Page 44 of All Out of Love

Charlotte looked at Toya and didn’t wait for an introduction from Grayson. “I’m Charlotte,” she said. “I’m Gray’s girlfriend. And you are?”

Toya didn’t expect her to say that word. Not that word! Especially since Grayson had just told his staff that she was his girlfriend. She looked at Grayson again. “Your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” Charlotte said.

“No,” Grayson said. Then he angrily looked at Charlotte. “And you know it!”

“I’m the one you spend time with. I’m the one you take to the opera with your parents and you take to other functions. If I’m not your girlfriend, who is?”

“You know the nature of our relationship, Charlotte, so stop playing games.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m moving on.”

Toya could tell she was angry. “And when were you going to let me in on this change of plans?”

“Charlotte, stop it at once,” Grayson said. “Don’t pretend you don’t know our arrangement. And the fact that we had none.”

“But you could have phoned me.”

“Me phoning you and letting you know I’ve moved on is not a part of any plan ever. I told you from the beginning that you will know when I’ve moved on because I will have moved on. No phone calls, no drop-bys. Nothing. Then you’ll know.”

“That’s not right,” Toya said.

An obviously hurt Charlotte looked at her right along with Grayson. “What’s not right?” he asked Toya.

“If you don’t want to be with her anymore, you could have at least phoned and told her so.”

“She understands how it works.”

“Ah kiss my ass, Grayson,” Charlotte said angrily. “You’re as awful as your father.”

“And you’re as awful as your mother.”

Charlotte gave him another hard look. Then she looked at Toya. “Don’t think you’ve arrived,” she said. “Just like he’s doing it to me, he’s going to do it to you as well. So don’t gloat.”

“I’m not gloating,” Toya said and looked into her small, sad eyes. And then Charlotte left in a huff.

But the way Grayson handled the entire affair didn’t sit right with Toya. And after dinner, when they got back into his Mercedes and were on their way back to the house, she told him so. “Are you going to move on from me and not let me know too?”

Grayson didn’t understand. “What?”

“The way you did Charlotte. When you get tired of me, are you going to do me that way too?”

“No!”

“Why not? What’s the difference?”

“What’s the?” Grayson couldn’t believe she asked that question. He checked his rearview mirror and then pulled over to the side of the room. Once he placed his car in Park, he turn to her. “There’s a world of difference,” he said. “You’re my lady.”

“But what does that mean when that woman thought she was your lady too?”

“She knows better. She was my bed partner and nothing more. Just as every woman before her was. And nothing more. But, Latoya, you’re my girlfriend. You’re mine. That’s the difference!”

He’d never said those words to anyone before. They touched Toya on a deep level too.

“Everybody else is in the basement. You’re in the penthouse. You’re it,” he added, and that was enough. Toya unbuckled her seatbelt and hurried into his arms. And they kissed for a long time.