Promises Forgotten
Chapter 37

Stacy called for the jet to be fueled and ready to go a couple days after the appointment. I didn’t really speak during that time, and Stacy didn’t ask me much, either. She knew I had a lot on my mind, but she was always there if I asked her for something. It was also a quiet flight back to New York. With my tablet, I read through some work emails and messaged Derek saying I needed to speak with him tomorrow.

Adrian also kept texting me non-stop asking me when I was coming home, but I ignored his messages. Jason was bugging me, but I told him our landing time, asking him to bring the car to pick us up.

“Zach…” Stacy put her hand on my arm.

I flinched, but I quickly placed a smile on my face and looked up from the tablet.

“What is your plan? I know you had a very broad sense of what you wanted to do before you went in, but now…”

“Now that I know my parents forced my memory loss to stop me from destroying my dad’s business, when instead I still removed that shit from the business and lost the love of my life, my wife?”

She looked at me worriedly.

“I’ll handle it, Stace.”

“Not on your own you don’t. Talk to me. How can I help? As your friend or as your assistant. What can I do?”

My eyes met hers and I sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shell up.”

“It’s understandable. I get it. But there is going to be a lot going on when you land. The Anderson and A. Wright Group, your parents, the Sinclair’s, DV Holdings, the lack of the penthouse, and Evelyn.”

My heart dropped and clenched just hearing her name. I looked down at my tablet. “I don’t want anything to do with my parents or their company. It feels tainted.”

“It’s your company now, though. You’ve changed it completely. It’s all above water.”

I grimaced. “No. It’s the reason I lost so much. I think I will pass it to Adrian. He’s smart enough and he has always been ready for the role. I was just in his way.”

Stacy’s eyes widened. “You would make Adrian CEO?”

“I would make him Chairman of the Board and CEO, Stace. I want nothing to do with it. I’ll step down and take back over DV Holdings.”

“Zach! You can’t!”

I glared at her. “Why the hell not?”

“You’ve worked and built that company for three years!”

“Three f*****g years I didn’t want! I never wanted to be CEO. Now more than ever I don’t want to be CEO. I don’t want to f*****g touch anything my father has touched.” I snapped at her and she shrank back. “Don’t f*****g tell me I can’t. Even if I didn’t have DV Holdings, I still would walk away.”

The plane hit some turbulence and I took my chance to turn away from her, trying to get a handle on my anger. She didn’t deserve it. Rubbing my eyes, I un-latched my seatbelt.

“I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when we are landing.”

Stacy nodded but didn’t reply. I went into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed. Closing my eyes, I fell asleep quickly, emotionally exhausted from the day.

I felt a slight shake and I saw Stacy give me a smile. “We are landing in a few minutes. They just gave us the okay.”

Nodding, I reached over and grabbed the pill bottle. Stacy handed me a water bottle and I took two pills. Taking a deep breath, I smiled.

“Thanks.”

“Of course.”

We made our way back to our seats and buckled up. We landed 10 minutes later and pulled into the private hanger. Stacy exited first and I followed after her. Jason and Adrian were waiting at the black SUV. As I stepped down, the two of them came forward. Throwing his arms around me, Jason pulled me into a hug and slammed his hands on my back.

“F**k, I missed you.”

“I missed you too, man. It’s nice to be back.”

He let go and looked me over. “Why the f**k are you so thin?”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. Adrian came up and pulled me into a hug as well.

“Don’t say you missed me because you literally just saw me a couple weeks ago.”

“I still missed you!”

Sighing, I started to walk and ushered everyone to the SUV.

“Where are we headed? Your penthouse is empty. Not to the office, I hope.”

I grimaced and shook my head. “That can wait. I’ll grab a hotel for a little bit.”

“I can book the suite at…”

I cut Stacy off. “A single room is fine, Stace. I don’t need to have anything large. Book it for three days for now.”

All three of them looked at me like I’d just said the world was coming to an end. My eyes looked out the SUV windows and I didn’t acknowledge their shocked faces. New York looked so familiar and yet so foreign to me now. It didn’t feel comfortable. It didn’t feel like home. I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning my head against the glass of the window.

“Zach? Zach!”

I opened my eyes and realized I had fallen asleep with my head against the window.

“You okay?” Adrian was looking at me worried.

I nodded. “It’s been a long few days. I’m just tired.”

“Obviously. You fell asleep within minutes.”

Looking at Stacy, I could tell she was worried, but she didn’t say anything. I hadn’t decided if I wanted to tell Jason or Adrian yet. Already there was so much going on in my head, I didn’t need their intense line of questioning as well.

“I got you a room in the hotel a block from the office. I hope that’s okay.”

“Thanks, Stace. I appreciate it. What time is it?”

“It’s 7:00 p.m.”

I nodded. “Can you set me up a reservation for ‘La Vedette Française’ for 8 p.m.?”

“Sure. For one?”

“For two, please.” Her eyebrow quirked up, but she didn’t say anything. “Go ahead and drop me off at the hotel. I have enough clothes for now. Plus…” I smiled. “Nothing fits anymore from my closet here.”

