CHAPTER 20
Joanna
“We really have to cut this out,” I said, pulling my dress back on and feeling a hysterical laugh threatening to break free.
Anderson grinned as he finished buttoning his pants and pulled his suit jacket back on. “Hey, you started it.”
“I did not!”
“Yes, you did. You challenged me, and I just rose to the occasion.” He winked, and I laughed at the pun. Well played Anderson.
“Whatever,” I said and then gave him a peck on the lips. “How’s my hair?”
“Not a strand out of place, from what I can see. It is pretty dark in here though…”
I ran my hand over my hair self-consciously, hoping it didn’t look too disheveled. “Do you think anyone noticed us missing?”
Anderson shook his head. “No. People are dancing, and everyone’s bound to have had several drinks by now. No one should have noticed anything unless they were spying on us all along. And I don’t think anyone would have had a reason for that.”
“Let’s hope not.”
“Why? Do you want to stay here for the rest of the night?” Anderson asked, the devilish grin spreading across his face.
“You’re just asking for trouble, aren’t you?”
“I’m asking for whatever it takes to give me more time with you,” he said, and then kissed my earlobe.
I laughed and pushed him away. “Stop it! Seriously, we have to go back out there and be decent.”
“Yeah, I guess…” He sighed. “Oh shit…”
“What?”
Anderson pulled up his sleeve to glance at his watch. “It’s almost time for your brother’s speech. He’ll definitely notice us missing if we aren’t back out there.”
I swore. “I almost forget he was giving one,” I said, feeling slightly panicked. It was preposterous that I’d nearly forgotten, for I had seen him writing and practicing it all throughout the previous week. I sighed. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Yeah,” Anderson said, resigned.
I recalled that the bathrooms were just down the hall from the closet we’d snuck off to, which was perfect. I needed to make a stop in the ladies’ room to make sure I still looked presentable, and that there were no signs of what had just transpired.
I reached for the doorknob.
“Careful,” Anderson warned. “Make sure no one is in the hall.”
I cracked the door open just slightly, peeking out into the hall. “The coast is clear,” I said, seeing no one in the hall or exiting the restrooms.
Anderson stepped up behind me and slid his hand onto my waist as we exited the closet. “Let’s just try to get through a couple more hours, and then maybe we can sneak out of here altogether,” he said.
I was just about to respond when the words froze right in my throat.
The door to the men’s restroom swung open, and out walked none other than my brother.
He paused, staring at the two of us exiting the closet, and at Anderson’s hand on my waist.
Anderson instantly dropped his hand and took a step away.
It felt like time was suddenly standing still. Tobias stared back and forth between me and Anderson, and the two of us stared back at him, terrified and at a complete loss for words.
My mouth dropped open, but I had nothing to say. I merely watched the varying expressions dashing across Tobias’s face. Surprise, shock, confusion, disbelief, disgust, anger…
“What the hell?” he said, when he was finally capable of speech. The restroom door swung open again. He momentarily stepped aside, permitting another man to exit, and then turning his icy gaze right back at us. “What are you doing?” he demanded.
I wanted to sink into the floor and disappear at the way his eyes trailed me from head to toe. Or at the very least, I wanted to make a run for it and hide in the women’s bathroom, where I would be free from the scrutiny of his gaze. I knew how incriminating Anderson and I looked, just like I knew there was nothing either of us could do about it.
After all the sneaking around, we had finally been caught red-handed, in the worst possible way.
“Please tell me that this isn’t what I think it is,” Tobias said, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes for a second.
Anderson gave a nervous laugh behind me. “It isn’t what you think it is,” he said, unsuccessfully trying to make his voice sound light.
“Then what the hell is it?” Tobias said through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing angrily.
I averted my gaze to the floor, feeling like a child in his presence. He may as well have been my father, catching me sneaking a boy into my room.
“Tobias, man—chill,” Anderson said.
“Excuse me?” Tobias said, incredulously. “What even gives you the right to speak to me right now? I do you a favor and find you a date for tonight, offer to let you take my own sister, and you do this? Have you lost your goddamned mind? That’s my sister, Anderson!”
“Tobias,” I said, casting a nervous glance down the hall and hoping no one could hear him. “Please, not so loud.”
“My voice level is the last thing you have to worry about, Joanna,” he said, his voice deadly serious. He shook his head and sneered at me. “I can’t believe you, Jo. I thought you had class. And here you are, running off with him during the middle of a gala.”
“Hey,” Anderson said, his voice suddenly stern. He stepped forward, no longer cowering behind me. “Don’t you dare talk to her that way.”
