Living Alone Together - Chapter Six
Two separate lives are lived side by side.
Chapter Six.
When Aislinn woke up on Sunday and went down for breakfast, she found her sister waiting at the kitchen table ready to shoot questions at her.
Turns out she hadn't been dreaming after all. William was there at the lounge. Aislinn dragged her hands over her face with humiliation seeping out of every pore of her being.
From the sounds of it, Aislinn made a fool of herself in William's arms. She'd have to put on a hell of an 'ice queen' persona to get her through the next days, weeks, heck maybe even years!
Groaning out of bed on Monday morning, she kept her routine as typical as can be. When she got to the office, she thanked goodness that he wasn't there yet.
Placing a post-it on his screen, she hoped it would be the first and last reference to last weekend's exhibition of idiocy.
Please! She crossed her fingers.
"Sorry about Saturday." Read the post-it note he found on his computer monitor when he walked in on Monday morning.
Too bad, he thought.
Aislinn wasn't at her desk when he walked in and it made him wonder if her sister recounted her drunken behavior. How would she act this morning, he thought.
Meanwhile, the object of his thoughts was preparing the two presentation rooms with the projectors, laptops and presentation boards with Damien.
"Did you hear what happened to Will on Saturday?" He asked mischievously.
Feeling nauseated, she shook her head and pretended to busy herself with arranging the flowers on the boardroom table.
"Apparently some dude came out of nowhere and punched him out."
"Huh? But why? When was this?"
"Over some girl, I heard. I don't know. Sometime before he left a club."
"Oh... Really? Poor guy," she replied.
She had thought word went around about her "dreaming" in reality. But then, she felt slightly envious of this "girl" in question as she walked back to her desk to busy herself some more.
"Aislinn," her boss called from his office.
"Yes, William?" She asked frostily from his door.
"Can you make sure the presentations can be done by Damien?"
"You won't be doing them?" She asked cocking an eyebrow at her boss.
Looking over his face, she noted the dark patches of skin definitely did not look good.
"Do you not see the bruise on my face? You'd want me to do a presentation looking like this? Would you believe a word I say if I were selling you something looking like-," The edge in his voice was shining through.
"I'll tell Damien," she said curtly, cutting off his rant and walking away.
Under her breath she muttered, "Serves you right for getting into a fight over some girl."
"It was hardly a fair fight, Aislinn. He came out of nowhere and punched me!" William responded trying to convince her he didn't start anything.
Yikes, her shoulders tensed. Pretending not to have heard him, she walked out and into Damien's office. An hour later, she was hopeful that he would do as well as William usually did.
William was frustrated, not being able to present his presentations. Growing irritable by the hour, he growled at Aislinn, saying that he'd be out for the rest of the day.
Trying to get the past weekend off his mind was pretty easy, considering she was giving him the cold shoulder and avoiding him all day long. She didn't even make him coffee!
Never mind, he told himself as he made his way on the road to the hospital where his premature niece and nephew were being held.
There was nothing like family to ground him and keep him occupied. Even if it meant walking out of there with yet another match-up. Lacey didn't disappoint of course.
"No, brother. This one is different! I'm almost certain you'd be perfect for this one."
He sighed, "When?"
"This Thursday."
"Ok," he said, surprising Lacey by giving in so quickly.
By then, the dark mark on his face should be less noticeable.
Lacey plopped baby Alannah down on his lap.
"Here! Practice while I change Brandon's diaper."
He had to shift her in his arm a few times to hold the teeny tiny newborn baby girl as comfortably and firmly as possible.
What if he grew old and never found the woman who wanted to marry him?
Who would take care of him?
Alannah gurgled a little and he tickled her chin.
"You'll take care of me, won't you?"
He tickled her belly and she, in turn, spit up.
"Hmm, I guess you're right. It's a give and take situation, huh?"
No reaction. Alannah went right on to sleep in the crook of her uncle's arm, content to be oblivious to her uncle's blooming loneliness.
