“Yes. Yes. Okay. I’m packed. Call Bob and tell him to get over there. I’ll be there in three quarters of an hour… Okay. Thanks… Yes, give them the bonus… See you there.”
“Charles?”
“That was Nicholas Jorgenson. The jet is ready to go. I’ve got to leave now. We want to be in Singapore for a morning meeting. Got to strike while the iron is hot.” He was climbing out of bed, shedding his white linen pajamas.
Lauren struggled to sit up. “Charles! You’re leaving now? In the middle of the night? It’s two a.m.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Yes. That’s what we wanted. This way we’ll get there before this rival conglomerate can get organized against us.” He smiled at her. “See why I like to keep business out of the bedroom?”
“Oh. Well. You could have told me before we went to bed,” Lauren replied, still fighting the terror of her nightmare.
“Now, now,” he chided, smiling at her fondly. “No sulking. Remember what we talked about. Remember what we agreed upon.”
Lauren said nothing. She couldn’t remember agreeing to anything, she thought a little bitterly.
“Are you all right, darling?” Charles asked as he dressed. “You cried out. Just before my phone rang.”
“Oh, I — I had a nightmare.” She could still see Caleb’s face in her mind’s eye.
“Well, it was just a dream.” Charles was now dressed immaculately in a crisp white shirt, blue silk tie, and gray suit. He sat on the bed and pulled on his shoes. “You just lie back down and get some sleep. Are you working tomorrow?”
“Yes. I have to go in,” she said. “Charles, when will you be back?”
“I’m not sure, darling. We’ll be stopping to refuel in London. I’ll call you from there.”
“Okay,” she murmured.
“Goodbye, darling,” he said, picking up his bag. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Charles.”
Then he turned, a grin on his face. “Sorry to disappoint last night. I was just exhausted. I’ll make it up to you when I get back. We’ll have some time to ourselves then.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she said softly. He had fallen asleep before she’d even crawled into bed beside him.
“Goodbye, then,” he said, and he walked out the door. She could hear him saying something to Dennis, who had obviously heard, or been prepared for, this eventuality. There was a familiarity, a communication, between Charles and Dennis that she was not a part of. She had the feeling Dennis knew everything. She had the feeling he knew more than she did about Charles’s life. It made her feel like an outsider sometimes, despite Dennis’s unfailing solicitation of her slightest whim. She heard the big door shut and the snaps and cranks as Dennis locked and bolted it back up.
Lauren rolled over in the bed and buried her face in the pillow, but sleep did not come. The nightmare had upset her. It meant that she had in no way resolved her issues involving her tryst with Caleb Cochran. There, in the dark, Lauren knew she would have to find some way to exorcise the encounter, but it would be difficult. She was glad she and Charles had not made love. She didn’t feel she could carry the faking quite that far yet. The episode with Caleb would need to be buried deeper in the past. Instead, it was fresh in her mind, fresh in her body. She laid still, her eyes closed. Her body ached for him, even if her mind could not comprehend the attraction. Finally, moist with perspiration, Lauren got up and got ready for work.
O
NE
, T
WO
, T
HREE
D
AYS
passed, and Lauren was beginning to feel better. Charles called her every morning and again every evening before she went to sleep. He insisted that she stay at the penthouse and break the lease on her Murray Hill apartment.
“You’re never there, darling,” he said. “And I feel much better about your safety when I know that you’re in my home with Dennis and Tina. I don’t know why you’ve kept it this long.”
“I guess I just wanted a place that I knew was my own,” she said.
“Well, my home is your home. Do you realize we’ll be married in October?”
“I know, Charles. I know. Don’t remind me. Please try not to schedule any more business trips between now and then, okay? I know you told me to tend to everything, but there are a few things I need to talk to you about. Or, at least it will make me feel better to talk to you about them.”
“Don’t worry, darling, I won’t schedule anything more.”
