“What the fuck?” I whisper out.
“Are you still going to come back?” he asks.
“I’m on the plane, and I’m on my way home. I have nothing to say to him. But I’m done hiding,” I say more courageous than I feel. “I’ll text you when I land.”
I turn off the phone and look out the window. My head is swimming. Why he would show up? What more does he want from me? I grab my phone and type out his name, and I see all the messages he’s sent. Every single one is delivered and I want to say unread, but I read them all.
While I lay in bed at night and the memories were too much to bear, I would open the phone and read them. The last one he sent me was this morning.
Nico: I need to see you.
My finger rubs over the blue bubble. My head is so lost in thought that I don’t even notice when we land. I get up and when I walk out of the plane, the phone beeps again in my hand.
Manning: Call me please.
I walk down the steps and dial Manning, who answers right away, his voice going low. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” I say, walking to the waiting car with the sun hitting me right away. I have to take off the puffy jacket when I get into the car.
“Where are you?” he asks, and I can hear that he’s walking.
“Just landed in Dallas,” I say. “Is everything okay?”
“Where are you going?” he asks, and I have to wonder if something is wrong.
“I’m on my way home.”
“Good. I’ll be there in an hour,” he says and disconnects. I look back at Erika, who smiles.
“It’s good to be home,” she says, and I nod, looking out the window.
The doorman opens my door, and I look back over at Erika. “Take the rest of the week off,” I say, and she just gasps.
“It’s Wednesday,” she says, and I laugh.
“I know what day it is.” Her face goes into a yeah right look. “Okay, fine, I sort of know what day it is.”
She laughs. “But we’ve been going nuts for the last three days. So go to a spa on me and rest up. Monday, we start the search of replacing you as my assistant.”
She just smiles so big, and I’m so happy for her. I walk into the building and smile at the security man. “Oh, Ms. Becca, someone was here for you last night,” he says, and I stop to look at him. “But his name wasn’t on the list.”
“Did he say who he was?” I ask, knowing that it was Nico. Who else could it have been?
“A Mr. Harrison” he says, and I swallow the lump. “I tried to call you, but …”
“That’s okay,” I say to him. “Actually, from now on, I’d like all guests announced.”
“Of course,” he says to me, and I walk to the elevator. I press the button and finally walk into my house.
Making my way upstairs, I get out of the warm clothes and slip on a pair of yoga pants and a top. I’m making myself a coffee when the phone rings. “Hello?” I say.
“There is a Manning who is here to see you,” the security guard says.
“Send him up,” I say and hang up the phone. I walk over to the door and open it right when he steps off the elevator. He looks over at me, and his smile turns into a frown.
“When is the last time you ate?” He comes to me and gives me a hug. I try to be strong, but the lump forms in my throat. He lets me go, and I wipe the tear coming out of the corner of my eye with my thumb. He takes out his phone and then looks at me. “I just ordered us lunch.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I say, and we walk into the house.
“I know that, but I wanted to,” he says softly. I sit on the couch, and he sits on the couch in front of me.
“This has to be the most awkward I’ve ever felt around you,” I say, and he laughs.
“More awkward than seeing naked photos of my wife having sex with someone else?” he jokes, and I laugh.
“Okay, fine, that was a little bit more awkward,” I admit to him.
“How are you?” He leans forward, putting his elbows on his knees.
“I’m good,” I lie, and he knows it. “Okay, fine. I’m not good, okay?” I wring my hands together. “I’m mad. I’m angry. I’m pissed off, and I’m fucking sad.”
He shakes his head. “I have no idea what he was thinking.”
I put my hands up. “I don’t even want to put you in that position. You are not going to be put in the middle of this.”
“I’m not,” he says. “He fucked up,” he admits. “I might have told him that to his face.”
“Manning.” I say his name.
“No, Becca,” he sighs. “It’s fucked up. We saw you two days before. He was the one who laid down his claim, and then he goes and marries someone else. What in the ever-loving fuck is going on?”
My bottom lip trembles. “He …” I say, “he was obviously not in it as much as I thought.”
“I saw him,” Manning cuts me off. “I saw how he looked at you. You can’t fake that.”
“Well then, I guess he’s a really good actor,” I say, sitting more into the couch and curling my feet under me. “Honestly, we were together the night before,” I admit to him. “I knew something was off. He was acting weird, but I thought it was just work.”
“So when did you find out?” he asks.
“The morning when the headlines came out while I was on the treadmill,” I admit to him, and he gets up.
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” he shouts, grabbing his phone out of his pocket.
I jump off the couch, not ready for Nico to know I’m home. I am not delusional in thinking we can avoid each other, but it gives my heart more time to forget him. “Stop,” I say, and his hand stops. “Please, he doesn’t know I’m home and …”
He tosses his phone on the couch. “Oh, he and I are going to have fucking words. I can tell you that.”
“Well, good news is he can’t fire you.” I try to joke with him, and he doesn’t crack a smile.
“I don’t know how you are doing it,” he says, and I sit back down.
