by Cary Hart
“Okay, I’ll work on it. In the meantime, do you want to stay in for dinner? Maybe a little Netflix and—”
“Business, Aiden.”
“This is just two friends, pizza and beer, binge watching ‘The Walking Dead.’” His smile is genuinely relaxed.
His words ring in my ears, reminding me of Gavin and how he we haven’t even really talked except for a few texts here and there.
“How about you make it sushi, and we will call it a non-date.”
“Perfect. I’ll call down to the front desk.” He hops off the counter, making his way to the door. “See you in a few.”
“Deal. I just need to finish getting dressed and make a quick call. Then, I’ll be down.” I follow him out and into my room.
“I think your phone is in my jacket pocket. Inside left breast.” He nods to the mess of clothes still on the floor. “I’ll clean that up after dinner,” he says, not even really apologizing, then heads for the stairs.
“Yes, you will!” I tease, hoping to keep the light mood going.
Picking up his jacket, I reach in and grab my phone. A piece of paper flutters to the floor.
Hmmm!
Bending down to pick it up, I notice it’s a jeweler’s receipt for thirty-six thousand dollars.
“Holy shit!” I say to no one but myself. Scanning the receipt, I see he bought the items while we were in New York. Two watches for ten thousand and one diamond bracelet for sixteen thousand.
My bracelet.
That is just nuts. Who actually spends that kind of money, and what about those watches? Ten grand each? I mean, I knew Aiden had a couple watches, but collecting them at ten thousand a pop is kind of ridiculous.
Tucking the receipt back in his pocket, I decide that this is something I’m not even going to address. It’s in the past, and I’ve already accepted the gift.
Sitting down on the chaise lounge in the corner of the room, I power my phone on to call Gavin, but as I’m waiting for my phone to come to life, he calls.
Thank God!
“Hey you! I was just about to call you!” I lean back, getting comfortable.
“N-Niki?” Kara’s voice comes across the line. Sitting up, I begin to panic. Something has happened to Gavin.
“Kara? What’s wrong? Where’s Gavin?” I close my eyes, hoping that she just accidently misdialed, or maybe, just maybe, he had her call.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Her voice is a whisper.
“Kara, you are going to have to speak up.”
“Hold on.” I hear her padding to a different room, shutting the door. “Is this better?” she says, louder.
“Yes. I can hear you now,” I joke, remembering the old Verizon commercials.
“Uh, okay.” She doesn’t get it.
Of course not!
“I-I need to ask you a favor,” she stutters.
“Sure, but if you are wanting me to fill in at the club, I can’t. I’m in L.A. and in a couple days, Dallas.”
“Niki, I need you to back off,” she blurts out.
“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you right,” I say. “I thought you just said you need me to back off?”
“Yes. I did. You see, Gavin has an unhealthy obsession with you.”
Now I’m fuming. Gavin and I are just friends, and there is nothing that will ever come between us. Even now…this can be repaired, but what I think she is asking, I can’t do.
“Gavin and I have been getting closer. Spending more time together, and well...I’m not sure how to say this really…”
“Kara, please, just spit it out. I’m not sure what you are asking of me?”
“Niki, he can’t shake you. Everything we do, apparently, you guys do together. Except for one. Last night, after we both had a few too many, we got intimate, which was totally out-of-this-world mind-blowing. Like the kind of—”
He did what? No! Not with Kara. Please.
“Spare me the details,” I bark. I hate that I’m getting jealous, especially after what I did just an hour or so ago.
“Niki, he called out your name. Yours, not mine.”
Me? Does he? Has he always wanted to…?
“He apologized and said he just hadn’t been with anyone in a long time, but Niki…I think it’s more. You guys do almost everything together, tell each other everything, and honestly, I think I can be that person for him. I can be the one who is there for him in all the ways he needs.”
“I don’t know what to say.” And I really don’t.
“Just say you will give Gavin some breathing room to realize what he has in front of him. Give him a chance at happiness.”
I have always thought the world of Kara, but in this moment, I wish I was there so I could stick my hand down her throat and rip her voice box straight from her body.
Shut the fuck up, Kara!
“I don’t think you realize what you are asking of me. I feel like I need to talk this over with Gavin.”
“Niki, please…he told me you are involved with your boss. So, please…cut the strings so he and I can have a chance.”
Fuck me!
“Kara, I can’t promise you anything, but…” The words are out of my mouth before I can even think. So many times I had imagined us together but was afraid to take the risk.
Refusing to take the risk, you idiot!
Shit! I did this, and now…I can fix it.
“…I’ll give him some breathing room. I’ll back off.”
“Niki! Thank you so much! Gavin makes me so happy. He is definitely a once-in-a lifetime kind of guy.”
Yeah, tell me about it.
“Kara, just make sure…”
“Oh crap, Niki. He’s getting out of the shower. I have to go. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She ends the call.
What did I do?
Gavin
Get it together, Shaw!
