ALYSSA

The sound of my alarm going off at half three on Thursday morning, wasn't something I wanted to wake up to, and I wished that I could turn it off so that I could go back to sleep. I would rather spend the entire weekend in the comfort of my own home, spending the time catching up with all the sleep I had lost over the last week, rather than spending two hours on a flight with Andrew and then spending the next five days in the company of a man who can't decide whether he hates me or loves me.

He may have been nice to me for the last couple of days, and he had actually shown me that he didn't need to be a total prick all the time, but I had a feeling that wasn't going to last. Something was going to happen which would fuck with his good mood and he would only take it out on me, something I had quickly realised within the first couple of days, that he would take any bad mood out on me because he could.

I sat up in bed, throwing the covers off the end of the bed and stretching my hands above my head, a loud yawn filling the silence of my bedroom and I took a moment to mentally prepare myself for the long day which I already knew I was going to have ahead of me. I allowed my thoughts to go back to the dinner last night and just how well everything actually went between the three of us, there was plenty of conversation and even a whole lot of laughter, and it was an entirely enjoyable evening.

"You shall have to give me the recipe for this. It's simply delicious, Alyssa," Diana complimented through a mouthful of her chicken. It wasn't anything complex, it was just something my mother had shown me when I was younger and, whenever I cooked it for people, it reminded me of the times I would spend with my mother in the kitchen as a child and the things which she would happily teach me when our father wasn't around to entertain her culinary skills.

"I have to agree with my mother on this one. I never knew you could cook," Andrew smiled as he demolished the vegetables which I had served on the side of the plate. I was proud that I was the one who had got both Andrew and Diana to sit at the same table and that I was the reason they were now talking with each other because, had I not mentioned anything to Andrew about meeting his mother, I am sure he never would have told me about her and he would still be ignoring her. "Who taught you how to cook, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My mother. When I was a child we would spend many weekends in the kitchen and she would teach me some of the recipes when my father was working in the fields, and it was some of the best times that I spent with her, because it was one of the only times that she was ever really silent since she was so focused on what she was showing me," I chuckled.

"You questioned why I didn't see my mother, so does that mean I am allowed to question why you haven't seen your mother?" Andrew asked. And, after the questions I had asked him last night, he had every right to ask the reasons behind me not seeing my mother because it was only fair that he asked about my lack of contact with my own parents.

"Andrew," Diana scolded him disapprovingly.

"No. I just couldn't bring myself to see her after everything happened with Dean, and I've been pretty busy going between jobs that I haven't had the time to speak with her since I moved to New York and Dean was sent to prison," I told him honestly. I knew that I needed to contact my mother and that I needed to do it before she had the chance to do it first, but I didn't know what to say to her and I didn't know how to make her understand that I didn't hate her, I just couldn't bring myself to speak with any member of my family after everything happened and most of my family shunned me for allowing it to happen.

"I am sure she misses you though, Alyssa, and she wants to speak with you," Andrew sighed when he took a bite of his chicken and, given that he hadn't spoken to his mother in over three years, he would understand how I was feeling and he would be able to realise how my parents were feeling with the severe lack of contact, "I insist that you take a week off work when we return so that you can visit your family."

The doorbell interrupted my thoughts and I pulled on a long t-shirt to cover my underwear clad body, and I was a little surprised to see Darren standing there, especially given the time of morning that it was. I had already messaged him and told him that I would see him when I got back from Chicago, and I had even given him a date and time for him to pick me up, but apparently he didn't want to accept that and thought it would be a good idea to pay me a personal visit.

He even had the guts to turn up last night, after I told him that I already had plans, because he thought that I was lying to him and he wanted to see what was so important that I couldn't spend the evening with him. Andrew was furious when he saw Darren at the door, and he even went as far as accusing me of doing it on purpose, but even I wouldn't have been that stupid and I would never have invited him here when I had Andrew and Diana here already.

Diana, though, I had never heard a fifty year old use so many profanities in one sentence. She was beyond pissed that he was outside of my apartment and that he had ruined the evening, and she even went as far as threatening to make his life hell if he dared lay a finger on me, to which he replied that he had been there, done that and he had no intention of going there again—it was those words which forced the action Diana took and she wiped his smirk off his face with a swipe of her left hand across her cheek.

I was speechless because I didn't think she had it in her to actually slap a twenty-four old, who wasn't even her son, around the face for making a smartass remark about someone she had quickly grown attached to. And, though I was speechless, I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed at the strength she still had for a woman of her age. She then turned her attention to me and told me just how stupid I was for giving him the time of day.

