“Haha, very funny. I do wish you’d told me though.”
“Dani, I tried. You refused to take my calls and you thwarted my other attempts at contact. How else was I supposed to tell you, smoke signals?”
“Okay, I get it.”
We arrive at his loft and I plop onto his sofa. He offers me a glass of wine that I gratefully accept. He pulls out some leftover pizza that we both greedily devour.
“Dani, I think it’s time to hit the sack. Did you see that it’s almost midnight? I have to hit the road to Spokane around 8:00 so I’ll need to get up and running around 7:00, can you handle that?”
“Oh totally, I have a 9:00 in Lake Oswego, so I’ll need to get rolling as well. I’m not as prepared as I’d wanted to be since I didn’t get to do any work, so maybe if I get up when you do I can do a little prepping.”
“Okay then. I’ll set my phone alarm and get us both up. You can take my bed, I’ll take the sofa.”
“You don’t have to do that. You’ve done more than enough, I’m happy to take the sofa.”
“I won’t hear it, Dani. Now go, get to bed and try to turn that pretty little head of yours off and get some sleep.”
“Thanks, Brad. You’ve really come to my aid.” I give him a kiss on his cheek, grab my bag and head into the bedroom.
Once in bed, I plug in my phone charger. It’s 11:48 PM. I reach up and turn the light off.
I’m just about asleep when I hear
buzz buzz buzz
. I sleepily reach over, pick up the phone, and see that it’s Harrison. Finally!
“Hello?”
“Danielle, are you okay? I got your message, what is going on?”
“Oh Harrison, it’s horrible, just horrible!” I start to cry and mortified, I choke back the sobs and keep it to a light trickle of tears.
“What, what is horrible, Danielle?”
I begin to relay the whole story, starting from when he dropped me off, to discovering the open balcony door, to calling Bradley. Then he interrupts me. “You called your ex- Bradley?” Uh oh, I can hear a tone in his voice that doesn’t sound happy.
“Yes, I called Bradley, I had no one else.”
In a stiff voice, “You have me.”
“Harrison, you were en-route to another country. How could you have helped me? It’s midnight here and I’m just now hearing back from you. Was I supposed to sit outside of my condo for seven hours until I got your two cents? I would think you would be more interested in the rest of what I have to tell you. The door is only the tip of the iceberg.”
“Okay. Sorry, continue.”
I proceed to describe the scene in my bedroom and bathroom. I give him great detail about the various pictures and what we were doing in them and where the pictures had obviously been taken. He is stone cold silent. I have to ask if he is still there twice.
Once I’ve relayed the most important points, I can hear him take a deep breath.
“So, you are unharmed. That is the most important thing. I am glad you spoke to the detective about being discreet. I will give his Captain a call personally tomorrow to make sure the message is received loud and clear that those pictures must remain under lock and key and that none of this can be leaked to the press.”
“Oh, Harrison, this whole thing is so humiliating and I still can’t get over the fact that someone stood over us sleeping and took our pictures. The Detective said we were lucky something worse didn’t occur. I about came unglued when he said that to me. His bedside manner is that of a rhino.”
“I am going to make arrangements for one of Towers Holdings’ town cars to pick you up in about twenty minutes. Can you be ready by then?”
“For what, Harrison?” Now I’m confused.
“Well, you can’t stay in that condo by yourself. I will have the driver take you to one of my properties. Do you prefer a boutique hotel or old world charm?”
“No need Harrison, I’m staying at Bradley’s.” Oh shit, as soon as I say it I know I’ve screwed up. “What the hell, Danielle? Why would you be sleeping at your ex-husband’s? Do you have no common sense?”
Whoa, no reason to be rude. “Why does it matter, Harrison? I have his bed and he’s on the sofa. We both have to get up and out of here early in the morning. Besides, he lives around the corner from me, so it was convenient.”
“Convenient? More like pretty cozy, Danielle. It sounds like you are getting more comfortable with your ex than I care to hear.”
