I had to try to explain.
I paced from the kitchen to the living room a dozen times at least. I had to do something. He may not be willing to forgive me. He may not even believe the truth when he heard it, but I had to try.
I grabbed my purse and out the door. Just a small walk to the station, and then some waiting. Come on. Come on. I needed to get to him.
Once I climbed onto the train, I couldn’t even sit down, as it glided towards the downtown skyline. Would he believe me? Would he ever look at me the same again? Hopefully he was at home.
As soon as the door slid open, I took off at a run and only stopped when the hitch in my side turned into a full fledge cramp. Just a few more blocks to go. In less than three minutes I found myself riding up that damn elevator again.
He should be home. He didn’t have to work. We’d planned on going hiking!
The doors swung open and I stepped off onto his floor. Roaring filled my ears as I stood before his door, poised to knock.
He must hate me for sure. Even though I’d leaked none of that stuff intentionally, I’d been stupid for allowing it to be vulnerable to somebody like Star. For writing down such personal stuff about him… For not protecting him.
My eyes burned and welled up with tears before I even knocked. When I raised my hand, I realize it was shaking.
Pull off the band aid. I rapped three times on the door.
Silence.
I knocked again, five times this time. “Hunter? It’s me! Hunter? Are you there?”
Nothing.
I closed my eyes and allowed my head to fall against the wood. I could leave and then come back after a while.
Or I could just wait.
He had to come back sometime.
I decided to wait. Even if his neighbors thought I was a stalker. I dropped to the floor and tried to make myself feel comfortable– if that was even possible. I wondered if I’d ever feel comfortable in my own skin again.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Hunter
Mia Trent foundme just a few minutes after that bitches show aired. She took me into her office and then dragged everything out of me. She said she needed to know the truth so we could put this shit to rest as quickly as possible.
Firstly, she wanted to know who Holly Mercer was?
It took me a full minute to get myself under control enough to answer.
“A girl,” I told her.
“I get that much. How did you meet her? Who is she?” She pushed sarcastically.
This part bothered me. “She ran into me in my apartment building.” Mia just stared at me. “Friday afternoon.” Three days ago. Had it only been three days? If felt more like a lifetime.
“Do you think it was a setup?”
I shook my head. It couldn’t have been. She’d run into me first… and then looked up at me with those bottomless brown eyes. And blushed. I’d asked her out. And she’d told me no. “Next time I saw her was at the auction. Star Martin sent her to bid on Senator Flint.” I took a deep breath as I remembered how flustered she’d been after realizing I wasn’t him.
“Why’d she bid on you?” Mia made me feel like a witness on the stand.
Why had she bid on me? I’d thought at the time she just got flustered. The attraction between the two of us had felt like something tangible. Something you could taste, touch… “I don’t know.”
Mia and I went back and forth like this for a while. The pieces didn’t match up though. Holly told me she hated her job. And the stuff about her roommate. Why would she tell me that story? In the end Mia shrugged. She surmised Holly used the info on me to keep her job. To try and get ahead in broadcasting.
