Craving Cherry Pie

Chapter Three - Bad Idea

"Luna" Tanner started, "honestly cariño, it's not what you think" he pleaded. I turned to face him, silently waiting for him to continue.

"Angelina and I have been acquainted through our families for years, as long as I can remember. Her father was a cruel man and he used to beat her. Her mother died when she was young, and she had no one to turn to." He said.

"One day, I found her outside our house, bleeding and covered in bruises. She was in a really bad place, so we offered to take her in and keep her safe" he spoke quietly.

"One day, her father came to the house, demanding she be returned to him, but my mother told him that she could not because we were married. Turned out my mother had spoken with our family lawyer and had paperwork drawn up so legally we would be married and that she could not be returned to her father, for her safety" he finished.

I didn't know what to say. Part of my heart was so full that he would go so far to ensure her safety, and another part of me was hurt that he lied to me about it.

"Did you love her?" I said, barely getting the words out. He as quiet for a while, I could see him thinking my words over.

"Yes, I did love her... once. A long time ago. She changed once we were married. Always wanted me with her, she hated my job, hated that I had to travel all the time. I couldn't take her with me on business deals" he said.

"Then one day I came home early, to surprise her. Instead I found her in my bed with another man" he spat the words out harshly, and I could see he was hurt, and how betrayed he felt.

"I threatened to divorce her but she begged me not to, said her father would come for her and she was terrified he would kill her" he said.

"So I moved to New York and ran my empire from there. I send her money each month, and bought her a house so she would be safe from her father. I never found time to officially go through with the divorce" he finished.

"So do you plan on divorcing her now?" I urged him to continue.

"I don't know Luna. We have been married a long time. The divorce would be so messy and the fact that she would be entitled to such a large amount of my fortune makes this all the more complicated" he finished.

"So what if I wanted to get married one day?" My voice wavered slightly, and he turned to look me directly in the eyes.

"We have plenty of time before we even talk about marriage Luna. We have only been together for a few months and we've only just..." he trailed off.

"Okay, well that's settled then" I said.

"Wait a minute Luna, listen to me, don't overreact" he started but I cut him off.

"No Tanner, you listen. I've never been in a serious relationship before. I'm not the type that has one night stands or endless dates through my door. If I date someone, it's because I care about them. I wanted something serious between us, but I understand that's not what you're looking for. So let's cut this off before one of us gets hurt" I said, my words coming across rushed and angry.

He opened his mouth several times before closing it and nodding his head.

"Maybe it's for the best Luna. We shouldn't mix business with pleasure" he said.

My heart hurt. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible. Unfortunately we still had a flight to catch and we were seated together. Once the plane landed at the airport, we went our seperate ways. I couldn't stand to spend another second in his company, so I caught a taxi home.

When I arrived I was thankful that Tanner was nowhere to be seen. I kicked my shoes off, got undressed, slipped on my track pants and loose shirt and climbed straight into bed.

BUZZ BUZZ

I groggily opened one eye to reach for my phone off the night stand. An unknown number was calling me. It's 12:18am, who the fuck makes a call this late? I groaned in annoyance.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Luna. It's a pleasure to speak to you again" the sultry voice from the other nice said.

"Sorry who is this?" I said, confusion registering in my brain. The voice was familiar... too familiar.

"It's Orlando. Do you remember our agreement? You said you would be available anytime I needed you" he said with a deep chuckle. Sitting upright in the bed, I attempted to clear my throat.

"Of course. How can I help you?" I said, trying to put on my most cheery voice.

"I'm in New York and I would like to meet up with you.. to discuss some ideas I have for the party" he sounded excited.

"If course, I could meet with you tomorrow over lunch to discuss..." I stopped when he cut me off.

"No Luna, I'm in New York for tonight only and I would like to run these ideas past you now" He said.

"Sure, can you give me just a few moments to get my paperwork organised? Where would you like me to meet you?" I finished, nervousness flooding my body.

"I'm at the old Ale house on seventh street. Can you meet me here?" He questioned.

"No worries, it's not far from where I am, I'll see you in fifteen minutes" I hung up the phone and instantly dove out of bed. I raced into the bathroom and applied a light layer of makeup and fixed my hair into a half up half down ponytail and got dressed into dark high waisted jeans and a yellow long sleeved button up shirt.

Pulling on my boots and reaching for my coat, I was out the door in seven minutes. I was secretly impressed with myself. After hailing a taxi, I arrived at the ale house with 2 minutes to spare. Internally I was praising myself for being on time.

Looking around I spotted Orlando, leaning against the bar, dressed in a dark grey suit with a black button down shirt. As I roamed my eyes up, they were met with his dark brown ones, which were full of amusement and something darker.

I had been shamelessly checking him out and he had caught me.

Christ on a bike, what am I doing...