I Swear

Arianna walked into the office building where she worked. She was the personal assistant to the CEO of the Thompson Marketing Company, Austin Thompson. It was the largest marketing company in Chicago.

“Morning boss man,” Arianna said.

“Morning Ari, how are you this morning,” Austin said.

“I’m good, how’s Sara?” Arianna asked.

“She’s doing good, morning sickness is bothering her,” Austin said.

“Hopefully it will go away soon and she can get back to enjoying things before the baby comes,” Arianna said.

“She’s so ready for that, I think she bought every gender-neutral item out there,” Austin said.

“You guys don’t want to know?” Arianna asked.

“She wants to know when the baby is born, I wanted to know so I can decorate the nursery and find out if I should get footballs or barbies,” Austin said.

“How about you get those footballs and the barbies and when the baby comes, store the toys that won’t be needed then,” Arianna said.

“Good idea, Ari, you always have the best ideas,” Austin said.

“That’s why you keep me around,” Arianna said.

“No I keep you around because I would be lost without you here, you keep this place running,” Austin said.

“That’s you boss, I’m just your assistant,” Arianna said. The door opened and Sam came in. Arianna rolled her eyes and sat at her desk.

“Good morning Ari, morning boss man,” Sam said.

“Morning Sam, what do you need,” Austin said.

“I came to ask Ari out on a date,” Sam said.

“I’m sorry, I don’t date players,” Arianna said.

“Ari,” Sam said.

“I know you are one, Sam, everyone does, I’m not going to be another notch on your bedpost okay, I’m waiting for the right guy and you are not him,” Arianna said.

“You heard the lady,” Austin said.

“She’s right, Sam, I made the mistake of going out with you and being one of those notches, I found me a real man,” Tanya said.

“Oh yeah who?” Sam asked.

“Hey all,” Nick said.

“Hey bro,” Arianna said.

“Hey sis, hello my love,” Nick said. He kissed Tanya’s cheek and held her close.

“Hey babe,” Tanya said.

“What’s up,” Nick said.

“Oh just Sam trying to get your sister out on a date,” Tanya said.

“Not happening, man, you are so not adding my sis to your list of girls on your bedpost,” Nick said.

“I don’t have a list on my bedpost, maybe I want to settle down,” Sam said.

“Your girl is out there somewhere, Sam, it’s just not me,” Arianna said.

“Yeah I know she’s out there, I’m sorry Ari, I don’t want to be labeled a player anymore, I want what Austin has with Sara,” Sam said.

“I know for a fact that Cassie has a crush on you,” Arianna said.

“She does?” Sam asked.

“Yes she does, she’s had it for awhile now,” Arianna said.

“I’ll go talk with her,” Sam said.

“Hello all,” Sara said.

“Hello my wife,” Austin said.

“Hey Sara,” Arianna said.

“Hey Ari, hey Tanya, I came to steal you both from my hubby,” Sara said.

“Why?” Austin asked.

“Girl stuff,” Sara said.

“I have meetings I need Ari for,” Austin said.

“You will survive,” Sara said.

“Baby they are important meetings,” Austin said.

“Sara, he’s right,” Arianna said.

“We can take off tomorrow and have a girls day out,” Tanya said.

“Schedule looks clear tomorrow,” Arianna said.

“Awesome, I’ll see you both in the morning,” Sara said.

“I’ll see you at home baby,” Austin said.

“Love you babe,” Sara said. She kissed him and went out the door. Arianna looked at the schedule and got things together for the meetings. They went to the meetings. Austin and Arianna went back to the office and went over the notes from the meetings they had.

“Ari, I honestly don’t know what I would do without you here,” Austin said.

“You know you will have to survive without me tomorrow,” Arianna said.

“Don’t remind me,” Austin said.

“Okay Cassie and I have a date for Friday night,” Sam said.

“That’s great,” Arianna said.

“I have to admit, I like her a lot,” Sam said.

“I’m happy for you both,” Arianna said.

“Thanks Ari and thank you for pushing me towards her,” Sam said.

“You’re welcome, you both be good to each other,” Arianna said. Sam hugged her and left the room. Arianna sat down at her desk in deep thought.

“Ari? You okay?” Austin asked.

“I’m fine,” Arianna said.

“Ari, you know you can’t lie to me, I know you well, what’s wrong?” Austin asked.

“I’m happy for you and Sara, I’m happy for Nick and Tanya, I’m happy for Sam and Cassie, but I’m not happy myself,” Arianna said.

“Because you don’t have that special someone?” Austin asked.

“I had him in high school, but he got into Yale, I got into Stanford, we would be on opposite sides of the country and we knew it would be hard to do long distance so we went our separate ways and lost touch,” Arianna said.

“What was his name?” Austin asked.

“Brad Reeves,” Arianna said.

“And you haven’t heard from him since,” Austin said.

“No,” Arianna said.

“No one else has?” Austin asked.

“No, he was best friends with Nick but even he hadn’t heard anything from him so I don’t know if he just stopped talking to anyone close to me or something happened to him,” Arianna said.

“His parents?” Austin asked.

“They passed away shortly before he left for Yale, a car accident on the way home from our graduation,” Arianna said.

“Oh Ari, I can have someone find out if he’s okay,” Austin said.

“I’m sure he’s fine and moved on with his life and found someone there and got married,” Arianna said.

“Ari,” Austin said.

“I’ll be fine, Austin, I promise you that I’ll be okay,” Arianna said. Austin nodded and went back to work. He made a mental note to call his best friend who is a private investigator to find Brad for her.

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Thank you for reading my stories. Please don’t criticize the way I write by pointing out the ‘he said she said’ parts. I want my style to be different from others and want everyone to know says what in my stories instead of everyone guessing who said what. It’s the way I have always written since I started over 20 years ago. Please only send positive comments and reviews. Keep the negative stuff to yourself. It will not change my way of writing and I won’t change my way of writing so keep those negative stuff to yourself. Have a good day and thanks for reading.