He Hurt Me, Now He Wants Me Back

Imogene Scott

After Damien leaves, I drop a text for Emmett that I won't be returning to the gallery for the rest of the day. I'm not sure how I'll be able to get a new nanny for Lily on short notice. Getting someone like Breonna took me days. Shit! I didn't know Damien could ever pull such a stunt on me.

I hear the doorbell ring. I go and answer it and I can see from the door monitor screen that on one is there. Either way, I open the door and step out. The hallway is empty and there's a basket of roses at my doorstep with a note in it.

Curiosity overrides everything as I bend down to grab the note. It reads: I was wondering if you wanna grab dinner tomorrow night. From your admirer, Keith. His business card is also attached to it.

I immediately shrug and drop the note back into the basket. Then I step back inside, leaving the basket of roses outside. I already know it's the elevator guy, my landlord, which makes it even more weird.

Who sends flowers to someone they barely know? Another reason why I refuse to take him seriously. He probably sees me as a lost and lonely single mother he can toy with. Not on my watch. I already have 'Damien' problem at hand. I don't think I want to add 'love interest' problems to it.

I hear Lily's cries from the bedroom and I race into the room. She's awake, and she smiles when she sees me.

"Mommy." her tiny voice calls out to me.

I wrap my arms around her tiny body before taking her into my arms and back to the living room. I place her in her high chair and do the straps. I quickly make some oats. Lily is a difficult child and she doesn't take any foods beside oats. It's starting to worry me. After Lily finishes her meal, I let her play around the apartment while I make a few important calls and an important video call with a client.

By the time I'm done, it's almost 7pm and I hear the doorbell ring. I glance at Lily to make sure she isn't doing anything dangerous-she playing with a rubber ball-before I go to answer the door. It's Elinor.

"What's with the flowers?" she asks me as she walks in.

I shut the door behind her. "Just this landlord problem I have."

"Hmm." Elinor's eyes widens. "Tell me about it."

"He's someone that just doesn't take no for an answer." I suck in a breath. "He wants us to grab dinner tomorrow night. Of course, it's a no. I've got better things to focus on and I don't have spare time." "You have all the time in the world." She makes an exaggerated show of tapping her phone. "You're just scared. Aren't you over Damien?"

"1..."

My insides tighten. I'm over Damien. I've always been over him but at the same time, Lily is all I have. I don't want any romantic interests to halve my love for her. She's my priority.

"Tell me," Elinor says, pulling me out of my impulsive thoughts, "don't tell me you aren't over him."

"Well, I am. And none of this has anything to do with Damien."

"It could."

"What do you mean?" I do an as-if eye roll.

"Damien is back because he knows you don't have any romantic developments in you life. He probably thinks it's because you're not over him yet." "And..."

"You need to show him you've

moved on and he should too. If he finally sees it for himself that you no longer care about him, then he's going to back away from yo@and Lily"

Has my words to his thus far not showed him that I no longer want nor care about him?

I pretend not to know what Elinor is trying to say. "Your point exactly?"

"Go on the date with your definitely hot landlord tomorrow night."

I let out a you've-gotta-be-kidding-me laugh. "Oh, please. I'll go make dinner.

I rise to my feet and start walking towards the kitchen. Elinor follows me and she talks all the way to the kitchen.

"You really should listen to me, Imogene." she says.

I ignore her and pull out a crate of eggs from the shelf, select a few eggs to make scrambled eggs, place them into a bowl, and return the crate into the drawer.

"I barely know this guy in question." I say, giving her a long hard look.

"Then get to know him. And if you still feel you don't want him, you can back away. We just need to let Damien think you've moved on."

A small sigh escapes my lips. Elinor can be very difficult and she always manages to get whatever she wants to matter what.

"You do realize you've never met this man you're forcing me to go out with."

Elinor leans against the counter. "He owns this multi million dollar building so he's definitely not bad."

""What if he's a hobo?"

"There's only one way to find out." Elinor smiles pulls out her phone from the pocket of her slacks. "The internet knows everything. His name?"

"Keith something." I finally give up making scrambled eggs as I lean against the kitchen counter.

"You gotta give me more, Imogene. The internet cannot just find me a Keith something."

I try to recollect. "I can't remember his last name. But you'll find his business card in the basket of—"

Elinor doesn't let me finish before

she rushes out of the kitchen and I

hear the front door opening. It's a surprise how fast she moves because she's soon back in the

kitchen, panting.

"That was fast."

She smiles. "Anything for you, mi darling."

She stares at the card for a few seconds and right now, her face reads "oh shit." She glances at me, then back at the card. Then pulls out her phone and looks something up.

"You'll be surprised he's not just a

landlord." she says dramatically then drum rolls on the kitchen counter before she continues. "He's the youngest CEO of KJ Tech at twentynine. Before you ask, K Tech is a multi billion dollar tech company, a rival company to IMU and one of the leading companies in tech today. Trust me, Imogene. You just hit a gold mine."