Push by Sadie Rose

 

When my alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. I wanted to throw it against the wall. I had to peel my eyes open. Roman had kept me busy most of the night so I was now going to be running on around three hours of sleep. I looked over at him lying in my bed and he wasn’t even fazed by the alarm’s blaring noise. I had learned from spending every night with him for the past week that he was a very deep sleeper.

I got up, showered, and dressed before he even stirred. I needed to get to the bank before work and since 7:00 a.m. wasn’t my ideal time to have a serious conversation with Roman about my family problems, I needed to get out of here before he woke up and get that check into my account. I went to the kitchen and turned on Madison’s coffee maker so he would have fresh coffee when he woke up. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote him a note to wake up to.

Roman,

I had an errand before work. Didn’t want to wake you since we didn’t get much sleep last night :). Text me and let me know the details about tonight. Made coffee. I miss you already.

-Ollie

I head back into my bedroom and put the note on the nightstand under his watch so he will be sure to see it when he wakes up. I kiss him on the forehead and then I’m bolting out the door. Miller stands at the bottom of the stairwell leading to the outside. This is the first time I’ve seen him since last night and the memory of Roman telling me that Miller is the one who reported my visitor irks me all over again.

“Listen, I get that you have a job to do but who I have over at my house and where I go are my business not Roman’s unless I decide to share them with him. Got it?” I didn’t mean to say it as harshly as it came out, but I did so now it’s out there. His eyes meet mine and a small smile threatens to appear on one side.

“Yes ma’am. I’ll remember that.”

Will it be that simple? I doubt it, but all I can do is accept it and hope for the best.

“You do that. I need to go to the bank, and I need to do it and not be late for work. Do you think you can help me out with that?” I ask, trying to offer an olive branch. Maybe we’ve come to some sort of understanding where the line is between what is and isn’t allowed to be scrutinized when it comes to my life.

“I can make sure you’re on time. No worries.” He walks to the car and opens the back door for me. I get in and he quickly shuts it behind me. Before I know it, he’s gotten me to the bank and I’m inside depositing the check that Kenneth gave me the night before. Since I’ve banked with this bank since my mom first opened my account when I was sixteen, they’ve agreed not to place a hold on the funds. My day is looking up and I’m elated at the news because now I can get the first payment in today for my mother to start treatments next week. I won’t be able to thank Raymond enough for helping make this possible.

I check my watch as I’m walking out to see if I have enough time to stop and get coffees for Raymond and me when I see a flash of light out of the side of my eye on my right side. I look over slightly dazed and it’s a photographer taking my picture. My immediate thought is paparazzi and that this was an inevitable part of being with Roman but then I’m completely thrown off when I see my ex-Jeff strolling towards me on the same side of the sidewalk. I haven’t seen him since that night at the charity event when Madison told me how he behaved once I had left.

Miller is out of the car, holding the door open for me to get in. He’s distracted by the man taking photos and giving him his full attention. I take long strides in an attempt to reach the car before Jeff can get any closer. I have no urge to ever speak to him again. Jeff quickly doubles his pace and reaches out to grab my arm just as I’ve reached Miller to get into the car. Quicker than I’d ever expected or imagined Miller jerks around and has Jeff’s arm in a vice without even feeling his hand removed from my arm.

Shock freezes me and has me gaping at Miller. I’m vaguely aware of the photographer snapping photos. Miller directs his attention to me while still holding Jeff’s arm as he ushers him further away from the car. “Get in the car, Olivia.”

His voice is more controlled than I would think his temper would allow, and I think it’s the first time I’ve heard him call me by my name. I do as he says and get in the car, shut the door and lock it. I can see Jeff’s face and he is shouting at Miller so fiercely that he has spittle coming out of his mouth. I almost want to chuckle but my face is blushing from embarrassment. The photographer keeps taking photos of Miller and Jeff and I know that I’ll have to talk to Roman about this. I mean maybe I won’t? He did tell me to expect people to photograph me. I’ll have to ask Miller. Or maybe I won’t even get the chance and he’ll end up telling Roman considering he put his hands on another human being today, but I suppose that’s what he’s paid to do.

I put my head down and avoid looking out the window. I check my watch and we definitely don’t have time for those coffees anymore. At this rate, I’ll be lucky to get there on time. There’s a sharp knock on one of the windows and I look up to find Miller asking for me to unlock the doors. I press the button and hear the noise of the city rush into the car and then back to silence as his door closes. Our eyes meet in the mirror as he starts the car.

He’s the first to break the silence. “Ma’am I’m sorry if that upset you.”

I reach up and put my hand on the back of his shoulder, “ I’m not upset. Thank you for being there, I truly appreciate you getting that asshole away from me.”

He lets out a deep breath, one I think he was holding in. “I wasn’t sure if he was a friend when he was screaming at me that he knew you. I’ve been given strict orders not to let anyone come near you and when I saw his hand on you I reacted.”

I seized the moment. “What else have you been instructed in regards to me?”

Miller met my gaze in the mirror and shifted uncomfortably. He broke eye contact to change lanes and didn’t meet my gaze again, “I think you should discuss that with Mr. Devereaux, ma’am.”

