Private Show (The Private Series) (20 page)

I didn’t want to leave Tess last night, but she insisted on having a night to absorb the events that unfolded this evening and frankly I don’t blame her. I have a feeling that she is trying to tell me to back off a little. Have I become smothering? I hope that’s not how I am coming off. I just want to protect her and see that she is happy.

I let her call me this morning, like she told me she would.

“Hey.”

“Hey, how’d you sleep?” I ask.

I hear her yawn over the receiver, “It could have been better. I stayed up painting out my worries.”

“Worries?” I have to ask.

“Yeah, for my future now. I suppose it’s back to plan A, now that I definitely have no job at the magazine.” She sounds let down, I did that. I let my girl down. Man, I fucked up.

“I am sorry Tess. I didn’t mean for all of this happen.” I apologize.

“No, no, you initially had my best interest at heart, it just got fucked up on the way.” She lets out a relieving soft laugh.

“Working today?”

She grunts out, “ten to eight.”

“Ooh, sorry babe.”

“At least they have caffeine.”

I decide to work from my other office today. I am sitting at the table when I hear a familiar voice order a clean martini.

Fuck.

Of all the days…

“Didn’t I tell you not to come here?” I tell her.

Nicole looks up at me from her bar stool. She is dressed in an all-white designer pantsuit and her pearls of course.

“What did you expect me to do? You won’t return any of my calls or texts.” She attempts to pout, but I know her spoiled brat ways.

“That’s because you won’t listen. I just want one thing and you know what that is.” I am tired of her games.

She takes a sip from her glass and sets it down. She runs her finger up and down the stem of the crystal martini glass. She thinks she can distract me. “I will leave you alone.”

“Thank you.”

She stands and runs that same finger from the glass down my chest, “If you follow me to my place.”

“Then all of your games will stop?”

“Cross my heart,” and she mimics the gesture over her breast.

I am still a little hesitant, but I need to end this. Just this last visit and we will be done. “I’ll get my coat.”

Sweet freedom.

I managed to get through the day with no talk about Dave, but still got the looks. Those I can ignore, but the talking about him is much more difficult.

I decide to finally get a hold of Erin.

“What the hell Tess? Why have you been blowing me off?” She yells at me.

“Calm down! I am fine, I have been busy and through a shitload of stuff since yesterday. I cut myself off from everyone. Before you ask, no I don’t feel like talking about it and two, I will eventually.”

I hear a relieving sigh, “Okay, I will take that for now. What are you doing?”

“Leaving work, I was told I could go home an hour early.” Slow day, but pretty decent tips at least.

“Do you want to hang out?” She asks.

“Nah, I am going to go over to Ben’s for dinner. We will catch up soon though okay?”

“You got it!”

Once I am in my car my phone rings, man I must be one popular chick today.

“Hello?” I answer the unfamiliar number.

“Hello, is this Tess Martin?” I hear a woman ask professionally.

“It is.”

“Hi Tess, my name is Samantha Fuller and I am taking over Mr. Andrews spot here at
Tones
. I am aware of the situation that took place and I am deeply sorry. I am calling you to offer you the same opportunity to start with
Tones
that is if you are still interested?”

Holy moly. I thought for sure that possibility was out the window at this point. I am speechless.

“Tess?” She prompts me, pulling me out of my shocked mind.

“Yes, yes please!” I eagerly answer, causing her to give off a light laugh. I like her already.

“I am glad to hear that Tess, you have a lot of talent. Now for your assignment, that is coming up right away.”

I am eager to do another show, but what she tells me next blows my bind.

“This I am sending you and our top columnist Ben Mitchell to New York City. Are you able to do so?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Okay then I will have Ben inform you of the details.”

“Sounds great and thank you, thank you.”

I grab my stuff and I head on over to Ben’s early to surprise him with the good news.

I take a different route tonight, because of a detour. Apparently a light post fell down in the road. I take a road that is full of nice homes and wonder what it must be like to live in a house.

Some of the houses I pass must be close to the million dollar mark if not higher. I couldn’t imagine.

I am stopped at a stop sign when I look in the drive way of a nice size house, when I see a familiar car. Ben’s car. I hear a car honking its horn from behind me so I go on my way.

I get to Ben’s building and text him:

Hey I am out early, where are you?

I get a fast reply:

On my way, I am close.

We decided to have a night in with Chinese and wine. We rented a couple of movies and he was shocked that I wanted to watch a new horror flick.

“Hey, it’s a remake of a classic. I need to see how close they came to keeping it in perspective.”

“Is there a lot of gore?” He’s cringing.

“Ben Mitchell, are you afraid to watch the horrifically gory movie with your girlfriend?”

“No…”

“Ha! You totally are! Do you not like blood or something?”

“I hate seeing people in pain.”

Oh.

I lean in and press my forehead to his. “It’s okay, and we can watch something else. Comedy perhaps?”

He rolls his eyes. “Oh, just put in the bloody flick.”

I put the disc in my DVD player and jump in Ben’s lap. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Close to the end of the movie Ben gets up to use the restroom, I think the scene of the girl sawing her own arm off, made him a little queasy. When I looked over at him his face looked a little green.

Poor guy.

While he was in the bathroom his phone goes off… again.

I pick it up and look at the screen:

4 missed calls: Nicole

3 messages: Nicole

Now I am the one who feels sick. But as I am about to open a message, I hear my bathroom door open and I throw it back down in its original spot.

“You really didn’t need to pause it.” Ben tells me as he shakes his head. “Okay, let’s get this over with…”

He grabs my remote and hits play. He puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his chest. I can’t help but stare at his phone, I see it light up with another message.

My chest clenches.

I stand up and walk to my kitchen. “Hey, where are you going?” he asks.

“I need a refill.” As I say this I empty the rest of the wine into my glass, nearly over filling it.

Ben watches me and doesn’t say anything. I walk back over, but sit at the other end of my red sofa.

He turns to face me. “What are you doing over there? Why so much wine?”

I take a large sip and shrug. I figure if I sip long enough then I don’t need to speak.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

Ben shakes his head. “I know well enough that when a woman says she is fine, she really isn’t. So… what’s going on?”

I nod at his phone. “Looks like you have another message.”

He looks over at his phone and sees that the screen is lit up. “God damn it…” He hisses under his breath.

“Gonna answer it?”

“I told you, it’s no one of importance.” His face it stern now.

I chug down the rest of my wine. As I lean forward to set my glass on the coffee table, I fumble it and it breaks.

“Shit! Fucking Christ… I can’t win!” I snap.

Kneeling to clean up the glass I had just shattered, Ben looks up at me. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to start talking now.”

“Right back at you, Ben!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Yeah, like you don’t know that Nicole has been trying to call and text you! Is that who you went and saw today? I saw your car at a different house!”

Setting the glass shards on the coffee table he stands, leans over me and puts both hands on either side of my head, holding himself up on the couch. His face is an inch away from mine.

“Do you trust me, Tess?”

I bite my lower lip and I can now feel the wine rushing through my veins. Damn it! I can’t resist him when he is this close. The next thing I know he has my bottom lip between his teeth.

I let out a soft moan.

That’s the last thing I see and hear. I pass the hell out.

God, I couldn’t have gotten luckier than to have Tess pass out. I don’t know what I would have told her. Yes Nicole has been texting me, but she is the one harassing me and yes, I did go to her place.

She knows what I want and is holding something over my head.

I knew it was a mistake contacting her first.

I can now only hope that Tess will forget about seeing the texts on my phone. Fuck! I can’t believe she saw my car, how am I going to explain that one?