“Full transparency,” I say. “It’s been rough. The nights are worse than the days.” I swallow. “I was in love with him.” His mouth opens, but he doesn’t have time to say anything before there is a knock on the door, and I fly up, afraid it’s Nico.
“I got it,” he says. “Stay here.” I nod at him and watch him walk out of the room. He comes back two seconds later with a brown bag. The smell makes my mouth water. “It’s just food.”
He sets the bag on the middle of the coffee table, taking the fries out and then handing me a burger. “Thank you,” I say, sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table. “For doing this.” He sits down in front of me. “For checking on me.”
“Becca,” he says my name and I look at him. “You are one of my closest friends. What you did for me, there is nothing I can do to pay you back.”
“Well, consider us even,” I say, unwrapping the burger and wiping the tear that runs down my cheek with the back of my hand. I take a bite of the burger and we don’t talk for the rest of the meal. Neither of us says anything.
“Will you call me if you need anything?” Manning asks after we’ve cleaned up the food, and I’m walking him to the door.
“I will,” I say, and he just looks at me. “Okay, fine, I really will.” I laugh. “If at any time, I need something or anything, I will call you.”
“I know you’re lying,” he says and takes me in his arms to give me a hug. “But I’m going to pretend you aren’t.”
I watch him walk out of the apartment and close the door after he steps into the elevator. I close the door, and the sound of my phone fills the room. I walk over to it and pick it up, seeing Nico’s name.
I look at it for longer than I should. My finger hovers over the green button, but I press the decline button. “Not today,” I tell the phone, my stomach lurching.
My phone bings with a text, and I see it’s from him. It doesn’t stop with just one either. It is o
ne after another.
Nico: I just need to see you for five minutes.
Nico: Becca. Please.
Nico: I just need to see that you are okay.
I turn the phone off. After powering it down, I get up and walk to the bathroom. I turn on the water for the bath, turning back around and going to get my phone. Turning it back on, I pretend I’m doing it for work. I pretend I’m doing it because it’s the only lifeline I have to him. I pretend until the tears come. I pretend until I finally sob out with the need of wanting him.
Chapter 30
Nico
“Where the fuck is my lawyer?” I look over at Lizzie, who looks up from her phone. “It’s been two fucking days.”
“He was on vacation. He’ll be here in thirty minutes. I asked him to come after everyone left, just in case someone is listening,” she says, setting her phone down. I get up to look out my office window. The sun is slowly setting, it’s the part of the day I start to hate. The days are bearable, just barely, but the nights. The nighttime is my enemy. The memories are the worst. It’s almost like my penance for everything I’ve done. I walk around my room, trying to forget, except the memories come back full force. The minutes feel like hours. The hours feel like days. The days feel like years.
“I pay him enough to be here when I need him,” I say, putting my hands in my pockets. “When are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow afternoon,” she says. “But we get back tomorrow night.” My eyes focus on the car lights starting to fill up the streets. The Christmas streetlights are starting to light up. “Then there are four more days, and then you are gone for the whole week right before we break for Christmas.” I close my eyes at the mention of Christmas, making my heart pound. “I’m assuming you aren’t going to any of the parties we got invitations for.” I just look over my shoulder, and she holds up her hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger. Is she back?” she asks quietly, and I nod.
“She got back home yesterday,” I say. “Manning told me.” I don’t tell her that he came to see me, and it wasn’t pleasant. I also don’t tell her that when he left, I punched a hole in my wall. I don’t tell her that when he left, I called Becca twenty-five times, and she never answered once. I don’t tell her that I took a bottle of scotch to bed with me.
“Has she …?” I shake my head, the lump forming in my throat. I’m almost tempted to camp out in her lobby and wait for her.
“Not even a text,” I say and then I hear heels clicking and turn to look at the door. I know it isn’t her, but my heart somehow hopes it is. Even if she yells at me and kicks me in the balls, I will give anything to see her again. Even if it’s just for two minutes. Just enough time to tell her everything that I feel.
“Well, well, well,” Laurene says, walking into the office. She is dressed in a pantsuit with heels. She smiles at Lizzie and goes to sit next to her. “Is someone going to tell me why I’ve been summoned here?”
I don’t get a chance to tell her because there is a knock on the door, and I turn to see my lawyer standing there. I look at him with a scowl. “About fucking time you showed up, George.”
“Nico,” Lizzie warns with a low voice.
“I was on vacation,” he says, coming in. “I told you this as soon as I married you.”
“Yeah, well, shit happens,” I say, and he just stares at me. The both of us were in college at the same time. We were in the same circle, and when he became a lawyer, I was his first client. Of course he joined his father’s firm that was started five generations before. He’s one of the biggest names out there. “I pay you enough to be at my beck and call.”
“And I was available,” he says, going to the empty chair and sitting down in it. The girls smile at him. “Now what was so pressing?”
“I need you to go through Laurene’s contract,” I say, and Laurene’s eyes go big.
“Um, hold on a minute.” She puts up her hand. “My lawyer went through it with a fine-tooth comb.”
“I need you to find a loophole for this marriage,” I tell George. “There has to be something in there.”
