Adathan blinked and looked at him with a smile. “I’m ready to serve you, William!”
William couldn’t do this. He couldn’t. “I have to go downstairs for a bit,” he said as he grabbed his phone. “Just gotta get a few things sorted out before we leave.”
“Okay,” Adathan said, his hand still pressed against his heart.
“You can relax while I’m gone. I won’t be too long.”
Adathan made a brief nod but still didn’t move.
It took William a second to realize his mistake. “Actually, you can relaxnow. You don’t have to wait until I’m gone.”
Adathan loosened up and took a seat at the dining table, giving William a bright smile.
William returned his smile before heading out, burying his discomfort to deal with later.
The lobby was much busier than yesterday. William stepped out of the elevator, uncertain what to do. He would have preferred more privacy. At the same time, it’d be easier to go unnoticed in a noisy crowd.
William walked to a couch and took a seat. No one would give a damn about him; they were all too busy going on with their rich-people mornings.
He took out his phone and typed before he changed his mind.
? William:I need to talk to you
It barely took a minute before Oliver called him. “Are you okay?” he asked as William answered.
William sighed. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
“Did something happen?”
William rested his forehead in his palm. The temptation to make something up was almost impossible to resist, but he had to go through with this. Just thinking of Adathan made him feel such disgust for himself that if he went back to his room now,Adathan would notice and feel responsible. “I did something bad,” he whispered.
“Don’t tell me you accepted their offer.”
“No! No, I didn’t. Of course not. It’s... something else.”
“Did you hurt him?”
“No! Of course not!”
“Then what happened?”
“I . . .”
“It’s okay. I’m sure you’re making it worse than it is.”
“I had sex with him.”
The silence following his confession was worse than a flurry of insults. William would much prefer being called an irredeemable dipshit or kicked in the stomach.
“You hadsexwith him?” Oliver said.
“I didn’t mean to!”
“Then why did you do it?”
“He was all over me, and—”
“That’s what he wastrainedto do.”
