Mr.arrogant(34)

His father called out to him with a barely audible voice. "Jonathon! Wait!"

Jonathon stopped just as his hand touched the doorknob. He looked over his shoulder at his father. "Yes?"

Phillip walked toward him, looking older and more tired than he had in a  very long time. "I didn't realize that Naomi meant so much to you. You  never told me that. I thought she was just another one of your flings. I  thought I was helping you to grow up and be the kind of man I always  hoped you would become, and I was trying to help you become that by  making you marry a woman I thought would be a good match for you. I  never intended to make you miserable, and I never intended to make Susan  miserable. She's so in love with you that I thought it would be the  best match." He spoke sorrowfully as he walked toward his son, his eyes  set on him.

Jonathon shook his head. "Susan isn't in love with me, she is obsessed  with me; or not even with me, but with an ideal fantasy of me that can  never be, and that's good enough for her, but it shouldn't be."

Phillip nodded. "I can see now that I have made a terrible mistake and  almost cost you more than I ever should have. I'm so horribly sorry. I  will not force you to marry Susan. I will not ask her to marry you,  though I think it will devastate her for a while to know that she will  not be your wife." His father looked at him intently.

"Does Naomi know that you are in love with her?" he asked quietly.

Jonathon shook his head. "No, I never told her when she was awake. I'm going to go do my best to convince her of it now."

Phillip nodded and withdrew his hands from his pants pockets, reaching  them both up to his tie. Jonathon watched as his father loosened his tie  and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. Jonathon stared in  bewilderment at Phillip, and Phillip reached his fingers beneath the  collar of his shirt and tugged at a silver chain that was there. He slid  it over his head and coiled it in his hand, gazing at it longingly.

Then he stepped toward his son and took Jonathon's hand in his,  carefully turning his hand over Jonathon's open palm and letting the  necklace fall into it. Jonathon was stunned. There in his palm, secured  to the necklace, was his mother's wedding ring. He hadn't seen it since  she had died, and thoughts of her flooded through his mind as he looked  at it. He felt tears sting his eyes and he looked up at his father who  was unable to hide his own tears.

"What …  what are you giving this to me for? I didn't even know you had  it! I thought she was buried with it!" he whispered in amazement.

Phillip shook his head. "I couldn't let it go. I had to hold on to her  and our marriage as long as I could. I'm giving it to you now so that  you can give it to Naomi when you ask her to marry you. That is your  mother's blessing and mine on this decision of yours. You stay true to  your heart. Your mother and I both wanted that from you."

He pursed his lips and blinked back tears before he continued. "Somehow  you have grown up into exactly the kind of strong, determined, loyal man  that I wanted you to be, and I was so busy running this company that I  never saw you change and become who you are. I didn't see it in you at  all until today, when you came in here and stood up to me for what you  want, for what you believe in, and for who you really love.

I can see now that you are a better man than I ever thought you would  be, and you are a better man than me." He wiped at his eyes. "You take  that ring and go find your love. Ask her to marry you. That will be your  good luck charm; that ring represents real true love, and it won't fail  you."         

     



 

He shook his head. "Don't you worry about your inheritance or your job.  Everything will be waiting for you when you come back, just as it should  be. I'll talk to Vincent and Susan and tell them that the wedding is  off. You have much more important things to do right now than worry  about that. I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me  somehow for not seeing any of this sooner."

Jonathon bit his lip and reached his arms around his father, clutching  the necklace and ring in his hand as he embraced his father tightly. "I  love you dad. You're forgiven, though you don't need to be."

"I love you too, son. I'm so proud of you." He sniffed loudly and  coughed, letting Jonathon go, and his son saw the fresh tears in his  father's eyes. "Go get your girl, Jonathon." He said with an emotional  voice.

Jonathon nodded and clenched the necklace and ring in his palm. "I'm on my way." He answered.



Though Jupiter Inc. was a large company, it was not housed in a large  building. No skyscraper for that innovative company. They had taken over  an old red brick building in SoHo, in a trendy neighborhood with shops  and cafés, local residents and community gardens.

Jonathon stood outside of the building, looking up at the five floors of  windows that glistened in the sunlight over the tree lined street, and  he realized that his own company was a far cry from the welcoming and  warm feel of Jupiter. He took a deep breath and walked in through the  front doors. There was a young man sitting at a desk behind a computer,  waiting to greet him. "Good afternoon, Sir! Thank you for coming to  visit us at Jupiter! How can I help you?" he gave Jonathon a friendly  smile and it boosted Jonathon's unsteady heart.

His nerves had been on edge, wondering if she would even speak to him,  let alone consider taking him back. "I'm here to see Naomi Bradshaw if  she isn't busy." He said quietly. His heart banged against his chest and  his palms grew damp.

The young man brightened. "Certainly! If you want to take that elevator  right there at the back of the hall, you'll go up to the fourth floor,  and you'll find her there. Let me know if I can do anything to help you  further!" he said pleasantly, nodding at Jonathon as Jonathon thanked  him and walked back to the elevator.

He stepped into it and noticed that the whole back wall and sides of it  were glass, and they face a glass wall on the back of the building so  the elevator box was filled with natural light. He took a deep breath  and soaked it in as the box rose to the fourth floor. He looked out over  the city and saw the skyscraper where Cross Corp was housed, and the  juxtaposition of the two companies was not lost on him in any way.

The doors slid open and he stepped out onto the fourth floor. He was  surprised to see that it was an open office design with desks in various  places, none too close together, but not too far away. There were no  cubicles. There were no barriers. There was light from windows all over  the outer walls and it filled the room with warmth. There were glass  walls on the few offices that were separated from the main room, so that  it looked as if they were all still connected.

He took a deep breath and a young woman who was walking past him stopped  and looked at him with a grin. She gave him an approving nod and asked,  "Are you looking for someone?"

He nodded. "I am. I was hoping to find Naomi Bradshaw." His heart was  beating faster than it was when he was standing on the street looking up  at the building. She tipped her head and grinned at him again.

"Sure! I was headed that direction. I'll take you right to her." and she  walked with him across the room to the biggest office on the floor, one  in which the walls were all glass, and none of the glass was covered.

He saw her then, sitting at her desk, laughing and talking with two  people in her office. She looked settled and happy. She looked  beautiful. She took his breath away just sitting there in his sight. The  girl elbowed him and indicated the doorway.

"You can go in." she said with wink.

He felt as if he was frozen to the floor. "I …  uh …  I … " he began,  wondering how in the world he would ever manage to apologize as much as  he should to her. He owed her the whole world. His cheeks warmed and his  breath grew short.         

     



 

The young girl eyed him and then nodded softly. "Okay. I got this." She  cupped her hand over his elbow and guided him into the office.

"Hey, Naomi? You have a visitor." She said simply, smiling brightly as  they entered. Her smile faltered slightly when Naomi turned and her eyes  fell on Jonathon, and everything about her composure froze.

"Jonathon … " she spoke his name just above a hush.

The two people in her office cleared their throats and stood up to  leave, making their way out swiftly, and walking off with the young girl  in mere moments. Jonathon was left alone with Naomi.

She stared at him and he walked toward her, feeling as if he was being  pulled to the center of the galaxy, and she was it. He stepped behind  her desk and wished that he could scoop her into his arms and hold her  as tightly as he wanted to. He knew that he had a lot of work to do  before he might be able to do that.