Monday Gemma will hear about me and Alix. This is not the kind of news I want her to hear circling the office.

My car is waiting for me when we land. I want to go home, but not before seeing Gemma. Instead of calling her, I decided to surprise her instead. So, I tell my driver her address before resting back in my seat as he drives us there.

I am smiling so wide that my cheeks hurt. I am too excited to find her surprised expression when she sees me. But when I buzz her door and no one answers, I call her instead.

"Larry?" Her voice sounds sleepy, and my mind is taken back to the time she was sleeping beside me days ago.

"Hey, baby, so I um...at your front door. I'm back." I stupidly grin, though knowing that she can't see my face from the other line.

"Oh...um,"

"What? Come on, open the door for me. I miss you so much." Another grin and a quick thumping of my heart is making me feel like a child on his last day of school. So damn excited.

"Uh...I'm not home, why didn't you call first?" The sleepiness in her voice is gone in exchange for confusion? Hell if I know, though I really want to know why was she lying to me. She said that she was coming home, but when I got here she was not even home.

"Gemma, where are you?" Okay, my voice may sound a little bit intimidating but I was somehow upset that she lied to me.

"I'm home, at my dad's."

"Oh, but I thought..." I don't even know what I thought. She didn't lie, she is at home...her childhood home. *Why did Gemma feel the need to run back to her dad? Why did she even leave me earlier?*

"Larry, I'm sorry,"

I rest my back on her door, resting the back of my head when it starts throbbing again. Okay, maybe I do need to take my rest.

"No, don't...I'm the one who came to your apartment without calling you first. I just want to surprise you," I chuckle trying to take it easy but my mind is thinking on an overdrive. Damn it. I'm too tired for this.

"I guess I better get back then, when are you coming home? Do you want me to pick you up at your dad's?" Yup, not sounding anywhere near desperate enough, but I am. I need her, I fucking miss her and I just want everything to be okay with us. It has been too long since someone...ugh, who am I kidding? Gemma is the first one who makes me feel terrible about working.

"You don't have to pick me up, you should rest. I'll go home in the morning. We can spend the rest of the weekend together."

The guilt of having her go home alone after she took the international flight alone makes me feel like such a bastard. Gemma is the sweetest person I know and I've been treating her badly. I need her to know that she means something to me. Because what I feel for her is deeper than I have ever felt for anyone else in my entire life.

"I'll pick you up. What time is appropriate for me to pick you up?"

"How about you come and have brunch with us? Then we can go back to your place."

"I'll be there, can you text me the address? I really don't want to make a wrong turn and be late for brunch at your dad's."

She ended the call after telling me that she was going to text me the address. My head throbs, my shoulders slump, I'm too goddamn tired and I really need to sleep in my bed.

When morning comes, I don't feel any better. I think I'm coming down with something really awful. I run, then stumble into the bathroom when dizziness makes me throw up, I know I need to call my doctor. The room seems to spin around me and I know that this is more than my regular headache.

I can barely stand. I basically crawl back to my bed taking a trash bin from the bathroom, placing it by my bed just in case I need to throw up again. Cause I doubt I'll make it on time to the toilet for the second time. I feel like I'm about to die. The room spins and I can't even reach for my phone. This was way more than my college excessive drinking days. This is just bad.

God...what the fuck is going on with my head? I've had vertigo many years ago, but this feels so much worse. On my last ER visit, Dr. Wagner told me I had vertigo. I had undergone the treatments and taken my prescribed medications. I thought I was cured.

And when I finally manage to grab onto my phone. I can't even coordinate my eyes and fingers to find my doctor's name. I end up pressing the call button. It's the easiest one I can do. I press the last call I made last night. I really didn't want to bother her, but the spinning made me throw up again seconds before she picked up my call.

"Larry? Are you throwing up?"

"Yeah...sorry about that." My voice sounds throaty, though I feel so far from sexy. "I can't...I need to call Dr. Wagner." I take short very unsexy breaths before laying back on my pillow. The spinning motion is slowing down as I lay perfectly still.

"Are you in your bed? I want you to stay there. I'm going to call Dr. Wargner."

"Thank you, Gemma. I'm sorry about today."

Fuck. Seems that I've been messing up a lot lately with Gemma. I really need to do better with her.

"Larry. Rest. Let me help you. I'll be there before you know it."

"Thank you, Gemma. I love you."

There was a calmness in her voice that lulled me as I closed my eyes. I feel better, well...slightly, the room still spins though not as fast as before. I barely notice what I say to her, I feel like I'm mumbling like a drunk when the room still spins and my headache is slightly better but it's still there.