Kaelan

I got to work feeling less excited about working. I was still feeling horribly bad for how I allowed my rage and bitterness to get the better of me in the way I treated Seraphina.

How would she even see me now?

As a man of my age and social standing, I was surprised at how skeptical I was about how Seraphina would see me. It was weird to say that I was ashamed to be in her presence, and that was why I left without seeing her.

Thankfully, Celine already informed me that she had dinner. At least, she didn’t sleep on an empty stomach, and I also believed that she would have breakfast.

“I will make it up to her during shopping today,” I vowed.

Women loved shopping, and I knew that from my relationship with Jenna. Not just shopping, they loved every material thing that money could buy. It made them extremely happy. I had seen, not just from Jenna, how most women’s eyes lit up once they were lavished on.

I picked up my intercom and called my personal assistant, Mona.

“Come to my office right now, Mona,” I said.

She would have come anyway, because as usual, she would have waited for me to settle in for the day before coming in to tell me about my schedule, but I couldn’t wait until that time, even though it would have been in like five minutes away.

When I heard a knock on the door, I knew immediately that she was the one.

“Come in, Mona,” I said and she walked in.

“You sent for me, Mr. Kaelan,” she said.

“Yes, I did,” I responded. “I need a list of the three most expensive and exclusive female boutiques in the city…emphasis on exclusive,” I instructed. “I don’t want a boutique that is crowded with customers, and even when you have selected them, I will need you to make an appointment for private shopping by noon. The first one to correspond to it is where we…I will go,” I explained extensively because I wanted her to get the clear instruction.

“Yes, sir,” she answered. “Do I go over your schedule now or later?” Mona asked me.

“Later,” I said. “I already know most of what I want to do this morning, and I am going to be out of here by noon, so you can leave that till later,” I added.

“Alright, sir,” Mona said.

“That will be all, Mona, thank you,” I said.

I expected her to take her leave, but she didn’t.

“Is there something else?” I asked her without even raising my head to look at her.

“Forgive my curiosity, sir,” Mona started carefully. “But, you haven’t had anything to do with a female boutique since…” Mona continued, but I already knew what she was going to say.

“That will be all, Mona,” I said strictly, cutting her off before she got to mention Jenna’s name and infuriate the hell out of me.

“Yes, sir,” Mona said and left.

I inhaled and exhaled to calm my nerves. It was obvious that I was still triggered by Jenna, down to the sound of her name. Anything that remotely reminded me of her caused me so much pain and anger, and I tried as much as possible to avoid it.

And I had been successful so far, which made me think that I had completely gotten over her, until recently.

It dawned on me that I still had a long way to go, but then again, now that I had Seraphina in my life, I believed that she would drive away the remnants of Jenna that still stubbornly lingered.

“She isn’t yours. She belongs to your son,” a voice in my head reminded me.

But then again, when we had sex that blissful night, she was a virgin, which meant that Thorn hadn’t had his way with her yet, and if that was the case, it meant that she belonged to me…that was my counter attack.

“Don’t you think it’s shameless to drag women with your own son?” The voice came again.

And I wondered if I had an enemy in my head. Shouldn’t it be for me?

Thinking about Seraphina made me recall that Celine had given me a note from her before I left the house this morning. It was the right time for the thought to come into my head because I really needed something that would distract me from my conflicting thoughts.

I reached inside my suit pocket and brought out the note. It was neatly folded, and as I held it, my hand shook slightly.

“Why in God’s name am I nervous?” I asked myself.

This was weird, and it had never happened before. Even the times when I had had to deal with serious things regarding my company, I never felt this nervous, so why is a twenty-five year old girl making me feel this way?

Again, I practiced the exercise of inhaling and exhaling to make me feel less nervous before carefully opening the paper.

The first thing that caught my eyes, even before I could really see the words, was how beautiful Seraphina’s handwriting was. It was nothing like I had seen before.

Then the words floated to my senses.

“I don’t want to be here anymore. I want permission to leave.”

Those words, plain and simple, cut through my heart painfully like blade, and I didn’t need anyone to tell me that it was my actions that prompted her to send me this note.

“She is afraid of me,” I muttered the obvious to myself.

She locked herself in the room; I noticed that, decided to eat in the room, and had been communicating with Celine alone. I should have known that she was terrified out of her mind, and she probably thought me to be a heartless man.

That alone, made me feel terrible.

I felt my chest tightening as I glanced at the words again.

“I am definitely going to make it up to her,” I vowed to myself with more determination.

Seraphina Gale was going to know that I could be the sweetest man alive.