Page 24 of The Inevitable Us

Once we reach the porch, he hands me the keys. “Take today and tomorrow to move in. Get familiar with the lay of the land. We have you starting shifts on Monday.”

With a nod, I take the keys from him and walk inside. The cathedral ceilings are lined with straight timber beams, and the back wall is made almost entirely of glass, revealing a view of the man-made pond complete with ducks and geese. The walls are made of flat logs stained a rich cherry wood color. The living area is furnished with a plush overstuffed sofa and chairs. A modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances is to the right, and a set of solid wood paneled doors to the left. Walking up to them, I find what must be my new office and what appears to be the monitors and control panels for the security system. Looks like it’s set up for the bodyguards to work from here.

I wonder briefly where the guy on duty is when I close the doors behind me and go up the split beam staircase. There are two bedrooms, including a large master bedroom with a claw foot tub and walk-in shower. The king-sized four-poster bed is stripped of linens, reminding me that I need to go shopping. I have a queen size mattress in storage, so all of my linens are too small.

I didn’t bring much since I knew Rosalie’s place and the foreman’s cottage were furnished. After carrying in a few boxes of clothing, towels, and such, I lock the door behind myself and head back to Knoxville to check on Rosalie.

She’s been here a few days. I didn’t want to leave her here without someone keeping an eye out, but I hadn’t been able to leave the same day. I’d had to give two full weeks’ notice, preventing me from coming with her anyway.

Parking in the garage of my building, I walk to the elevator for my new office space and start to organize things. I set up my desk first, near the floor-to-ceiling windows that look directly into Rosalie’s loft. She hasn’t hung curtains yet. Big surprise. I peek in with binoculars and find the downstairs of her place seemingly unoccupied. I want to get a glimpse of Rosalie. Knowing Baby Girl, she’s still pouting in her pajamas all day, crying and watching reality TV, thinking I’ve left her. She’ll be back later tonight, I’m sure.

Looking at my watch, I head down to the foyer of the office building into the street to find a meal. Walking past a truck parked at a meter in the road, I feel the hair on the back of my neck prickle, a feeling I associate with Rosalie’s nearness. Looking around, I see her heading into her building before pausing at the doors and feeling my presence herself, searching for me. I duck behind the truck, not ready for her to know I’m here yet, and wait for her to walk inside. Once she’s inside the building, I meander down the street to a food truck, and bring it back to the office building to watch Rosalie.

My heart quickens at being able to watch her again after so long. She stays in all night eating Chinese food and curling up with what looks like a small stuffed animal while she reads something on her laptop. She’s stroking them from time to time as if to comfort herself. I didn’t get a good look at her in the street, but knowing Rosalie, she’s still a mess thinking I left. I almost think I see the flicker of movement from the toys from time to time. I puff out a tired breath of air and roll up my sleeves, trying to relax for the first time in days.

She heads to the bathroom, carrying the stuffed animals in an oversized terry robe. She returns wearing only a t-shirt and panties with fluffy socks. I place the binoculars on the desk and consider going back to the foreman’s cottage. Instead, I wait a few hours until I’m certain she’s asleep.

The doorman doesn’t stop me when I walk up to the elevator despite the late hour.Enjoy your time in the ranks of the employed; the clock is ticking. At her door, I unlock the deadbolt with my key and creep up the awkward spiral staircase leading to the loft.

She’s asleep on her side, the pillow bunched around her. I’ve never had the luxury of seeing her like this. I can hear her take gentle breaths as I stand near the bed. Her hair is spread over the pillow, shadowed by the small night light. I resist the urge to crawl into the bed next to her. Looking over at the vanity, I pull out the overly ornate stool with a scowl. Loosening the buttons on my shirt and rolling up my sleeves, I sit on the ridiculous seat to watch her sleep.

I sit with her for hours, enjoying the soothing sounds of her breathing, watching her tiny movements as she sleeps. My eyes are blurry from exhaustion when I finally walk back down the loft stairs. As I start to leave, I find a pair of her panties discarded on the floor and slip them into my pocket. She’ll never notice they’re gone. When I’m opening the door to leave, I can hear the tiny scampers of small creatures coming from the bathroom. The building has rats. Of course it does.

BabyGirlleftearlythe next morning. She must have left the building while I was at the coffee shop grabbing a bagel and a cup of coffee because when I came back, the lights were on in the loft, but she was gone.