What the fuck? I muster up as much patience as I can find at this late hour, then take a deep breath.
“Harrison, it occurs to me that you and I are both tired. This conversation is only going to get worse. I’m staying here with Bradley and that’s that. He’s been very helpful and supportive. I couldn’t have gotten through tonight without him. Instead of being angry, why not be glad I didn’t have to go through this all alone.”
“I will admit that you have a point. Will you at least agree to check into a hotel tomorrow?”
“Fine, Harrison, if that helps you sleep tonight then yes, I will check into a hotel tomorrow. After my meeting in Lake Oswego with those new clients.”
“Fair enough. Now, I have to get going. I still have another 45-minute flight ahead of me to Montreal. I will contact you around noon your time tomorrow. Don’t bother driving to your meeting, I will have one of my company drivers take you to your meeting and then to the hotel.”
“Fine.” I’m not even going to argue. I’m too tired and I know he is too.
I roll on my side toward the door that is ajar. I’m about ready to hang up with Harrison when I see a shadow on the wall outside my door. Is Bradley eavesdropping on my call?
“One more thing, Danielle, I don’t want you around your ex anymore.”
Despite the fact that I think it’s super creepy that Bradley is outside of the room listening to my conversation, Harrison’s words make me mad. Not so much that I want to be around Brad, it’s just that Harrison thinks he can tell me what to do. I decide to tell him so, in almost a whisper though, I wouldn’t want Brad to actually hear the words I’m saying.
“Harrison, this is hardly the time or the places to get into this, but why do you feel entitled to tell me whom I can and can’t communicate with or see? I mean, you’re traveling with Miss sexy wine lady.”
He lets out a soft laugh.
“Danielle, I told you, there is nothing between us but strictly professional interactions. Besides, what gives me the entitlement,” he says in a low authoritative voice,” is when you said yes to going to New York with me, you, in effect said yes to me. I am a part of you now. As such, I am entitled to you.”
Holy shit. I have nothing to say to that. I think I’ve been rendered speechless. I can feel that warm feeling in my crotch building, not now! I had better hang up.
“Now, I have to catch my next flight. I will talk to you tomorrow. In the meantime, please try to get some sleep. And Danielle, don’t worry, we will get to the bottom of this. I promise. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Harrison, have a safe flight and just so you know, this conversation is far from over.”
Then he’s gone. I look up to see the shadow move. What a total jerk to be listening to my conversation. I yell, ”Hey Brad, did you get a good earful?” He says nothing back. I’m too tired to pursue it so I plug my phone charger back in and drift off to sleep.
It’s a fitful sleep full of disturbing dreams. I wake up a few times certain that somebody is in the room watching me. Too scared and tired to move or call for Brad, I finally fall into a deep sleep. When Bradley comes in to wake me up at 7:00 AM, I feel like I’ve been hit by a ton of bricks. I sit up and my poor head is throbbing. Bradley heads into his closet and then comes out with an outfit before he disappears into his bathroom without a word. I hear the shower come on followed by his incessant whistling. One of my pet peeves is happy morning people. When we were married, he would always either sing or whistle in the shower just to irritate me. I’m guessing he’s trying to annoy me this morning too. I can’t understand why he would be pissy about my phone call. I didn’t say anything disparaging about him. Well no matter. We both have to be out of here soon and then he can whistle all the way up to Spokane.
While I wait for the bathroom to free up, I work on preparing for my clients. Apparently, they are professors at a private college in West Linn. They’ve had the same house for over 20 years and want to bring their furnishings into the twenty-first century. The catch is that they want to utilize objects and art from their extensive world travels. Very typical and cliché, I suppose, but I’m excited to evaluate what I have to work with.
I hear the whistling stop, finally, and then the water turns off. I’m seriously hoping that there’s some hot water left. This loft living doesn’t allow for a large water heater. The downside to urban living.
