Resist Me Not

42

Eric tried to find any excuse not to go to work, but I assured him I would be okay and still wanted some alone time to think about what I was going to do next. 

He suggested I could use the time to finish up the last bit of wedding planning too. I agreed that it was an excellent idea since we were about six weeks away from our wedding day.

After Eric finally left, it was almost lunchtime, and my stomach started growling. I was famished after not having eaten much the day before and from having an intense morning sex session with Eric. I figured I'd call Sasha to see if she wanted to meet up to grab a quick bite. I picked up my phone from the kitchen window ledge and turned it on.

Once it loaded, my notifications went wild. I had several voicemail notifications and texts. It was almost overwhelming, but I checked the text messages first. There were the texts from Eric, mentioning he heard about me getting fired and that he would come over after work. Then more texts from him after he came over asking me if I was okay and why wasn't I answering his calls or responding to his messages. I couldn't help but shake my head at Eric's eagerness to be a knight in shining armor.

Then there was a text from Sasha. She apologized for what happened and mentioned she was there if I needed to talk or cry. Her text made me smile.

Then there were a few texts from Adam. In his first one, he apologized for not coming in early enough to stop his father from firing me. Then he texted that he had exciting news and that he was coming over to see me. Then his last text said the security guard told him I wasn't home and that he would wait in the lounge area until he saw me because his news couldn't wait.

After I checked all my texts, I dialed into my voicemail. I had four new messages. The first one was from my mother, just wanting to check on me and that she couldn't wait to see me in just over a week from then to attend my bachelorette party. The second and third messages were from Eric, saying the same thing he already told me and mentioned in his text messages. I couldn't help but shake my head again, but I smiled at how concerned he sounded.

Then the last message was left last night at 10:12 p.m., which was around the time Adam was leaving my place. "Hey, Vicky. It's Ryan. Hopefully, you could already tell that it was me from when I said, hey. If you don't know my voice by now, then you don't know me at all." I couldn't help but laugh at how he said that so confidently. Only he could say something like that, and it didn't sound cheesy.

"Anyway," his message continued. "I know you probably want to be left alone right now, so I won't come and see you. Even though it's taking every inch of restraint to stop myself from drinking until I don't care anymore and just come over. But I told you I accepted your challenge and I have.

"For starters, I haven't had a drop of alcohol since the night at the club. I didn't even drink when we were at Belhemans Bar. Not even a little. I had the bartender give me only Coke all night. So I can't even use that as an excuse for losing my shit with Eric.

"After you left, Adam ran after Mr. Gima to explain away what I did, but it didn't work, and he and Peter were so beyond pissed with me. It was so embarrassing! They practically dragged me into the car like I was a troubled child being taken home by an angry parent. They even left Ashlee and Bruce to find their own way home, they were that pissed.

"They assumed I attacked Eric because I was drunk and told me I was an embarrassment to the company and the family. Peter immediately called my dad and told him what had happened and that the deal was off because of it. Anyway, long story short, when I found out my dad fired you and not me for what occurred, I was fed up.

"So I did the only logical thing I could think of. I went to talk to Mr. Gima. I explained what had happened and why it happened. He respected me for being so honest. I told him he should take the contract with us, but only if you were part of it. He thought that was a marvelous idea anyway because he said he was highly impressed with everything you did to make him and his team feel welcome and special.