P.S. Never in a Million Years (Cupid in the City Book 1)

by J. S. Cooper

  "No, Mom. Are you absolutely ridiculous?"

  "Eh, I know. I know. You are a very sensitive girl, Marcia, and you are a beautiful girl, so you can be with a man who does not need other women. Maybe not billionaire, because billionaire have choice of all the beautiful women in the world, but-"

  "Thanks, Mom."

  "I just tell you the truth, eh? You want to be with a billionaire, then you understand that perhaps it's not a fairytale romance, like Romeo and a Juliet."

  "Mom, Romeo and Juliet is not the romance that I would personally want. You know that they both die, right?"

  "Well, you know, I don't really know the story. I never read it, but you always see people talk about Romeo and Juliet, very, very happy."

  "Mom, no one talks about Romeo and Juliet being very, very happy." I realized I was starting to get frustrated. "Anyway, Mom, I just called because I wanted to say hello. Thanks very much for your... concern about my broken heart."

  "Oh, Marcia, you know we love you very much, and, if you want to come home, we pay for your tickets. If you want for us to come, we come and we take care of you, eh?"

  "I know, Mom."

  "We love you, Marcia, very, very much. You are a beautiful daughter."

  "I love you too, Mom. Okay? I'll speak to you later."

  "Bye, Marcia. You want to say goodbye to your father?"

  "Not now, mom." I hung up quickly before she could put my dad back on the phone. That hadn't gone exactly as I'd planned. I loved my parents very, very much, but, every time I spoke to them, I realized that we were just on two very completely different planets.

  My phone started ringing again and I rolled my eyes. I looked at the screen, expecting it to be my parents calling back. I froze as I realized that it was Finn. Don't pick up. Don't pick up. But, maybe it was the conversation I just had with my mom that energized me, but I answered it.

  "What do you want?" I said, as I picked up the phone.

  "Marcia," he sounded surprised. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. Finn, is that you?"

  "Yeah, it's me. I was just calling to make sure that you weren't too sick. I saw that you called out and-"

  "Yeah, I'm feeling better. I'll be at work on Monday."

  "Um, I'm a little bit confused here, Marcia. Can we-"

  "What are you confused about, Finn?"

  "Um, I'm confused, because you were at my apartment just a couple of days ago and we made love and I said I'd be right back and, when I got back, you were gone and I haven't been able to get in contact with you since."

  "Well, that's life, right?"

  "Are you like the female version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" he said, confused. "I mean, I don't really understand what's going on here."

  "You don't understand what's going on? Maybe, just maybe, I don't understand what's going on."

  "You're not making any sense."

  "I'm not making any sense? You're not making any sense."

  "Marcia." He cleared his throat. "Is it possible for me to come over and see you? Can we talk? Can we-"

  "You don't want to see Abigail?"

  "Sorry, what?"

  "I said, you don't want to see your redheaded vixen who, by the way, is not a natural redhead. I'm guessing Clairol."

  "Um, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you on drugs right now, Marcia?"

  "No, I'm not on fucking drugs, Finn." I could feel myself growing angry. "Anyway, I have to go."

  "Wait, Marcia!" he said. "I'm really, really confused, and I was hanging out with Justin today and he was wondering where you were because he'd invited you to come and join us this weekend. I don't know if you forgot, but-"

  "I didn't forget, but I don't feel like I want to go."

  "Okay, because... the sex was that bad or...?"

  "What?" I said.

  "Is this because the sex was bad? I mean, I thought the sex was good, but-"

  "You know what? Is this all about sex to you? That's all you care about, right? You just can't keep it in your fucking pants. You go from me to Abigail, to whomever... Who knows who else?”

  “I don't know what you're talking about. Abigail who?"

  "From the Hilton."

  "Oh." He sounded surprised. "That redhead that was flirting with me?"

  "Yeah, the one that you gave your number to and the one that you gave a key to your apartment to."

  "What are you talking about? A key to my apartment?"

  "How do you get into your apartment?"