She wasn't even my mother and she was still reprimanding me, which only made me feel like an even bigger fool than before, and I was amazed that I didn't burst out in tears with the harsh words she used. A night which was so perfect, and I was proud of myself for pulling off, ended with Darren walking away from my apartment with a red cheek and a smug grin on his face, Diana storming out of the place as she shouted about how she thought I was better than that and Andrew glaring at me as he attempted to work out whether or not I was lying.

I went to bed last night with tears in my eyes and a pounding headache from holding everything back. It was, to me at least, understandable that I wasn't in the mood to jump on a flight and spend the weekend being nothing more than Andrew's fake girlfriend, just so that he could please some potential clients and make himself look good at the charity ball.

"What the hell do you want?" after his performance last night, and the harsh words he had used to describe me, he was the last person I wanted to see right now. He should have just taken my offer and waited for me to come back from Chicago before he showed his face around my way again, because then I would have had time to calm the hell down and be ready to face him again.

"I thought I would try my luck. I thought you may want to fuck me," he chuckled.

"Perhaps you should go and ask one of your whores. I am sure they will be more than happy to make sure your needs are satisfied," I muttered.

"They don't scream my name like you do though, babe," Darren replied and there was something in his tone which quickly changed. I hated him, fuck did I hate him after everything he had done last night, but he was the first male since Dean to actually make me feel like this. I just wanted to fuck him, that's all I wanted from him and he had made it clear that's all he wanted from me, even though he had called me a desperate slag and told Andrew that I was nothing more than an easy fuck.

"What do you really want?" the anger I was feeling was palpable right now but, at the same time, I remembered what he could do to me and I was finding it almost impossible to resist him. Especially when he was dressed in a blue three-piece suit and I wanted nothing more than to jump his bones because of just how bloody good he looked, but he needed to leave and he needed to leave before Andrew got here and caused a whole lot more drama.

"I just want to talk. That's all," he chuckled. They always want to talk when they wanted something but, to be honest, talking always turns into kissing then kissing turns into fucking and then fucking turns into regret, so I knew that I would be a fool if I went through with my thoughts at this time of the day. And, as much as I wanted to let Darren take me right now to show me what else he was able to do, I really did have to get myself ready because Andrew was going to be here any minute now and I wasn't even dressed.

"I'll have to rain check that conversation for when I return. Because, right now, I really do need to get dressed," I told him. I am sure there wasn't anything he wanted to say which couldn't wait another five days to be said.

"Oh. Come on. A—"

"Look, I really must insist that you leave, because I don't want a repeat performance of last night. I need to get myself ready and Andrew is going to be here any moment now," I crossed my arms across my chest and moved to close the door so that I could actually get dressed. I didn't want for Andrew to turn up and I still be in the oversized shirt I currently had on to cover my body, I actually wanted to be ready to go and I wanted to make sure there was every hope of getting this trip off to a good start.

"I know that you don't want me to leave. Your body gives that away, Alyssa, so I know that you want me just as badly as I want you," his eyes were thick with lust and his voice was filled with need as he dared to step into my apartment. I felt a lump in my throat and my mouth going dry, and I suddenly couldn't find the words to say because all of my confidence dissipated in a matter of seconds, and it only took one sentence for him to make that happen.

"P—Please Darren. Just leave," I was very aware that his lips were dangerously close to mine and his hands were mere inches from my hips. Had my heart not been beating at a thousand beats per minute and my feet not been rooted to the ground, then I would have taken a step backwards to put some distance between the two of us.

"Darren, dear, was my warning not enough for you last night?" I heard a familiar voice and I actually breathed out a sigh of relief, though I knew she was going to have some words to say the moment Darren was out of sight, but I was grateful that she was around at this time of the morning and she was here to save me before something happened.

"You seem to think I am scared of you, Diana. But you are nothing more than an old, feeble woman," Darren mocked her with a smug grin.

"It's almost cute just how much you underestimate you," Diana chuckled humourlessly. I had walked Andrew down to wait for Robert last night and he had told me how his mother was fiercely protective of any of her children and she was one to be avoided when she was on a rampage, especially when it came to Andrea.

When she discovered that she was pregnant with Andrea, it was also the time that she discovered the truth of what her husband had been up to, and that he had spent the last three years of their marriage to each other sleeping with numerous amounts of women, hence the reason he wasn't around for either his wife or his kids when they needed him to be around. It was also the same time that she discovered the one of the other women he had been sleeping with was also pregnant at the same time she was, and Darren was born two weeks before Andrea was—it was three weeks after the birth of her daughter that Diana demanded a divorce and David was only too happy to comply with her request.

