Liar, Liar (12 page)

Each time my fists connect with the padded bag, a slap resonates around the room.

Smack… smack.  Smack, smack, smack.

My hands are aching, my chest is heaving, and sweat is pouring down my face and into my eyes.  But I don’t stop.  I bounce around the mat, hitting the bag precisely each time. 

My biceps are screaming, begging for me to stop, my calves are cramping, but I don’t give up.  I keep punching, bouncing, moving.  The more I hit this bag, the further away my thoughts of Makenna will become.  That’s the plan, anyhow, but it isn’t working.  She is still consuming every part of my mind.  Her fresh, clean smell still lingers on the edge of my senses, her sweet taste still tickles my taste buds, and her soft voice still filters through my ears.  Every minute of every day.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think she was working for Regina.  Never would I have imagined that sweet, beautiful, kind, funny Makenna Banks was actually a bigger bitch than Regina.

I slam my fist into the bag.  Beads of moisture fly through the air and land on the mats below. 

The truth is, I know Makenna isn’t a bitch.  I know it.  That makes her betrayal even harder to accept.

Exhausted, I collapse onto the mats, throwing my hands over my head and panting heavily.

“That was quite the show, Benny,” Monique purrs as she crouches down beside me.

I grunt a reply.

“Looks like it would have made you thirsty,” she throws out.

She’s right. My throat is dry.

Standing, I walk with her over to the juice bar.  She’s dressed in workout gear that hugs her every curve, and her long hair is pulled back from her face, accentuating her high cheekbones.  Monique is a beautiful woman, no doubt about it, but she’s not Makenna.  She doesn’t have the round ass that haunts my dreams, or the perfect handful of tits my fingers itch to touch again.  Her hair might be the right length, but it’s the wrong color, and I bet it doesn’t smell as good.  Her lips aren’t as kissable and her eyes aren’t as expressive.

“Did you hear a word I said?” Monique snaps.

“Sorry.  What did you say?”  I try to concentrate on her. I don’t want to be rude.

“I said we should get dinner sometime.  Just as friends, of course.  I know you’re going through a difficult time at the moment, and I’ve been there too.  We could be a support system for each other.”

How does she know about Makenna?  Was it that obvious to everyone else that I was getting played the entire time?

“My situation?” I ask confused.

“Your divorce,” she says slowly, like
I’m
the idiot.  I suppose I am.  With Makenna on my mind, I’d forgotten all about the divorce and Regina.

“Oh, yeah.  I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“It’s always hard when a union as sacred as a marriage ends.  When we say our vows, we believe we’ll spend the rest of our lives with that one person.  But sometimes it isn’t meant to be and we find ourselves alone.  It’s at those times where we need to lean on the people closest to us.  I’d like to be that person for you, Benny,” she says gently.

It’s a nice offer, likely genuine, but I bet she’s hoping to get closer to me so she can get in my pants.

I pull out my wallet and drop some bills on the table.  “Thanks for the chat, Monique, but I’ve got to go.”

“But I thought –,” her words are cut off as the gym door closes behind me and I climb into the backseat of my waiting car.

“Back to the hotel, sir?” Frederick asks.

“Yes, thanks.” I give him a sharp nod.  I decided to move out of the house so Regina would have one less thing to complain about.  After all, the house was all hers and it isn’t something I want anyway.  I’ll give it to her in the settlement, and if she doesn’t want it, we’ll sell it and divide the profits.  For now, I’m staying at the Hilton until I can find a place I’m happy with.

Frederick pulls the car to a halt under the large covered area directly in front of the hotel.

“Have a good evening, Frederick.”

“You as well, sir.  Will you be needing me later?”

“No, go on home.”

I stride in through the spacious foyer area and walk into the elevator.  I key in my floor and ride to the penthouse suite.  The room is expansive and the bed is comfortable, so it suits me well enough.  With two bedrooms, it’s large enough for me to work from here in comfort when I need to.  The bathroom is also large, with a full bath I haven’t used.  Two sliding doors left of the television lead out onto a decent sized balcony overlooking the city and the streets below.

I pour myself a glass of liquor from the mini bar and then make my way out onto the balcony with my laptop in tow.  My fingers itch to call Makenna, but I refuse to give in to them.  Work consumes my mind, which leaves no room for thoughts of her, so I fire up my laptop and begin working on an idea to boost the business of our commercial leases holdings.

It isn’t something that needs my imminent attention, but I figure while I need something to consume my thoughts, this task is as good as any. 

Currently our commercial properties have an eighty-five percent lease rate, which is boosted into the nineties during holiday seasons.  It’s a tough market, but I want our baseline in the nineties, and I want our peak season in the high nineties or full capacity.  We need to persuade businesses to lease our buildings, and to do that, we need a plan of action.

Lifting my phone to my ear, I scroll through, find Estelle’s number, and hit call.

“Estelle speaking.”  The woman answers efficiently and professionally even though she is technically off the clock.

“Estelle, sorry to interrupt your evening.”

“No problem,” she cuts in.

“I’m working on a new development and I need some information.”

“Okay, what do you need me to do?”

That’s Estelle.  It’s why I hired her, and why I’ve kept her as my personal assistant and secretary for the past eleven years.  When I worked under my father, if I got a promotion, so did Estelle.  Now I’m on top of the food chain, so is Estelle. She’s earned her keep and she continues to earn it every day.

“I need you to find out the percentage rate of the commercial leases from the other four real estates in the top five.”

“Okay…” She sounds confused.

“Right now, we’re sitting at number one overall.  But our commercial leases are at eighty-five percent.  Number two could be half a percent behind, and may take that spot from us without a moments notice.  I need those numbers so I know where we stand, and so it can help me further my plan for increasing our percentages up into the nineties.”