“Oh my God,” Laurene says, throwing her hand up and having it slap the arm of the couch. “Seriously, it’s for ninety fucking days, Nico.”
“Yeah, and it’s ninety days too long,” I say, and she shakes her head.
“What is the sudden freaking rush to get divorced?” she asks, and then I look at her and then at Lizzie, who just shrugs, not sure what to say. “You knew this.”
“I did, and you know that I only married you because of a fucking promise I made when we were both eighteen and drunk,” I point out.
“Where is the contract?” George asks. Lizzie grabs her leather binder case and takes it out, handing it to him. He reaches over and grabs it. “I’m going to go over this and then bring it to a couple of people to make sure I don’t miss anything.”
“Is that the same people from your firm who leaked that we were married?” George glares at me.
“Don’t insult the people standing in your corner,” he says, getting up. “I’ll be in touch.” He walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.
“Nico,” Laurene says. “I honestly don’t know what has gotten into you.”
“This marriage has ruined my life,” I say. “Literally and figuratively ruined my fucking life.”
“I don’t understand.” She looks at me, getting up.
“I was dating someone when you came to me,” I finally tell her, and Lizzie gets up and comes over to me. She grabs my hand and squeezes it.
“Okay,” Laurene says, not sure she is understanding what I’m saying. The truth be told, I don’t even know what I want to say. All the words just spin around and around in my head.
“I’m in love with her,” I say, and her mouth opens, then closes, and then opens again. “Like in love with her so much I would trade everything I have to see her for one more minute.”
“Did you tell her?” she asks in a whisper and then sits back on the couch again.
“No.” I run my hands through my hair. “I didn’t know how much to tell her. Then I didn’t know how to tell her.” Laurene puts her hand to her chest. “I was going to tell her when I got back.”
“Are you telling me, Nico, that the woman you love.” She gets up, and I can see she is angry. “Or that you say you love.” Putting her hands on her hips, she continues, “Found out you married me after the fact that you married me?”
“Oh, it’s better than that,” Lizzie says, side-eyeing me with a glare. “She found out when the press broke the story.”
“How can you be so fucking smart?” She shakes her head. “Yet so fucking dumb?”
“I don’t need this right now,” I tell them both.
“No, you don’t,” Lizzie says. “But it’s about time someone said it out loud.”
“I didn’t want any of this.” Throwing my hand up in the air, I say, “None of it. And truth be told, I knew I liked her. Like a lot, but the fact that I love her. It shocked me.”
“You fucked up,” Laurene tells me. “And not just a little bit.”
“I know you don’t think I know I fucked up,” I tell them both. “You think I don’t want to turn back time and just come out and tell her.”
“I don’t even know what to say or what to ask,” Laurene says, sitting down. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“The day before we got married,” I tell them, and I can see Laurene glare. “I know what you are going to say, and trust me, I’ve had this talk with myself over and over again. Night after fucking night. I just couldn’t tell her. Besides, I didn’t want to break your trust.”
“My trust,” Laurene says softly. “You have to know that I would have trusted you to tell her. I assume that you aren’t involved with someone who runs to the press.”
“Of course not,” I say, defending her. “Fuck, she didn’t even want to tell anyone we were involved. I was the one who kissed her in front of people.”
“This
,” Lizzie says and then looks over at Laurene, who finishes the sentence for her.
“It gets worse and worse,” she says. “Where is she now? Did she give you an ultimatum? Is that why you are going crazy to get this divorce?”
I shake my head. “She hasn’t said a word to me. Every single voice mail is unanswered. Every single text sits on the screen.”
“Well, she has class, that is for sure,” Laurene says, and I look at her. “What?” she questions me.
“You don’t even know her,” I point out.
“I don’t have to know her,” she says. “I know that she woke up one morning and found out you were married and didn’t come to your house and bust every single window. She hasn’t come here demanding that you answer her. She hasn’t gone to the press and sold her story.” She stops talking, and I just look at her. “And let’s be honest, that story would sell for millions.”
“She isn’t like that,” I say. “She would never bring anything negative to her. She is kind and loyal. The last thing she would do is make a scene or make the press aware of it. No, not my girl,” I say, the pressure on my chest hitting me when I say my girl. “She is not going to do that. She would never do that.”
“You need to get her to listen to you,” Lizzie says, and I just stare at her.
“Wow, I didn’t think of that,” I tell them both sarcastically. “I wish it was that easy.”
“I’m in shock,” Laurene says. “Complete and utter shock. One, that you were with someone. Two, that you love this person, and three, that you are a dumbass.”
“This isn’t helping anyone,” I point out to her. “I just hope that there is a loophole.”
“And then what?” she asks, folding her hands over her chest.
“And then we get annulled,” I say.
“Oh my God,” Lizzie says. “You think that is going to solve this problem.”
“He’s such a man,” Laurene says, getting up and grabbing her purse. “Us being married is the least of your problems. Even if we annul the marriage, you think she is going to talk to you?”
ONLY ONE TOUCH Page 17