Jason scoffed. “‘Cause you f*****g lost like thirty pounds, man.”

“I did not lose thirty pounds.”

He glared at me.

“It’s closer to twenty. I did a lot of walking when I was in France. So sue me.”

We pulled up to the hotel and I climbed out of the SUV. I hugged both Jason and Adrian, but I kissed Stacy on the cheek.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you on the plane. Thank you. Thank you for being there. I don’t think I could have handled that without you.”

She smiled. “I know. It’s okay. I shouldn’t have been so strong.”

Smiling, I grabbed my suitcase from the driver and headed into the hotel. Pulling out my phone, I put it up to my ear.

“Zachary?”

“Hey, I was wondering if we could meet. I have reservations at 8 for ‘La Vedette Française’. You up for it?”

“Of course. Did you just land?”

I took the room key that the receptionist handed me. “Yeah. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in town though, and I wanted to meet.”

“Sure. Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Jennifer. I’ll see you in a few.”

I hung up the phone and shoved it into my pocket. I got to the nineteenth floor and found my room. It was small and cozy. Placing my bag on the bed, I quickly showered and changed into a clean outfit before heading back out. It was a quick walk from the hotel over to the restaurant. I got to the restaurant right at 8 p.m. and I saw Jennifer waiting for me at the reception podium. Smiling, I took her hand and kissed it. Looking at the maitre d’, he motioned us into the dining room and to a table.

“Un verre d’eau glacée et un verre de vin pour que la dame commence.” [A glass of ice water and a glass of wine for the lady to start.]

He nodded and walked away.

“I hope you don’t mind, I ordered you a glass of wine.”

She smiled. “That’s fine. Thank you. I didn’t realize you were that fluent in French.”

“You spend a month there and you pick up some things.”

“How was France? I don’t think I will get the chance to go there until next year.”

I smiled. “Beautiful, of course. I ended up buying the flat I was staying in. Just a one bedroom, but the view was impeccable and it was close to one of my favorite cafes.”

“A one bedroom? Not a penthouse suite overlooking the Eiffel Tower? That seems much more Zachary Anderson.”

“Not anymore.” I looked up and thanked the waiter as he placed the glass of wine in front of Jennifer and the water in front of me.

“On va commencer par la salade et j’aurai le spécial du soir.” [We’ll start with the salad and I’ll have the evening special.] I looked at Jennifer. “Did you know what you wanted?”

“The fish is fine.” She looked at the waiter but was eyeing me out of the side of her vision.

The waiter bowed and left. I reached out for my glass and took a drink. It took the edge off of the headache I felt forming. Maybe it would have been better to wait to have this conversation, but I wanted it over with. It seemed silly to draw it out.

“You’ve lost weight.”

I rolled my eyes. “It seems that’s the only thing people can say now.”

She laughed, taking a drink of her wine. “Maybe. It’s true, though. You also carry yourself differently now.”

“Maybe that’s what everyone is trying to comment on and no one can put a finger on it.” I placed my glass down. “Taking some time off can sometimes change people.”

“I don’t know about that. This is different.”

I laughed. “Stacy says it’s contentment in loneliness.”

Jennifer nodded. “Something like that.”

Taking a deep breath, I ran my hand through my hair. “I’m just going to say it. I’m breaking off the engagement.”

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and she reached out for the glass of wine again, taking a much longer sip this time. “I figured this would be coming after that fiasco.”

Shaking my head, I looked her in the eyes. “Honestly, Jennifer, I could never do you justice. I can never love you like you deserve, never treat you like the princess you want to be treated as. I’m not that person and I will never be that person. It’s unfair for me to string you along for this business proposition just because it will put our companies higher up in the rankings. It’s unfair to the both of us.”

Her mouth fell open, clear shock on her face. I looked at the ice in my water. “I never should have agreed to it in the first place. I knew we would never love each other. I figured what’s a few years until our companies were integrated and then you would be free to find someone you actually liked. I can’t do that now, though. My heart isn’t there anymore. I’m sorry I ever thought it was.”

I looked back up at her and she had tears streaming down her face, but she quickly wiped them away.

“Zach, are you serious?”

My head cocked to the side. “Yes?”

“Then…I’m sorry as well.” Her eyes were cast down to her lap. “I used you for you money. I mean I sure you knew that, but I hated that my parents paired us up. I didn’t want anything to do with it, but when I realized I could get anything I wanted from you, I figured what the hell. I would just sleep around and use your money, and no one would be the wiser. I thought you were a playboy as well, but when you weren’t…I didn’t really know what to do…”

“Jennifer, it’s okay. You don’t need to explain yourself.” I smiled at her as she met my gaze. “Really. It’s okay. Neither of us wanted it and that’s okay to admit. We are two adults. Our parents shouldn’t ever dictate our lives like that. Especially mixing business with personal. We should know better.”

She laughed quietly. “Yeah, you would think.” Jennifer started to stand up, but I reached out.

“Don’t go. Have dinner with me. Just as friends.”

“Really?” She froze.

I gestured for her to take a seat. “Really.”

“Al…alright.” Jennifer sat back down tentatively.

“So is the next runway here in New York or is it in Milan?”