“I understand what you’re trying to do, Mr. Duncan, but may I ask
why
you’ve decided to do this now?  Not only is it after nine p.m., indicating you’ve just got a wild hair and you’re going with it, but it’s also not something you have mentioned previously.”

She would be right.

“It appears as well as being an amazing employee, you’re also very perceptive,” I admit.

“Thank you for the compliments.  I’d also like to point out I’m a very good listener,” she says wryly.

“That a fact?” I ask, a grin on my face.

“I’ll get your numbers for you, Mr. Duncan.  But I’ll also let you know it hasn’t escaped my notice that something has been affecting you recently.  If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m happy to listen,” she says gently. 

Another reason why Estelle was an outstanding hire.  She’s perceptive and gently outspoken.  We’ve developed a close relationship working together all these years, and while it’s not a friendship per se, it definitely runs deeper than a standard employee/employer relationship.  She’s not afraid to speak up, but she does it in a way that has me wanting to accept her offer, not run from it.

“Thanks for the offer,” I say quietly.

I hang up the phone and my thoughts immediately go to Makenna.  For the eight-minute phone call with Estelle, thoughts of her were creeping in, but I pushed them away.  For the two hours before that when I had been working, I had managed to keep her image from my mind.  But now, she’s invading me with full force, almost like she’s here in the room with me.

Her face, broken, begging me to understand, replays in my mind over and over and over.  The tears rolling down her plump cheeks, the haunted look in her eyes.  The pleading sound in her voice that had me wanting to cave on the spot, despite her betrayal. 

I throw back the remaining liquor in my glass and set it down on the table a little more forcefully than necessary.  Then I shove thoughts of Makenna out of my mind and get back to work.

***

“You didn’t have to personally deliver the numbers, Estelle.”

“Seeing as our percentage rate is
sixteen
percent in front of Brownings Real Estate, the number two realtors in the state, I’d say it’s cause for a visit and a celebratory glass of wine.”

I know she isn’t only there to celebrate our success.  She’s there to encourage me talk, she’s there to listen.

“Not sure about the quality of the wine in the mini bar, but given I’m at the Hilton, I’d say it’s not going to taste like dog’s water,” I say with a grin.

I bend down and open the small fridge, pulling out a single serve bottle of white wine.  I hand it to her and ask if she wants a glass.  She shakes her head and examines the bottle while I toss a few cubes of ice in my glass and top it up with whiskey.

“Balcony?” I suggest.

“Sure.”

We head outside and sit down.

“Cheers to your success, boss,” she says, clinking her bottle with my glass.

“It’s good news, being that far in front.  Relief.”

“It is.  However, given I know you know we dominate the industry in residential and commercial, I’m confused as to why you would suddenly get the impression we need to step things up,” she says, sipping her wine.

“Distraction,” I admit on a shrug.

“Distraction?” she queries.

“I’m not sure of how much you are aware of, but Regina and I are getting a divorce,” I tell her.

She doesn’t look shocked.  Not one bit. This surprises me, but then again it doesn’t.

“Good,” she finally mutters.

That
surprises me.

“Good?”

“Yes, good,” she confirms.

I cock an eyebrow at her, a silent request for her to expound on her statement.

She sighs, takes a sip of her wine, and swallows before speaking.  “If a man is happy within his marriage, no matter what he is trying to achieve in his career, he spends time at home, with his wife.  I’ve watched you, Benny, for a long time, and you haven’t been happy.  You became a shell of a man, slowly withdrawing.  No matter how early I arrived to work in the morning, you were there.  No matter how late I left my desk, you were still at yours.  Not an issue for a single man, but it is an issue for a married man.  Especially when that man is a newlywed.”

“I see nothing escapes your sight,” I mutter dryly.

“You weren’t happy.  It wasn’t my place to say anything, so I didn’t.  But the past few months, I’ve noticed a change in you.  You’re leaving the office earlier, coming in later.  Your eyes look less heavy and your face appears clearer.  Lighter.  You’ve smiled and I’ve heard you laugh – both of those things I’d forgotten what they looked and sounded like, because it’s been so long since you displayed any other emotion than vacant determination.”

She pauses to sip her drink.  I take the opportunity to throw back a gulp of my own.  The whiskey burns a trail as it slides down my throat, creating a pool of warmth in my stomach.

I have no idea how to respond to her observations, purely because she is completely correct.  I was that man.  That man who stayed at work for as long as he could because he wanted to avoid going home.  Then Makenna came along and changed me, unearthing the man I had buried deep, the man I actually
liked
being before I was manipulated into being a docile, compliant version of myself.

“With all this talk of numbers and percentages and commercial lease improvements tonight, I’m worried you’re going to go back to being that emotionless, workaholic man.  Though, your revelation about your impending divorce gives me hope.”  She grins apologetically.

“I guess it’s not a surprise that my marriage to Regina wasn’t one borne of love, but more of social stature,” I murmur, shocking myself as I freely open up.  “It wasn’t something I wanted to be involved in, but shit happened and I was left with little to no other options.  I guess I just settled for my lot in life, you know?” I drain my glass.  The cubes of ice rattle in the bottom of the glass as I set it down on the table.

“The man I was before Regina, the man I was developing in to, I had to bury him deep because he wasn’t the man Regina wanted to marry.  He wasn’t
refined
enough for her.  So I did it.  I did what she asked to escape the whining and the wrath of her, my parents, her parents, and whoever the fuck she lured in to boss me around.”

I look to my glass, wishing I had one more mouthful in it.