68 Plans

"Oh... I'm not married." 

Derek nods, "Then that wasn't very smart. What would you have done to get back inside?" 

Oh no. He probably thinks I was a damsel in distress, great.

"I would have waited until my head stopped spinning and made my way back inside myself." I defend myself.

He nods, "Well if you're okay now, I will head back to my place."

He starts to head out the balcony and I stop him. "You can use the door." I smile, motioning towards the hallway.

"Okay." He grins and for the first time, he looks around the room. "I like the color scheme you went with in this one. I went for a navy blue but this gray feels better."

"Oh thank you." I hesitate to say I didn't pick it but he beats me to it.

"You must have had an interior designer come in?"

I nod, "Yes, that's what was done."

"Are you going to have it redone? While it looks great it doesn't seem to suit you." He mentions as we enter the kitchen.

"No, I'm merely renting it for the time being." I swallow hard, my mouth feeling dry, "Would you care for a glass of water or a hot tea?"

"Tea will be fine, thank you." He says, coming to a halt near the kitchen island stool. I pull down two mugs and put the kettle on to start making the tea. 

"So you're just renting... so where is home for you?" Derek asks as I wait by the kettle.

"Home is here in Dallas. I'm just here until a few things are taken care of and then I'm back at my home." I open up the cupboard and ask over my shoulder, "Do you have a preference for tea? I have Earl grey, English Breakfast.."

"English Breakfast is fine." 

I pull out the tea and place a bag into each cup before I turn back around, still waiting on the water to boil.

"Do you work?" He asks, raising a curious brow. Those eyes are dangerously hypnotic making it easy to respond.

"Yes. I work at DD corporation." I lift my chin up a little at that and ask, "Would you like sugar or honey in your tea?" 

He shakes his head, "That's not necessary."

The kettle starts to steam and I begin to pour it over the bags.

"So you work for Eric and George then. Thank you." He accepts the tea as I take a seat on one of the other barstools.

"Yes, I do. So where do you work, Derek?" I inquire, not wanting to seem rude or uninterested. 

He chuckles, "I own Mor Holdings now that my father has retired."

I almost choke on my tea. I clear my throat and complain, "Still too hot." I set my cup down, "Mor Holdings, well, that must be a rewarding occupation." Rewarding doesn't even begin to cover it, probably. The Mor holdings portfolio covered things from coffee to pharmaceutical.

"It is. My father was the smart one though and became lucky with some of his investments. I just get the responsibility of making sure that it continues to make smart investments." 

"Yes. I'm familiar with that sort of stress the responsibility can cause." I say thinking of Jackson.

"I'm sure. So I'm guessing you were speaking to your boyfriend on the phone earlier?"

I glance up at him as he chuckles. "Sorry, but I did overhear part of your conversation."

"Yes. He is my boyfriend." I say, giving a tight smile.

"Oh... trouble in paradise?" He asks, leaning against the counter on an elbow, his cheek resting on his fist, "Now why would a beautiful woman like you be upset with her boyfriend? He should be worshipping the ground you walk on."

I blush and quickly take a drink of my tea. I clear my throat and shake my head, "I'm not upset. Why do you think that?" 

Derek scoffs with a smirk on his face. "Your reactions just belied your words, Ms. Xenos."

I give a groaning whine, "That obvious, huh?" 

Derek nods with a obvious grin.

I shake my head at myself, "It's nothing really. He's been under a lot of stress lately due to false accusations and a business deal falling through."

Derek leans closer, "So what did he forget?" 

My eyes widen, "What makes you think he forgot something?" 

Derek leans a little closer, "He's a guy. They forget important dates when it comes to their personal lives all the time."

I let out a breathy, "Ha." Nodding with his spot on guess, "It's my birthday Friday."

"He forgot your birthday?!"

I shrug, "It wouldn't matter anyway. He's stuck in the UK till Saturday at least, so even if he remembered, he could not be here for it. It just stinks when I had some things planned out and it would be my first birthday spent with him in a long time."

"I'm sorry he's disappointed you." He seems to think about something as he drinks his tea and sets the cup down. 

"I should get back to my place. If you don't have anything better to do though..." He grins at me with a heart stopping smile, "Friday, I'm having a get together at my place. You're more than welcome to come over and at least have fun mingling with others on your birthday."

