by C. C. Piper
I couldn’t believe Richard had friends like that.
Leaving him was tearing my heart into pieces, but I refused to live my life this way. I wouldn’t live in terror ever again.
I agreed to belong to Richard. I didn’t sign up to be someone else’s party favor.
20
Richard
I couldn't find Chrissy anywhere. I chided myself, because I’d panicked earlier and she’d been on the other side of the room. But this time I’d looked everywhere, and I couldn't find her. I’d even checked the pool. Surely she hadn’t gone down to swim in the ocean alone.
As I was descending the patio steps to the beach, one of the housekeeping staff pulled me aside.
“Mr. Boswell. I’ve been looking for you. We saw Ms. Evans running from the house. She had changed into a black dress, and she appeared to be crying. She asked one of the drivers take her back to her apartment.”
“Thank you for letting me know.” The panic I’d felt when I briefly couldn’t find Chrissy at the beginning of the evening returned in full force, only this time it was justified.
Once the housekeeper was gone, I pulled out my phone. My hands shook. I called Chrissy four times, but she didn’t answer.
I wanted to go to her, to find out why she’d fled. But I was in the middle of a party. If it had been social only, I’d have left. But I was entertaining investors. Some were long-time investors, but some were potential investors, and I didn’t want to alienate them by leaving a party I was hosting in my own home.
What could have gone wrong? She’d been having such a good time. She’d been gorgeous, prettier than any A-list movie star. She’d been confident, and seemed to be enjoying chatting with the guests. And she’d been the best dancer we’d ever had in this house.
How could she leave without an explanation? Hadn’t I given her everything she needed? Everything she wanted? How could she have shared so much of herself with me, and then just disappear?
I rushed to her room, hoping there’d been a misunderstanding.
Her door was open. The pink ball gown was back on the mannequin.
Inside the closet, all of the clothes I’d bought here were there, hanging in neat rows.
I checked the bathroom.
No one was there.
The makeup was still in place. The jewelry where it belonged.
On her bed lay the smartphone I’d given her.
She had loved using her phone to video chat with Bella. I wished she’d kept it. It was a signal, to me, that she wasn’t coming back.
I wandered from her room in a daze.
How had I failed her? Why hadn’t she come to me?
As I stood at the top of the stairs, Travis came strolling over. I really didn’t want to talk, but he didn’t take the hint. “Hey man. I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“Is this about Chrissy? Is she okay?” That’s when I noticed Travis’s nose was swollen.
“Uh yeah. She’s just fine. Little firecracker, that one. I hate to inform you, but she tried to come on to me. I told her I’d have to tell you.”
“Why would she do that?” It made no sense.
“She wanted more money. Some people are just greedy.”
Chrissy’s despair over her sister was real. I didn’t believe that could be faked. And the apprehension in her eyes before we slept together the first time was real. She had been a virgin. And there was no way she could have faked the emotion earlier tonight when she told me she loved me.
I couldn't accept it.
But she was gone. There had to be a reason. “There’s no way she needed more money.”
“Hey man, maybe she’s just a slut. She obviously couldn’t help herself, but once I told her no, she got upset and freaked out. She begged me not to tell you. So at least she felt guilty.”
“Do not call her that.” Travis’s continued insults wore thin. And his explanation did not fit. Why would he lie? He had nothing to gain — he was nearly as rich as I was, and he had a trail of gorgeous women that followed him wherever he went. We had been friends for over twenty years. I had known Chrissy for only a few days.
That doesn’t matter. You know who she is.
Yet I didn’t trust my own judgment.
Travis gave me a good-natured shrug. “If the shoe fits.”
Even as my heart couldn't accept it, my mind supplied a memory of my mother, begging my father for forgiveness after one of her affairs. She’d pleaded with him, and he’d taken her back. Later the same hour, she’d happily flounced off for a massage with friends. I had seen the look on her face. It was smug, and satisfied, because she’d duped my father into believing her.
I would not be that fool.
Yet, I wasn’t fully satisfied with Travis’s explanation. I couldn’t picture Chrissy hitting on anyone, much less someone she just met. She certainly wouldn’t hit on my best friend.
I pulled myself together and got myself back to the party. I had guests to entertain, and deals to make. As I walked the last guests to their cars, I noticed the surveillance camera on my front porch.
I decided that I’d watch all the footage from tonight to try and see if something happened to Chrissy that I wasn’t aware of. Something that would have made her approach Travis. Maybe she’d been blackmailed or threatened. The longer I thought about it, the more convinced I was that Travis was the liar here.
In my office, I pulled up all the footage.
I found the recording of Chrissy leaving her room for the first time, dressed in the frilly pink ball gown. She had been stunning. I had to force myself not to think about how we’d made love while she was wearing it; the memory hurt too much.
I had been ready to tell her that I loved her. Yet I had not done so.
Was it too late? Had I done something to drive her away?
On camera, I saw her mingling in the main room, enjoying herself while she charmed my clients. Then I saw her go back to her room and come out again, this time in the fitted black dress. The one I’d picked out, but never got to see her wear.
