Burning Desire (Completed)

chapter 54

Raymond's secretary, Jeremy, came over to Raymond's house in the evening, leaving a pile of letters to be signed, some documents and a message that the company lawyer had been trying to reach him all afternoon.

After making a call to the lawyer, Raymond went to the kitchen and fixed himself a cup of strong black coffee. Sipping his coffee, he walked to his home office and settled himself behind the desk. He set the cup aside and tackled the pile of work on his desk.
Without taking his gaze from the crowded pages, he groped inside the drawer of the desk until he located a fountain pen. Slowly he unscrewed the top and opened his laptop.

Taking a long sip of his coffee, he went to work. Making adjustments to the pages, signing letters and replying to business emails. Putting his elbows on his desk, he pushed his knuckles into the side of his head as he flicked through pages of the document.
His cell phone rang and he reached for it.

His heart did a quick somersault in his chest as he saw the callers' ID. As much as the action was weird and confusing, he had a pleased smile on his face.

He picked the call and cleared his throat lightly.

"Hey," Jasmine's soft voice said over the phone.

Her voice sent chills through his ear down to his stomach. The sensation was relaxing and satisfying. He'd longed to hear from Jasmine all day. He tried calling her but didn't know what to say. He'd spent 30 minutes on the phone struggling to create a message to send to her but ended up deleting it.

"Hey," he said calmly, as he relaxed in his chair.

"You didn't come to work today." She said.

He tried not to get excited that she missed him but his silly heart had plans of it's own. He was smiling like a fool, imagining Jasmine's worried face as she waited to see him at the gallery.
His smile quickly vanished as it came.
Maybe she didn't really care, he thought.

"Raymond?"

He snapped out from his thoughts, realizing he hadn't answered her. "Yeah..umm i had to take care of some business at the company," he said as he massaged the back of his neck.

"Okay. How's your palm?" She asked.

"Ohh." He looked at his wrapped palm and smiled. "It doesn't hurt."

"That's good," she said and then there was a long pause at the end.

"Jasmine?" He called, worried that she had hung up on him.

"Look Raymond...umm.. about last night." She hesitated.

"Okay?" He shifted on his chair. He wasn't comfortable with her silence.

"I'm really sorry for the way I behaved last night. I shouldn't have asked you to leave like that. It was wrong of me," she said calmly.

He let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. He'd feared that she had called to tell him that she wasn't going to be his date anymore.

"It's okay, I totally understand. I should be the one to apologize. I shouldn't have asked you about your parents if I knew how much it would hurt," he told her.

"You shouldn't apologize, you did nothing wrong. It's just that..." He heard her sigh over the phone.

"Is everything okay?" He asked in a worried tone.

She sniffed, saying nothing.

He raked a hand in his hair, a weary look on his face. "Jasmine what's wrong? Please talk to me."

"I've lost my sister." She broke down.

"What!" He exclaimed in shock, eyes wide and jaw dropped.