  "Well, there's a number pad, so there are no keys."

  "Okay, so you gave her the code. That's even worse."

  "We need to talk in person, Marcia. Can we-"

  "I got to go. Bye."

  I hung up and stood at the corner of the street, staring at the phone. Well, that conversation hadn't gone as planned either. I couldn't believe that he was acting like he didn't know Abigail had gone to his apartment. She'd been freaking naked. Like, why else did he think she'd gone? Unless he was going to try and say it was some sort of business meeting and he didn't realize she was going to be naked. I chewed on my lower lip for a couple of seconds.

  Maybe, just maybe, he hadn't known. Maybe, she'd gone to seduce him and he was just the stupid guy that had given a psycho his key code. But no, that didn't make sense. Why would he meet her at his apartment unless it was for sex? Why not meet her at the office? And then why pretend he didn't even remember who she was? No, he was just a dog and a liar like every other guy.

  My phone started ringing again and I saw it was him. I sighed and then sent him to voicemail before powering the phone off. I was done with this bullshit. I wasn't going to listen to him try and gaslight me. I didn't need that in my life. My mom thought I should accept it because he was rich, but I didn't need a rich man. I just wanted a man that would love me and treat me well. I just wanted a man that only wanted to be with me. And that certainly wasn't Finn Winchester. I wasn't going to play his games. I wasn't going to let him make me think I was crazy. I wasn't going to settle for less. I'd left Florida because a guy had made me feel like shit about myself, and I sure as hell wasn't going to date a guy in New York that made me feel the exact same way, even if he was Finn Winchester.

  Twenty-Nine

  The sound of the TV in the background woke me up early the next morning. I yawned and stretched as I opened my eyes. "What are you watching Susie?" I shouted in annoyance.

  "Sorry," she called back. "Did the TV wake you up?"

  "Yeah, it did." I knew I had an attitude, but I couldn't stop myself.

  "My bad, but it is almost noon," she said as she walked over to me. "Are you okay, Marcia?"

  "I'm fine."

  "Well, you're certainly not acting fine. I know you're really upset over what has gone down with Finn. I know that he really hurt you and I know that you are in pain, but you need to really stop taking it out on everyone else because it's not our fault. And maybe you should speak to him and-"

  "I spoke to him last night. Okay. He pretended like he didn't even know that Abigail had gone over."

  "Oh", she said, "I'm sorry. I feel guilty, I feel like this is my fault."

  "Why would it be your fault, Susie? It's not your fault at all. I'm the one that slept with him."

  "I'm the one that told you to give him a chance. I'm the one that said you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, that not all good-looking guys were bad news. And obviously I was wrong because Finn is super bad news. I feel like if I hadn't told you to let your guard down, then you wouldn't have given him a chance and-"

  "Oh Susie, please." I sat up and grabbed her hand. "This is really not your fault, okay. Trust me. He was charismatic and handsome and funny. I thought he was a good guy. And you know what? Maybe in some areas of his life, he is. But he just wasn't a good guy for me to mess around with," I shrugged. "I really didn't like the fact that he was trying to gaslight me."

  "How was he gaslighting you?" she asked me, raising an eyebrow.

  "Pretending h
e didn't even know who Abigail was and that everything was in my head, like why I was upset. And..."

  "Oh, so you said that Abigail had come over to sleep with him and he pretended he didn't know?"

  "Yep. He had no clue. Well, I didn't exactly say those words, but-"

  "What do you mean you didn't exactly say those words? What did you say?"

  "I can't remember what I said exactly, but I did bring up Abigail."

  "You told him that she showed up at the apartment and?"

  "I can't remember exactly what I said. Does it matter?"

  "I guess not," she said. She looked down at the newspaper in her hands and folded it quickly as she saw I was glancing at her.

  "What is it?"

  "Nothing," she shook her head.

  "Oh my gosh. Is he in the newspaper with Abigail right now?"

  "No, not at all."

  "Then why do you look so guilty?"

