Chapter 16 A Private Conversation
“You hope?” she replied, the pain clearly showing in her voice. “After last night, that’s all you have to say to me?”
Greg stopped cold in the middle of the hallway.
The warmth that had immediately crossed his face at seeing her vanished almost instantly as the meaning behind her words hit him.
Carry started toward him from her suite door dressed in a light blue blouse and fitted white skirt.
When she got to him, she stood firm, her arms folded tightly beneath her chest as if trying to hold herself together.
Her eyes were not angry nearly as much as they were wounded.
“Carry…” he began carefully. “I realize you saw—”
“The whole world saw,” she interrupted softly. “Houston was one thing. Last night was another.” She lowered her eyes briefly. “You looked happy with her, Greg.”
He exhaled slowly and glanced down the hallway before leaning in closer. “Can we not do this out in the hallway?”
“That depends,” she said quietly, looking back up at him. “Are you going to do more than just talk to me this time, or are you going to keep pretending none of this is hurting?” That struck him harder than he expected.
For several seconds he simply stared at her.
Carry could see the exhaustion in his face now that the cameras and crowds were gone.
He looked worn down, not just physically, but also emotionally in a way she had rarely seen before.
He looked down at the floor then slowly lifted his eyes to hers.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he finally admitted.
“But you did.” Her voice cracked slightly despite her efforts to keep her composure without overreacting. “And what hurts the most is that I can’t even fully blame you anymore.”
Greg blinked in surprise. Shock shot through him from head to toe before he could respond. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” she said carefully, “I walked away from you before you could walk away from me. I know that now.” She swallowed hard. “But seeing you with Veronica…” She shook her head lightly. “I didn’t realize how much it would affect me until last night.”
Greg leaned back against the wall. “I’m still processing everything.” He pointed toward the elevator and rubbed his forehead. “Walk with me?” he asked. She nodded and they started down the hallway together. “Carry, everything inside me feels utterly confused right now.”
“I know,” she whispered, “I can see it in your eyes.”
“I want you to fully understand what I mean,” he replied honestly.
“For years my entire future revolved around Erica. She stole my sanity when she left. I climbed into a bottle and David had to intervene. You both showed up simultaneously, giving me back peace of mind. I found safety and a sense of purpose again.” He looked directly into her eyes now. “And with Veronica…” He paused.
“Veronica makes you feel alive,” Carry finished for him.
His silence confirmed it. “If I’m going to be honest, yes.”
Carry looked away toward the elevator doors, fighting the sting behind her eyes. “At least you’re honest.”
“I promised myself I would be after Sunday.”
Her head snapped back toward him immediately. “Sunday?” Greg realized too late what he had said aloud. “What happened on Sunday, Greg?!” she softly demanded.
The elevator dinged softly as the car arrived and the doors opened up, but neither of them moved. “Carry…” he started slowly. “There’s something I need to explain, but not here.”
She studied him for several long seconds. “Does Veronica know?”
He looked her in the eyes to show her his openness. “She learned about it.”
“And?” she asked with a seeming impatience.
“She nearly threw me out of her suite.” A faint humorless laugh escaped him. “Then she realized why I stopped.”
Carry’s expression shifted slightly. “Stopped what?” Greg hesitated, which caused Carry’s eyes to snap wide open. “Oh my God.”
“I didn’t cross that line with either of them,” he said firmly. “But I had come dangerously close,” he said with a slight pause. “Too close, both times.”
Carry turned away from him entirely then wrapped her arms tighter around herself. Greg could see her breathing unevenly now. “ And just how is that supposed to make me feel any better?” she asked weakly.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Probably not what you wanted to hear.” Silence settled heavily between them.
Finally Greg placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to turn her carefully.
“Carry… when I saw you just now, my first instinct was still to come over to you.” She slowly allowed him to turn her back toward himself.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
“That has to mean something,” he continued in a whisper.
“I’ve never dealt with anything like this. ”
Before she could answer, the elevator ding sounded again, and distant voices were approaching from around the corner just thirty feet away.
Instantly both of them straightened slightly, the private vulnerability of the moment collapsing under reality.