Upon his death three years ago, David signed his company over to Andrew because David had, allegedly, never liked Ben so didn't want to give the company over to him and he decided that Darren was too young to take over something which was in as much shit as his company was at the time. At only forty-four, David suffered from a heart attack, and Andrew didn't even sound remorseful when he told me of his father's death. He sounded pleased that he was dead, not that I blamed him, David did walk out on his entire family when Andrew was six and he never bothered with him after that point.

"Your slap did nothing other than bruise my ego a little," he didn't even hide the sarcasm when he replied.

"I haven't got time for your childish games, Darren. I came here to speak with Alyssa so, please, as she has asked you to do more than once, leave," Diana pushed him out of the way and walked into my apartment.

"Yo—" but, before he could even finish his sentence, Diana closed the door before he even had the chance to say anything to her.

"I hope you don't mind me getting ready while you talk. It's just that Andrew is going to be here in," I paused as I rushed into the bedroom and checked the time on my phone, "fifteen minutes and I'm not even dressed. I would like to leave on time, so just to make sure this trip gets off to a decent start."

I quickly pulled out a matching lace set, my favourite red set because I just wanted to feel good even if no one was going to see what was beneath the outfit, and I then rushed over to my wardrobe to rummage through the clothes I hadn't packed for the trip. I decided on a grey dress, with a red belt around the waist, and four inch white heels because it was quick so I didn't have to worry about not being ready in time.

"It was actually Andrew that I came here to speak to you about," Diana finally spoke from outside of the room, and I didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was usually a bad thing when people wanted to talk to me about Andrew.

"About what?"

"He's lonely and he needs a friend. I saw the way he opened in front of you, and even the way you opened up to him in return, I was hoping that you would be that friend, Alyssa," I wished I understood why people were so insisted that I was person who became friends with Andrew. He was my boss, and no normal person was friends with their boss, normal people hate their boss and they do nothing besides gossip about them as they have a drink with their friends in some local pub.

I wasn't going to gossip about with my friends, mostly because I didn't have any, but I could complain about him to myself. I could argue with myself about how much I hated him and how much I wanted to punch the guy in the face for being such an ass, but I would then argue that he was only that way because I was a childish, stubborn bitch who really needed to grow the fuck up, and then I wouldn't hate him as much as I do.

I was, after all, twenty nine years old, not two, and that meant I should really act my age. If I didn't provoke, as I found so amusing to do recently, perhaps he would be a whole lot nicer to me and he would stop treating me as though I was about to turn into my sister at any given moment.

"Here's the thing, Diana," I paused while I checked myself in the mirror quickly to make sure I looked presentable and, upon deciding that I would suffice for the day ahead, and used the mirror to pull my hair apart in the middle at the back so that it fell down either side of my shoulders. I grabbed my white cardigan from the bed and pulled my heels from the floor, walking into the living room where I found Diana sitting on the sofa, and I promptly joined her. "Everyone assures me that Andrew is a good guy and all he needs is a good friend but, in reality, he has an awful tendency to treat me like absolute shit. He mocks me, laughs at me and me feel so god damn crap about myself that I question whether he's actually telling the truth. I am, to be honest, tired of males thinking they have the right to walk all over me and then get what they want from me."

I shrugged the cardigan over my shoulders, rolling the sleeves up slightly as I checked the time on my phone once again, and I was relieved to see that I was ready with three minutes to spare. I would be glad to be out of the apartment for the weekend, but I wasn't going to be glad that I was in Andrew's company, not when he found out that I had told his mother the truth about how he treats me behind closed doors.

"Alyssa. The thing you need to understand about my son is that he has always been a complicated person. He has huge issues with controlling his emotions, particularly his anger, and he will take his foul mood out on whoever happens to be around at the time. In fact, I was often the one who bore the brunt of his angry frustrations, but I never complained because I loved him unconditionally."

"He never—?"

"No. He never hit me or his siblings. He just scared me with the way he acted at times and, if I am being brutally honest, I am afraid that he's going to push away all of those who actually give a damn about him," Diana sighed and there was something about her current demeanour which mirrored defeat. I knew that she didn't want to give up on Andrew, but she was at a loss with what the hell she should with her youngest son, and she just wanted someone to help her before it was too late.

"I have tried, Diana. In the last four days, my god have I tried to be there for him, but he keeps finding ways to bring me down and I don't know if I can do it anymore," I sighed just as there was a knock at the door and I knew who it was without even needing to open the door but, before I opened it to reveal the man I was going to spend the next five days, I turned to look at Diana once more, "I've been through more than enough shit with the male population, as I am sure you figured out last night, and I know when there is someone who isn't worth my time anymore. I am sorry Diana, truly, I am."

I braced myself as I opened the door and there he was, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and grey tie, with his hair gelled to the side to give him a more mature look. The only thing which let him down was the distinct smell of whiskey mixed with cigarette smoke which invaded my senses from where he was stood.