I snorted a laugh, “Ok, I’ll do just that this evening. You know Miller, I can’t trust you if you don’t trust me. Remember that.”

He met my gaze after that and when the car stopped outside Devereaux Industries he turned in his seat. “Ma’am, I will tell you this, I have never seen Mr. Devereaux this protective of a woman he’s seeing. You are the only one to be given a driver and security.”

I opened my mouth but no sound came out. I didn’t know how to react to that. I knew from Roman that he hadn’t been in any committed relationships for a long time but I was still surprised to hear that I was the only one to be given this special treatment. I got out of the car without a word. Just left him standing at the car door watching me go into the building. He could report that to Roman if he wanted.

The instant I got to my desk, I threw my bag down and went to hug Raymond. I couldn’t thank him enough. I recapped the entire encounter with Kenneth to him and even shared some of Roman’s visit. When I was done telling him all about my night, we both got to work. We had severely been lacking in doing our real work yesterday and had spent the majority of the afternoon dealing with my financial predicament and worrying about Madison.

I did take the time to shoot off a few messages to Madison to find out any news about her father and to see how she was doing. I also called the billing office for my mother’s treatment and turned over all of the money in my checking account. Then I made one more call to my mother to let her know that I would be there Monday for her first chemo treatment. She told me that I didn’t have to come but I knew she wanted me there and honestly, that’s where I wanted to be too.

By the time lunch rolled around, I hadn’t heard anything from Roman. Since the night of our first date, he was always sending me texts. Between meetings, around lunchtime, and randomly throughout the day, I could expect to see a minimum of two messages from him on my phone waiting to be read. I tried not to think too much into it and went on about my day.

The next time I looked over at the clock, the day had sped by and I only had an hour left of work. Typically, I would get off work and take the private elevator up to Roman’s apartment. Tonight, he was taking me to his real home outside the city. We hadn’t made any plans about where I would meet him so I pulled out my phone and sent him a text message.

Hey handsome! What’s the plan for tonight? Meet upstairs or in the garage to head out to your place?

I watched the screen and saw the three bubbles appear then disappear and then reappear. Then his text came.

Roman: Three things. One—Don’t leave me in the morning without saying goodbye. Wake me up, I don’t care what damn time it is or how many hours of sleep I have or have not got. You hear me? Two—Were you going to tell me about this morning’s run-in with a man putting his hands on you? That shit doesn’t fly with me and I’m tempted to fire Miller for not breaking his fucking arm. Three—I’ll meet you in front of the building. From today on, we won’t hide our relationship here. You. are. mine. and I’m yours and I don’t care who has an issue with it because I’m the fucking boss.

Well…shit. His words lit a fire within me. I was slightly scared to talk to him about the day’s encounter but at the same time, I couldn’t wait to see him. Clearly, Miller had discussed it. I spent the rest of the day distracted and counting down the minutes to when I would walk out of the building and into his arms. I was deep in a daydream when Raymond started snapping his fingers in my face.

“Earth to Ollie boo boo! I’ve been standing here for at least two minutes. Have you not heard a word I said?”

I blushed, slightly embarrassed. Sheepishly I shrugged my shoulders. “Ehh… no. I’m sorry! I was thinking about this evening.”

“Before you even tell me, let me guess. You’re spending the evening with Roman.”

I smiled at Raymond trying to keep my laughter in. “Yes, but tonight I’m going to his house, not the apartment.”

“Oh, now we’re talking! Where does he live? I bet it’s some mega-mansion! I’m going to need photos texted to me tonight. I want to see his bathroom. I need it for my spank bank.”

That time, I did laugh. “Don’t be gross Ray. That’s my man you’re talking about.”

“Fine, Fine,” he said as he laughed.

“Be good and maybe I’ll send you one photo of his interior tonight.”

“Now that’s the spirit! Are you staying all weekend or just tonight?”

I bit down on my lip, thinking over the question, “I think all weekend but he leaves sometime on Sunday for Japan. He’s got to go for work, he said he couldn’t avoid going. He wanted me to go but clearly, I’ve got work and my mom’s treatments.”

Raymond’s mouth hung open in shock. He had this perfect o shape to his mouth standing there gaping at me. I couldn’t figure out what I said that shocked him. Usually, it took way more than whatever I said to render him speechless. “What? What did I say that’s got your tongue-tied?”

“He asked you to go to Japan with him?”

“Yes. Last night he asked and I said no.”

“Ollie! Are you crazy? We could be going to Japan right now?”

“We? No, I could be.” I shook my head at him and his silliness.

“Whatever, you know what I mean. You are crazy! I would have been all over that trip. So much that I wouldn’t have even come to work today. I’d be home packing!”

I looked at my watch. It was time to go and Roman was waiting. “OK. Well, this has been fun but I’ve got to go and have even more fun with my man.”

I grabbed my purse and headed for the elevator. As the elevator doors closed, I could see Ray smiling and waving goodbye. I waved back and pressed the button for the first floor. Tonight was going to be a good night. I could feel