Chapter 36

Chelsea stretched and inhaled deeply. Gosh, it was good to be back in her hotel room. Spending a week in the hospital for dehydration, fever, and a strep throat was not something she cared to repeat. She’d specifically requested only Reid to come get her, and that Colt should not appear in front of her until she was ready to face him.

She replayed that night over and over in her mind. There were two women, fully naked on his bed. She heard him snore, and he was in his briefs, but that did not refute the fact that they were there for one reason only. How could he do that to her? What was she to do? There were options. She could go back to just being the manager’s assistant and forget any relationship with Colt. Or, she could go back home, which meant she’d have to quit. Another option would be finding a new job or even going back to New York and staying with Molly.

In any case, their newly formed relationship was over. The pain in her chest was still there, but now she was able to breathe. Of course, they hadn’t operated on her. The pain she felt must have been heartbreak.

She swung her feet from the bed and went to shower. Everything felt great and new. Being in that warehouse for five days, tied up, hungry and unmoving was something she would never forget. Detective Henry questioned her and all she could tell him was how the perp smelled. The one who grabbed her smelled of stale sweat. Other than that and the Darth Vader voice, she had no clue who it was.

After her shower, she made up her mind to confront Colt. She picked up her new cell phone, the one Reid bought her and dialed his number. Of course, she’d lost her bag and her belongings. Not much was in the bag, only her purse, phone, the hotel key card and lip-gloss.

“Hello?” Colt’s voice brought heat to her cheeks.

She bit her lips at her body’s betrayal, how it reacted to him even now. With her heart fluttering atop the belying pain, she returned. “Can you come to my room now?”

“Yes, be there in a sec,” he replied.

She found she was breathing shallow. Her palms became sweaty, and she started pacing the room. This was not going as planned. She thought she’d have a nice quiet chat and set things straight between them. She never planned to be so nervous with her heart flying around her chest. The knock at the door startled her, making her jump almost out of her skin.

She took a steadying breath and opened the door, trying to appear calm. “Come in,” her voice shook a little.

She tried to avoid his eyes, but her senses were aroused from his scent. He’d recently showered from the fresh scent and aftershave. With wobbly legs, she moved into the room, gathering her wits. With shoulders squared and chin up, she faced him.

“We are no longer dating. You are free to be yourself now,” she said.

The rehearsal was better because now she found she was blinking back tears. Anyhow, she stood her ground and lifted her eyes. His pained expression softened her heart and eased some of her own pain.

“I understand,” he said in a gravelly tone.

She sensed the reservedness in him and knew he was holding back. For a brief moment, she wondered if she was being unfair by not hearing him out first before making her decision. However, as she noticed his eyes as they watched her and the way he set his jaw, a spark of anger made her stand her ground. He wasn’t even questioning her. How could he just accept what she said without asking her forgiveness?

“Then it’s settled.” She walked to the door and yanked it open. Her shoulder jerked with the impact, and she winced.

Without a word, Colt walked out, and she closed the door behind him. The tears she’d been holding back pushed through her reserve and stung her eyes. She flopped onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow. The pain was real, her first heartbreak.

An hour later, she called Reid. When she spoke with Colt, she had believed that things could go back to the way they were. She’d be Reid’s assistant, and he could resume his playboy rock star existence. Now, she didn’t see that as possible. The idea of him bedding some bimbo every night was painful. The thought of being around him after they’d gone so far, was excruciating.

There was a knock, and she knew it was Reid. She let him in and stood facing him. There was no use delaying the inevitable. He seemed curious as to why she invited him to her room. It was not something she’d done before.

“I’m quitting,” she said clearly. “I’ll be leaving in the morning.”

He dropped himself on the edge of her bed. “Do you have to do this now? Can’t you wait a bit longer?”

“I’m sorry, Reid; I can’t stay any longer,” she told him.

“Can’t you reconsider? Give him a chance. He’s …” Reid was saying, but she held up her hand to stop him.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk about Colt.”

“Chelsea, there are things you don’t know …” he continued.

“No!” she raised her voice. “Reid, please stop. I don’t want to know.”

“Okay, you’ve been through a lot, so I won’t stop you. The police will keep in touch, I’m sure, as the case is still open. I’ll drop your paycheck off in a bit.”

“Thanks for understanding,” she replied in a calmer tone.

As soon as he was out the door, she began to pack.

* * * *

“This is the last straw!” Reid grumbled as he pushed the suite door. Colt’s door was locked, and the others weren’t around. He had the urge to break down the door and beat Colt to a pulp.

It was Wednesday morning. He wondered if perhaps he could get a temporary worker until he found someone else. However, the anger inside him was becoming intense enough that he wanted to hit something … or someone. He pulled out the checkbook from the desk drawer and wrote her name. When he reached the figure section, he hesitated. What if she sued them for damages for the kidnapping? Shouldn’t he pay her enough as compensation?

He wrote a figure that was ten times her salary plus extra. That should keep her a while until she found a job. He pulled a blank sheet from the stack of papers Chelsea neatly kept on the desk. On it, he began to write a recommendation for her. It was the least he could do. When he was done, he dropped the check in an envelope and sealed it. He did the same with the letter and took them to her room.

