AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After I located the phone, I turned it over and swiped the screen to unlock it. The first thing I saw was Trevor’s number staring me right in the face. As the aroma of tomato sauce and savory beef began to fill my nostrils, a frustrating idea popped into my head.
No, I am not calling him. No way. I can do this on my own.
The last thing I needed right now was to embarrass myself with a midday drunk dial. Okay maybe I wasn’t drunk but a buzzed dial wouldn’t be much better. However, no sooner had I talked myself out of it, than the universe sensed my decision and immediately flipped it on me. For as I held the phone in my hand, Trevor called and a battle between my better judgment and my liquor-tainted desire to give him a tongue-lashing began.
Ring.
“Shit,” I cursed.
Ring.
“Don’t do it, I said, as I shook my head. “Let it go to voice mail.”
Ring.
My rational mind scolded me. You don’t have any other options, Maddie. Grey will never understand or tolerate you not being able to pay for what he wants. You’ve got to pick up. Talk to Trevor. Ask him. And be polite about it!
Ring.
Now goddamn it! The phone goes to voicemail after the fifth ring!!!
Pressing the talk button as I raised the phone to my ear, I pinched my eyes shut as hard as I could and answered just in time.
“Hello?”
“Hey Madds.”
God, I hated that nickname. I didn’t use to, of course. You know, when I was ‘in love’. But now ugh, it was like he used it like I was his friend.
A buddy!
“Hey,” I deadpanned.
“I saw you called me earlier. What’s up, babe?”
Taking measured steps out of the kitchen towards the living room, I fought the urge to curse him out. I had to, because I didn’t know another person in town who could come up with the money I needed. It was Trevor and his big time studio executive’s salary, or nothing.
“I… I didn’t call you,” I replied.
“Um, yeah, ya did. I’ve got your number in my missed calls.”
“It was an accident. A butt dial.”
“Okay, whatever Madds. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t in any trouble.”
“Bullshit. And, don’t call me that.”
“Hey, what is your problem? I don’t understand why you are acting like this.”
“Uh! I don’t understand why you need me to explain it to you, Trevor. Why do you care so much anyway? You sure didn’t when you dumped me.”
Trevor exhaled into the receiver. “I’ll always care about you, Maddie.”
In the early stages of the battle between my bank account’s need for money and my heart’s need for justice, the latter had the upper hand as I squeezed the phone in my palm.
“Well, you know what irks me the most Trevor? Hmm? It’s that I stood by you while you were making your way out here for five years and as soon as you start doing well, you break it off. Once you knew my acting wasn’t going anywhere, you dropped me for Tammy.”
“Tanya.”
“Whatever!” I yelled. “Not the point, Trevor.”
“What is the point then?”
“You owe me.”
As I finished speaking, Trevor laughed so hard into the phone I pulled it away from my ear.
“I owe you?” he said with incredulity.
By this point, I’d assumed a half-seated position on the arm of the couch.
“Yes,” I replied.
“What do you mean? Like money?”
I’d swerved right into getting out of the situation I was in, but it wouldn’t be a cheap fix. We’re talking a good chunk of cash here and Trevor wasn't the generous type. I started to open my mouth with the hope that whatever came out would be persuasive enough for him to consider doing it. But, before I could utter a single word, he interrupted me.
“I want to know who the guy is.”
“Who? What guy?” I said, dumbfounded.
“The guy you are riding all over town with in the limo. I heard about what happened on line at the club last night. You’re not the only one with connections you know.”
“It’s no one,” I lied. “Anyway, don’t change the subject on me, Trevor.”
“I’m not,” he said. “You want something from me, presumably money, and I want something from you--his name. In a negotiation, which is what we’re doing right now, both parties have to give a little to get what they want. I have something you want and you have something I want, Madds.”
“I told you to quit calling me that damn it!” I exclaimed. “And why would you want information about him? I started a new business and he's my first client. Not that it matters.”
“You started a business?”
“Yes, I had to, after you left me. Don’t sound so surprised. I’m doing well.”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Sure sounds like it.”
I almost, almost, almost lost it when he said that to me. Instead, I managed to hold my tongue long enough for him to get the enjoyment he wanted before he spoke up once more.
“It’s real simple. You tell me who he is or I hang up right now.”
Without any hesitation, I replied, “Fine. Hang up then. The only thing I’ll tell you is he is rich. A million, no a billion, times richer than you could ever hope to be.”
Trevor roared with laughter again and like before, I pulled the phone away from my ear for a second or two. As I returned it to the side of my head, he asked, “Wait, so your client is a millionaire, no wait, a freakin’ billionaire?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so you’re telling me you’re working for a man who has more money than God and you need to borrow some from me because you screwed up? This is rich.”
“It’s not that simple,” I sighed. “You don't understand how my client is. Look, I don’t have time to explain any of this to you right now, Trevor, okay? I’ll get my money from him and pay you back. I don’t understand what the problem is here.”
“The problem is you’re acting like an entitled bitch. That’s the problem.”
“What! Screw you, Trevor!”
“No, screw you,” he threatened. His tone took a firm, chippy twist as he continued. “I’m not giving you any money, Madds. That’s the deal, like it or not.”
“Stop calling me that, you sonofabitch!”
Trevor chuckled. I couldn’t tell if it was at my outburst or at his own sense of self-satisfaction. Either way, I didn’t care for it one bit.
“Look, if you change your mind, you know where to find me and if you can’t remember how, just ask your butt to make the call for you.”
And then, before I uttered another sound, he hung up on me.
“Shit!” I yelled as I slammed my phone down on living room table.
For several seconds I remained motionless while I tried to process the implications of Trevor’s refusal. Just then, a bizarre odor of melting plastic and burnt tomato caught my attention.
Holy crap! The microwave!
Frantic, I ran to the kitchen to see the entire room shrouded in an acrid white cloud. I grabbed a kitchen towel and covered my nose and mouth as I walked to the oven. As I opened the door, a disgusting melted pile of meat sauce, noodles and plastic oozed out.
“Uuunnnhh!!!!” I groaned into the towel, my eyes beginning to water from exposure to the toxic cloud that hung heavy in the kitchen.
Maybe Trevor was right.
What the hell was I thinking?
Nothing about this whole plan had worked out from the beginning. It was just one misstep after another. I shook my head in disgust as I realized the clean-up chore ahead of me in the kitchen and bit my lip in frustration at the idea that the situation with Greyson was probably beyond repair as well.
GREY
As much as I enjoyed doing deals, I think I liked the process of negotiation even more. From an early age I learned that to win in business you had to have an edge. And, most important of all, never allow the person you’re dealing with to discover it. Because if they do, you’ve already lost.
That philosophy hadn’t let me down yet and I had no intention of changing it. Sure, I was aggressive and tough, but I was also fair. It was the same way in romantic matters. ‘Love is a battlefield’ as the saying goes. Above all else, I prided myself on patience and being able to walk away from any deal if the outcome wasn’t what I wanted, romantic or otherwise.
With respect to my meetings that day, everything went as planned, as far as I was concerned. The same, however, could not be said for my dinner with Maddie that evening. In fact, ever since she picked me up in the limo after my meeting, she’d been quiet.
She was keeping something from me. What, I didn’t know and why, I had no clue.
Yet something inside told me I needed to find out what it was, and soon. I had no intention of not closing the deal with her and if she believed the silent treatment gave her an edge over me, she was in for quite the surprise.
