“It’s not. Arlia is here.”
I tossed my pen on the desk and leaned back in my chair with a sigh. I should have texted her back earlier. Better yet, I should have taken her to dinner and broken things off. The last thing I wanted was a scene in my office.
Millie saw my face. “I told her you were in a meeting, so I can let her know you’re going to be a while, if you want.”
I seriously considered it. But I liked loose ends even less than confrontation, so I might as well get it over with.
I shook my head. “It’s fine. Just give me a minute to clean up my desk.”
Millie nodded, and a few minutes later, she showed Arlia in. Arlia was dressed in a body-hugging black mini dress that showed off a mile of tanned legs. I stayed behind my desk to avoid an intimate greeting.
“I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”
I smiled. “Just busy.” I motioned to the chair on the other side of my desk. “What brings you by?”
Arlia Francois was a beautiful woman. A professional model, she knew exactly how to play up her best features. With long legs and two different-colored eyes—one bright blue and the other deep brown—she captured everyone’s attention. Though when she took a seat and very slowly and purposely crossed her toned legs, neither my dick nor I got too excited.
“I have to leave for Paris this weekend, and I’ll be gone for two weeks. I thought maybe we could get together before then. I’m free Thursday night.”
Thursday night was the fundraiser. “I have a work event Thursday evening.”
She pouted. “I have to work Friday, but maybe a late supper?”
I wasn’t the type of man who ignored women and blew off their invitations as a way of ending things. I preferred direct, and in the long run, most women did, too. Though sometimes they didn’t appreciate being dumped in the short run.
I leaned forward. “You’re a wonderful woman, Arlia. But we’re in different places, and I think it’s best we stop seeing each other.”
Her flirty, pouty mouth twisted to angry. “What?”
“I was upfront when we started seeing each other a few months ago. I’m not interested in a relationship right now. Things were casual at first, but I don’t think we’re looking for the same thing anymore.”
She raised her voice. “So you just wanted to fuck me, then?”
I thought explaining that I didn’t want a relationship before we went out the first time had clarified that whatever we might have was physical and for companionship. But apparently in the future I needed to spell it out even more.
“Please keep your voice down. I was clear about my intentions from the beginning.”
Tears flooded her eyes. Shit. I should have taken Millie up on the offer to pretend I was still on my call and done this in a public place where I had an escape route.
“But I thought we’d grown to more…”
And therein lay the problem. Some women say they’re good with casual—but they aren’t. They think they can change what I want and then get pissed off at me for only wanting exactly what I’d said I wanted at the beginning.
“I’m sorry if you misunderstood.”
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.
Her entire face contorted. “I didn’t misunderstand. You led me on.”
I hadn’t led her on one bit. But I knew when it was best to eat crow. “I’m sorry if I did that.”
Her face softened, and she sniffled. “Fine. We can keep it the way things were when we started. No strings attached.”
I could’ve ended this more easily if I agreed to that and then avoided her in the future. But leaving no strings attached still kept a string between us. And I didn’t want to be tethered to her anymore.
“I think it’s best we just end things here completely.”
Her eyes grew wide. She wasn’t used to rejection. “But…”
“I’m sorry, Arlia.”
She recovered by shifting from upset and shocked back to pissed off. Abruptly, she rose to her feet.
I joined her in standing.
Arlia surprised me by smoothing out her dress. It looked like she was going to leave without too much of a scene after all. Thinking we were good, I made the mistake of walking around the desk to escort her out.
But apparently, her composure was only the eye of the storm. Once I got near, her fury reignited.
“You’re a user.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way.”
She raised her voice again. “Your apartment is as dull as you are. The only thing interesting about you is your dick.”
Okay, I’m done. I put my hand behind her back, careful not to touch, but to guide her to walk toward my office door.
She practically spat at me. “Don’t touch me.”
I pulled my hand back and raised them both in the air. “I was just going to show you out.”
She reared back and slapped me across the face. The impact was so unexpected and hard, my cheek turned from the momentum of the connection.
“I’ll show myself out.”
I stayed put until the door opened and slammed shut. It had been a long time since I was slapped. A long-ass time. Only now, I was smarter and would be keeping far away after that shit happened.
Chapter 10
* * *
Grant - 14 years ago
“I don’t want to go back.”
I rubbed Lily’s shoulders. “I don’t want you to go either.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “It’s just going to happen again. My mom is fine for a while, and then she stops taking her meds and disappears. Eventually someone realizes I’m living alone and calls the cops, who then call Social Services.”
Lily had been with us for more than nine months. She’d told me how when her mom would disappear, she had to steal food from the grocery store and sell shit from their apartment just to eat. She’d stopped going to soup kitchens because they asked so many questions about where her parents were.
“Listen, I want you to take this.” I held out an envelope with five hundred bucks stashed inside. “Just in case she disappears again.”
The tears she’d held back began to stream down her face. “I don’t need it. You’re going to come see me all the time, right? If she disappears, I’ll just tell you, and you can bring me something then.”
“What happens if she makes you move again, Lily?” They’d moved dozens of times over the last fifteen years. Me showing up at her apartment one day and finding it empty wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
“I won’t go. How would you even find me?”
“If you move, you’ll write to me. Do you know the address here?”
Lily nodded and rattled off the house address.
I smiled. “Good. If you ever have to move, you’ll tell me in a letter. And I’ll come see you every week on Sunday—even if you move all the way to New York. I promise.” That probably seemed crazy, but I knew I’d find a way to do it. Lily and I were meant to be together. “Take the envelope. It’s not much. But you might need it for stamps. Or stuff for school.”
She hesitated, but took it. Once she figured out how much I’d shoved inside, she wouldn’t be happy. But she’d be back at her mother’s, and neither of us was going to be very happy anyway.