Niki…
When she came waltzing into the club, sassy and fierce, demanding a summer job, not taking no for an answer, she was a force to be reckoned with. We instantly bonded. Over time, she became a great friend, helping me get over my ex-fiancée, who walked out on me, leaving me with a shit ton of bills and a house I could barely afford. With Niki’s encouragement, I was able to climb the ladder at Spotlight and dig myself out of the mountain of debt my ex buried me in.
Niki…
Kara. I left her lying there in my bed after a night of drunken passion. Watching me, waiting for me to say something, anything, to ease her mind, but I couldn’t. I had no excuses. I have told her time and time again that I had nothing to offer her at this time, but she never gave up. She’s been there for me, and now she is somehow in my bed. A bed that I have never shared with anyone but Niki.
Niki…
Her name is always on the tip of my tongue, and last night, I let it slip. Kara, my God, is such a beautiful, selfless woman. She overlooked it, pretending that I didn’t call her the wrong name. But I did, and continuing on when my mind was with another would have been a dickhead move.
So, I apologized and pulled her into my arms and held her. I could have sworn I felt her body shake a few times. Probably from the silent tears I caused.
Kara doesn’t need a man like me; she deserves better. But being the person she is, always the one to stick it out, she stayed. And now, after I untangled her body from mine to shower, I stand here, looking in the mirror, wondering where do I go from here? The steam is building, like the walls around my heart.
Fuck!
My mind, sleepless; my body, worn. I’m living each day just to make it to the next, but it’s hard. She consumes every single thought I have. Niki is everywhere. Every memory I have she is a part of. That girl dug her claws into my soul and planted roots.
I’ve told myself to hold on, that my luck will change and she will come around, but I waited too long; it’s too late. She found someone else, killing every single bit of hope I’ve had.
I should have never let it go that far with Kara…how do I come
back from this? How do I begin to fight and win Niki over when I did what I did? If there was any hope at all, I’ve fucked it up.
Wiping away the condensation on the mirror, I see a man I no longer recognize. The fight within fading, living for the now, forgetting the future… that is all I can do.
Niki
Sitting here, watching “The Walking Dead” with Aiden should feel good, especially after our little discussion, but it doesn’t.
I can’t stop thinking about the phone call from Kara and what, exactly, she wants from me.
Let him go.
She seems to think I have this hold on him. Something that is keeping him from giving his heart to her, and if that is true…I have to do it. I have to somehow open his eyes to what we are. That we will be nothing more than just friends.
Are we more?
I never thought about how we were with each other. Somewhere in our friendship, our secrets became a little deeper, nights a little longer.
We have crossed the line a few times but always jumped back as a caution. Neither of us is willing to give the other up.
I don’t want to let him go.
I need Gavin Shaw, and if I were to be honest, I have wanted him for a while.
Looking at Aiden, I can’t help but want to fight for him. Something so broken and raw, the urge to fix him is overwhelming. I owe it to myself and to him to see this through, to give him the chance to show me who the real Aiden Alexander is.
So, give Gavin that same chance.
Love divided. The decision should be easy…it isn’t.
“Everything okay?” The deep timbre of Aiden’s voice interrupts my thoughts.
“Yeah. I’m just thinking about you; that’s all.” I smile, wiggling my feet. “Don’t stop. That was feeling good.”
“You like that, huh?”
“Oh yeah! Don’t stop.”
He continues his rub down, working his way up my legs, slowly kneading my calves, relaxing my body.
His eyes never leave mine.
“Damn it!” Aiden pulls his phone out of his pocket and accepts a call. “Yes? Okay, yes. I’ll be right down.”
He lifts my feet off his lap. “There is an issue with a package downstairs.”
“I can go take care of it. Why don’t you stay in so you don’t miss any of the episode?” I offer, hoping he will take me up on it. I need a break from the emotional rollercoaster ride I’ve been on. Plus, he’s paying me a whole hell of a lot of money…I have to feel like I’m doing something.
“I got it. Just relax, and I’ll be back in a few.” He slides on his shoes and kisses me on the forehead before he heads down to the lobby.
Niki
Everything with Aiden is so intense. The foot rub was no different. Deciding to distract us with food, I call down to room service and order a sundae bar with extra whipped cream. I would be lying if I said I didn’t imagine what else we could do with it, but until he can free himself of whatever baggage he is carrying around, I’ll push those thoughts down.
Running to grab an extra sheet, I spread it out on the floor, getting ready for our ice cream picnic when I hear the door open.
“Hey! I thought you would take a little longer. I have a surprise—” I round the corner and am shocked to see who is standing in the middle of the room.
“Carmen?” I’m confused as to how the lady from the pool is here, standing in the middle of our suite. She’s wearing a blood-red wrap dress and oversized sunglasses.
This screams of a Lifetime movie situation. Those never end well.
“Hello, Niki. How’s your trip so far?” she asks, acting as if this is a normal, everyday occurrence, walking into a stranger’s hotel room and having tea time conversation.
“It’s good, and don’t get me wrong; it’s nice to see you, but how did you get into my hotel room?”
“Hahahaha! Your hotel room?” Her voice is equal parts evil and shrill.
“I’m sorry?”