When Aislinn woke up on Sunday and went down for breakfast, she found her sister waiting at the kitchen table ready to shoot questions at her.
Turns out she hadn't been dreaming after all. William was there at the lounge. Aislinn dragged her hands over her face with humiliation seeping out of every pore of her being.
From the sounds of it, Aislinn made a fool of herself in William's arms. She'd have to put on a hell of an 'ice queen' persona to get her through the next days, weeks, heck maybe even years!
Groaning out of bed on Monday morning, she kept her routine as typical as can be. When she got to the office, she thanked goodness that he wasn't there yet.
Placing a post-it on his screen, she hoped it would be the first and last reference to last weekend's exhibition of idiocy.
Please! She crossed her fingers.
"Sorry about Saturday." Read the post-it note he found on his computer monitor when he walked in on Monday morning.
Too bad, he thought.
Aislinn wasn't at her desk when he walked in and it made him wonder if her sister recounted her drunken behavior. How would she act this morning, he thought.
Meanwhile, the object of his thoughts was preparing the two presentation rooms with the projectors, laptops and presentation boards with Damien.
"Did you hear what happened to Will on Saturday?" He asked mischievously.
Feeling nauseated, she shook her head and pretended to busy herself with arranging the flowers on the boardroom table.
"Apparently some dude came out of nowhere and punched him out."
"Huh? But why? When was this?"
"Over some girl, I heard. I don't know. Sometime before he left a club."
"Oh... Really? Poor guy," she replied.
She had thought word went around about her "dreaming" in reality. But then, she felt slightly envious of this "girl" in question as she walked back to her desk to busy herself some more.
"Aislinn," her boss called from his office.
"Yes, William?" She asked frostily from his door.
"Can you make sure the presentations can be done by Damien?"
"You won't be doing them?" She asked cocking an eyebrow at her boss.
Looking over his face, she noted the dark patches of skin definitely did not look good.
"Do you not see the bruise on my face? You'd want me to do a presentation looking like this? Would you believe a word I say if I were selling you something looking like-," The edge in his voice was shining through.
"I'll tell Damien," she said curtly, cutting off his rant and walking away.
Under her breath she muttered, "Serves you right for getting into a fight over some girl."
"It was hardly a fair fight, Aislinn. He came out of nowhere and punched me!" William responded trying to convince her he didn't start anything.
Yikes, her shoulders tensed. Pretending not to have heard him, she walked out and into Damien's office. An hour later, she was hopeful that he would do as well as William usually did.
William was frustrated, not being able to present his presentations. Growing irritable by the hour, he growled at Aislinn, saying that he'd be out for the rest of the day.
Trying to get the past weekend off his mind was pretty easy, considering she was giving him the cold shoulder and avoiding him all day long. She didn't even make him coffee!
Never mind, he told himself as he made his way on the road to the hospital where his premature niece and nephew were being held.
There was nothing like family to ground him and keep him occupied. Even if it meant walking out of there with yet another match-up. Lacey didn't disappoint of course.
"No, brother. This one is different! I'm almost certain you'd be perfect for this one."
He sighed, "When?"
"This Thursday."
"Ok," he said, surprising Lacey by giving in so quickly.
By then, the dark mark on his face should be less noticeable.
Lacey plopped baby Alannah down on his lap.
"Here! Practice while I change Brandon's diaper."
He had to shift her in his arm a few times to hold the teeny tiny newborn baby girl as comfortably and firmly as possible.
What if he grew old and never found the woman who wanted to marry him?
Who would take care of him?
Alannah gurgled a little and he tickled her chin.
"You'll take care of me, won't you?"
He tickled her belly and she, in turn, spit up.
"Hmm, I guess you're right. It's a give and take situation, huh?"
No reaction. Alannah went right on to sleep in the crook of her uncle's arm, content to be oblivious to her uncle's blooming loneliness.
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