Chapter 23: The Confrontation

Barbara Brown's POV

I looked at Lea who was asleep before I was screeching to a stop. The police and everyone that I don't want to get involved with was on the streets. I saw the drop, dead, gorgeous professor that I saw Lea was leaving with him yesterday. I gritted my teeth as I looked at Lea.

"Lea, we're here," I said as I was gripping the steering wheel. Lea looked at the road and her eyes widened when she locked on that man. Then the police were speaking through the megaphone.

"Ma'am, please get out of the car." He said before I was taking off my seatbelt.

"We better do what they say before anything happened,"

I was about to get out of the car before Lea was holding my hands. I looked at her before I saw the determination in her face.

"No, I deal with this," she said as I stopped in my actions.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked Lea before she looked at me and she nodded.

"Be careful," I said as I was gripping her hands as the police talked again in the megaphone.

"Please, we don't want to hurt you, Mrs. MacWatters. Your husband was worried about you,"

Lea gritted her teeth before she got out of the car and closed the door. I don't know what they were talking about but I saw that Lea was handling this guy nicely. The police disappeared before they were standing in the road. I pulled down my window as I saw MacWatters and I waved at him. He smiled at me.

"She can go if she wants to,"

"Oh, I don't want to," I said as Lea turned to look at me with her eyebrow arched. I hated it when I was being outnumbered by Lea. I sighed.

"Fine, I'll go. But if you hurt her, you will pay, MacWatters," I said as I reversed the car and I went out of their way. I looked at the rearview mirror and I saw that Lea and her husband went inside the car before they went the other way.

It was strange to think that your friend was married but you don't know about it. As much as I loved Lea, I don't tell her about my circumstances as well. I sighed before I heard my phone rang. I don't look at the caller ID before I answered it using the off-hand caller.

"This is Barbara Brown. Who's calling?" I asked as I was staring at the road. I don't think my morning was being wasted like this. But it was worth it for Lea, at least.

"Your husband," Brad's voice filled my eardrum before I was gripping my wheels again. I scoffed as I was trying to comprehend why was he calling me right now.

"Mr. Cornwall. As I recall, you and I have annulled our marriage, so to speak. Now, what do I owe the honor of you calling me, Mr. Cornwall?" I asked as I can hear that he was hissed at me.

He's pissed. Good.

"Please, Barbara, don't be so polite. After all, Mr. Cornwall is my father. So you may call me Brad if you please," he said as he was trying to control the anger in his voice. I smirked at nothing.

"Well, that seems sad. I don't recall we were tight. Anyway, please state why are you calling me as I have so much to do since someone was throwing me away from the excavation site," I said as I was trying to control the anger as well. At least the traffic was not that busy.

"It was about the papers and notes of your discovery for the minerals," he said. Of course, it was nothing else that he wanted to say for me.

"What about it?"

"I might hold it for at least one week before I can give it to you," he said casually before I was gritting my teeth.

"But I have to come up for my proposal in that week," I said. I know it was a bitch move but right now I don't care. I need to make my stand here and Brad will not be the one that controlling this situation.

"You can always come to my office to look over the papers with me if you wish to get your proposal ready in time," he said as I was contemplating the idea. That was not bad as I would think it would be. I sighed.

"Can you send me the address then?" I asked him as he smiled on his phone. I swore I can hear it in his voice.

"I do better. I will pick you up,"

"No need. I know how to drive," I said as I was trying to make this as professional as possible. But hell, I would love him to drive me and pick me up.

"But I insist," he said as I was rubbing my temple when I stopped at the red light. I was thinking for a while before I sighed.

"Fine. But I only available in the evening around 8 PM. Do you still consider picking me up then?" I asked him as I know he would not go through that trouble for me. I might need to drive after all but that was exactly what I planned.

"Deal, I see you tonight, Barbara," he said before he hung up. I was blinking a few times before the lights were green and someone honked at me.

"Move your car!"

Yup, the most New Yorker way ever to get moving. I shifted the gear and I drove to my apartment that was on the shabby side of the town. I looked at the time. It was 9 AM. I still have 9 hours before my appointed time with Brad. It was the weekend, so I supposed I can make myself breakfast before I went to work in my study.

I sighed as I went out of the car and on with my day.

After I did some marking on the labs and some research for funding requirement and what should I expect if my proposal got rejected, I did some stretching before I took some light dinner/lunch. I did not know the time flew fast and I took a quick shower when it was 7 PM.

I was wearing my usual flannel, red checker with black and my black denim before I paired it up with my red sneakers. This way, I was not attracting attention but merely just passing by with my life.

I'm sure Brad will not feel attracted to me but why was that notion was making my heart ached?

I shrugged before I shook that thought out of my mind before I went to put my laptops and some of the notes that might be useful to use when I looked at my notes to compare with the new mineral.

All of this prospect was making me dizzy with delight. I can hardly breathe.

I heard someone knocked on the door as I went to pick up my bag as well as my phone, keys, and purse. I went to the door and instantly, my nose was filled with sandalwood.

Brad's signature.

I opened the door and I was taken when it was a few days since I was looking into his warm caramel eyes. I blinked a few times before I offered him a saccharine smile.

"Shall we?" I asked as I was moving out of the door before I locked it. Brad nodded at me as we were moving toward the car and he did not open the door for me. Well, I expected him to treat like a colleague and not a lady.

Then why my heart was aching even more with his cold behavior?

I sighed before he slid inside and I did the same. I put the seatbelt on and we were en route to his office. We don't say anything before I heard my stomach growling. I blushed before I cleared my throat as I was looking outside the window.

"Did you eat dinner yet?" Brad broke the ice as I was ignoring her.

"Barbara?" He asked as if he was concerned with me. I turned to look at him sideways before I answered him.

"I have looked at the notes and papers. You can work on it while I work on something else," he said as I nodded at him. We have arrived at the office before he parked his car in his designated area. I got out as well as Brad and we were inside the building as I was making my way to his office.

I don't even know why I felt nervous. Maybe the prospect that I was with him alone at night.

'No, you idiot! He did not think of you in that regard,' my mind said as I was hardening my heart when I knew he would break the wall that I built and took my heart again if I let him.