I watched as his eyes scanned my expression briefly, before I felt him physically un-tense and let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. Let’s go.” He grumbled, reaching into his pocket and unlocking the car.
***
“Where is my lovely soon-to-be fiancé?”
“We’ve just finished filming the new real estate advertisement. They’re going to send you the final edit by this afternoon. It’s actually really funny. Where are you?”
“I’m on the way to the office, make sure you’re up there by then. Preferably naked.” A mental image of Adrian smirking instantly popped into my mind, and I shook my head with a smile.
“That’s all that’s on your mind. It’s crazy. Don’t you ever get sick of it?” I asked in an exasperated tone.
“I can’t when it involves you Shortcake,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Okay, stop imagining it right now,” I stated flatly. “You’re driving.”
His chuckle transformed into a laugh. “How did you know?”
“I have a sixth sense,” I uttered dryly, a slight smirk coming to my own lips.
“Mmmm. Yes you do.” He groaned.
My eyes widened as my face flushed crimson. “Adrian!”
“Keep going Shortcake, you’re just making the scenario in my mind clearer every second.”
I groaned in mortification before speaking up. “I’m hanging up now.”
“I’m going to get the police involved with Rita,” Adrian spoke up before I was able to press the end button.
“Adrian, no. David was the one who was behind the entire plan and Rita had her reasons behind helping. We may not approve of those reasons; but we also don’t want to turn as evil as David and ruin her life.” I frowned at the thought of Rita having to leave her husband and child to go to prison.
Adrian, however, was not on the same page. In fact, he was reading a completely different book. “I don’t give a fuck if we ruin her life. She helped a man kidnap you Emily; and for what? A couple of thousands of dollars which she could have asked from us. What thick part of your pretty head isn’t getting that?!” He snapped through the phone.
“Adrian, we’ll talk about this when we get home, okay?” I sighed, rubbing my temple tiredly and ignoring the insult. I was not in the mood to argue – especially if this was the topic.
“Don’t use that tired voice with me. You’re the one that’s making this shit so complicated.” He scowled, before the line went dead.
I let out a frustrated growl before throwing my phone onto the sofa in the office and began walking to the matte glass door to get away from the office for a while before soft knock sounded at the office door.
“What?” I snapped, indicating for the person to come in.
Suzie opened the door cautiously, her eyes slightly wider than usual as she took a slow step inside. “I… I’m very sorry to interrupt…” She trailed off, sounding afraid to speak.
Guilt instantly shot through my veins and my scowl instant dropped. “I’m so sorry Suzie, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”
“It’s okay sweetie, what else am I here for?” She laughed.
A guilty smile played at my lips before she spoke up again. “Abby has almost finalised the campaign you and Mr. Kingston confirmed two weeks ago. Did you want to see the last version or do you just want her to finish it all before she brings it up here?”
“Tell her to work on it as much as she can today and then bring up whatever she has tomorrow for us to check. Thank you for letting me know, and… I’m really sorry about before.” I brought up again, still feeling guilty.
Suzie waved me off. “Emily, it’s fine! We all have our moments, you don’t need to apologise to me about it. I’ll let Abby know and leave you alone.” She smiled, before shutting the door softly and leaving me with my thoughts again.
How was I making things more complicated by the fact that I didn’t want Rita to be arrested for helping David Walter? The way I saw it, Adrian would have to go through even more trouble than he did with David Walter, and the entire process with court would repeat itself. Adrian was barely able to keep his anger in after David’s trial – and by barely I mean punching him straight in the jaw – how was he going to contain his anger around Rita, someone he knew and thought he could trust?
I let out another tired sigh and turned to go into the connected room once again before the phone on my desk shrilled to life, filling the empty silence in the office.
“Kingston Corporation,” I answered once I reached my desk.
“Is this a Ms. Emily Johnson?” a female spoke through the phone.
“This is she, who, may I ask, is calling?” I asked with a slight frown. I usually never got personal calls unless another secretary was trying to reach Adrian through me.
“There’s been a car accident,” the female voice responded. “It involves Mr. Kingston -
Suddenly, everything around me disappeared from my sight. I barely heard her utter the location of the hospital he was in, before the phone dropped out of my hands and I was out of the office.
***
“I’m sorry Miss, only family is allowed-”
“I’m his girlfriend. Let me in,” I snapped, glaring at the nurse angrily.
Her eyebrows widened in shock before she stepped aside. “I’m sorry.”
I ignored her and rushed into the small hospital room; instantly coming to halt once I almost collided into a doctor who was standing at the end of the hospital bed.
He turned to me just as he flipped the pages back onto the clipboard. “Emily Johnson, I presume?”
“How… how do you know me? How is he? Is it bad?” I asked, my tone growing desperate.
The doctor turned to face me fully. “I’m Dr. Langston. Mr. Kingston is in a stable condition. He just has a minor concussion, a few broken ribs, a broken wrist and a broken leg and heavy bruising; but he should be fully recovered over the next few months. He was asking for you before the medication took over.”
We both looked over At Adrian’s sleeping figure, which had a bandage wrapped around his head and wrist. His leg was also wrapped and elevated from the bed and purple splotches covered whatever skin was uncovered.
I temporarily forgot about Dr. Langston’s figure beside me and instantly made my way to Adrian’s side as I observed his injuries at a more detailed level. His bottom lip was slightly swollen and his shoulder also had a bandage covering his skin.