Chapter 30
Two weeks pass by without Aubrey in my life. Each of the fourteen days feels empty and long. Work doesn’t have much meaning, and I’m not motivated to get up early to go to the office. Life simply isn’t the same.
Since I’m here in New York again, one of the things I do need to accomplish is speaking with Johanna. All of my meetings are done. I’ve finished speaking with the boards and all the people connected with my foundations. The appointments ran longer than they expected because of all I shared with them, but now that I’ve crossed those meetings and conversations off my list, I feel much more prepared to finally meet with Johanna and tell her what I need to.
She’s late coming to the restaurant where I told her to meet me. When she arrives, she’s all smiles. Dressed impeccably and with her hair styled to perfection, she eases into the chair. I don’t care for the smirk she gives me, like she’s got something she can hold over me. She doesn’t, but I don’t betray that yet. I’m curious about what she has to tell me. True to my nature, I remain quiet and wait to listen to her first.
“How nice of you to finally meet up with me.” Her sarcasm is uncalled for. She’s got no excuse for browbeating me into seeing her again after all the times I told her we were done.
I don’t reply, letting my deadpan expression be all the answer she needs.
Her smirk slips into a smile, then falls all the way. She grows uneasy the longer I sit there not speaking until she rolls her eyes and looks away. “I see you’re still the conversationalist you always were.”
More sarcasm. I let it roll off me. She never liked how quiet I was, but I didn’t give a shit then and I don’t now. “What do you want?” There, is that enough speaking for you?
She perks up, smiling and crossing her arms. “I want to get back together with you.”
I shake my head.
“We’re good together, Dalton. You know that.”
“Do not try to tell me what I know.”
She’s miffed, scowling outright. “You do know it though. We’re good together. You make plenty for both of us, so I can devote my time to making you look good like the trophy wife you need for someone in your standing.”
I hold back a bark of laughter.
“You’ve got that huge apartment that sits there so empty.”
Now I crack, scoffing. “You mean the apartment you broke into?”
“I didn’t break in.”
“Did you have a working key?”
She blushes and frowns.
“Let me guess. You offered to blow the doorman to get inside and snoop through my desk to find that application?”
She bristles. “I would never.”
I laugh, not even feeling mean about it. “You wouldn’t blow a doorman but sleeping with my rival was okay?”
“That’s in the past, Dalton. We need to think about the future.”
I sigh. “You realize it won’t work.”
She furrows her brow. “What won’t?”
“That application. It’s too old. I’ll never agree to show up at a courthouse with you to obtain a new one and have it signed. Basically, like I’ve explained multiple times, I’m done with you. I’ve been done with you for more than a year now. We. Are. Over.”
None of the reasons she listed for why we should get back together have to do with love. As I sit here realizing I’m an idiot to hear her out, I doubt she’s ever loved me. Not like Aubrey does—or did.
“You can’t deny the fact we make a good couple,” Johanna argues. She stabs her finger to the table, as though she’s stamping it into reality. “We could build a dynasty together.”
“The only thing I’ll build is a case against you for lying and trespassing into my home to take my personal documents.”
She flinches. “You wouldn’t.”
“Here’s what I am doing.” I sit back in my chair, relishing the satisfaction I have of putting her in her place. “I’m retiring. I’m selling my company. I’m cashing out my stock.”
Her jaw drops, yet her expression doesn’t allow for much shock to show, she’s had that much work done—cosmetic “touches” that I paid for.
She blinks quickly and shakes her head as though that movement will rattle the confusion out of her mind. “But, but…Why?”
I tap my finger on the edge of the tablecloth, impatient to get out of here and get away from her. Johanna has only ever wanted me for my money and social standing—two things Aubrey didn’t care about at all. The woman seated across from me holds such low value in me, superficial and materialistic to the core. Johanna is nothing but a vindictive, cheating user. She’s a gold-digger, and I hate that I didn’t accept that before. I wanted that rosy future of having a wife so bad, I let myself stay disillusioned to her real identity.
Shame on me, then.
“Does that change how you feel about me?” I challenge. “Do you still want me without my money or fame?”
