Gideon's Fall Page 4

  “I know,” Gideon replied. “I’ve been trying to call you back, but I’ve been in meetings about missed shipments and accelerated product. Every time my assistant would tell me you called; I would call you back but there would be no answer.”

  It wasn’t like he expected there to be. By the time he’d get back to his office, he’d have a mountain of work to catch up on and dozens of emails to sift through and answer. So, when he eventually got to his messages for the day, it was always well after normal business hours.

  “I’ve been leaving the office early,” Nia replied. “Trying to get home at a decent hour.” Her new normal was getting up an hour and a half before her daughter to check loading boards to see if she could drum up some business. Then having a quick breakfast with Anessa before placing her on the school bus before coming to her office two hours before anyone else, scrolling; once again; through shipping message boards or sending out follow-up sales emails to see if she could drum up new business. She was spending late nights at the office missing time with her daughter.

  “A decent hour? Does that even exist anymore?” Gideon asked, ruefully. Since the accident, he’d been getting home later and later. Sometimes falling asleep on his couch instead of his bed. When was the last time he saw his bed?

  “I believe it does,” Nia replied. Because if it didn’t she was going to be in bad shape. Even when she left the office early, she was still working whilst trying to get Anessa’s dinner ready before bathing her and putting her to bed. Right now, she felt like a bad mom because she was working so much.

  “Prove it,” Gideon replied. “Because these hours are killing me. I haven’t seen my bed in almost a week!” Thank goodness Esme was with Sookie. Once he’d realized that he was going to be at the office more than usual, he’d called in a sitter for a few days before sending his daughter to his mother. Sookie was always eager to have Esme there and with Fall coming to the mountains a lot sooner than Atlanta, his daughter loved to help decorate the Peony for the season – especially with the Peony Festival was due to take place in a week’s time.

  The Peony Festival had been Sookie’s marketing plan when they’d first introduced Valentino’s Whiskey. She’d seen how the town was thriving with the Peony as its crown jewel but thought that things could be even better. So she’d pitched the festival to the town council. Five days of music, arts, crafts and new liquors. Everyone had been on board because it would bring more people, more business and more money to Pinewood.

  Since that first year, the festival had grown from only a dozen vendors to over three dozen with several hundred people passing through or staying in the area during the festival. It was a huge money-maker for all involved.

  “Hmm,” Nia moaned. “A bed sounds so very nice,” she replied, closing her eyes. Why did the thought of a bed have her wishing Gideon was lying there with her? His body covering hers as he whispered in her ear all the things he wanted to do to her once he got her naked. His groin pressed into hers, moving back and forth, dry humping her until she was ready to explode.

  Nia moaned again. She could see it all. This Gideon’s face and voice with her masquerade Gideon’s body. It was all coming into view. Making her need more than she had ever needed before. She could see him undressing her. His need matching hers. Him taking her to heights she’d never been to before then kissing her neck before cuddling her so she could drift off to the first peaceful sleep she’d had in a very long time.

  Her moan. God! That moan had him leaning back in his chair closing his eyes and … damn it! He couldn’t see Nia. He could see his Sprite but not Nia and he wanted to see Nia. Wanted to see the woman he’d known for the last six weeks and who affected him in ways he couldn’t understand. Especially since he didn’t know what she looked like. When he’d had to deal with a production issue, he’d asked Sax to meet with Deni, Tridal’s salesman. Once the meeting was over, he’d asked Sax about it. Sax had praised Deni’s presentation but added that Deni himself had said most of the praise for the presentation should actually be given to Nia, who’d worked day and night on it.

  He’d called to thank her because he wanted to give her kudos for making sure her representative was prepared for anything they threw at him. He’d listened to her acceptance and how she’d continued to plug Tridal as the only shipping company they would need. Once he’d finished with his call to Nia, he knew then and there that he needed to put a face to the name. He’d looked up Tridal but when he’d gone to the ‘Meet Our Staff’ icon on the company’s website and clicked on Nia’s name, there was no picture. Just a short bio …

  Nia Collins has been with Tridal for five years. She is a trusted and loved member of the Tridal family. To contact her, please click ‘here.’

