Falling Into You (Geek to Chic) (30 page)

***

Derek fought
to control his anger.
 
He spun his phone
in his hand in an attempt to distract himself from the situation.
 
Did he believe her?
 
He paused and looked into her eyes.
 

Michael held
up his hands in surrender.
 
“Sorry man, I
had no idea she was here with someone.
 
She came on to me so strong, I figured she was alone.”
 
Michael interjected.
 
“Seriously, your girl here has been after me
a long time.
 
I had to fire her to free
myself of her. Roni, coming here with Derek is not going to make me jealous
enough to date you.”
 
With that he walked
off.
 

Derek turned
his full attention to Roni.
 
Praying for
control. “Tell me he is lying?”

Her eyes
widened.
 
“Derek, how… how can you even
ask me that? I told you what happened when I worked there.
 
How can you even think for a second that what
he said is true? I came here with you. To be with you.
 
After all this time of me doing nothing but
caring for you, how can you not see the game he is playing?”

He pondered
her speech. Suddenly the nasty comments that Jennifer had prattled at him
moment ago came rushing back to him.
 
Maybe he had misjudged Roni.
 
She
was beautiful and smart and funny.
 
She
had people constantly enamored with her.
 
While he was a nerdy workaholic, who often lived in his own little
world.
 
His world came crashing down at
the realization that she meant so much more to him than he did to her.
 
“Because Roni, girls like you don’t date guys
like me unless they have an ulterior motive. And I see your motive walked
away.”
 

She gasped at
his harsh words.
 
Tears starting to form
in her eyes.
 
He resisted the
overwhelming urge to comfort her and tell her he didn’t care why she was with
him as long as she was his.
 
Instead, he
pulled on his asshole CEO façade. “Your lack of statement defending yourself
proves my declaration.”
 

This time she
did respond.
 
With a slap to his
face.
 
His hand went to his face, as he
stared at her in utter surprise.
 
“No
Derek, my lack of statement was out of shock, not guilt.”
 
She sniffled.
 
The tears rolling uncontrollably down her cheeks.
 
She looked down, swiping at the tears.
 
“I was with you because… because I love
you.”
 
She whispered.
 

Before he
could come to his senses and register the three wonderful words she had spoken,
she took off.
 
He realized what he had
done as she escaped into the crowd.
 
Derek
had taken out his insecurities on her.
 
He should have pummeled Michael for laying a hand on her.
 
Instead, he allowed Jennifer’s vindictive
speech dictate his actions.
 
Fuck!

Roni ran out
of the ballroom as fast as her legs could carry her.
 
To her great delight a line of prepaid cabs
was waiting out front.
 
The event didn’t
want anyone leaving after having a few drinks so the organizers had provided cabs.
 
Roni was going to write a thank you letter to
the person who thought of the cabs.
 
After all, she was fleeing a party without her handbag and therefore
without any money.
 

Roni now lay
on herbed, still in her gown, staring at the ceiling above her.
 
She hiccupped as she began to stop
crying.
 
How could he even think that?
 
She wondered as she lay swiping the last of her tears away.
 
Part of her thought that, this had nothing to
do with her and everything to do with Derek and the way he saw himself.
 

Of course she
also thought it was just the universe using her clumsiness against her
again.
 
Of course she would spill wine on
Michael.
 
Of course he would take
advantage of the situation and put his hands on her.
 
Of course Derek would come back from the
bathroom at that moment.
 

She huffed at
the thought that he had gone to the bathroom.
 
No, she had seen his phone in his hand as he hissed insults at her.
 
He had left her to take a work call.
 
One night, that is all she had asked
for.
 
He couldn’t even give her that. The
fact that he couldn’t give her one night said a great deal about how he felt
about her.
 

Not that it
mattered anymore.
 
He obviously didn’t
feel the same intense feelings she did.
 
The tears started rolling again at that thought.
 
She rolled onto her side.
 
Tucking herself into a fetal position.
 

A small knock came
from her door before Izzy walked in.
 
“Oh
honey, are you ok?”

Izzy sat
behind her rubbing her back in comfort.
 

“No, not even
close to ok.
 
I don’t understand how I
mistook the past few months for more than they were.
 
If he knew me at all he would have known I
would never ever be with someone just to gain something. Nor would I attend a
wonderful gala with one man to make another jealous.”
 