After another ten minutes, he emerges looking incredibly hot. If I didn’t have in depth personal knowledge of him and I just saw him on the street, I would stop and stare. He’s still one fine looking male specimen. It’s really too bad that his character is so damned flawed. He flashes me a smile and then says, “Your turn, grumpy.” Oh grrr.
After a cleansing shower, I start to feel human again. The persistent headache maybe will be managed with some coffee, although the bump on my head is something else entirely.
I emerge from the shower with a towel wrapped around me and head for the bedroom door. I’m hoping to talk Brad into either making me some coffee or to get some at the coffee shop just around the corner. I round the foot of the bed when I can faintly hear Brad talking in angry hushed tones. It reminds me of the phone call he’d had last night.
I think better of going out there, so I move quickly back into the bathroom. I throw myself together as best I can. I’m just not into the hair and makeup thing today. With all of the recent events and the overall vibe with Brad here this morning, I just want to get out of here and get on with my day. I think about the email that I still have to send to the detective. I also think about the phone call with Harrison at noon and I feel butterflies flittering in my stomach. I would normally attribute that to hunger, but I’m not a person who’s hungry in the morning. Usually a coffee and banana take care of me until lunchtime. I wonder idly who Bradley could have been having such a heated argument with again. Oh yes, probably one of his hooches.
I put on a simple cream pencil skirt with a black and cream pinstripe long sleeved v-neck silk blouse that I tuck in. I wear my usual pumps and chain belt, which makes me blush thinking of how I wore just that while having sex on the white leather sofa with Harrison last week. I lick my lips at the thought.
I grab the rest of my things and shove them in my bag. I realize at some point that I will have to return to my condo to get more clothes, and hopefully get someone to come and change my locks as well.
Quickly, I make Brad’s bed and I step out into the great room of his loft. I was so tired last night that I hadn’t really noticed my surroundings. Considering he isn’t a decorator, he did a great job pulling this place together. I find that I like it. It’s really his style with a chocolate brown micro suede sofa, a matching oversized chair and a leopard print ottoman. He has a few nice knick-knacks and prints on the wall. It isn’t overly exciting, but it’s nice. “You have done well here, Brad, I like what you’ve done with the place.”
“Thanks, Dani. I like your place too, if I haven’t already told you.”
I smile in response.
“Well, Harrison is sending a company car to drive me to my appointment, I should get downstairs.” He raises his eyebrows. “I know, it seems excessive, but he was insistent and I should probably just be appreciative. Anyway, thank you so much for everything, Brad. I do appreciate you coming to my aide. I’m sure lucky you were in town!”
He has the strangest shadow come over his face, but he recovers quickly and gives me a quick peck on my forehead. I pull away, feeling awkward. “I’m glad that I was able to be of help to you, Dani. Good luck with your clients, you’ll do great! Keep me posted on any developments with the case. I’ll be keeping an eye over my shoulder, that’s for sure.”
I grab my things and head down the elevator to the lobby. The doorman helps me out with my heavy books, and as if on cue, here comes a white town car with the lettering ‘Towers Holdings’. The doorman loads my things into the trunk and I give him a couple dollars in tip and settle into my seat.
The driver asks for the address and we are off.
My new clients are fantastic. They’re so full of life and so totally in love with each other. They remind me of my parents, which makes me miss them. Note to self, call parents once settled into the hotel.
The town car remains there during my appointment. Jeff, the driver, sits out there the entire time. It’s odd to be saying goodbye to my newly signed clients at the door with both of their eyes looking over my head to the town car. I bid my goodbyes and make an appointment for the following week to show them my plans. I’m so excited to do this project. Once again, I have taken another step in the right direction for my business. These people are well known in the community and if they’re happy with my work, they will likely recommend me to their friends and colleagues.
Once settled back into the town car, I pull out my notepad to make some more notes about what we just discussed. I’m so engrossed in writing that I don’t notice that the driver is taking a different route on Highway 43 along the river. This is not the best way to the hotel. He should have turned off.