So, Lauren went about her days finalizing wedding plans, closing out the Murray Hill apartment, and most importantly, putting the finishing touches on several in-progress projects at the museum. It was important that they be completed by the time she stopped working, and her last work day was coming up fast. As the days went by, she found herself only thinking about Caleb on random occasions. When she was alone at night, for instance, or when a handsome young man passed her on the street. Or when she saw a couple embracing or kissing in the park.
That was why, on Friday evening, as she was sitting in the study sipping her gin and tonic and going over the flower arrangements to approve all the changes, Lauren was completely taken by surprise when her iPhone rang. Engrossed as she was with the florist’s album, she didn’t look at the number that popped up on the screen.
“Hello?” she said flatly, taking a sip of her drink.
“Hi.”
Despite the fact that it was full of gin, Lauren’s mouth went instantly dry. She knew his voice at once. Her eyes refused to focus on the page. She swallowed hard and set her drink down on the butler’s table with a shaking hand. She stood up, but then felt weak and sat back down.
“Hi,” said the voice again. “It’s Caleb.”
“Caleb,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. “This is a surprise.”
“Well, I didn’t want to give you too much warning. I was afraid maybe you wouldn’t see me.”
“See you? I’m not there. I went back. I’m in New York right now.” Suddenly an unbelievable thought occurred to her. He
couldn’t
be!
“So am I.”
He
was
. Caleb Cochran was in New York.
Lauren made an effort to steady her voice. “You’re in New York City? In Manhattan?”
“Yes. Is that so odd?”
“Frankly, yes. Yes, it is odd. What brings you to New York?”
“I had to see you.” He was nothing if not direct.
Lauren was silent. She could think of nothing to say. Her mind was spinning like dry leaves caught in one of those little whirlwinds. Finally she said, “How did you get my number?” She tried to sound angry.
Caleb gave a little laugh. “That was easy. I went to Rick’s Garage and asked them for it. Of course, they had it written down.”
Hmm
, thought Lauren,
that’s a small town for you
. “What do you want?”
“I came to talk with you. I have to resolve some things for myself. I’m sorry to bother you, but this is important to me.”
“It’s — it’s not really a good time, Caleb,” she said.
“I’m not leaving the city until I see you and talk this through.”
“Well, maybe tomorrow sometime, then.”
“Your boyfriend there?”
“No, no. He’s in Singapore.” Damn! Why had she said that! She could have just said she and Charles were going out for the evening.
“Then meet me for a drink.”
She felt like she was being sucked into a whirlpool, pulled by a magnet against her will, against which there was no defense.
“Oh, I don’t know. I — ”
“Look, I’m sorry I took you by surprise. I don’t mean to upset your applecart, but I need to talk to you. I need to see you. Just for a little while. Just for a drink. It won’t take long. One drink. I’ve been thinking about you. It’s been bothering me, and I don’t like to be bothered. I thought if I saw you, I could make sense of it and put it to rest. Please meet me so we can talk.”
He felt the same way, she mused. His words were a mirror of her own thoughts. “Well, I guess just for one drink,” she said deliberately. “Where are you?”
“I booked a room at the Gramercy Park Hotel.”
“The Gramercy Park Hotel? Really?” Lauren was shocked. It was one of the toniest hotels with the hippest bars in the city. Ian Schrager, the famous hotelier, had refurbished the whole thing. Lauren knew him personally and had invited him to the wedding. She’d actually booked functions there for the museum. How would a guy like Caleb know about the Gramercy?
“Yes, is there something wrong with that? They have a bar here. I think a couple.”
“Yes, they do. Well, then, let’s meet there. Which bar? Rose or Jade?”
“Since I don’t know any better, how about Rose?”
“I’ll be there in an hour. I have to change, and getting down there from here might take a bit on a Friday night.”
“I’ll see you in an hour. Bye.”
“Bye,” she said.