  "He is in the newspaper, but not with Abigail."

  "Who's he in the newspaper with then?"

  "I don't know, some baseball player," she showed me the front cover. It was a photo of Finn and a handsome guy. "Who's that?"

  "I don't know," she said. "You know I don't care about baseball."

  "Yeah, me either. Why didn't you want me to see it?"

  "Because I didn't want you to think that he was going on with his life and having a good time".

  "Girl, I'm sure he is. He doesn't care that I'm not speaking to him. He most probably fucked some other girl last night. He's gorgeous and he is rich. What does he need with me?"

  "Yeah, I guess. I'm sorry, girl."

  "That's fine," I sighed. "I guess I just have to live with it. But you know what?"

  "No. What?" she said.

  "Originally I was done with really good looking guys."

  "Yeah."

  "Well now I'm also done with really rich guys as well."

  "Oh my gosh. Really, Marcia don't you think that’s being a bit extreme."

  "Nope. You can't trust really good-looking guys. And you can't trust really rich guys."

  "I don't know if that's true. I-"

  "Trust me, girl. It's true."

  "I really don't want..."

  "I know you don't want to believe it, but trust me I know."

  "Okay, girl. If you..." The doorbell rang and we both stared at each other.

  "Are you expecting anyone?" I asked her.

  "No, you?"

  "No one. Maybe Shantal or Lilian decided to come over?”

  “I don't think so," she shook her head. "But I guess I'll go and see." She walked to the front door and opened it. "Hello?" "Oh", she said, and I heard a deep voice.

  "Who is it?" I called out.

  "It's me." The familiar voice sounded through the room and I sat up in shock. Was that Finn? What was Finn doing at my apartment? I jumped out of bed and ran towards the front door. "What are you doing here?" I said glaring at him.

  "I came to talk to you."

  He looked like he had just woken up. His hair was still wet from the shower. And he was wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans. He looked even more handsome than I remembered. And I hated myself for still being attracted to him. "I didn't invite you over Finn, so?"

  "I don't care that you didn't invite me over. We need to talk."

  "No, we don't actually, I-"

  "Yeah, we do. You don't have a phone call with me like you did last night and hang up on me and think we're not going to have a conversation."

  "Well, I don't want to have a conversation with you. I will see you at work tomorrow and-"

  "Marcia Lucas. We need to talk." He turned around and looked at Susie, "I don't suppose that Marcia and I could chat privately for a little bit. Maybe you could go and get breakfast?"

  "What?" she stared at him, and then she stared at me. I shook my head and she sighed, "Fine. I'll be gone for an hour."

  "Thank you," he said, and pulled out a couple of $20 notes and handed them to her. "Breakfast on me."

  "No, I'm not going to-"

  "Please. I'm kicking you out of your own home. And I hate to do that, but I really need to speak to Marcia and sort everything out before work on Monday."

  "Fine", she said. "Do you want anything Marcia?"

  "No, I wouldn't eat anything paid for by his blood money."

  "My blood money?" he raised an eyebrow. "You're certainly very dramatic today."

  "I'm dramatic? Really you’re the loser that tried to gaslight me?"

  "And with that, I'm out of here". Susie made a face and left the apartment. The door closed behind her.

  I walked over to Finn and poked him in the chest. "What the hell do you think you're doing here? Did I say that you could come to my private space? In fact, how did you even get my address? I never gave it to you."

  "Are you joking Marcia?"

  "What do you mean am I joking? No. Are you stalking me or-"

  "You work for me. Your address is in my database."

  "Oh yeah," I said, feeling like a little bit of a fool. "Well, that didn't mean you could access the database and just come here and-"

  "We need to chat."

  "Why? I already said everything I have to say to you. You're a dog and-"

  "I really wish that you trusted me enough to-"

  "Excuse me," I cut him off. "I don't need to trust you. I know that..."

  He took a deep breath, "Marcia. I think I know what this is about." He shook his head and sighed, "It's my own fault, I should have told you."

