A secret

Kristina

Regret always comes as a fleeting emotion.

As I pick up my towel from its stand, it clenches my chest so hard I think I'll pass out.

I turn back to my bed. He's not there. He is never there. We go to bed together, but he is never there in the mornings.

I sigh. If anything, that is a clear depiction that he will never be mine.

I hiss to myself as I walk into the bathroom.

The sound of my phone buzzing pulls my attention, and I pick it up.

“Good morning, princess.” His text reads, and my heart flutters a bit.

He remembered. He always remembers.

I type in my response, and head back to the bathroom, feeling elated.

It takes me nothing more than an hour to be ready, and get to work. As soon as I step into the building, all eyes are on me.

I raise my chin, walking towards my cubicle. They had all seen the pictures of last night. Glamorous pictures of my sister, and horrible pictures of mine.

“Hey, girl!” Laura’s voice pulls me from my trance.

I turn to her with a bright smile. The only girl who actually cares. “Hi, good morning.”

She weaves her arms through mine. “I saw the news.” She smiles broadly, “congratulations to you, and your sister. By association, you are all already millionaires!”

I chuckle slightly, “I guess so.”

We walk towards my office as she speaks, “I don't even see the point in you working here anymore. You're the sister to the bride. Practically standing in as her mother. You deserve the princess treatment.”

“I like to work, actually. It keeps me on my toes.”

She scrunches her face in confusion. “That's very awkward, by the way. No one wants to work. We just want to live.”

I consider arguing for a moment, but then realize it is already fruitless so I walk through the door. She moves off, frolicking as always.

I meet a man in my office.

“Good morning,” he greets,

There is something familiar about him, but being unable to place my finger on it, I walk to my desk.

“Good morning, how may I help you?”

“My boss sent me to you. He has asked for a private meeting with you.”

“And pray tell, who is your boss?” I ask, confused.

From the way he shrugs his shoulders in his black, three piece suit, I can tell how cocky he feels, and it churns my stomach.

His lips part, and he is about to speak when the door opens.

Lori, and Callum walk in. My heart beat increases.

I turn to find Lori with a deep frown on her face. She is gripping Callum by the hand, and his face looks equally flushed.

The tension chokes the air on my lungs.

Lori, in a short, black dress, is holding a brown envelope.

“Kristy, how could you do this to me?” She asks, and I can hear her voice break.

My heart slices into two.

I turn to Callum, but his eyes are closed.

I decide to face the stranger, “please wait outside for a minute. I'll call you once I'm free.”

With a smug look on his face, he walks out.

Lori faces me, and I can see fire in her eyes. She yanks Callum’s hand off hers, and he walks to the chair, looking dejected.

At this point, the sound of my heartbeat is louder than that of a talking drum.

My eyes are dilated, and I can feel as my chest heaves up, and down in rapid motion.

She flings the envelope to me, and it falls on the table.

“Go through those fucking pictures, and tell me this is not real! Please tell me that you, my sister, did not do this to me! Tell me!”

I am shaking, but I can't even look at the pictures. My head spins through three hundred different scenarios.

There's no way she could find out.

I was careful. We were careful. We are careful.

I turn to Callum, but he is just massaging his temples with his fingers.

Isn't he bothered?

He just announced his engagement. This would destroy him.

“Open the fucking envelope!” Lori's scream pulls me from my trail of thoughts.

I shudder, then pick the envelope, and tear it open.

As I read through the page, I am stunned to my bones.

“I knew nothing about this,” I whisper, still reading through the prenup.

I actually can't believe it. The rules are insane.

“Oh, please.” She rolls her eyes, “you're his assistant. You know every move he makes before he can even think of it.”

I chew on my bottom lip, “I honestly had no idea. Lori, I am your sister. If I knew about something like this, don't you think I would have told you?”

She ponders on my words for a second, and then I watch her rage melt.

“You're right. I am sorry for raising my voice at you,”

I shrug silently, dropping the paper on the desk.

“Please talk to him, and fix it. The engagement was already public, I can't call it off.”

“I'll do my best.” I reply

She groans loudly, and then her pointed heels clink as she walks out of the room.

I turn to Callum, “she's crazy,” he says.

“You like them crazy.”

We both chuckle.

“The prenup is crazy though. It's too strict, and legally, she should have been informed before the engagement.”

“No, legally she should be informed before the wedding, and that is what I am doing.”

I click on my pen for a few seconds, “do you even love her, or…?”

“I love you.”

The way he says it. It's plain and simple, but carries a lot of depth.

“Then why are you with her?”

“If I can't have you, I might as well take the closest thing to you.” He replies, then cocks his head to the side, “also, political reasons.”

I smile to myself.

“Now, we can talk about Lori all day, or you can come sit on my thighs, and spell coconut on my dick.”

I laugh out loud at that, as I walk towards the other side of the table.

Our lips press on each other, and a new wave of desire flushes through me. He grabs my chin, pulling me in.

I tug at his shirt, taking off the first button, and that is when I hear a knock on the door.

“Fuck it,” he mutters under his breath.

I hiss, as I stand back up, arranging my now crumpled shirt.

As soon as I open the door, I am met with the smugly smile of the stranger. He looks into the office.

“Can I come in?” He asks,

“No. I am having a meeting with, uh, my boss.”

His smile brightens, and I just want to smack it off his face.

“Well, I have a package for you.” He says, bringing out a brown envelope.

God, I hate brown envelopes.

I receive it gently. “Thank you. I'll check on it when I'm less busy.”

“You might want to check it now. It's sort of a ticking bomb.”

Haha. Dumb joke.

I shut the door, and I hear his footsteps recede.

I am about to toss the envelope into the trash can when I decide to give it a moment of my attention.

The title is the first thing that catches my eye.

“BILLIONAIRE CAUGHT IN BED WITH HIS SISTER-IN-LAW/ SECRETARY.”

Accompanied with the letter, I find a bunch of pictures in the envelope.

No. No. No!

This cannot be true! Christ!

I slam my hand on my forehead.

Fuck!!

I am just as good as dead.