A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT

He turned and stalked toward the door. He flung it open and caught it with one hand, turning as he stepped out.

“If you change your mind later, don’t bother to come crawling back. I think you’ve made it abundantly clear what I’m good for… where I stand in your life

And I really am done with this.”

The door slammed, and Nina’s heart shattered into tiny little pieces. She stared numbly, hoping, expecting that he’d come back and tell her they could work things out, that he understood, that he’d wait.

Minutes passed, and the sickening realization hit her that he wasn’t coming back.

Not only had she lost her reputation, and possibly her career, but she’d lost the one man she loved enough to have risked it all in the first place.

————————–

Tuesday morning, Nina took the coward’s way out and called Evan Banks to schedule vacation time for the rest of the week. He didn’t like that she was hiding. It was no way to face the issue, but after hearing how horrible she sounded, he didn’t argue the matter further. Maybe the little time away from others would do her good.

After Abby left for work, the rest of the day she spent moping around her apartment, alternating between anger and fits of upset.

Wednesday, she packed a bag and headed for the one place she knew she could lick her wounds without anyone coming to bother her. Her dad’s house. He had been trying to reach her for a while, maybe now was a good time to finally go hear him out.

When she got there, her father took one look at her when she came in and held out his arms for a giant bear hug. She sighed with relief and went to him. She didn’t care about whatever it is they had argued about before she left. She needed this. Never had the comfort of home felt so good to her than now.

“Oh dear” he said. “I’m so sorry about everything that happened between us. That’s what I have been wanting to tell you. I messed up and I should have believed in you. I should have encouraged you to do what you thought was right for you. And I’m so sorry”

She shook her head. “It’s okay dad, really,” she said. “I’m sorry too. I’m sorry that I said all those things and acted like I didn’t care. I’m sorry that it took me so long to reply to your texts and calls. I was angry, but it doesn’t matter anymore. We are fine”

He breathed more freely, sat her down and then cooked her a huge meal because in his book, there wasn’t anything that couldn’t be cured by a big, home-cooked meal.

All the time she ate, he sat beside her, eating his own food in silence. He knew there was something on her mind but He didn’t pry or demand answers. It showed her just how much he wanted to work on those things she had complained about as he didn’t try to push her into talking to him about what was bothering her. He just decided to wait for her to open up to him, and then he’d try to make everything right again… if he could.

Only he couldn’t fix it. She thought. She spent the afternoon on the couch, watching television with him. He babied her endlessly, fixing her a snack in the afternoon and even baking her favorite cookies. Chocolate chip with no nuts.

By the time evening rolled around, it was obvious her father had spent the afternoon on the phone with her brothers. They arrived, one at a time, Cole came with Tony Parker, and they made it a point to shower her with lots of hugs and endless pampering. Or at least Victor and Cole did.

When Tony came inside after parking the car, he took one look at her and demanded to know what the hell had happened. She burst into tears which prompted Victor, Cole and her dad to threaten to dismember him for upsetting her.

“Well hell, guys, I didn’t upset her. It’s obvious that someone else did, but it sure as hell wasn’t me!” Tony protested. “Hasn’t anyone asked her what’s wrong yet?”

“I was waiting,” her father said gruffly. “I didn’t want to rush or push her too hard. I figured she’d get ready to talk eventually”

“Waiting for what exactly?” Cole asked in exasperation. “For her to cry?”

Nina wiped at her eyes and tried to stop the sniffling. She knew her brothers hated it when she cried. Especially Cole.

Tony turned to her, his eyes softening with understanding at the signs of her distress. Then he sat down on the couch next to her.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Julian Martin, does it?” he asked her.

Despite her vow to cease and desist, his question spurred another round of tears.

“Good going, bone head,” Victor growled.

“Anyone ever tell you that your skill with the opposite sex sucks?” Cole asked.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Tony put an arm around her and squeezed comfortingly. “What happened, Nina?”

“Oh God, you guys, it was awful. The paper printed these horrible pictures and this blog said horrible things. My career is shot to hell. The reputation I just managed to build is in shambles and Julian doesn’t want to see me anymore because I asked him to back off until the smoke cleared. He thinks I think he’s my dirty little secret, and he hates it. And me. Maybe I shouldn’t have done any of this in the first place. It’s happening all over again”

She dug her palms into her eyes and rubbed until it felt like she was scraping her eyelids across sandpaper every time she blinked.

“Whoa,” Cole said. “Did any of that make sense to the rest of you?”

Victor and her father exchanged helpless looks.

Tony sighed. “Maybe you should back up and start with what the newspaper printed and what the blog said and why your career and reputation have been dragged through the mud.”

“It’s a long story,” she muttered.

“We’ve got all night,” Victor offered.

She sighed and once again poured out the whole story from start to finish, not leaving a single detail out. Except for the sex. Her brothers had a hard time seeing their baby sister as anything other than their baby sister, and telling them about her sex life would only make them turn a sick shade of green. And then they’d probably go after Julian with one of Tony Parker’s baseball bats.

“That’s crazy,” Cole huffed.