Chapter 38

Sam held me all the way to my condo. I leaned into her, trusting her while I was blinded from my tears. Jenny arrived not long after and rushed to comfort me.

“My life is over,” I said between sobs.

“No, it isn’t, sweetie. I promise,” Jenny said, rubbing my back.

“Why did I ever agree to go to dinner with him?”

“Because you were attracted to him. And it didn’t work out. The end,” Sam said.

I turned to look at her through my watery eyes. “Yes, the end. No relationship. No career. No money to pay my mortgage. Only a big, gaping wound made by Matt and pissed in by Jay.”

“They’re different,” Jenny said.

“But he lied about who he was, just the way Matt did.”

“But his reason for lying was different. He lied to protect himself. Understandably. Whereas…” Jenny’s voice trailed off.

“Matt lied to take advantage of me. Just like Jay.”

“I don’t know that’s what Jay did,” Jenny said.

“Unbelievable. You’re taking his side?”

“No. Not at all. I’m just pointing out his motivation.”

“His motivation doesn’t matter, he still lied. Confirmed my belief in all men. I don’t know why I ever let you convince me to go out with him. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be hurt right now.”

“But you had so much fun,” Jenny said.

“Sure, until his lie was exposed all over the internet! I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m on the six o’clock news.”

“And Facebook,” Sam added, bringing us mugs of coffee.

“Fucking Facebook. Everyone will know. Everyone I went to high school with. To college with. People I haven’t even met yet.”

“What will they know? That you, Abbie White, scored with a hot billionaire. That’s it. And they’ll be jealous,” Sam said.

I sat straighter and wiped my eyes. Maybe that was true. My public humiliation was only limited to me looking like an employee sleeping with the boss. Explicitly. Naked in the photo as I straddled him topless in the woods. Thank God I’d still had my jeans on.

The memory made me smile. “It was an amazing day.”

“I’d guess so. Naked in the woods with a man like him,” Sam said, smiling at me.

The memory fell away. “What do I do now?”

“You don’t think you can go back to Force McAllister?” Jenny asked.

“No way.”

“You have your promotion. A secure paycheck. You have so much enthusiasm for this new position,” Sam said.

“But everyone would know. Everyone has seen me naked and fucking the CEO. There’s no way I can face them again. Besides, I’m staying as far away from Jay as possible.”

“It’s a huge company. There are a thousand people, you wouldn’t have to go anywhere near him,” Sam said, stroking my forearm. But her words had exploded into me. One thousand people had seen me topless. I broke down again.

The intercom buzzed, and I felt the color drain from my face.

“If that’s Jay, don’t let him up,” I managed to say between sobs.

“Of course, honey.”

“Delivery for A. White.”

Jenny buzzed him up. I knew what it would be. Some fancy, expensive gift from Jay, trying to buy my forgiveness. Except there was nothing that could buy my forgiveness. Nothing. I’d reject the delivery and have it sent back to him, except I didn’t have the strength to drag myself from the couch.

Sam clasped my hand while we waited. Jenny appeared in front of us, a look of surprise on her face.

A man walked behind her, carrying a vase so large he was hugging it in his arms. The vase was full of yellow roses. Another man appeared behind him, carrying a vase just as large, this one containing lilies. A third man came in, his vase a mixed bouquet. And a fourth, and a fifth. Their vases were full of tulips and sunflowers.

My living room was stuffed with the vases, and barely any room left over for the people in it to stand.

The men left and returned, so the first man now reappeared with another vase. This one had pink asters. The second man came back carrying a vase of purple flowers I didn’t know the name of. The living room was full, and they had to put some in the bedroom.

By the time the fifth man reappeared with another vase, he had to leave it in the entranceway. I couldn’t help but laugh. My condo looked like a florist’s.

The first man reappeared again, and I wondered how many more vases were going to arrive. The vases didn’t stop coming until there was no room to squeeze even one more stem. They’d put two in the bathroom, covered every inch of my kitchen counter, and left a narrow path to squeeze through to the front door.

Once the deliverymen left, Sam and Jenny ended up dragging over half of the vases into the hallway to create some space in my condo.

I welcomed the overwhelming scent that swirled around the room, somehow it comforted me. Though I could never forgive Jay, I appreciated the gesture. The thing that struck me most about the flowers was that none of them had a card. No note. Nothing. I guess he knew there was nothing he could say.

We ordered pizza for dinner. When it arrived, we had to open the oven and set the box in there, because there was no space to put the box. We turned the TV on to watch a movie, but much of the screen was blocked by sprigs of flowers.

“I’m staying over tonight,” Jenny announced.

I had stopped crying by then, but was drained. The life had been sucked from me. I’m glad she offered, I didn’t want to be alone. I needed to feel loved from someone. And I needed her to monitor my intercom. I was still nervous about Jay turning up at my condo.

“I’d stay too, but,” Sam looked around the room, “there’s no room with all these flowers.”

“Are you going to go to work tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. I should come back here.”

“You’ll be bombarded with questions about me. You know that, right?”

“I don’t care. You know I can handle myself. Maybe I should go in? No, I’m definitely going in. Someone’s got to be there on your side.”

My heart swelled at her words. I was so lucky to have such great friends. That was all I need in life.

My phone beeped. It had to be Jay. I hadn’t heard from him all day. Maybe he was letting me clear my head. Maybe he thought I’d calm down and get over it. No Jay, I wouldn’t. I picked up my phone but was trembling so badly I couldn’t hit the message icon. Sam took it from my hand and opened it for me.

Let’s talk. J.

“No fucking way,” I blurted. Sam typed what I said then added several exclamation marks before hitting send. Even though he deserved much harsher words, my stomach felt queasy at the thought of him reading the text.

“There, he should get the picture,” Sam said.

We sat for a few minutes, all of us staring at the phone, but he didn’t text again.

* * *

I barely slept and often woke, only to become aware of Jenny holding me tight. Each time the weight of her arm comforted me enough to fall back asleep. At least for a short while.

She was still asleep when I awoke around six. I didn’t want to wake her, so I tiptoed around the flowers and into the living room. My phone was still sitting on the coffee table from last night, and I picked it up, my heart pounding as I looked for a response from Jay. But there was none.

There was no way I wanted anything to do with him. To ever see him again. Still, it might be nice if he groveled a bit. At least showed some regret for what he did.

I sat and absentmindedly surfed the internet on my phone, being careful to avoid any websites that might have my story. Like Buzzfeed or Perez Hilton. Man, I loved those sites, but this was exactly the kind of story they loved. Instead I watched a load of silly animal videos on YouTube.

Jenny appeared about an hour later.

“Hey, how are you?”

“As you’d expect.”

She sat on the sofa, squished up against me, and together we watched a cat have a bath and a dog play with a bird.

“You know, you can stay here as long as you need, hiding and recovering. No one will expect anything more of you.”

“Good, I intend to. Except I have to pay my bills. How am I going to manage?”

“You don’t need to worry about that right now. Force McAllister isn’t going to stop paying you. You know that, right?”

“I don’t want his money.”

“Jeez, Abbie, they owe you. Take it all and don’t feel guilty. Not for one second.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m not saying do it forever, just don’t stress about money at the moment. Marla will help you find another job. Take your time and find the right one. Until then, your mortgage is covered.”

The tears started falling again. I looked at her and said, “But no one will hire me. They’ll all know this story. My reputation is ruined.”