Chapter 7
CAROLINE
For what feels like forever, I stare at the back of my eyelids, pretending to be asleep.
This feels like the times I went to sleepovers, and I woke up before my friends and had no idea what to do.
Should I get up? But what would I do? Start breakfast?
I couldn’t fumble in their kitchen like that; that’s disrespectful.
I wasn’t about to sit up and stare at the walls too. What would Ike think? That I’m crazy?
So I wait and wait, and then I almost fall back asleep. It’s that kind of sweet slumber, cozy and warm, you don’t want to leave. A safe place, away from the dangers and the judgments of the world, where nothing can hurt you.
When I wake up again, I’m alone. Ike isn’t next to me on the bed when I turn and peek through my eyelids.
Now, in the romance books I read, the heroine would get up, put her cute lingerie back on, or her lover’s large t-shirt, and go after him.
She would find him cooking breakfast, and she would show up with her legs exposed and her sexy body, and the hero would fall head over heels for her, dip her for a morning kiss, and take her back to bed for more lovemaking.
This is real life. A morning kiss would require I brush my teeth first, and my lingerie is not sexy at all. Ike’s shirt would be too big on me, like so big it’s the opposite of sexy. The hem might drag on the ground, making me look like a kid, and I’m sure that’s not what he wants.
God, I’m nervous all over again. After everything we did yesterday, I’m still nervous to be around him. I don’t know if we’re going to be a pair. I don’t know what he feels for me or if this is a one-night thing. There are so many questions, even after the sweet way he treated me last night.
Ike was everything I could ever hope for for a first time. Patient and hot, he made me feel unique and sexy. The problem is that now I think I’m falling for him, and I don’t know where we’re going with this. Should I try to be sexy? Try to seduce him? But what if he thinks it’s ridiculous?
I shake my head, sitting on the bed. Okay, I need to get up sometime. Not naked, but not in his shirt. What if I show up fully dressed, and he feels insulted because it looks like I want to leave? This is so hard. Why doesn’t anyone talk about the morning after?
As quietly as possible, I get to my feet. Lingerie then, even if mine is all practical and not sexy. He said he thinks I’m beautiful, so maybe even this lingerie will be good enough. With my heart thundering in my ribcage, I make my way out of the room.
This apartment is so big. I knew Ike had to be rich, with how important his company is in the graphic design area, but this is a lot more than I expected.
All slick furniture, metal and dark marble, accents of gold and silver.
Framed art pieces, from what I think is an original Monet to several up-and-coming contemporary artists.
One of the corridors is littered with trophies and diplomas, competition rewards, and things that make Ike proud.
The kind of thing that marks him as a man who both loves art and loves his company.
He’s worked hard for all of this. I could never hope for someone better.
His voice slips through a half-closed door, and I approach it, peeking into what looks like an office. Ike is amazing. He has the office downtown and an office at home. I bet he works a lot. I wonder if I could be a part of this. A part of his life, with his company and his love for art.
“Caroline Hill, yes.”
I freeze. Who is he talking to? And why is he saying my name?
“Yes, Joan. You have all the details, right?”
Joan? The HR department head, Joan? Why would he talk to her about me?
“Just get the papers ready. She won’t be going back to the office on Monday.” A pause. I won’t? Why? And why is it suddenly so hard to breathe? “I know she’s an outstanding employee, but she won’t be working with us anymore. Just get the papers ready as soon as possible and put a job offer up.”
My stomach plummets. Ike is firing me? Without even letting me know?
I step away from the door, my limbs growing heavy.
What does that mean? Why? The sex was so bad he decided to get rid of me?
Or was this his plan from the beginning?
Does it get him off to hire young part-timers, fuck them, then fire them?
My heart thunders a million miles an hour, and I step away, hoping to sink into the earth, to be devoured, but my back just hits the wall behind me.
My shoulder hits one of the frames and it topples, crashing on the slick floors.
The sound shakes me back to reality. Glass rains down on my feet, but I watch it unfold with detached interest.
My heart is breaking apart. I can feel it, and it hurts so bad. And I thought we had something going on. I thought he enjoyed my work. But no, he just hired me to fuck me and then dispose of me. How many times did he do this already?
His voice stops, then footsteps sound closer. “Caroline?” he calls out, and that shocks me into action.
I turn around and run back to the room. I can’t stay here, not for another second. My clothes. I need my clothes, my stuff, and I have to leave. I have to leave before he sees what he did to me. Before he sees the tears racing down my face and my broken heart and the pain I can’t hide.
Before he learns I fell in love with him, just to see it all break apart.