“And don’t you dare put your filthy hands on her again,” Tobias growled. He laughed mirthlessly. “I honestly cannot believe this. She needed a break Anderson, you knew that! She needed a moment to breathe and be herself, alone. But instead you sleep with her! I never thought that my best friend and my little sister would sneak off to screw in the middle of my company’s event, right before I’m set to give a speech!”
“Tobias, we’re sorry,” I said, trying to hold back the tears. I had never seen Tobias so angry. Anderson and I had both knew he wouldn’t take it too well when he found out about us, but we could have never expected this level of anger…
“You are beyond sorry,” Tobias said. “You are so reckless. And Anderson, this is just disrespectful. You’re supposed to be my partner.”
“All right, Tobias, that’s enough!” Anderson bellowed. “Cut it out! We get it, already. You’re pissed. We’re sorry, but you have no right to talk to us this way. You don’t control our lives.”
“No, I don’t control your lives. You do. And what’s pathetic is that I’m standing in front of two so-called adults who don’t even know how to control their own hormones! Even if you wanted to sneak around behind my back, did you have to do it here? Right now?! Does the word ‘discreet’ mean anything to either of you idiots?”
“We’re sorry! What more do you want us to say?!” I yelled.
A hush fell among us as several others passed through the hall, entering and exiting the restrooms, casting curious gazes at us along the way.
“I’m so disgusted right now, I don’t know what to do with myself,” Tobias said. “The two people I trust the most, and you go off and do something like this? Just get the hell out of my sight. Both of you.” Fuming, he turned around and stormed down the hall.
I stood, trembling on the spot and listening to Anderson calling after my brother.
The ‘big reveal’ for Anderson and I had gone ten thousand times worse than I could have ever anticipated. I was shaken to my very core. But on some level, I couldn’t entirely blame Tobias for being upset. It was incredibly stupid and inappropriate for Anderson and I to have snuck off in the middle of the gala like we had.
Our whole relationship thus far had been irresponsible.
Anderson chased Tobias down to the end of the hall and then swore at the top of his lungs. I watched as he disappeared back into the ballroom.
All the while, I continued standing in front of the closet, at a complete loss for what to do. My heart shattered into a million pieces at the mere thought that I had potentially caused such a riff between Anderson and Tobias. The two of them had been lifelong friends, and I’d never known them to be seriously upset with each other.
I felt sick to my stomach.
Anderson rounded the corner, coming back towards me. I suddenly felt a powerful wave of nausea that sent me running to the women’s room. I reached a toilet just in time. Every ounce of the fancy food that I’d consumed came pouring out of my mouth. When I was done, I almost felt too weak to stand.
Thankful the bathroom had emptied as everyone prepared to listen to my brother’s speech, I went to the sink, washing the tears and vomit from my face with cold tap water. I then stared at my reflection for a moment, seeing that I looked worse for the wear. My hair and makeup were ruined, making me look just as bad as I felt.
How could I have messed up so badly? After all Tobias had done for me in the aftermath of Zander—opening his home and workplace to me, loaning me a car, giving me the opportunity to have a safe haven and get back on me feet…
“And the worst sister award goes to…” I said, and gave a laugh that quickly shifted into an ugly cry.
I reached for paper towels to dry my face, and then realized I couldn’t stay. I needed to leave.
With trembling hands, I reached into my purse and ordered and Uber.
When I finally left the bathroom, Anderson stood right outside of the door.
“Joanna, are you all right?” he asked, rushing toward me.
I held my hand out, stopping him.
“Joanna—”
“No,” I said. “Just leave me alone.”
“Let me take you home.”
I shook my head. “I’ve already got a ride.”
“Uber? Why? I’ll take you home. I don’t give a damn about your brother.”
His words sent another pang through my chest, forcing me to realize once again the damage I had done to their friendship.
“I’m so sorry to come between the two of you like this,” I said, tears coming to my eyes once again.
Anderson shook his head. “Don’t you dare take all the blame. I’m at fault too. And Tobias, he’ll get over it. Don’t worry about him.”
Anderson may as well have been talking to a brick wall though, because I wasn’t in the mood to be comforted. I just wanted to get out of the building and put the whole miserable night behind me.
“Goodbye, Anderson,” I said, and rushed passed him. Just as he had chased after my brother, he began chasing after me. But I didn’t look back, and I ignored the stares I got as I rushed through the ballroom and toward the exit.
“Joanna!” Anderson yelled.
But I hopped into the car that was waiting for me without looking back.