There. Right there in front of her door was Travis. I watched in horror as he blocked her path with his body. As he trailed his hand down her arm. I was going to kill him. But that wasn’t the worst part. It was clear that she was trying to get away from him. Then he grabbed her wrists. He trapped her, and shoved her against the wall.
When I saw her delicate shoulders crash into the wall, my vision went red. He was going to pay for this. I watched, sick to my stomach, as he tried to kiss her, as he shoved his much larger body against hers.
As he assaulted her.
A knock on my office door startled me. I was not up for dealing with any staff right now. “I’m not feeling well,” I called out. My staff was more than capable of handling any issues that arose.
“It’s me.”
Travis.
He was here, outside my door. That bastard. I shoved my chair back and got to the door in seconds. I yanked it open. I grabbed him by the collar.
“How could you?”
“I told you, she came on to me.”
“I watched the footage.”
The blood drained from his face. “You have cameras in the hallways?”
I punched him, as hard as I could in the face.
He fell to the ground, unconscious. I was only sorry that he wasn’t awake for me to hit him again.
21
Chrissy
One week. That’s how long it had been since I lost the one happy thing I had in my life. Richard had texted. He’d called my flip phone, over and over. He’d left messages, long ones, letting me know that he knew what Travis did, and that he was so, so sorry. It was a relief to hear his voice on the messages.
It was a relief to know that he didn’t blame me.
But I couldn’t talk to him.
I was terrified that if I went back to him, I’d commit myself — and Bella — to a life I didn’t understand. A world full of millionaires and billionaires. And people who�
��d judge me, and look down their noses if they found out about my agreement with Richard.
That’s what Travis had done. He thought because I let Richard pay me to be his companion, that I was up for grabs. That I’d lie down for any man who’d pay me enough money.
It made me feel cheap and ashamed. I was lucky that Richard knew what happened. What if he’d believed Travis’s lies? One rich person’s lies could ruin my life more than it already was.
Bella and I had escaped one life full of lies and deceit. I would not take us back to another.
Lily pounded on my door. “It’s been a week. We’re going out. You have got to take a break from that apartment.” She rattled the door handle. “Open up, or I’m using my key.”
I cracked the door. “Hey. I’ve been going to see Bella everyday.”
“That does not convince me that you’re not depressed.” She shoved her leg into the door, forcing it open. “Let’s go.”
I let Lily drag me to the Sweet Lime Café. My former boss had been kind to me, even though I hadn’t gone back to work yet. I still had enough of the money Richard had given me to coast for a little while. I still hadn’t decided if I was going to save it, or use it to pay tuition, or if I was going to quit school all together until Bella was older.
The thought of making any decisions exhausted me. Maybe I was depressed.
Lily put a glass of orange juice down in front of me. “Okay. You’ve got your citrus now. Start talking.”
So I did. I told Lily everything, only leaving out a few of the most private details about the club that I wasn’t allowed to share. She soon got the gist of our arrangement, that Richard had offered me a life of comfort in exchange for my submission.
“You. You, Chrissy Evans, straight-laced, rule-follower, all-around good girl extraordinaire, had a Sugar Daddy.”
“Lily!” I swatted her arm. “Keep your voice down. It wasn’t like that.”
“It was very much like that. You meet a very rich man at a place you won’t mention, he liked the look of you, and you agree to sleep with him in exchange for living in his mansion and receiving his gifts. Sugar. Daddy.”
The server stopped by to deliver bagels to both of us, and thankfully Lily quit yelling about sugar daddies. But she wasn’t done. “I can’t say that I’m not shocked. I am. I am very shocked. But from everything you’ve told me, Richard is a decent guy. Maybe you should consider giving him a second chance.”
I grabbed my bagel and started spreading on the cream cheese. For the first time since I left Richard, I was hungry. Being out with Lily was clearly good for me. “Are you kidding me?” Lily was the last person I would have expected to advocate for Richard getting a second chance. “I thought you were supposed to be on my side.”
“I am on your side.” Lily took a bit of her bagel. “That’s why I’m telling you to re-think this. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would allow his best friend to behave like that, if he’d had any idea that was possible.”
“You might be right. But you and I both know that if I don’t take care of myself, no one will. This was just proof of that. I was in a mansion with a billionaire, and had staff all around us, and I got attacked. There was no one to help me.” I rested my elbows on a table that I’d spent many hours wiping. The life I’d had before wasn’t fancy, but it was mine. I could live it again. “And Bella is too young to take care of herself. It’s up to me. No one else is going to do it.”
“I’m not telling you to throw caution to the wind and marry the guy. I’m just saying maybe you should date him. Give it another shot.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I need to focus on Bella, and on my school work.”
Lily threw her hands up. “Fine. I’m not going to bring it up again. You’re responsible, you know what you’re doing. Just think about what I said.”
I scooted my chair closer to her. “I will. Thank you for always being there for me.”
