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“You really don’t know?” I asked, as I put on my left shoe and then picked up my right one from the floor nearby.
“No.”
“Uh! Well here it is, plain and simple. In so many words, you just treated me like a call girl.”
“What?” he leaned away and let out deep laugh. Clapping his hands together, he looked back at me. “You can’t be serious right?”
Chewing my lip, I nodded and stared him the eye. “I am. Quite.”
Grey shook his head. “Maddie, one has nothing to do with the other. I explained that to you. I’m not doing anything to lead you to believe the contrary. You know the terms of my offer.”
“Oh my God!” I yelled as I spun away from him after putting on my right shoe. I stormed away from him. “Would you please, for a second, not talk to me like I’m a real estate agent or something?”
His footsteps closed fast on me again. I stopped and turned around, quick to claim my space before he tried to invade it once more.
“Maddie,” he said after I turned back to face him. “Look, I don’t think of you like that. Okay?”
“Well you may not, but I cannot pretend my feelings don’t exist or aren’t real. I mean, I’m no better than a common whore. I can’t get past that sensation no matter how you attempt to justify it. I don’t expect you to understand.”
“I see. You’re wrong though.”
“I don’t have any hard feelings, all right? I know you are the way you are. I’m not holding it against you.”
“Oh thanks,” he replied. His tone darkened. “Really fucking appreciate you being so tolerant of me.”
“What?” I began as I fought to get myself together at last and get the hell out of there. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I thought that’s what you want. You know, from me… from women.”
Scowling at me, he shook his head. “You are calling my character into question with accusations like that, Maddie.”
“How, Grey?”
“Well if you don’t know then it really is best if you go. And as far as any business deal goes, you can forget about that as well. I have no interest in being partners with someone who doesn’t trust me and it’s clear you don’t.”
“What? When did I say I didn’t trust you, Grey?”
“I’ve misjudged you, Maddie. I apologize for offering to help you. It was a mistake.”
“No, no, no…” I said, as I slammed my clutch down on the table. I tossed my hair aside with a swift motion of my head and glaring at Grey, I said, “I have done nothing to give you the right to back out on the deal. And anyway, why do you care what I think about where you put your cock? I don’t!”
He nodded in disgust and crossed his arms at his chest. When he failed to step in with a response, I continued.
“I’ve got a little advice for you, Grey Sinclair. When you get this upset, maybe you should consider whether or not you’re one hundred percent sure you're happy with the choices you’ve made in life. Seems to me if you were, then what I say one way or another wouldn’t bother you in the least.”
With his arms still tight across his torso, Grey didn’t respond, but instead thinned his lips as he glared in my direction.
“Yeah,” I said as I grabbed my clutch from the table. “That’s what I thought.”
A split second later, I was at the door.
“Maddie,” he began, as I placed my hand on the knob and prepared to open it. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry. That was out of line. And stupid. My offer still stands.”
Doing a half-turn over my shoulder as I pulled the door open, I looked at him.
“I’ll give you my decision tomorrow. That is, unless you’ve changed your mind about that also.”
Shaking his head, he looked at me as I passed through the doorway and into the hall.
“No. That’s fine,” he replied.
Without a word, I slammed the door and began to march down the hallway back towards the bank of elevators. About halfway there though, I started to feel lightheaded and a bit wobbly in the knees. The walls seemed to close in around me as my footing started to fail. I stopped and leaned against the suede wallpaper in an effort to calm myself.
Just breathe, Maddie. Everything is fine.
I reached down in my clutch to see if I had any money for a cab or hell, a bus. I didn’t want to see Armando and put him on the spot, in case Grey decided to ask questions about me. Anyway, I’d see Grey tomorrow on the way to the airport. I was just over all of it for tonight.
As I searched through my bag, I pressed my back to the wall and slid down its entire length until I sat, legs spread, on the hallway floor. Finally I felt something made of paper and pulled it out.
It was Grey’s check. As I looked at it, I realized there was enough here for a hundred microwave ovens. With someone like him on my side, there was no telling how far ahead I’d get. Whatever the case, it would be a helluva lot further along than I was right now which, obviously, was nowhere.
Leaning my head against the wall, I stared up to the ornate crystal light fixture overhead. Long crystals hung down like icicles, casting subtle rainbows across the ceiling as the light reflected off them. For a moment, the subtle beauty of the distraction soothed me.
Tomorrow I’d make the biggest decision of my life.
I turned and looked back down the hall towards Grey’s suite.
Had he already made his?