Her heart would not stop pounding. Lauren hurried to the bedroom and stripped off her clothes. She quickly showered, then sat at the vanity wrapped in a towel and carefully studied her face. She applied smoky charcoal shadow with slightly iridescent moon-colored accents. Her mind raced as she brushed blush high on her cheekbones. The thought of seeing him again filled her with excitement and trepidation at the same time.
Calm down
, she told herself,
this is good. We can talk this thing through. What’s happened has happened. We slept together. We had sex. Now it’s behind us and can’t hang over our heads like something waiting to happen. We can talk it through like two rational people. It’s not a hope or a fear. It’s already done with. Finished.
“Finished.” She said the word aloud and applied a slightly deeper, sexier shade of lipstick than she ordinarily wore.
Lastly, she pulled her hair up in the same sexily messy twist, the same way she had worn it on that night of passion. Finally, she was ready to dress. She flipped neurotically through all her clothes, again and again, trying to decide just what to wear. She wanted to be the most beautiful girl in the room. She wanted to be so sexy he would not be able to keep his hands off her, and yet, she knew she shouldn’t lead him on.
I shouldn’t be doing this
, Lauren thought to herself as she finally picked just the right dress. It was Armani, black jersey with a plunging front, short skirt, and cap sleeves. The waist was gathered with a darkly jeweled belt. Very delicate, very feminine, mysterious. She had just purchased it on her last trip to Bergdorf’s, and she hadn’t worn it yet. Somehow, that fact made her feel better. She slipped it over her head as she quickly scanned the shoe closet and reached for the Christian Louboutin metallic purple pumps with the five-inch heels. There was nothing like a five-inch heel to give a girl confidence.
Lauren reached up to the shelves over the shoes and brought down a deep purple beaded clutch. She surveyed herself critically in the mirror. Yes, she would make him squirm. Confidently, she hurried from the room, almost crashing into Dennis, who was bringing the tray of hors d’oeuvres into the study.
“Oh, excuse me, miss,” he said. Then, seeing her, he said in a surprised voice, “Are you going out?”
“Yes, Dennis,” she said nervously. “I just got a call from some old friends who happened to be in the city. They want to meet for a drink. I’m sorry. I meant to tell you before Tina got the dinner going. I guess I was just so excited, I didn’t think of it.” She rummaged through the foyer closet for her silk wrap, although the night was so warm she doubted she would need it.
“That’s fine, Lauren,” said Dennis. “You go and have a good time. I’ll tell Tina.” He started off toward the kitchen, then turned back and said seriously, “Will I see you back here tonight?”
His question totally flustered her. Could he sense something? It was hard to tell about Dennis sometimes. Lauren spoke up, too quickly perhaps. “Oh, of course, Dennis. I won’t be late.”
“Very good. Have a nice time. I’ll call down and have Albert call the car for you.”
“Thanks.” Lauren smiled stiffly and left the apartment.
It took roughly twenty-five minutes to get down to the Gramercy Park Hotel. The driver pulled up to the portico, and the doorman opened the door for her. She swung her long, smooth legs out onto the sidewalk and stood up, focusing on the door. From behind her, she heard his voice.
“Lauren.”
She turned gracefully, calmly, but her heart was hammering in her chest. Caleb stood just to the side of the front entry to the hotel. He smiled as he approached her. “You look beautiful,” he said. They faced each other. Lauren was unaware that they were right in the line of foot traffic coming in and going out of the building, unaware of the people around her. The city noises had even receded from her consciousness. All she heard was the sound of his voice. She stared at him.
Somehow, she had expected to see him in his customary T-shirt, jeans, and scuffed work boots. Yet, here he was, urbanely dressed in flat front charcoal pants that fit him oh-so-correctly, hugging his thighs and down his calves to brush against his loafers. A white shirt, open at the collar just seemed to accentuate his muscular build and the healthy, ruddy glow to his skin. He carried a black sport coat over his arm.