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“This isn’t the time to talk about your plans to—” I began.
“Not you,” said Jared, and nodded past me, at Lena. In many respects, we looked alike, except for Jared’s lean, long face. He curled his lip with disgust as he spoke.
“Her,” he said.
“I can explain,” said Lena, stepping away.
“Oh, why don’t you let me, Lena?” said Jared cruelly. “After all, my version of the story’s so much more exciting. You take off without so much as a so-long, and I spent months trying to find out where you’ve gone to, and what you’re doing. And now I find out you’re here? Engaged to Alex? Anyone would think you’re pulling a scam.”
If I’d been thinking straight, I would have realized what was going on immediately. Only, I wasn’t thinking straight. Not even remotely. The champagne and the wonderful party, and the magical dance I’d shared with Lena had clouded my mind. And I couldn’t imagine what Jared was doing here. Was this some kind of power play?
“Lena?” I said, turning to her, holding her limp wrists as they hung by her side. “Do you … know him?”
Lena said nothing but looked down at the ground. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair hung loose and lovely over her brow. But even I could see she was feeling nothing but the most terrible despair.
She looked up into my eyes, and I watched them, green and shimmering with tears forming at their corners, as she spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Jared and I used to date.”
“Date?” said Jared, and laughed mirthlessly. “Is that how you put it, huh? Date? We were together, Lena.”
“Lena,” I said, feeling a sickening nausea spread through my system as the awfulness of it all, hit me. “Tell me it’s not true.”
“It is,” she said. “I’m sorry, Alex. I wanted to tell you, really, I did, only …”
“What?” I said, and suddenly I felt the old me coming back, furious and with a sharp mind, calculating every angle of a situation. “What stopped you from telling me?”
“I needed a job,” she said. “I was down on my luck … my career wasn’t going well. The temp agency sent me to you, Alex. I didn’t mean for it to go this far …”
“To go this far?” I said. “When were you gonna tell me?”
“When I left,” said Lena hopelessly. “When we said goodbye when I moved on to work for someone else … I don’t know.”
A lot of things about this situation were wrong and were terrible to even think about. Some of the worst things I’d ever imagined. A wave of resentful anger was boiling at the top of my brain. I was thinking of words likebetrayal,cruel, andliar, and considering them about Lena. The one person I’d always felt I could rely on. The one person who’d shown me what life could be like if I stopped thinking about work for just one second, and thought about what made me happy, instead.
But the worst thing was that now I knew, she’d never intended to stay with me. She assumed I’d have gotten rid of her, or she’d have left me before the lie came out.
“Lena,” said Jared, and stepped towards us.
“You stay right where you are,” I growled. And then, before I knew it, I’d come between them.
I was going to protect her. I knew now that I wanted her: not just for a night, not just for a short time. I needed Lena.
“Alex, no,” said Lena. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“I don’t want him in my hotel,” I snarled.
“My, how the tables have turned,” said Jared snarkily. “There was a time when you couldn’t help but invite me out to your flashy hotels.”
“Stop it!” said Lena. “Stop it, both of you. This isn’t anyone’s fault but mine.”
She stumbled away and round the corridor. I stepped after her.
Then I realized that this was it.
It was over. The wonderful lie we’d been living together was gone.
Jared turned to watch her go and then looked back at me.
