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“Where are we going?” Chandra said, panting for breath as we ran toward one of the counters. I had no idea, and no time to explain it. I hit the counter and stared at the wide-eyed man behind it like some kind of crazy lady.
“Graham Archer! He has a private plane here, I’m supposed to be on it.”
“I’ll just have to check with someone here,” the man said, reaching cautiously toward his phone.
“Please, just tell me where to go, he’s gone in a few minutes and I need to see him,” I demanded, staring at his hand as it continued moving toward the handset.
“Who are you, miss?” he asked. I threw down my purse, pouring the contents onto the counter and pulling the marriage certificate free, holding it up as if it would make any difference.
“I’m his wife! Please! I need to catch him before he leaves!”
“You’re that lady on the news?” the man replied, laughing. “Private departures go through the diamond lounge. You’ll need to take the tram across to the next terminal and it’s about six gates up on your left.”
“How long is that going to take?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the people waiting next to the tram line.
“Next tram hits in two minutes. If you don’t hit security, it might take you ten, minimum,” the man replied, not understanding how impossible his words sounded. “You want me to try to call over there?”
I looked at my phone. It had already been thirty two minutes since Graham Archer walked out of my apartment and out of my life. I just nodded in defeat, watching the man grasp the phone and punch a few numbers.
He said a few words, and I knew almost immediately what the reply was. Chandra grabbed my arm as the man behind the counter hung up the phone.
“I’m sorry miss, but Mr. Archer is on the runway taking off. There’s nothing I can do.”
I couldn’t respond. I stumbled outside with Chandra, listening to her frantically explain herself to the police officer already standing guard at her abandoned vehicle in the departure lane. My head turned back toward the building, watching a small and lean looking jet soar up over the building.
I’d missed him. I’d let my fear get the better of me, and I’d missed him.
CHAPTER 7
_ _ _
Six weeks later, I wasn’t feeling so good. Some kind of stomach bug had taken hold and I’d been throwing up all week. At least everything else had gotten more or less back to normal…
The annulment paperwork had shown up the morning after Graham flew away, just as promised. It came with a surprise, a check for twenty thousand dollars that I hadn’t been able to cash. It felt like payment for sex, and I was no whore. Even now, the check was sitting quietly in the top of my closet, heavier on my mind than any of my meager troubles.
Of which there were plenty.
Sure, the marriage thing was out of the way the day I filed the papers, but my nightmare was just beginning.
It turns out there is such a thing as negative publicity. All I wanted to do was go back to my wedding photography business, but the world had different ideas. Paparazzi was hounding me everywhere, trying to get a picture of the woman who met, married, and broke the heart of everyone’s favorite billionaire bachelor. It’s pretty hard to shoot someone’s blissful wedding when you’ve got twenty people chasing you around with flash bulbs and telephoto lenses.
Bills were due, and the wedding photography jobs had all but stopped coming. I was seriously starting to consider going back to work in a call center. At least then I could be anonymous.
And of course, Graham Archer had never so much as apologized. Not one message, not one call. The asshole even went and named the damn children’s hospital he was building the ‘Savannah Children’s Cancer Center’, and what the hell was that all about? Was I as bad as children’s cancer, or was he trying to flatter me? The tabloids had been arguing about it ever since. It was vicious. Didn’t this man realize he was ruining my life?
I felt abandoned and stuck. Even Chandra had stopped coming by. She said she couldn’t handle all the negativity. As if any of this was my fault! My life was falling apart before my very eyes and there was nothing I could do about it. And of course, life has a way of kicking you when you’re down.
Today, that kick was a simple knock on my door.
A few weeks ago, I might have welcomed that knock. A few weeks ago, I might have admitted that I’d dashed to the airport and spent the whole drive home crying into my hands. Today, Graham Archer was the last person in the world I wanted to see.
“Did I come at a bad time?” Graham said after a long silent moment standing just outside my apartment.
I shook my head, letting myself breathe again. There was no way he could fix what had happened. Not now, not ever. I wasn’t going with him, and that was the end of it.
“Why are you here, Graham?” I asked, my voice barely hiding the anger beneath.
“You never cashed my check. I know things are difficult for you right now, and I thought I could help you get by until everything calmed down,” he said, smiling like a fool.