She sniffled and rolled over to face her
friend.
 

“I don’t know
what came over him.
 
The way he looks at
you.
 
The way he needs to be with
you.
 
I thought he was in love with
you.
 
We all did.
 
Maybe he just got scared and used this as an
opportunity to run back to the safety of his computer screens?”
 
Izzy spoke softly.
 

Roni shook her
head.
 
“No, he was just done with me. It
was easy for him to dump me when he saw Michael kiss me because it made it an
easy, clean split for him.”
 

“Maybe you two
can talk it out.
 
You didn’t see him
after you left.
 
He was shaking. He was
about to take off after you.
 
His face was
pale and he was clearly in pain.
 
Alex
and I talked him into giving you time before he came crashing into your room.”

That got
Roni’s attention.
 
Crap was he on his way
over to break her heart even more? She needed to leave and she needed to leave
now.
 
She jumped off the bed.
 
Clearly startling Izzy.
 
She threw off her gown, pulling on a pair of
yoga pants and an old T-shirt.
 
She
grabbed a bag from her closet and began shoving clothes into the bag.
 
She ran to the bathroom gathering up her
toiletries.
 
Finally, she grabbed her
iPad, zipping up the bag.
 

“Roni.
 
What are you doing?”
 
Izzy asked in a slow concerned tone.
 
Roni knew she looked like a lunatic. She
couldn’t find it in her to care.

“Packing,
leaving before he gets here.
 
I can’t see
him Izzy.
 
I have to think.
 
The things he said hurt.
 
I can’t deal with him right now.”
 
Roni spoke frantically.
 

Izzy jumped
up.
 
“Ok sweetie, I get it.
 
Let’s get you out of here. Go grab your shoes
and jacket I will pack your car.
 
I
assume you are going to see your sister’s?”

Roni hadn’t
actually thought about where she was going, only that she had to go.
 
Going to see her sister sounded like a good
plan so she nodded.
 

Within five
minutes, Roni was on her way to Breckenridge.
 

***

Alex had
forced Derek to give Roni time to calm down before he would allow him to chase
after her.
 
Derek didn’t see it like
that.
  
He believed he needed to get to
her quickly, explain what was going on in his head.
 
Apologize.
 
Beg.
 
Plead.
 
Whatever it took to get her back.
 
He seemed to be apologizing and begging a
lot.
 

Alex and he
were currently in Alex’s Porsche heading over to the girls’ house.
 
He tapped his foot nervously as Alex slowed
for a red light.
 
Had Alex allowed him to
drive, like he wanted to originally, he would have run the damn thing.
 

“Want to tell
me what the fuck that was all about?
 
You
know Roni would never, and I mean never, touch Michael.
 
So why didn’t you defend her? Michael should
have two black eyes and a broken jaw.”
 
Alex’s tone was casual but his face was tight with anger.
 
Anger toward Derek.
 
Anger Derek knew he deserved.
 

Derek sighed
and ran his hand through his hair.
 
“I
ran into Jennifer right before.
 
She
pulled her regular ‘no one will ever really love you for you’ crap. When I
walked back in and saw them kissing, her words seemed to ring true. I saw red
and reacted instead of thinking.”
 
He
looked out the window at the passing buildings not really seeing them.

“Wow, she
fucked you up more than I thought.
 
Are there
women out there like Jennifer, who only use guys for money or status?
 
Of course.
 
Is Roni anywhere close to being one of them?
 
Not at all.
 
You need to get over yourself.
 
Who cares if you were a nerd?
 
You
now own and operate, with great help from your perfect friend, the most
powerful cyber security firm in the country.
 
You being a nerd has given us the means to create our company and our
future.
 
So man the fuck up and let the
past go.”
 
Alex growled at him.
 

He knew he
should be mad at his best friend.
 
But
sometimes a man just needs to hear the truth about himself.
 
“I will only say this once, so don’t expect
to hear it again.
 
You’re right.”
 
Derek laughed as he said the words.
 
“Man that hurt to say.”

Alex laughed
in response.
 
“I bet it did hurt.
 
You hate to admit I am right.”
 

Alex pulled
into the girls’ driveway and before he had even stopped the car Derek was out
of it and running to the door.
 
Knocking
loudly.
 
“Roni, please honey.
 