"The plan leaves in two hours. Robert is taking me and you are to follow behind in your own car and, when it comes to boarding the plane, you will stay the fuck away from for the duration of the flight and, for the next five days, the only time I want to hear your voice is when we were at the charity ball on Saturday," his words were harsh and, I wasn't sure whether it was because he was drunk or just because I was used to his attitude now, but his words didn't even have an effect on me. They didn't make me want to kill, I didn't have the urge to slap him and I didn't even want to make a witty remark; they just made me accept what he had said because that meant I could stay out of his way and I wouldn't even complain.

"Good morning to you too," I muttered sarcastically.

"Don't fucking start, Alyssa. I'm really not in the fucking mood," Andrew replied angrily.

"I don't know what crawled up your ass and died, though I am going to assume this is still to do with what happened last night, but you can fucking take it out before we get to Chicago. You don't have the right to tell me what the fuck to do," I snapped back.

"You're going to be my girlfriend and, by those standards, I think you'll find that I can do whatever the hell I want, sweetcheeks," he smirked.

"No amount of money in the world would be enough to make me agree to being your girlfriend," I scoffed at the idea as I walked back into my apartment so to grab my phone, keys and purse from the table beside my bed and put them in the front of my suitcase which was waiting beside the front door.

I had actually forgotten that Diana was in the apartment until I caught her from the corner of my eye. She had a look on complete disgust on her face, obviously appalled by the way in which her son was treating me, but I shook my head in her direction and gave her a slight smile in the hope that she would just stay quiet. I didn't want to cause myself even more trouble by allowing her to open her mouth.

"That's a shame, babe. I've told everyone in Chicago that we're dating and, if you don't act as though you're madly in love with me, I shall be sure to make your life a living hell when we return," I am sure there was no way in which he could make my life worse if he tried because I was already in hell and I had accepted there was no escaping it, not even the visit which I had been promised last night was enough to provide me with an escape from this place.

"Andrew Jacob Collins. You and I are going to be having words when you get your ass home next week," I heard Diana mutter to herself and I could tell that she was seriously pissed, but she understood the silent plea which I gave her to keep herself hidden, because she gave me a weak smile and sunk back into the sofa. I would allow her all the time she wanted to lecture her son on how to treat women when we returned but, right now, I just wanted to get the hell out of this place and make a start on our journey.

"Guess that gives me bragging rights over your exceptionally small dick then," I smirked unpleasantly at Andrew as I walked out of my apartment, dragging my suitcase behind me, making sure that I shoved Andrew out of my way and locked the door so that he didn't have to lecture me on that as well.

I ignored the growls which resembled my name when he followed me down the stairs, the man was barely able to put one foot in front of the other, and he was still drinking from the flask which was hidden in the inside of his jacket. I would tell him that he wasn't touching any alcohol while we were on the flight because he had clearly had more than enough to drink, but he wouldn't listen to me anyway and he would just act the dick, so it was pointless even attempting to help him—if he really wanted to kill himself with booze and cigarettes, then I sure as hell wasn't going to stand in his way.

"I swear to fucking god, Alyssa. If you don't do—"

"Or, just for the hell of it, perhaps I shall tell them all how your half-brother had his way with me before you even got the chance to lay a finger on me," I sniped. I knew that winding him up wasn't the best idea I had ever had, but I wasn't going to be in the same car as he was and I wasn't going to be anywhere near him for the duration of the flight, so I was going to make the most of this moment and I was going to say what the fuck I liked to the guy who thought he had the right to walk all over me.

"If you dare embarrass—"

"Me? Embarrass you? I think you need to take a look in the mirror Andrew because you sure as hell don't need my help to embarrass yourself. You seem to be doing a pretty damn good job of it all on your own," I pointed out and then walked off towards my car while taking several deep breaths in order to calm myself down. I pointed my key at my Audi R8 and shoved my suitcase into the boot before I practically ran to the driver's seat, all before Andrew even had the chance to catch up with me and throw another immature comment in my direction.

Because, to be honest, I was tired. I was tired of having to fight Andrew all the damn time and I really did wish that he was this nice guy people keep telling me they knew him to be. But he wasn't that person, and I had seen it more than enough times now not to believe what I was told by people who knew Andrew personally, so I sure as hell wasn't going to take the fall for his fucked up life anymore.

Andrew Collins was nothing more than a cold, heartless bastard who had taken to making me feel like shit about myself, if only to make him feel a little better about his own life, and I wasn't going to take it anymore. I was going to make Andrew rue the day that he decided to treat me like shit, and this weekend for the perfect place for me to show him that he had messed with the wrong woman.

© 2015 Emma Norman. All Rights Reserved.