CHAPTER 36
Shantae leaves the office at four. I figure now is as good a time as any to go in and talk to Zimyra. I haven’t had the pleasure of doing so all day and it’s been killing me. When we returned home last night, I dropped her off at her apartment and I went to mine. The plan was to get some work clothes and drive back to her place, but then I got to talking with my mother and lost track of time. So, I stayed at my place last night and drove straight here.
I open the office door, seeking her out immediately so I can get a taste of those lips I’ve been dying to kiss, but she’s not at her desk. Nor is she in the bathroom. I come back out in the lobby to see that she’s outside, standing near the pool. Her arms are crossed. She looks like she’s deep in thought.
I push the door open and step outside. The moment she turns to look at me is the moment I know for sure something’s wrong.
I say, “Hey, is everything okay?”
She turns away from me, staring back across the pool as she was before.
I say, “Zimyra,” and touch her arm.
She steps away from my touch but again doesn’t say anything.
“Okay, what’s wrong?”
She asks, “Have you been lying to me?”
“What are you talking about, Zimyra?”
“I asked you a question, Axel.”
All I can do is stand here dumbfounded because I know she knows. I don’t know how she knows, but she knows.
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a card, handing it to me. I recognize it right away. It’s my business card. I look at it and ask, “Where did you get this?”
“Why does that matter? Huh? Is that you? Are you the chief operating officer of Leverage Realty Group?”
“Zimyra—”
“Yes, or no, Axel. Are you the chief operating officer of Leverage Realty Group?”
“Yes, but I can explain.”
“If you could explain, you would’ve done it already. You’re a liar.”
“I’m not a liar.”
“Then what do you call it in your world when somebody pretends to be someone that they’re not!” she yells, her eyes filling with tears. “You aren’t who you said you were. That makes you a liar. You told me you worked in maintenance. That was a lie. So that means, you came here looking for a job for reasons beyond my comprehension at the moment.”
“If you would give me time to explain it to you.”
“I don’t even know if I want an explanation from you because nine times out of ten, that’ll be a lie, too.”
She turns away from me.
“Myra,” I say, grabbing her arm.
She forcefully snatches it away and turns to me again with tears streaming down her face. I grab my chest. I could literally feel my heart breaking. The tears on her face are because I put them there. I hurt her – something I promised to never do.
“Myra, please just—”
“What was this? You came down here to spy on me? The email about the bonus. The maintenance app. That was all you, wasn’t it?”
I close my eyes and pace my breaths while she connects the dots.
She continues, “You ain’t never done a day of maintenance in your life, have you? Surely a man with your hefty salary has people doing everything for him, right?”
She wipes her face and says, “I can’t believe I trusted you. And you know what? I don’t want an explanation. I want you to leave.”
As much as I want to stay and explain myself, those tears she’s steadily wiping from her face are making me reconsider. I’m angry at myself for hurting her. The best thing I can do is leave until she’s a bit more rational. Right now isn’t the time to try to be reasonable with her.
After she storms away from me, I go to my car and just sit there. I punch the steering wheel out of sheer frustration. I can’t believe I let this happen. For weeks, I kept this on the back burner, trying to think of a good time to tell her. A way to tell her. I didn’t think she would find out like this.
I start the car, but before I pull off, I dial Peter. He doesn’t answer, so I opt to leave a voicemail. I say, “It’s over. I’m heading back that way soon. I’ll explain later.”