"I.. thank you. I'll think about it." I say walking him to the front door.

"Please, consider it. Good night, Ms. Xenos."

"Melita. You can call me Melita, Derek." I grin as his eyes light up.

"Goodnight then, Melita."

"Goodnight."

I shut the door and I have to fan myself, Derek is absolutely gorgeous. I would never cheat on Jackson but damn... he is fucking...

*Knock-knock*

I open the door to see an awkward looking Derek there again.

"Uh... hey. This is embarrassing, but I need to go back the way I came. My keys are in the house." He gives a nervous chuckle and I do my best to suppress my smile.

"Oh! Of course. Please." I let him in and watch him exit through the balcony and hop the fence divide to get back to his apartment. I close and lock the balcony doors and shake my head.

My phone goes off in the bedroom and I hurry to it.

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Mel."

"Oh, hey Ethan. Did you enjoy yourself at Lirael's tonight?" I ask him, going back out to the kitchen to take care of the tea mugs.

"I did actually. I wanted to ask though, did you give Lirael my number?"

I pause, "Uh... yeah... sorry, I should have asked you first." I admit guilty as charged.

"Yes, you should have, but I'm not mad at you. I needed to make some acquaintances outside of my job anyways." 

I hummed, still a little flustered from Derek's smile. 

"Even though your friends have... interesting preferences, they are a fun bunch to be around."

Oh?

That makes me chuckle softly, "See. I told you that they were a fun bunch."

"Yes. You were right." I can hear his eye roll over the phone, making me smother a laugh.

"They care about each other and you too. That much was obvious."

"How do you mean?" I ask genuinely curious.

"Well, they asked Aman how bad your cut was when he saw you at the hospital. He expressed that it was jagged and wouldn't quit bleeding until he had sewn it shut. But Aman approached me later asking to speak to me."

"He did? About what?" 

"He wanted to know if I knew how you received the scars on the backs of your hands."

"Oh..." I'm at a loss for that.

"I told him I did and he said you had told him about your dad." 

"Yeah, it kind of slipped out. He asked if I owned a cat and I corrected him." I shrug not wanting to make it a big deal.

"I have to say Mel, I'm glad you were comfortable enough to even share that with him. Even if it was a slip and not intentional. He just wanted to see if you still had a relationship with the man. I told him you don't speak to the man."

I let out a scoff, "I really don't even think of the man, now that he's dead."

The line is silent. After a minute Ethan says, "I'm sorry, Mel."

I let out a heavy breath, "You don't need to apologize. Why are you apologizing?"

"Because he was still your dad. Even if he was a drunk asshole." He says softly.

I let out another heavy breath, "Well don't be. He's not worth the breath we're wasting on him right now."

"Alright. So I was invited Sunday to your birthday thing... Should I bring an ice pack in case Jackson decides to punch me again?" He chuckles, but its a humorless laugh.

"No. I'll talk to him again and make sure though. The emotions were high that day and he had been worried that you would take advantage of me while I was drunk or something. That's why he got so pissed when you said I'd had too much to drink. I told him you were there at Lirael's earlier and he didn't say anything about it. I even asked if it was going to be a problem and he said no." I respond nonchalantly.

"Well that's a little reassuring. Lirael mentioned that I should show up regardless. That I'd be there to wish you happy birthday and hang out with everyone else."

I sigh, "Well that's if he's even there. I don't know if he will be back. It depends on how quickly he can handle what he needs to for the courts." My heart pained at the thought. Even though I know I'm being silly, it still hurt a little that he's forgotten my birthday. 

"Do you have plans for Friday then?" Ethan asks.

I hesitate... "I was invited to a little get together already." I murmur thinking of Derek's hypnotic green eyes. That man was gorgeous.

"Oh... okay. Well can I buy you breakfast and coffee at least on your birthday?" 

"Yeah, that would mean a lot to me actually." I accept his offer for breakfast.

"Great! We can meet up somewhere on the way to work."

Shit. 

"Actually, no we can't. Shoot. I'm sorry Ethan, I forgot I can't really eat out right now. Not until all the publicity with the press dies down." My mood that had just perked up, falls right back down.

"Well... how about I pick us up something and I can bring it by your place?"

"That could work... I'm not at my place though. Do you have a pen ready?"