Chapter 7

‘Send me a pic,’ the message reads.

 

Lexi lets out a soft chuckle as she closes the bedroom door behind her and walks over to the living room. She’s still not used to living in such a spacious apartment but Adam never heeds her request of transferring to a smaller flat. She plops down on the beige L-shaped couch and stretches her legs out on the cushion. When her butt sinks deeper into the couch, she takes a selfie.

 

When she checks the picture on her screen, she can’t help but grimace. It’s such an unflattering picture of her. Her caramel brown hair falls in disarray past her shoulders and her face looks pale. The only saving feature is she looks quite cute and adorable. Her hazel eyes are looking up towards the camera like a puppy. When she sends the picture, it doesn’t take more than a minute for Adam to reply.

 

‘You’re beautiful, but not the kind of picture I have in mind. ;D’

 

Lexi lets out a sigh and stares up towards the ceiling. She misses Adam and she’s getting quite horny with his absence. He’s still in London for his meeting with the investors and won’t get back in a couple of days. With a full schedule everyday, they barely get a chance to message one another, and after spending the past months as his assistant and most hours of the day together, Lexi realizes that Adam has become a huge part of her life. Without him here, she’s getting bored as hell.

 

‘Maybe later when I take a shower. ;D’

 

When Adam doesn’t reply after a few minutes, Lexi sets her phone down on the coffee table in front of her. Then, she reaches for the remote and turns the TV on. She flips through various channels, grimacing, laughing, and cursing from time to time at the random shows being played. After a while, she settles on a business channel. It isn’t her first channel of choice, but Adam’s on TV. He’s being interview about recently closing the deal. Lexi knows this is a pre-recorded interview, but still, she’s hooked – just because it’s Adam on screen.

 

“Congratulations Mr. Sinclair,” says the interviewer. “When can we expect the opening of The House?”

 

The House is the name of the luxury chain of department stores which is the newest brand of The Sinclair Group of Companies. With already two locations in the US, in New York and San Francisco specifically, and a third one to open in the UK, SGC is diversifying its holdings and expanding at a fast rate. Lexi can’t be any prouder of Adam and everyone else on the team.

 

“Thank you, I’m still on a high after the meeting yesterday,” he says, unable to hold his happiness as he’s smiling from ear to ear. “The first London store will open early next year, so everyone watch out for that.”

 

“I’ll probably be one of the first in line!” gushes the interviewer. Lexi can see she’s unintentionally flirting with Adam. Who won’t? The man can hold a stare and make any woman feel like the most special being on Earth. The interviewer’s voice suddenly rises up a few notches when she says, “So what can everyone expect? How is The House different from other department stores?”

 

Adam lets out a deep cough before he straightens his back even further, and then answers, “Well The House isn’t only a store. It’s a lifestyle brand. You won’t only be shopping for clothes, accessories, and shoes but there will be a couple cafes inside and even a salon. It’s the whole package.”

 

“Oh! That sounds great,” says the woman. “So it’s mainly targeted to women, am I correct?”

 

Adam shakes his head and sends the interviewer a small smile.

 

“Definitely, not,” he begins, hands on his sides. “The store takes up five floors, and two of those will cater to the men’s section while one is for children. As I mentioned earlier, The House is a lifestyle brand, so you can’t expect to do much more than shopping.”

 

The interview carries on as the woman continues to ask one question after the other, and Adam, unsurprisingly, manages to answer each one effortlessly. As Lexi watches Adam onscreen, she wishes she has his confidence and quick thinking. He has mastered the art of eradicating ‘uhm’ and ‘ah’ from his vocabulary and answers questions with well thought-out, yet unpracticed answers.

 

“Last question,” the interviewer then says, and she has a smirk on his lips. “It’s unrelated to the previous ones…” Lexi has a feeling she knows what the question is. “So do you have a girlfriend?”

 

Adam lets out a soft laugh before he looks over to the camera. The lens zooms closer to his face, and now, it’s as if he’s staring at Lexi. There’s a secretive expression on those jade green eyes of his, and Lexi opens her mouth for a moment. She misses those eyes.

 

“No, I don’t,” he answers.

 

The interviewer then says, “Now, there you have it folks…Mr. Adam Sinclair!”

 

When the show rolls into a commercial, Lexi’s short of breath. The scene a while ago keeps replaying in her head, and she doesn’t know how to react.

 

“So do you have a girlfriend?”

 

“No, I don’t.”

 

When the words finally sink in, Lexi suddenly feels a heavy pain in her heart. She’s extremely disappointed and sad, and she’s trying her best not to cry, but she also knows she has no right to expect anything from Adam. She knows he gave the right answer.

 

He doesn’t have a girlfriend.

 

Having sex multiple times is no indication of being in a relationship, but Lexi hates to admit that since she wishes for the opposite. She wishes there’s something going on between them, something more than sex.

 

That day when she told him about her virginity, she remembered clearly what he offered – a solution to her being a virgin. That solution was sex. There was no talk of a relationship or exclusively dating. Adam took her out on a date because he didn’t want her first time to be just sex. He wanted it to be a little more special. That didn’t mean there was something more.

 

To her dismay, Lexi starts crying as tears leave her eyes and fall down her cheeks. She’s sniffing and trying not to let snot run down her nose. She knows she looks despicable at the moment, and she knows how pathetic she’s being. She spends the next half hour just crying and letting everything out. It’s quite a stress reliever. When she has no more tears to cry, she walks over to her bathroom and takes a hot shower.

 

When she’s all fresh and bathed, Lexi plops herself on the king-sized bed. She stares at the ceiling and forces herself to drift off to sleep, but her mind’s aflutter. She keeps recounting the interview earlier and all their intimate moments together. Now, she feels bitter that her first sexual experiences include him. She’s hoping these won’t hunt her seventy years down the road. She doesn’t want to be thinking of Adam still by that time.

 

A ‘ping’ coming from her phone has her reaching out for it on her bedside table. When she reads the message on the screen, she tries not to cry for the nth time.

 

‘So…still waiting for that picture…;)’

 

Lexi throws her phone towards the carpeted floor. She doesn’t want to think of him. All she wants is to fall asleep and start a new day. It takes two hours until she drowses off to sleep. She has no plans of replying to him.