  “Nia…” when had his voice got so deep? “Nia,” Gideon growled again, as he heard her breathing change. She was getting excited. What was she thinking about? Hopefully she was thinking about all the things he’d do to her as that breathy alto voice of hers called out his name. Gideon took a quick glance at his office door. It was closed. Good. He didn’t need anyone hearing what he was about to say to Nia.

  “Gideon,” she breathed. Nia had no clue she could sound so sexy, breathy. But with Gideon she –

  “NIA!”

  Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Nia opened her glazed eyes. Harvey was standing in her office staring daggers at her. “Harvey?!” she cried out in surprise, hoping her moaning hadn’t been so loud that he, or anyone in the outer office, heard her. Nia stood on shaky legs, her fantasy making her legs like jelly.

  “I don’t pay you to have phone sex!” Harvey scolded, walking into her office and slamming the door behind him.

  “Phone sex?” Nia asked quickly. She didn’t have phone sex. Hell, she didn’t even have sex. She hadn’t been with anyone since Anessa’s father.

  “Don’t play dumb,” Harvey scolded. “Everyone in the office heard you moaning in here, pleasuring yourself like some phone sex worker!” he spat out. He’d been walking back to his office when he heard her moan out someone’s name.

  Harvey hadn’t known who it was but whoever it was it had made Nia sound sexy and alluring – something Harvey didn’t think was possible. The woman before him was at least a hundred pounds heavier than the women he liked to hire and have on his arm. Nia had nothing on those women and the beauty they possessed.

  She wasn’t pleasuring herself, though it wouldn’t have been so farfetched with how detailed her fantasy had been while Gideon was on the phone. The phone! Nia groaned as she remembered the phone in her hand. Gideon had probably heard everything Harvey was saying.

  “Now,” Harvey continued. “Get off the phone sex line before a phone sex line is the only job you have!” With that, he turned and headed out the office door. He stopped at the entrance, facing her. “Though you would need to be very good at it because that body of yours wouldn’t get you much if you were a real whore!” Laughing, Harvey turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Willing her voice back to normal, Nia prayed Gideon hadn’t heard any of Harvey’s rant. She brought the phone back to her ear as she retook her seat. “Gideon –”

  “I’m in my car and on my way to you. I should be there in ten minutes.” At Harvey’s first disrespectful utterance, Gideon had been on the move. Telling his assistant he was leaving and wouldn’t be back for a while. All the time listening as the weasel on the other end of the phone continued to disrespect a woman who was trying to save his ass. When he’d dug more into Tridal before making the decision to give them GidMaron’s contract, he’d learned that the company was deeply in debt and it was all because of the man who’d talked to Nia like she was a piece of dirt on the bottom of his shoe.

  Harvey Tridal had lines of credit all over town and those lines were with both reputable and non-reputable people. Many of the lines were connected with Tridal Trucking. Gideon wasn’t even sure Nia knew how deep in debt they were. But although the company was in debt, any and everyone
he spoke with praised Nia and how efficient and professional she was when it came to doing her job. She was the reason Tridal had gotten the contract. She was the reason the company was still in business. Harvey should respect that – in fact, he should be kissing the ground the woman walked on.

  “No, Gideon. Please don’t come here,” Nia shook her head before placing it in the palm of her hand. She didn’t want Gideon to see her like this. Broken, disheveled.

  “I’m not leaving you in that building with that man,” Gideon informed her. By the time Harvey had landed his last nasty jab, Gideon had already been in the car pulling out of the parking lot of GidMaron, cursing the fact he couldn’t get to Nia fast enough.

  “Gideon,” she said as she tried to keep the tears from her voice. “It’s noble of you to want to come to my rescue, but you can’t.” She wiped at a tear which had escaped, “I was not only being unprofessional when it came to you and our conversation. I was being –”

  “Sexy,” He said, needing to hear her smile. Wanting to hear light in her voice, not dejection.

