Chapter 70 - He Needed To Work Harder
Aaron sighed and let her go after she forcefully stepped on his foot. He should have known this would happen if he turned up out of nowhere and kissed her without so much as saying hello.
This life's Keeley was the type that needed to be worn down slowly over time. He had forgotten that in his desperation to be near her.
If he didn't want her to hate him even more, he couldn't do anything like this again. The only way he would be able to win her over was if he had time—he needed to become her best friend like she had become his before.
Right now, time was a luxury he couldn't afford even with all his wealth. Too many eyes were on him. It would be too easy to be squashed like a bug this early on.
With one last wistful glance towards the woman he loved as she ran away, Aaron turned around and walked back to the party.
'Wait for me, Keeley,' he thought. 'I'll protect you this time no matter how long it takes.'
The gala was winding down by the time he reappeared. Nobody noticed his absence, which didn't surprise him.
Aaron may be an important figure in his circle but no one actually cared about him as a person. Having already talked to everyone noteworthy earlier, they forgot about his existence until they could use him again.
It was a useful skill at times even if it could be depressing.
He would have been in big trouble if his parents knew where he got off to. His mother probably thought he just wanted to be alone for a while after they argued.
Close to 1 AM, Carlton picked up all three Hales and they rode home in heavy silence.
Car rides were always like this with his parents, nothing like when Keeley and Robert were in a car together. They talked, laughed, and even sang together as they drove.
It was such a foreign concept to him in his first life until Keeley began doing the same with him as they drove around Boston together.
Aaron didn't have a driver while he was away at school so it was always just the two of them. He loved those car rides, especially when she would talking stop mid-word and eagerly turn up the radio to sing along when a song she knew came on.
Keeley stopped singing along to the radio once they were back in New York and had a driver working for them again though she still talked to him until they began drifting apart following The Incident.
He hated going back to the old silence but what could he do? Their driver worked for his parents and would report if they were too friendly.
Aaron was still wired from the kiss so when he got home he changed into his pajamas but didn't go to sleep. Instead, he opened up the research files that Anomaly compiled.
He sure had his work cut out for him. All of these people would be tough nuts to crack.
He was forced to admit that building up his network and acquiring enough shares to take a stand may take longer than he originally thought. His plan was moving forward at a snail's pace.
Suddenly it didn't seem possible to take over from his father straight out of college. He couldn't disturb Keeley's life again until he didn't have to fear from his father or the Knightons. He needed to work harder.
He got a text from Cameron at nearly three in the morning as he was finally drifting off to sleep. His first instinct was to be annoyed that he was woken up but that changed as soon as he read the contents of the message.
'I'm going to sleep it off for a day before driving back so I'm all done here but I thought you'd want to know that I took your $20,000 and after gambling almost every day for two weeks I've earned $126,750. You're welcome. Also, I'm about to die from sleep deprivation and can't drive home so you're going to reimburse me to stay here tonight and buy me a buffet breakfast'
'Fair enough for a job well done. I'll even let you keep the $750'
'All hail Merciful Overlord Aaron'
Aaron couldn't tell if he was being facetious or not but was too tired to care. Cameron Singleton had the makings of a very useful right hand man. He had chosen well. He wasn't above rewarding those who were loyal to him.
Speaking of loyalty…while he was awake, he ordered a new computer hard drive with triple the storage space for Aiden.
He had been complaining about all the extra programs he installed to help with surveillance taking up too much space and causing a lag. Aaron may as well toss in a second monitor while he was at it.
Apparently the whiz kid hacker had been operating on his dad's old laptop for years before he was able to get a used desktop computer. Someone with his talents deserved a better operating system.
It would be a simple enough thing to do since Aiden was almost always on call.
After ordering the extra computer parts, Aaron was finally able to fall asleep.
He dreamed of Keeley. His Keeley, the one whose smile was like sunshine; not this newer version who was terrified of him. The one he would do anything to get back.
She was pulling on his arm to show him something; a move she had used a thousand times when they were dating.
"Aaron! Come check this out!"
"Aaron, look over here!"
"Aaron!"
"Hey, Aaron!"
She dragged him in a million different directions with that gorgeous smile on her face. He never got tired of chasing after her.
The dream shifted. Her eyes, empty and cold, grew to the size of elephants and stared down at him accusingly.
"Why don't you want me? Why do you always reject me? Why? Why don't you love me?"
The words were hauntingly familiar but he couldn't remember when she said them.
He ran after those giant eyes as they disappeared, reaching one arm out in desperation. "I do love you! I was only trying to protect you; come back!"
The world went completely dark and echoing laughter began to mock him. "Protect me? Your 'protection' killed me!"
Keeley's body, the way it had looked when he went to verify it in the morgue, dropped down out of a hole that opened in the sky and landed right in front of him. The dead eyes opened and the corpse sat up.
"You killed me, Aaron!"
He woke up in a panic. What a horrible dream.
It had been years since he had one that bad. The nightmares wouldn't stop plaguing him after he identified the body of his wife but they went away after getting his revenge and later, going to therapy.
Aaron couldn't let her die on him again. He would destroy anything and anyone that got in his path to give Keeley the life together they deserved. The one they should have had all along.
He would get there—no matter how long it took, no matter what he had to sacrifice. He would have his smiling Keeley again and everything would be okay.