Let me in.
 
I need to talk to you.
 
I am so
sorry.”
 
He yelled to the closed
door.
 

He heard the
click of the lock being unlocked and lit up with hope.
 
If she was letting him in maybe he had a shot
of making this right.
 
As the door
opened, his excitement dropped.
 
Instead
of his beautiful Roni, Izzy stood in front of him.
 
Her arms crossed over her chest.
 
Her facial features tight in a scowl that
could make a Navy SEAL run scared.
 

“Go
away.”
 
Izzy spoke harshly before
attempting to slam the door in his face.
 
He quickly put his foot in the door to stop her.
 

“Please Izzy.
I have to see her.
 
I need to apologize.”
He pushed the door back open.
 

“You’re too
late, she packed up and left. Oh, and by the way she quits.”
 
Again she tried to slam the door and again,
he used his foot to prevent that from happening.
 

“Wait, what do
you mean she packed up and left?
 
Where
did she go?”
 
Desperation to see Roni
consumed Derek.
 

“I don’t know
where she went. And no I don’t know when she will be back.”
 
Izzy looked at him, her scowl faded a little
before she continued.
 
“Derek, give her
time.
 
What you did tonight was
embarrassing, made you a complete asshole and sent her spiraling.
 
I know you care for her so I don’t get why
you did what you did.”
 

When he
started to explain, Izzy held up her hand to stop him.
 
She shook her head. “I don’t want to hear
it.
 
I am not the one who you need to
explain things to.
 
I will let her know
you stopped by.”
 
With that he she shut
the door.
 
Derek stood there. Unable to
move.
 

“Come on
man.
 
Let’s go get a drink.”
 
Alex came up from behind him.
 

He followed
Alex back to the car, in a daze.
 
He had
screwed up the best thing in his life.
 
He had pushed her away at the very point he was ready to declare his
love for her.
 
“What the fuck is wrong
with me?
 
I totally fucked up.
 
I don’t know how to fix this.
 
For once in my life I don’t know how to fix a
problem.”
 
He mumbled more to himself
then to Alex.

“I am sure
groveling and begging will be involved in fixing this problem. Lots and lots of
groveling.”
 
Alex laughed.
 

“First, I have
to find her.
 
Where would she have
gone?”
 
Derek wracked his brain for the
answer.
 
His brain could not manage to
conjure up any clue.

“First you
need to get fucking hammered and let your friends tell, you just what a stupid
fucker you are.
 
The guys are meeting us
at LoDos.”
 
Alex said with great
enthusiasm.
 
“I myself intend to remind
you of every stupid act you have pulled since meeting this girl.
 
I will of course buy you a shot for every
incident I bring up.”
 
Alex smiled
brightly at him at that point.

“Shots are
good.”
 
Was all Derek could manage as a
reply.
 
All he wanted was the one thing
he couldn’t have, Roni.
 

***

Roni arrived
at her sister’s home in Breckenridge well after midnight.
 
At this point she was exhausted.
 
She had cried most of the drive up the
mountain.
 
Now she was numb.
 
All she wanted was to sleep.
 
She wondered where the evening had gone so
wrong.
 

Everything had
been perfect up until her clumsiness drove her into the arms of another
man.
 
A man she hated. She had felt the
love Derek had for her wafting off of him like an electrical current most of
the evening.
 
Or at least she thought she
had.
 
The energy she mistook for love was
nothing more than lust or a need to end the relationship.
 

She had been
played.
 
Maybe Izzy and Gracey were right
all men were players.
 
Roni had always
been the optimist of the group when it came to dating.
 
Boy, was she wrong.
 

She should
have listened to Izzy.
 
Her friend knew
this was going to end in heartbreak.
 
Although her friend had believed it would end with Derek discarding her
for his work not because he flipped out over Michael putting his hands on her.
She shuddered at the thought of Michael’s lips on hers.
  

Closing her
eyes briefly to steal herself against the ferocity of questions her sister was
going to bombard her with, Roni took one last deep breath and exited her
car.
 
Her sister was waiting on the porch
for her.
 
She smiled weakly at her little
sister as she climbed the four steps up to the front door.
 
“So who is the asshole and where can I find
him to kill him?”
 
That was Bree for you,
always going for the jugular and asking questions later.
 
“Come inside and tell me all about the
prick.”