I took a deep breath, waiting for Amanda to knock on the door of my apartment. I had been back for three days and refused to see anybody. All I did was lay around, miserable and guilty, totally ashamed of everything that I had done. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Amanda, but she was bringing my things from work, and I had the vague hope that seeing her might take my mind off of Cooper, at least for a little while.
The doorbell rang and I dragged myself off the couch, opening it to see Amanda with a cardboard box with a picture of pizza on it. She set it down on the counter and looked at me with a frown on her lips.
“You look awful,” she said.
“Thanks,” I said dryly, opening the pizza box. She picked up and piece and started eating it without grabbing a plate, burning herself in the process. I laughed and brought her one from the kitchen, getting my own slice and carrying it all into the living room.
“So tell me what happened,” Amanda said. “And don’t tell me no. I need to know what’s going on. First, you get fired. Then Cooper Maverick sells his share—”
“He what?” I asked, shock evident in my voice. “Cooper sold his share?”
“Yeah, yesterday,” Amanda said. “It was a surprise to everyone. Dirk was over the moon. So what happened?”
“Why did he sell his share? Did he say?”
“Not that I know of,” she said, then put her hand over mine. “Honey, what happened with Cooper? What’s going on?”
“Dirk sent me to Texas with Cooper to try to convince him to sell his share of the business. That’s what Dirk wanted all along. I told him that I’d try—he promised I wouldn’t have to work for Patricia anymore once I came back. He implied that I’d get my old job back. And working with Patricia was awful—I would have done anything to get away from her. He made it seem like I didn’t have a choice, so I agreed.”
“Did Cooper know that’s why you were going with him? I would think he wouldn’t want to take you.”
“I thought he didn’t know,” I said miserably. “It turns out that he did. He brought it up the last time I saw him. I think he knew all along. It explains some things.”
“Like what?”
“He started out as an asshole. Always on my ass. But then—he got sweeter, and softer, and we got—we got really close.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Amanda asked. “Did you—you know—lose your virginity?”
I nodded miserably.
“Yes,” I said. “And it was perfect. But now he’s gone. He sold his share—which means those employees at that branch are losing their jobs and it’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault, honey,” Amanda said. “You did what you thought was best. You didn’t know you were going to fall for him. You couldn’t help it.”
“I should have known better, Amanda,” I said, pushing my hair out of my face. “And now he’s gone. He would never trust me again. I’m so—I’m so angry at him, too, I just want to slap him or something. He’s so difficult and I can’t—”
“You can’t get him off of your mind?” she asked gently. I nodded, putting my face in my hands.
“Now I don’t have a job, I don’t have the man I love, I don’t have anything,” I said. “No family—”
“Listen,” Amanda said. “I’m your family. You’re going to get through this. You’re awesome at what you do in the advertising industry, Violet. And you were being overlooked at Maverick. It’s a good thing that you’re going to move on. Dirk is an asshole. You deserve better.”
I sighed. “You might be right, but that still won’t help me find a job.”
“You’ll get back on your feet,” Amanda said, pulling her bag close to her feet and pulling out a bottle of wine. I laughed.
“You were prepared for this,” I said. She nodded.
“Somehow, I knew you’d want to drink. Come on,” she said, taking my hand and leading me into the kitchen, where she poured two glasses of wine and handed one to me. Before I knew it, I was doubled over with her, giggling, with Cooper lingering at the back of my mind. It felt good to drink wine, forget about what I’d lost, and spend just a few fun moments with my best friend.
I wished her goodnight at the end, feeling happy and content for a moment as she hugged me goodbye. As soon as I shut the door behind her, however, my mind wandered back to Cooper. He had sold his share of the business. The business branch would close, and all of those employees would be forced out of a job or forced into the corporate building like the one in New York, efficient and effective but like a prison inside and out. The more I thought about it, the more it made me angry. I found myself pacing back and forth in my living room. If Cooper had sold his share, that meant he was in town, and I knew of only one place that I could guess he would be. I picked up the phone and called the Copper Hotel, the place he had been staying at the first time I’d met him in the bar there.
“Copper Hotel,” said the man who answered in a pleasant voice.
“Hi, I was just wondering—is there a Cooper Maverick staying there with you right now? I’m his lawyer and I’m having trouble getting ahold of him.”
“You’re his lawyer?” the man asked. “He did mention something about a lawyer—what did you say your name was?”
“Uh—Misty. Misty Grey,” I said, praying that he wouldn’t know any better.
“Right. That’s right,” the man said. “Misty Grey. Mr. Maverick is here. He’s staying in room 519. Should I let him know you’re coming?”
“No,” I said. “I’ll just be there in a few minutes. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Ms. Grey,” the man said, hanging up the phone. I chewed on my lip, going over my speech in my head. I was angry at Cooper for giving up his business, giving up on his people like that. He had always been so adamant that it was something he would never do, and now he had caved and done it, just because he was angry. I got dressed quickly, stopping to look in the mirror before I went. My heart was fluttering nervously, even though I knew that I couldn’t let seeing him affect me. There was no way that I could ever have a relationship with Cooper if he couldn’t ever trust me again. I also wouldn’t be able to look at him the same after he’d gone through with something as heartless as letting his employees go without a net. It made a lump form in my throat knowing that I had contributed to his decision. It was my fault, but he had decided to go along with it, to quit and give up instead of fighting for what was right.
I got on the bus quickly, making it just in time, running as fast as I could to get to the stop. I was breathing heavily by the time I got there and climbed the bus quickly. I was nervous, wiping my clammy hands on my dress as I stood with my arm wrapped around the pole. I was too nervous to sit, so I stood, keep my balance every time the bus jerked to a stop. I climbed off when I got in front of the hotel, looking up at the massive place. I imagined that I could see him on the fifth floor, and wondered exactly what he looked like right now. I hurried inside and took the elevator, tapping my fingers on my thighs as I went.
I took a deep breath when I got to room 519, knocking on the door after a long moment’s hesitation. When he opened it, he froze, staring at me. His jaw was covered in a rough stubble and the t-shirt he was wearing was wrinkled. He had on a pair of sweatpants and his eyes widened in surprise.
“Why did you do it?” I asked him angrily. “Why did you sell your share? All of those people at the business branch—they’re just going to be sucked into this horrible corporation. They’ll have to work for Dirk and Patricia. How could you do that, Cooper? I thought you were better than that.”
He glared at me, but still didn’t say anything. His eyes studied me intently, watching my face.
“Are you going to answer me?” I asked him. “Do you have any defense?”
“No,” he said, his jaw tight as he spoke. “No, I’m not going to answer you.”
“Cooper,” I said. “I know you’re mad. You have every right to be mad. Those people don’t deserve this. They love you. They’re good people. Think of their families.”
“I have thought about their families. Over and over. Every minute I’m not thinking about you, I’m thinking about those people.”
“So why—”
“Violet,” he said. “Stop it.”
“But—”
“Violet,” he said to me, touching my cheek, pulling my face in for a kiss. “Just stop.”
“I—I have to go,” I said to him, my voice trembling, whole body shaking with need and frustration. He kissed me again.
“I love you,” he said. “I love you. It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters,” I said, my heart pounding. I turned away from him and hurried down the hallway to the elevators, felt his eyes on me as I pressed the button. I stepped in and the doors were about to shut when he stuck his arm through, holding them open. He got on the elevator with me, pushed the door closed button, then pressed the red button so that the old elevator froze in place.