  “Correct,” Nia sniffled. “And that was unprofessional.” She was so embarrassed that Gideon had not only heard her moans but Harvey’s statements as well. She was losing her professional grip. This wasn’t her. She knew it wasn’t her. But the truth was, she hadn’t been herself for a while now. Not sleeping, barely eating, spending less and less time with her daughter. All because she was worried about the people around her. People who had worked for this company just as long as she had or even longer. What would happen when Tridal failed? She couldn’t let this place fail. She just couldn’t.

  “Nia you did nothing wrong,” Gideon replied, wanting to hit something when he found himself behind some slow-moving traffic.

  “Please Gideon, don’t come here,” she pleaded. She was not going to cry on the phone because this man wanted to come to her rescue, though she could use a hug and a few soothing words from Gideon Price right now.

  “Nia don’t –”

  “Our business is done,” she told him, straightening her spine. She didn’t have time for Gideon. She had to figure out how to save the company Harold Tridal gave his life for.

  “Goodbye Gideon,” she said, steeling herself against Gideon calling her name, as she replaced the receiver. Placing her arms on her desk, Nia lay her head down on them and cried like she hadn’t since she was a child.

  Chapter Four

  ‘Goodbye Gideon’ Fuck!! Gideon groaned as Nia’s goodbye played over and over in his head. It was like a song. A sad song he wished he could replace with a happier one. Or, hell, even an happier Nia. It’d been a week since he’d last spoken to her. A week of emails bouncing back stating ‘returned to sender. User unknown.’ A week of calls to her office only to have Harvey Tridal pickup the phone and try to act as if he knew all about his business and how, despite recent events, Tridal could be the carrier GidMaron used for all their shipping needs. Ha! Gideon wouldn’t even place a dog, if he had one, in the care of Harvey Tridal. The man was a weasel and not only was he a weasel he was a weasel who didn’t appreciate the people around him.

  Gideon had seen firsthand how Harvey treated his employees. Frustrated with Nia ignoring him he’d finally gone to Tridal’s office, days after Nia’s last call. He’d stood in the lobby, waiting for someone to greet him and all he’d heard was Harvey Tridal screaming at the receptionist who was answering three calls and dealing with a delivery man who insisted he could only deliver the package he had to Harvey himself. The receptionist had waved him back, only for Harvey to holler that she was an idiot and should have sent the man in right away. Gideon had watched the woman be on the verge of tears trying to do her job with no help at all from what Gideon could see.

  Before the woman could ask him how she could help him, Gideon had departed. He had seen the Transportation Manager’s office, listed in bold letters on the door, lights were off and the only staff there was the receptionist and another woman. He’d hated to leave them there with Harvey, but there wasn’t a lot he could do. It was Harvey’s business and even if he was a crap boss, Gideon couldn’t tell him how to run it. Though he wanted to lay into the man for treating his employees like shit. Waving to Esme as she walked a few steps in front of him to another vendor, he wondered if Nia would have liked the festival. From the little glimpse he’d seen into Tridal, he could tell Nia, along with her employees as he had come to think of them, could use the clear mountain air and joyous atmosphere the festival boasted.

  Many people in Atlanta came to the Peony Festival for a week or just the weekend. Some would set up camp at several campgrounds around the area or stay at the Peony B&B, or small homey motels around the county, to enjoy the atmosphere. Even the winery – which didn’t have any grapes to harvest at this time of the year – was open for those who wanted to taste wines before it closed for the winter. Gideon smiled at his daughter as she stopped at a vendor selling ribbon rings. He could imagine Nia here. Her laughing and enjoying the roving musicians or setting out a blanket and listening to bands who played throughout the day. He’d be sitting behind her with her in between his legs and leaning into his chest. They’d enjoy the band playing before the bonfire started. Then, along with Esme, they’d make smores while drinking coco Sookie had prepared. It was a lovely dream, one he wished he could make come true. But that would require him to be in contact with Nia. Something he was having a hard time doing.

  “Daddy isn’t this beautiful?” Esme questioned as she picked up the circle ring with several lengths of blue, white and green ribbons wrapped around it. She waved it around, loving how the colors flew above her.

