11
ADRIANA
I wrung my hands over and over, nervous as I paced the hotel room. I hadn’t heard from him at all and I was starting to freak out over what I’d seen on the internet. I was worried and angry, both emotions clashing together put me on this rollercoaster, fuck I was already on it. Up and down and all these twisted turns that had my head pounding and my heart aching.
Why did I have to fall for him of all people? Why did I choose to come here? Fate had a funny way of fucking with your mind and your heart. At some point, I’d fallen in love with him, Michael Knight, the most unavailable Bachelor in the whole of Chicago.
I was supposed to be there for him this afternoon, but I just couldn’t bring myself to face him. I could still feel the heat of his hands on my skin, the burn of his kiss on my lips.
Sipping on my glass of Malbec, I leaned my head against the coolness of the window. With my fingertip, I traced the paths of the raindrops as they trickled down. Sia’s melancholy voice rang through the hotel room and the notes of the music soothed my anxiety.
It was already seven in the evening, the interview had probably ended already, and still nothing. It wasn’t like him not to send me a text or call me at least once, especially after what he’d done to me the other night. Then again, in the recesses of my mind, I recalled that horrid scene.
He was probably exhausted from all the fucking he had endured with another woman. A vile little thing too. She wasn’t the type of person you would want to back you up. I just didn’t understand what hold she had on him. I knew how she worked, one book at a time, barely making her deadlines. And she was constantly spreading lies on social media, constantly getting herself involved in rumors. I may have been one of the quiet ones, but people tended to talk about things around me. As if I didn’t exist.
She had gotten herself involved with another author I had worked with, and she nearly destroyed his career. Fanaticism is the word I’d choose to describe her actions during that time. The only reason I knew this was because the author had been tagged to me at one point and we formed a solid enough relationship that he told me what had happened.
I kept my mouth shut, but the fact that her work was suddenly being dumped on me and other editors, said a lot about her character. When she heard I was working with many of her previous writers she flipped on me. Calling me and threatening my job, but I never said a word. And when I heard she’d taken on Michael Knight a few years back, I’d been shocked. After so many bad reviews and so many unhappy clients, how could they possibly give her a New York Times Bestseller? But she’d held onto him for a long time, well, at least until I came along.
I took another long sip of wine and swallowed hard, forcing down the lump in my throat that was threatening to combust into sobs, at any second.
How could I have been so stupid?
Michael Knight was a charmer, a flirt, a womanizer. I knew this from the beginning, he’d told me, so why didn’t I listen. But falling for him had been too fast, too easy. And trying to get away from him was going to tear me apart.
Another sip of wine and the tears started to blur my vision. I had to go and fall in love with the one man who was completely emotionally unavailable. And then he went and stabbed me in the back with the one person I had asked him to be careful with.
Did he think I was playing games? I knew what Reece was capable of and she’d just shown her claws.
I stared over at the open laptop, the pictures of their kiss in full view. It was all over social media and I was pretty sure she had something to do with it. Serves him right, instead of trusting in me, he helped her stab me in the back, and those claws sank deep.
As the tears fell down my cheeks, the only thought that soothed me was the fact that Karma was a bitch. Eventually, she would make her rounds and take them all down with her. All I had to do was sit back and watch all the little pieces fall into place. Of course, my piece never fit, it was a plain, simple pawn caught in the center of all the chaos. Watching as the rest of the chess pieces fought their battles around it.
The familiar ping of the messenger startled me. I stared over at my phone when another ping came through. I reached for it and as soon as the screen came on, his icon popped up. I hesitated a moment before opening it. When I did, anger flooded through me.
Michael: I need to see you
I stared down at his words and decided it was best to ignore him, but of course, that didn’t last long. The phone pinged again, and I couldn’t help but look at his message.
Michael: I know you are reading my messages. You either come to me or I come to you, either way, we’re having this conversation tonight.
Angrily, I threw the phone on the bed and went back to drinking my wine and wallowing in my self-pity. At least I knew that was a sure thing.
Five minutes later that ominous ping rang once again. I stared at my phone for a long moment and then finally gave in and read his message.
Michael: I’ll be there in ten minutes.
I stared at the message for a long moment and then my eyes flickered to the bed. There was absolutely no way we were having this conversation here. I needed a place where I could at least find an escape when things got heated.
Adriana: I’m not in my room.
Michael: Liar
Adriana: I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Michael: Don’t make me wait.
“Asshole!”
I threw the phone and this time it hit the headboard, sending my cover and battery clattering to the floor.
Good, I thought. At least I didn’t have to hear that damn ping again.
I sat at the edge of the bed staring at myself in the mirror. The anger mixed with the pain until I finally went numb. I didn’t expect this lack of oxygen, this sense of loss. I assumed I loved him, I just didn’t realize how much.
When did this happen? How?
Questions I couldn’t answer. Replies that would never hold any weight. There was no answer. Love doesn’t warn you, it just consumes you until your left with the memory of heated touches and breathless kisses. It’s an onslaught of unrivaled emotions that either lift you or break you. Either way, you have to somehow survive it.