After knocking a few times with no answer, he pushed both envelopes under the door and returned to the suite. Once there, he made a few calls that yielded little fruit. The people he spoke with did not have the qualifications that Chelsea possessed.

“How old are you?” he asked one person referred to him by the employment bureau.

“I’m 27.”

“Tell me about yourself,” he said. This one sounded nice. He liked her voice.

“I love dogs, and my favorite food is pizza,” she began.

Reid rolled his eyes. “I meant I need to know your work experience.”

“I worked as a waitress for three months,” she informed him.

“What are your qualifications? Did you go to college?”

“Well … are you going to verify this? Are you giving me the job or not?”

He sighed. “I suppose the answer is no, no college education. Did you at least graduate high school?”

Click!

“She hung up on me.” Reid moved the phone from his ears and stared at it in disbelief. At that moment, Colt’s door opened, and he walked out looking like something the cat dragged in. “This is all your doing,” he flung at Colt. “You’d better fix this, fast!”

“What are you on rattling about now?” Colt glared at him.

Reid gritted his teeth while he seethed inside. He’d had enough! It hit him that this was it. Over the last ten years, he’d lost more than a dozen capable assistants all because of Colt. Yes, Chelsea was the first he admitted that he liked, but he’d broken a few hearts and made the lives of the others a living hell.

“Did you know that Chelsea quit?”

They stared at each other. Reid saw the shock on Colt’s face before it disappeared to be replaced by indifference.

“It’s all your fault, Colt. Why’d you have to fuck around? Why couldn’t you keep it in?”

Colt’s anger distorted his face, and his voice became hard, “I told you nothing happened. Do you even know what it was like for me? I never got to make things right before my mother passed away, and then Chelsea disappeared.”

“I know you had a lot to deal with, but that’s no excuse,” Reid said.

Colt stalked to his room, slamming the door behind him. Reid shook his head and left the suite. If he could just talk to Chelsea once more, maybe he could convince her. When he got to her room, the door was ajar, and the hotel housekeepers were cleaning it.

“Where’s the occupant of this room?” he asked the startled housemaid.

“I don’t know. The supervisor told us to have the room prepared. The tenant must have checked out, sir,” she replied, turning back to pulling off the bed sheets.

He was out and in the elevator in no time. Emily, the supervisor, was at the front desk. She looked up from her task with a smile.

“Where’s Chelsea?” he asked.

She frowned as she replied, “She checked out. I thought you knew.”

“Damn!” he ran his hand through his hair and scrunched his face in frustration. “Damn it. She said she’d leave in the morning.”

The vein in his forehead began to throb along with the one at his temple. He closed his eyes, trying to remain calm. This was too much now. More than a decade of bullshit, trying to make a decent man of Colt, and this was the payment. He’d about had enough.

He was back in the suite in less than two minutes where he began to gather his things. He cleared the desk, returning to his own room where he stuffed his belongings into his travel bag and suitcase. After packing, he pulled out the credit cards belonging to the band and dropped them in an envelope. When he was satisfied that he had everything, he went back to Colt’s room and pounded on the door.

“What now?” the rock star pulled the door open, glowering at him.

“Here,” Reid shoved the items belonging to the band in Colt’s hands. “Find another manager that will put up with your bullshit!”

“What the fuck’s the matter now?”

“Chelsea’s gone and now, so am I.”

“Reid, you can’t quit on me; we have two more states to tour,” Colt pointed out.

Reid gave Colt an angry stare. “I don’t give a fuck!” he bellowed. “In some many years, there have been fifteen assistants. She was the best and to think of what she went through all because of you. Then you turn around and hurt her. Why’d you have to mess with her Colt, her of all people?”

“I love her.”

“You don’t know what love is. See ya.” Reid walked away.

Colt stood transfixed as Reid walked away. Briefly, he thought of begging him to stay, but his pride got the better of him.

“Go, you disloyal piece of shit!” he barked.

The door slammed with Reid on the outside. A minute later while he was still standing, holding the envelope Reid shoved in his hand, the door opened, and the other members of the band rushed in. They were excited and anxious.

“Colt, what’s happening? Did Chelsea and Reid quit?”

“Yeah,” he answered with acidity, stepping inside his room and slamming his own door.

He threw the envelope on the bed and walked to the bathroom, stripping while going. Standing in the shower, he turned the tap on full blast. The powerful sprays of the water stung his skin. This did not bother him. He needed a plan to move forward. Managers were a dime a dozen. All he had to do was call his attorney to find him a good one. On the other hand, the band could manage without one. Managers were too much trouble, and he didn’t want them quitting on him again.

When he finished dressing after the shower, he found the boys waiting for him in the common area. There was a somber mood, and he could tell they had something serious on their minds. It crossed his mind that perhaps the police told them something, or that someone else was in trouble. He didn’t know how much more bad news he could handle in a day.

“What’s going on?” he asked wearily.

They all shuffled uncomfortably, standing about. This was not good, he thought. The spokesman, the one they always shoved up front came forward.

“Colt, it’s been a rough ride for a while. You know, a few months ago we were all thinking of moving on and then things started to get better …” Tony addressed him.

“Get to the point, will you?”

“We,” he swept his hand around the room, indicating the band. “We don’t think we can continue like this.”

“What are you saying?” He was confused.

“We quit the band.”