Carry wiped quickly beneath one eye before anyone could see.
“Now what?” she said with a cracking voice.
“We shouldn’t do this here,” she whispered.
Greg nodded slowly. “Then meet me either before or after the rooftop shoot.”
Her eyes searched his face cautiously. “Alone?”
“Yes, Carry.” He searched her eyes as they stepped into the elevator. “Please.”
Carry hesitated long enough to make his stomach tighten.
Finally she gave the faintest nod. “Alright, but we’re going to resume this discussion then, and you aren’t going to leave out any details.
You said you’re going to be honest with me, and if I’m going to forgive you for making mistakes, I need to know that you trust me enough to be so brutally open and honest with me that you are willing to expose everything, no matter how embarrassing! ”
“So long as we are completely alone, away from all this media and paparazzi,” Greg said as the elevator slowed for the lobby. “I can’t risk things spiraling out of control for any of us,” he concluded as the doors opened.
“Mr. Garrelson, are you escorting Miss Vanilla Rose as part of your Pimico support duties to Veronique?” a reporter asked and flashes went off from several directions.
“Uh, no,” Greg deflected back quickly. “We just happened to catch the same elevator. I’ve got a business breakfast with my partner David Michaels and his wife, my little sister—Tessa.”
“And I’ve got a planning and review breakfast in the private dining area,” Carry added before they could continue.
“Thank you for your questions, but we are already pressed for time. Please excuse us,” she said as she began to stride forward through the press.
Greg followed right behind her as she navigated the group of reporters the way Greg navigated the floor of Club Euchre during the client luncheons.
“You can thank me later, before the photo shoot,” she whispered loud.
“Where do we meet?” he quietly asked.
“Billy’s room. I’ll ask for privacy there,” she confirmed. “Ten-thirty!”
Greg let out a nearly silent sigh of relief, “I’ll be there.”
“Don’t be late. We won’t have much time together before either of us are missed with the schedule Veronica approved yesterday when we arrived.”
“I’ll be there,” he assured her. “I’ll see you then, Carry.”
“See you then,” she said, looking around she confirmed quickly that no one could see them then kissed his cheek.
“You know we have a lot to work on if we are going to put us back together. I have to go.” She winked her left eye at him then turned toward the private dining room door, opened it and slipped away from him before he could react.
Greg stood still, watching the door close behind her, then lowered his head and shook it back and forth.
‘I’ve got to get my head in the game,’ he thought.
‘Everything is happening around me, and I’m not in control of any of it.
This is not how you handle things, Greg.
Pull yourself together and take charge of your own life.
’ He lifted his head, then turned and continued to the main dining room.
He entered in from the side entrance, saw David and Tessa across the room beside the large outer windows.
He gave them a wave and moved quickly through the room to the table.
“Morning David, Tessa!” he greeted brightly.
“You still look a bit tired, my friend.” David sipped his coffee. “Long night?”
“That’s not the half of it,” he said taking his seat.
“We ordered you coffee,” Tessa said softly. “After our entrance last night, I figured you would need it.”
“Thanks sis. Still looking out for me even after you married my best friend,” he said with a soft laugh. Tessa smiled at him which made him genuinely smile back.
“That’s the smile my brother always gave me,” she said softly. “We know you are tired, and it’s not just physically. Just let us know how we can help you, Greg.”
“I wish I knew the answer to that one, sis. This whole thing between those women and me, it’s become more complex than I ever could have imagined.
” He sighed then picked up his coffee. “Creamed already, does that mean,,” he began then saw the bottle of honey on the table.
“Oh, Tessa. You and Carry are the only ones who ever knew how to mix my coffee right.” Sadness slowly came over his face.
“Greg?” David asked gently. “Are you going to be alright?"
“After what happened on Sunday,” he shook his head. “I almost repeated that same mistake last night with Veronica,” Greg confirmed with regret in his voice. “I’ve become so weak in my own self-control. This isn’t how we were taught to behave at Christian Academy Prep.”
“No, Greg,” David replied softly. “But they also reminded us that each day was its own challenge. Let the problems of yesterday be left in the Master’s hands and take on the challenges of today.”