“Always,” she said. “I’ve got to get back to work.”
After Lily left, I asked a refill on the orange juice and settled myself into my chair. I felt comfortable at the café, and Lily had given me a lot to consider.
22
Richard
“I said I wanted those proposals on my desk this morning.” I grabbed the knot of my tie and yanked it loose. The stupid thing felt like it was killing me, and my anger at being stood up by my own employee was making it worse. “It is no longer morning. Do we need a lesson on telling time? No?” The employee stammered, but didn’t offer any real words as an answer. “Then do not make me repeat myself!”
“Sir, Alex was supposed to —”
“Do not give me that. You are a director. You applied for that responsibility. Don’t place the blame for your oversight on someone you supervise.”
I slammed the phone down. The head of marketing was about to get the boot if he didn’t get his act together.
My secretary glanced up. I’d managed to spare her my wrath, only because she would be impossible to replace. And I liked her. But I didn’t want her to know that.
Yes, I was angry. I was perpetually pissed off, and I had been ever since Chrissy had left.
I missed her. I wanted to explain to her in person, how sorry I was. I wanted to make it up to her. But she wouldn’t see me.
I had considered going to her apartment. Her work. Her college. I’d even thought of going to Bella’s room at the hospital, and forcing her to see me.
But all of those visits seemed like a terrible invasion of her privacy. But if I didn’t hear from her soon, I was going to give in and chase her down.
I couldn’t really blame her for avoiding me. If she hadn’t been able to punch Travis, I wasn’t sure how far he would have gone. He was scum who belonged in jail.
Even though I was furious at Travis, and wished I could lock him away, I’d also lost my best friend. The loss was permanent, as there could be no forgiveness on my part. He’d been a big part of my life since we were seven, but that relationship could not be repaired, not after what he’d done. He’d also been a big part of the company. I’d fired him immediately, but I felt the loss at the office as well as in my personal life.
No one showed up in my office to give me a hard time. No one invited me to lunch. I no longer had any co-workers who would call me out.
But that was irrelevant.
Travis had to go. He’d ruined my life, and he’d made a good attempt at ruining Chrissy’s too.
After an unproductive day, I left the office early, only to find my mother in my house. She stood in my living room, looking at the photos of my dad.
I was well-aware I didn’t have any photos of her on display. I had never felt bad about that. It was a deliberate decision. But after hearing about Chrissy’s reprehensible parents, I felt like maybe I could add a photo of my mother as well.
“You’re back early.” I doubted I sounded pleased. It wasn’t even her fault. I didn’t want to interact with anyone but Chrissy.
“I am.”
My mother was quiet after that, which was rare. Usually she prattled on and on. I looked closer. It was evening, and she was sober. I couldn't remember the last time I’d seen her sober in the evening. It had been years.
Something was different with her. I wasn’t going to ask, because I didn’t want her prying into my life either.
“Tell me about your trip,” I said. I didn’t really want to hear about it, but I was lonely. And maybe she was too. Chrissy’s confessions about what life was like with her own mother had a profound effect on me, one that I was still grappling with.
Even though I still resented my mother, I found myself grateful for the things she had provided for me. Chrissy had mentioned never having a snack at school.
Each morning during my elementary years, my mom had packed a bag with a granola bar, and apple and crackers and tied it with a bow. She didn’t ask a staff member to do it — she did it herself. Many of the other mothers had done the same thin
g, so it never registered for me that it was an expression of her affection for me.
Today, she described the renovations to the villa in the Bahamas and didn’t complain one time. She filled me in on the people she’d met and the activities they’d done. We talked for a while, trading stories about the villa when I was a kid.
Once we’d run out of things we had in common, she put her hand on my back. “What’s wrong, honey? I can tell something’s off.”
Had she ever really paid attention to me like this before? I didn’t think so. Maybe she had tried, but I hadn’t accepted it. It was nice. I hadn’t told anyone else about what happened with Chrissy. Travis had been my only friend, and now that was over.
Had my mother wanted to pay attention to me, but I refused to allow it? I wasn’t sure. And it didn’t matter. She asked, so I would share this pain with her.
“I met someone.”
My mother’s jaw fell open. “You did?”
“Is it so surprising?”
“Of course not. You’re handsome and smart and hard-working. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”
Except the one person I wanted. She hadn’t been very lucky when Travis attacked her in my home. I knew my mother liked to brag about my accomplishments to her friends, but maybe she was proud of me as a person as well. Either way, it was nice to hear good things about myself after such a bad week.
“Come on.” My mom ran her hand over my head like she had when I was a little boy. “Let’s move into the kitchen. I’ll make you some hot chocolate.”
“It’s seventy-five degrees.”
“It’s never too warm for chocolate.” She opened a package of chocolate and handed it to me along with a knife. “Here. You chop that up into tiny pieces.” I remembered what to do. I had been her helper as a kid, but back then she’d given me a butter knife instead of a chef’s knife.
My mom smiled. “Be careful not to ding that knife. I don’t want Diana to get mad at me.”