  “Yes, it beautiful,” Gideon agreed, trying to keep his foul mood away from his daughter. Esme didn’t need to know he was pissed because there were hundreds of women named Nia Collins in Georgia, and he could not determine which was his Nia Collins.

  “Oh! Daddy look!” Esme called, picking up another ribbon circle. This one had burnt orange, brown and red ribbons wrapped around the ring. “Anessa has these same ribbons on her book bag,” she explained, waving the ribbons around. “She said she’s gonna give me some ribbons when I come to her house for a sleepover!”

  His daughter had been talking about a sleepover with Anessa for weeks. He’d tried to catch Anessa’s parents at the school to exchange numbers for the sleepover but by the time he arrived to retrieve Esme, Anessa was already gone and he had missed his chance. He’d tried at dance too but the woman who brought Anessa there was just the sitter and she’d said that it didn’t feel right giving Anessa’s parents’ number to a stranger. He couldn’t fault the young woman, she didn’t know who he was. So her refusal was appropriate. Now that the girls were on Fall Break, a week of no school, this would have been the perfect time to have a sleepover. But like most parents, himself included, he’d taken his child out of town with no thought of school, dance or another any of the other activities she did when they were in town. With this little trip, and no way to contact Anessa’s parents, an sleepover was not happening.

  “Es I know you want to have a sleepover with Anessa, but Daddy has to talk to Anessa’s Mommy and Daddy first.”

  “She doesn’t have Daddy,” Esme replied. “She said she wished she had one like me and I told her we could share you as a Daddy.”

  Oh boy. Gideon walked over to his daughter he crouched before her. He didn’t know Anessa’s situation. While offering him as a ‘Daddy’ to Anessa was beautiful, Gideon had to explain to his daughter that that wasn’t how it worked. “Esme, honey. I’m sure Anessa has a Daddy.”

  “Uh uh,” she shook her head. “She says her Daddy left,” Esme replied, bowing her head.

  Gideon pulled his daughter into his arms. He’d tried to explain to Esme why he wasn’t present in her life from the beginning, but his daughter hadn’t understood. Gideon hadn’t understood either. He knew Valencia well. If she’d known she was pregnant with his child, she’d have told him immediately. A child with him meant a soli
d financial future for her. So, why hadn’t she told him? Why had she kept Esme from him?

  “I’m here now Esme and I’m not going anywhere”

  Esme sniffled, before pulling back and smiling at her Daddy. “Can we get the ribbon for Anessa? I know she would like it.”

  “We can,” Gideon said as he stood. “How about we get one for Grandma Sookie too? I know she would love one.”

  “And Uncle Sax!” Esme cheered. “He’d like one too. I know he would Daddy. We can get him one then we can play Princess,” she beamed.

  Gideon chuckled to himself when he thought of his brother wearing the ribbons. Oh, that was one picture he was not going to give up taking and lording over his brother until the day they were old and gray.

  “I think that would be a wonderful idea,” he said to his daughter as he paid the vendor for four ribbon crowns.

  Wow! This has to be the most beautiful tree-lined drive she’d ever seen. The winding drive reminded her of the screen savers on her computer. Autumn leaves falling all over the drive as you made your way to the home at the end. The Peony Bed and Breakfast it was called. Nia relaxed more in the driver seat. With Anessa on Fall break, she’d decided they needed some time away from Atlanta. Well, that wasn’t quite true. She’d decided she needed some time away from Harvey. Ever since he’d barged in on her a week ago, he’d been unbearable to work with. Having her office door removed. Any calls coming into the office requesting her were directed to him. Listening in on the phone calls she did receive or made. And having her emails diverted to his email so he could read them before she even saw them.

  Nia hadn’t known he was doing any of this until she’d called their IT guy and asked why she wasn’t receiving e-mails. And why her phone, which was linked to the internet, wasn’t logging any calls. He’d told her sheepishly Harvey had ordered anything relating to her, Nia, was to be routed to him until further notice. With that information in hand, she’d stormed into Harvey’s office demanding answers.