  "Told me what?"

  "I should have told you that Brody was staying at my apartment for a couple of weeks."

  "Who the hell is Brody and what does he have to do with anything?"

  "Brody is a friend of mine. He's a baseball player. He just got traded to play for the New York Yankees. And he hasn't got a place yet. He's been staying at my apartment."

  "Okay. And?"

  "And it turns out that he met a certain redhead a couple of nights ago and invited her over."

  "Okay. And?"

  "And he gave her the entry code and he forgot that he'd invited her and he didn't tell me."

  "What are you talking about?" Then suddenly it dawned on me. "Abigail? He invited Abigail over?"

  "Yes," he nodded, "I didn't invite her over. I'd never met her until that day at the Hilton."

  "I thought that was weird that you pretended that you didn't know each other when you met, but then-"

  "We'd never met before and I've never seen or spoken to her after that day. It's just a horrible coincidence that she's the same woman that Brody met at a club the other night and invited back."

  "She came to see your friend and not you?" I stared at him with disbelief. "Really?"

  "Really. What sort of guy do you think I am? She didn't come for me. I don't know how to prove it to you, I just think that you should believe me, but if you want, we can speak to Brody and he can also tell you."

  Then I remembered what Abigail had said to me when we're in the department, she'd said, "Tell him, I'll see him at the game". Fuck it made sense. "She went to see your friend, the baseball player. Didn't she?"

  "That's what I just said," he nodded.

  "Was there a baseball game recently?"

  "Yeah, there was one yesterday," he said.

  "Did she go to that game?"

  "I don't know. I don't have any contact with her."

  "But did you see her with Brody or?"

  "There are many women that are after Brody and he sometimes gives his number out when he shouldn't," he sighed. "He gets himself into trouble and now it looks like he's getting me into trouble."

  "Oh shit, so she really didn't go for you?" I felt absolutely awful. I completely overreacted. He hadn't done anything wrong.

  "I can see that you believe me now," he said, sighing as he sat down on the couch. "I don't know why you wouldn't have spoken to me about this instead of just freezing me out Marcia."

  "I know. I'm sorry. I just.
.." I let out a deep sigh. "I've been hurt so many times in the past and I just automatically assumed the worst. What would you think if you were in my bed and some man busted in naked saying he was here to screw?"

  "I'd think that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation," he said.

  "Really?"

  "Okay. I can understand why you might think she was there for me. I hadn't told you that Brody was staying with me. So you didn't know that she could have been there for someone else, but I really wish you would've spoken to me. Communication is the key if we're going to have a real relationship."

  "A real relationship?" I stared at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

  "What do you think I mean, Marcia?"

  "I don't really know." My heart was fluttering now. What was he saying?

  "I thought that we were both on the same page when we slept with each other. I thought we both liked each other and we wanted to see where this was going."

  "You like me?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

  "Yeah. Even though you're crazy and even though you don't communicate well, and even though you jump to assumptions really, really quickly, I like you Marcia. I think you're fun and funny and spunky and beautiful. There's something about you that I'm just drawn to," he sighed. "I don't know if perhaps I'm crazy."

  "Why would you say that?" I said glaring at him.

  "Because you're not giving me many reasons to fall for you."

  "I know, I'm sorry," I cut him off. "I really like you. I think I'm falling for you and that's why it hurt me so much. And-"

  "You're falling for me?" he said. A glint in his eyes.

  "Yeah, I guess so. I think I've been falling for you for a while now. I really think you're a great guy and I was just taken aback when I thought that you had another woman coming over. But now I realize that that wasn't true. I feel like a fool and I'm sorry. I understand if you think that I'm immature, and I understand if you think that you can't trust me. But I promise if we give this another go, that if there's any... if there's ever a time that I have questions, I will come to you and I will ask you what's going on before I jump to conclusions."

  "You promise me that?" he said with a grin.

  "I promise."

  "You know, I think you are the world Marcia. But I have one condition for you before we jump back into this."