“I will be okay when I get the second payment from Ben, on January first. I’ll be able to truly breathe again after that. I’m doing okay now because I know it’s coming.”
“Tell him you need it freaking yesterday!”
“Absolutely not. I know he’s a billionaire. I’m getting used to so much everything all the time. But he will go overboard. He has already bought me so much and taken care of all of my living expenses, all new meals, a whole freaking dream house in Juniper Falls, and none of that was in the contract. It makes me uncomfortable.”
“Well, right now we need to talk about you and me…”
Maybe I should have stayed in the hallway, listening.
But to hear Janie admit she’s still uptight about the money, the strain in her voice, the sniffing from crying, I had to act. I thought stepping away to call and transfer the money right then was the right move.
It was.
So it releases her from her need for me. Isn’t that what I want now? Why would I want to stay with someone who is in love with someone else? Worse, what’s it say about me that I want to stay, even knowing the truth?
“Even still…”
“Fine! Fine, even with all that I…I still love him…You didn’t expect me to admit that?”
“I really did not.”
Damn it, I wish I hadn’t walked back to tell her I’d heard them and that the money was hers. Hadn’t heard her sultry voice admitting to her best friend that even after everything, shestillloves Theo.
Except that all set me up for the final blow, didn’t it?
The phone.
She gave me the code to unlock it so freely, I doubted for a moment. Maybe I’d misunderstood, misheard. Maybe my mind was playing tricks about what she’d said.
But there it was, her phone’s pop up. My phone expects me to unlock it and open DoorDash. Hers expected her to open The Album which I didn’t click on because I didn’t need to. I could see the first few photo thumbnails. All of Theo. She must stare at photos of him at night in her bed while I lie there wishing I could hold her.
What a fool.
“Ugh,” I groan in the stall, probably drawing concern from the one other bloke in this restroom. He’ll suspect stomach pain and he’s not wrong. I do have stomach pain. Chest pain. Headache.
Kill me now, this hurts.
No more stalling. I’ve got to go out there and end it. She doesn’t want me. She wants Theo. She can have him, go to him, liveher life. She’s got all of the funds now, even the last payment due after the five years. I sent it all. And hell, I’d give her more if I could, just so she’s set for life, but she said it all made her uncomfortable.
I hear the restroom door open and shut and pull myself together. I stand tall, breathe in and out. I force myself out of the stall and wash my hands, even though I didn’t actually use the facilities.
I walk out and bloody hell. She’s waiting for me.
Her smile is huge and wide, her eyes still teary from reconciling with her friend. I’m so damn jealous of Skye. What would it be like to know Janelle fully? No more walls or shields, no more hiding behind that sass.
“Ben? Are you okay?”
“Hm? Yes, yeah, let’s go get the car,” I say. She’s staring, brow scrunched up adorably. We’ve been off all day, ever since she shut me down again last night. What a miserable sod I am. She tried to warn me again and again that she wouldn’t fall. But I just kept coming back for more, desperate for whatever tiny bits she was willing to give.
“Here you are, sir,” the valet says as our hired driver pulls our car up. I nod to Nigel, who’s already come out of nowhere and is climbing in the front passenger seat. Janelle and I tuck into the back seat and she grabs my hand. There’s no partition in this car, so instead of saying anything I just squeeze her fingers.
After a short, silent trip to our hotel, we exit the car and head through the lobby. I haven’t looked down at my wife much, afraid of what I’ll see. I can sense she’s more fidgety than usual. And serious.
Finally, at the door to our suite, I can’t take it anymore.
“Listen, Janelle. Janie,” I say, not walking into the doorway.
“Ben? What’s going on?”