“Miss Sanders, I believe you are confused…wait, let me remove these first.” She takes off her glasses and steps toward me. “I don’t want anything to disrupt my vision when I see your reaction to this. “This isn’t your hotel room. This is my husband’s.”
Liar!
This lady is crazy. Looking to see which phone is closer, I gauge the time it would take for me to run to one and call down to security.
“Carmen, I’m afraid you are mistaken. This room belongs to my boss, Aiden Alexander, the president of Xandros Pharmaceuticals.” I take a step to the right after deciding the bar phone is closer.
“Well, then. I’m afraid we haven’t been properly introduced.” She walks up to me, holding out her hand. “I’m Carmen Alexander, the wife of your boss, Aiden Alexander.”
This can’t be happening!
I can’t even begin to understand how I’m feeling. She’s lying. There is no way Aiden would omit the fact he is married.
Or would he? “I can’t be who you need me to be.” His words play over and over in my head.
“Oh! Shit!” I bend over, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.
“Oh dear! You’re going to be one of those.” She comes over to rub my back.
Jerking away from her touch, I snap, “Get away from me.”
“So, you are a feisty one. I thought you would be.” She walks in a circle, examining me from head to toe. Lifting up a piece of my hair, she says, “Hmmm. I’m surprised he chose a brunette. You’re different from the others.”
Others? There are others?
I try to tilt my head away, but she yanks me back. “Shit!” I exclaim.
“I’m not done with you!” Her smile is wicked, and when she lets go, I take a step back, putting some distance between us.
“You need to get out!” I scream. I’m starting to lose my shit with this bitch.
Where is Aiden?
“You have been traveling with my husband for almost a month. I think you owe me a few minutes of your time.”
“You’re crazy.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “My mental state is debatable.”
“Can you please leave until Aiden gets back, and then we can discuss this further?”
“You stupid cunt.” She slowly shakes her head back and forth. “What is there to discuss? Aiden is married, and I’m his wife. We even had a church wedding and cake. Gasp. Can you believe it?” She brings her hands to her cheeks, feigning shock.
“I just…”
The receipt. My bracelet and two watches. His and hers.
Looking down at her wrist, I see a diamond encrusted watch. “Your watch. When did you get it?”
“You really are wasting my time, but I’ll play along so you can work this all out in your pretty little head.” She rolls her eyes. “When he got back from New York. He bought mine the same time he purchased yours.”
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“Well, the others didn’t seem to care. They just accepted the gift and kept on fucking my husband, knowing it was two of a kind.” She counts on her hand, “Doing the math, it would have been cheaper, and less of a headache, if he just bought a prostitute.”
He would have told me. She’s crazy.
“Let me make this clear for you. Aiden is married – to me. You will never be enough to make him leave. I own him. If he leaves, he loses everything his family worked so hard to achieve.”
“You said there are others?” I’m trying to make sense of what she is saying.
“I was wondering when you would catch on.” Her laugh is like nails on a chalkboard, but I need to hear the answer. Am I just another notch in the bed post? “Well, let’s see if this sounds familiar.” She starts ticking them off one by one. “Your first encounter, hot and seductive, and it didn’t go any further because he had to leave, but not before he stored his number in your phone when you weren’t paying attention.”
I never found out how he programmed his number in.
“Then, you had a
playful text war, back and forth, where you finally agreed to meet him because he had this one-of-a-kind proposition. This part always makes me laugh because if you think about it, he bought you. Which can either be considered prostitution or human trafficking…and since you went willingly…I’m going with prostitute.”
“I’m not a prostitute.”
“Honey, it’s okay. Julia Roberts made it appealing in ‘Pretty Woman,’ but let me tell you,” she holds her hand up to her mouth, whispering, “Aiden is no Richard Gere.” She winks.
“I didn’t—”
“Let me finish. Now, where did I leave off? Kissing, check. Text, check. Offer, check.” She holds up a finger like a light bulb went off. “Then, he gave you the Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde act.” She lowers her voice, “I’m Aiden Alexander, big bad businessman. I don’t love anything or anyone.” Her voice is now higher, “I’m Aiden Alexander, soft, loveable. I can’t give you what you need. Love me. Pick me. Choose me.” Her eyes roll again. “That Aiden…he’s a little pathetic, if you ask me.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Niki, you’re no fun. I really thought you would play the role of ‘the other woman’ better. Where’s Niki the badass? The one who is feisty and fierce? Come out and play with me, Niki. You know you want to.” She curls her finger at me, calling to my inner demons.
“Carmen, I think you’d better go. Aiden, will be back—”
She cuts me off, looking at her watch. “In 3, 2, 1…”
The door opens on her cue. Aiden is on his phone and doesn’t see us in front of him. “The front desk had no idea—” The sight of both of us stops him in his tracks. Looking from Carmen to me and back again, he asks, “What are you doing here?”
Stalking over to Aiden, she reaches up to give him a kiss. He turns his cheek. “What, no kiss for the wifey?” She pats his chest, and Aiden stiffens. “Did your poor, pathetic whore take them all?”
“She’s not a whore.
He’s married.
“Aiden?” A lone tear escapes down my cheek.