I busied myself by organizing the office and setting up the new laptop. My intent is to stay with Taylee until my new private security firm is a little more profitable. With my own firm, I can set my own hours and not travel except in an emergency. Rosalie is only nineteen, but eventually she’ll want children of our own. I’ve seen many women in my profession doing most of the heavy lifting while their partners travel to glamorous places. It doesn’t usually end well. My uncle and his wife divorced after the first tour with Ethan many years ago. I won’t allow that to happen with us.

I watch the street for Rosalie, waiting for her to return. WTF is she carrying? She’s lugging a round post of some sort from the back of her car in a box. Maybe some kind of organizer? The doorman comes out to help her carry it into the foyer, placing it on a dolly and wheeling whatever it is inside.

I watch her put the pieces together in the large window, which now partially blocks my view of the loft. Totally unacceptable. Something small bounces onto the platform once it’s put together, and realization hits.

It’s a fucking cat tree. For the orange kitten that’s currently sunbathing itself on its new perch. It’s tiny, smaller than my foot, and way too delicate for a man my size to try to maneuver around. Adjusting the magnification, I focus on our new pet. The kitten is scaling the cat tree, digging its claws into the carpeting like an over-caffeinated hiker climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. I think of my leather couch in storage and sit back in my office chair with a huff.

Where the fuck has she gotten a kitten from? She’s never owned a pet but dragged little stuffed animals around everywhere when she was little.

My eyebrows furrow as she stands at the window petting the kitten when a second black kitten jumps onto the cat tree and curls up next to its sibling. Two. We now own two kittens, apparently, and they both look fluffy from here as if they’re long-haired cats that shed. Of course there are two of them. Why wouldn’t there be? At least this way they can keep one another occupied. Maybe our dog Ranger will enjoy their company while we’re gone during the day.

After lunchtime for herself and the kittens, Rosalie starts to putter around the loft, preparing to leave the building. She seems to put the cats in the bathroom when she leaves. Maybe to keep them from getting hurt since they’re so small?

Leaving the computer on, I quickly lock the office door and run down the stairs and into the street. I hide behind a parked white van from Rosalie and wait for her to walk outside.

My breath catches when I see her again. It’s only been a few days, but it feels like she’s so close after so long apart. She’s wearing a pair of blue jeans and converse sneakers, her wavy hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her face is tense, the stress of being apart evident. Once she’s in the street, she looks around as if looking for me again before walking toward campus.

I follow behind her, hidden behind the other foot traffic. Although school is still not in session, she enters a brick administrative building in the middle of campus.I’m here, Baby Girl.

Looking at my watch, I make a mental note to come back later to investigate. Once I’m back in my office, I shut down my laptop, turn off the lights, and drive back to Taylee’s ranch to begin my first shift.

Taylee’sinthepenwith the geese today. Despite the early hour, she’s holding a martini glass in one hand while she throws feed towards the geese, who are stampeding towards her. She’s wearing wedge sandals with a vibrant red bottom that likely cost more than many people earn in a month tiptoeing around the mud from the recent rain.

I approach my new hot mess boss, who’s now patting down her hair extensions. “Excuse me, Ma’am, may I send one of the other guards for a pair of shoes for you? Maybe tennis shoes? I’d hate for you to ruin this pair.”I’ll hate to drive you to the ER and deal with administrators because you have zero common sense.

She looks down at her shoes and coos, “Oh, it’s no trouble. I walk better in heels than in flats! Besides, Jay always knows where to send my favorite shoes to be cleaned, don’t you?” She bats her overly long eyelashes at the younger man, who’s forcing a smile at her, and I notice that even her eyelashes have extensions.

He’s clenching his jaw. I’ll bet anything he has the ruined shoes replaced to stop a meltdown. “But Taylee, we bought you barn boots, remember.”

He heads towards the building next door while Taylee tiptoes around the muck. He quickly comes back with a pair of bright yellow rubber boots with cartoonish white and brown chickens hand-painted on.

Taylee closes the swinging gate to the geese enclosure, and Jay gestures for her to sit down on a large metal bucket. “We bought these, so you don’t slip again, remember? It rained, and you threw your back out for a week.” He’s unbuckling one wedge shoe, then the other, and slips on the boots like a child.

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