She balks, stuttering on incoherent sounds that might resemble a flimsy lie if she could string words together and pull it off. Her answer, if given honestly, would be a no. I see who she really is, and she’s a mean woman who wouldn’t care about me without my wealth.
“I will not repeat myself. I am blocking you.” I stand and smooth down my sleeves, then straighten my cufflinks. “I am cutting you completely out of my life. I already did, a year ago, but it seems you didn’t let the message sink in. Hear me now, Johanna, for the last time. It is over, and if you ever try a stunt like that to suggest we are anything but over, you will be speaking with my lawyers. Understood?”
She swallows and looks away.
“Am I understood?”
She barely glances at me as she offers a meek reply. “Whatever.”
“I said am I under—”
“Yes!” She sneers at me. “I heard you.”
Relief washes over me. Victory is mine. Finally, at last, I’m done with her and her manipulation. I should be triumphant, but I’m not. I’d only be truly happy if I still had Aubrey in my life, but I don’t. Johanna stirred up too much trouble and shook her faith in me.
“Goodbye.” I tell her that with a finality I won’t retreat on. I’ve already blocked her number. As I walk out of the restaurant and leave her there, I think back to all the steps I’ve taken to ensure Johanna is finished business. My lawyers have been contacted to be on alert for her trying something again. The doorman who did let her in for a sexual favor has been fired, but that wasn’t really necessary.
I’m not staying. I wasn’t bluffing with Johanna. It’s taken me two hard weeks to realize this city and my career don’t fulfill me anymore. One woman does, and she’s not here.
I’m leaving all of this behind, and as of tomorrow morning, interested buyers will be checking out my emptied apartment. I’m sure I can make a killing on selling it, but truthfully, I just want to wash my hands of it. I’ll sign the papers for the first offer I get.
As I walk toward my building, opting for the exercise of moving instead of getting a ride for the short distance, my phone rings.
It’s Caleb, and I don’t wait to answer. “Hey, man.”
“Did you do it?”
I told him that today was the day I would speak with Johanna. Even though we’re states apart, he’s had my back and supported me. I’m a lucky bastard to have such a good friend.
“I did.”
“Feel any better?” he asks.
No. “Yes.” I will only feel good if I knew I had a chance with Aubrey. Life has no meaning without her now that I know what it’s like to be in her presence.
“Good. I’ll see you next week and determine for myself if that’s true.”
I snort a laugh. He knows me so well.
“Why would you come to the city?”
“I’ve got a couple of things to address. Tasks I’d rather do in person.”
“I’ll be here.” The sale of my apartment should be wrapping up no later than the end of next week. As soon as that comes, I’ll be looking for something new. Something more natural. Somewhere closer to the woman I lost.
I head back to the place I used to call home. It’s empty, both because I’m prepared to sell it and because it’s never really been full to start with. I’ve never liked clutter, but I detest minimalism too. I’ve been waiting for another half of me to complete my home, my partner to add her finishing touches, but that’s not going to happen here.
Or anywhere else anytime soon.
After I pour myself a drink, I sit and sip it with liberal swallows. I’m not in the mood to get drunk, and the pain of being separated from Aubrey is so deep, I’d need a lot more scotch to burn me into a numb state of forgetting her.
I’m not sure what to do next. I have no plans for the evening, so as I’ve made a habit of, I reach for my phone again. I find Aubrey’s number in the contact list, and I tap the icon that would link me to her.
For the longest while, I drink my scotch and stare at the screen, willing it to just ring. Wishing she would reach out to me. Part of me feels dejected, and another part is intimidated. It takes two to love and it takes two to fight. I hate the feeling that I’m not fighting for her, or that I’m not trying hard enough to make her believe me and have faith in how I feel about her. At the same time though, I grow bitter that she isn’t doing the same. Aubrey hasn’t contacted me, either. If she truly feels the same about me, why isn’t she fighting to make us work?
I sigh, chickening out again. With a heavy heart, I lock the screen and slip my phone back into my pocket, resigning myself to another long night of nothing but misery and heartache to keep me company in a city I want to leave for good.