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Unable to resist, she cocked her head to one side and said, “I thought I laid my life out like an open book? You know, self-centered and all that.”
His smirk was swift. “You are, you conceited wench!” Then holding up the CD, he asked, “I take it you have a copy?”
She nodded and tightened her hold on his arm. “I’ll be happy to loan it to you.”
They continued weaving their way through the vendors under the hot rays of the afternoon’s sun. The market was crowded and the aisles between tables were jammed. Once they even had to go in a single line to pass people. However, even if none of her friends were within view, she never once released her hold on his arm.
Chapter 10
The week was progressing slowly. Far too slow for Sonya’s satisfaction. There was still three more days before she was able to play the part of Daniel’s girlfriend once more. Fact was, it was the closest she would ever get. Women like her, didn’t end up with men like Daniel. And men like Daniel were never stuck with women like her.
A part of her cringed at the prospect of going. No longer in fear of being bored, but in fear of embarrassing Daniel. What if people discovered who she was? Here Daniel was a great genius with a university education and his own engineering company. Then there was Sonya. A waitress at a pickup bar.
So distracted with her thoughts that she forgot someone’s order and had to go back and get it. The bartender gave her a quizzical look, but she turned an indifferent shoulder to him. She surveyed the establishment and the few clientele scarred throughout tables. It hit her so hard she didn’t see it coming. She hated this job.
This wasn’t what she wanted for herself, never had been. Her dreams were to perform singing on stage in front of a live audience. The job provided her with such an opportunity, but she felt suddenly unfulfilled. She didn’t know what it was and she didn’t like the feeling. Women like her never got what they deserved.
She would break her date with Daniel. That was all there was to it. How could she do this to him? He deserved so much better. Lord, he was one of the great masterminds of his generation and here she was a struggling singer living off nothing but dreams. Yes, the best thing she could do for him, was to not go.
Even better, maybe it was best to end their relationship altogether. What had this weekend done to her? Believe that she could get a man as terrific as Daniel? Christ, the man shows a little kindness and she’s like Jell-O at his feet. No, she was best to end it now before she used trickery and manipulation to get her way. Sonya always got her way. No matter what the cost. This was a cost she would not allow. She had to let him go.
Her day dragged and until at last it was time to go home. She knew she should head straight to Daniel’s and tell him she didn’t want to see him anymore. But she couldn’t bring herself to it. So instead she hid away in her apartment with her headphones on as she listened to the chords of Tchaikovsky playing on her iPod. He knocked on her door shortly after she arrived, but she ignored it hoping he would think she wasn’t home.
Every day after that she grew more and more depressed and every day after work she locked herself in her apartment and refused to see him. She knew she had to tell him about Friday, but found herself incapable of doing so. It would hurt him. Not gravelly, but enough that she would feel horrible inside.
On Thursday night, he banged on her door yet again. If not harder. “Sonya, open up. I know you’re in there. I saw you come home.”
She contemplated ignoring him again, but knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. As she straightened her spine and took a deep breath, her mind worked fast trying to conjure an excuse to help lessen Daniel’s pain. Not able to put it off any longer, she unlocked the bolts and opened the door, taking a step back to allow him entrance.
He frowned heavily at her but stepped inside. “Have you been sick?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Then both her voice and expression became grave. She was not looking forward to the conversation she was about to embark on. “Daniel, we need to talk.”
He froze. “What about?”
“Us,” she said solemnly, not able to meet his eyes. She walked past him and led the way into her sitting room.
“Us?” He watched her with trepidation.
“Yes.” She sat down prim and straight on the sofa and gathered her composure before meeting his gaze once again. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
There was a long silent pause in the room and Sonya feared looking him in the eye. She knew any relationship with him would never last. Perhaps she had foolishly believed otherwise after the weekend they shared. Daniel too, perhaps. They had gotten along so well. But men like Daniel did not end up with women like Sonya.
He gritted his teeth and said, “I didn’t realize we were seeing each other.”
His words smarted more than he could have ever imagined. They reinforced what she already knew. Then trying to appear unhurt, she nonchalantly explained, “I meant see in the actual meaning. I think we should end any relationship we have, even neighborly.”
Daniel still looked angry but she held her ground. “And why do you think that?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and wondered how far she would have to go to hurt Daniel so that he would transfer his hurt to anger and place it squarely on her. “We’re just not good together. We’re too different.” She swallowed a painful lump that suddenly appeared before she continued. “You don’t belong in my world.”
His eyes burned of outrage and Sonya felt a piercing ache in her chest. “We seemed to be getting along fine on the weekend. Or was that all a sham?”
“A sham,” she confirmed. “But you already knew that. That was why I asked you to come.”
“Right.” He clenched his jaw and thrust his hands into his pockets. “Same reason why I asked you to come tomorrow.”
