6. Ryan
I”ve not heardfrom Lily all day. She”s not replying to my messages or calls. Maybe her flight is delayed. Looking at my screen, I check the arrivals at Harry Reid International Airport and see her flight landed an hour ago.
Where the heck is she?
I call Sid; he was supposed to give her a key card and let her in. “Hey Sid, it”s Ryan. Did Lily arrive yet?”
“Sir, she was here early this morning but left after about ten minutes.”
“She must have gotten an earlier flight. Darn it. Why didn”t she tell me? Did she leave any message?”
Sid is shuffling; I can hear the movement against the phone.
“Sid?”
“She said that maybe you should have taken out the trash when you left instead of leaving it there for her to see.”
“What does that mean?” I stand up and pace around my office. What happened this morning? “Do you know if she left to go home?”
“She went to the coffee shop down the road, but I think she was arranging to go home, sir.”
“Thanks, Sid.”
“Oh, and sir, just to let you know, Alicia came down about half an hour after Lily did.”
“Thank you, Sid.” I hang up my cell. What was Alicia doing in my apartment? I dial her number and wait for her to answer, but it goes to voicemail. I call again. Alicia is the bane of my life. We dated for a while, but she was too clingy, possessive, and a bit psycho. She sends me messages about hooking up; I know I should block her, but I just haven”t thought about it. It”s harmless, right? I know where she is, so I storm out of my office. “Cancel all my appointments for today; I”m not back in the office until Monday.”
I don”t even give my assistant, Britney, a chance to say anything. I catch the elevator and ride down to the ground floor. Britney is so good at her job; I pay her a lot because I”d be lost without her. There”s a car waiting for me when I step outside; how did she get a car that quickly? I don”t think I want to know. Climbing in, I close the door behind me. “Take me to the Hughes Center.”
“Certainly, Sir.” I push the button on the privacy window and lean my head back against the headrest. Alicia has gone too far this time. I try Lily”s cell again, but it goes straight to voicemail. Maybe she”s in the air. I need to find her and make sure she knows about Alicia. I hope this doesn”t mean I”ve lost her.
When I arrive at the Hughes Center, I walk inside and head straight to the elevators. I don”t need a security badge; everyone knows who I am.
I get off at the fifth floor and storm through the open-plan office space until I reach Alicia”s corner office. The door is closed, but I don”t care. That door is not going to stop me from seeing Alicia and getting her to talk.
I push the door and step inside her office. She”s sitting there smiling at me. “I was expecting you, but perhaps not so forcefully.”
“What did you do, Alicia?” I demand.
She stands and walks toward me. I move out of her way, but she still keeps coming closer.
I hold my hand up. “Stop, Alicia. What did you say to Lily?”
“I basically told her that we weren”t expecting her that early.”
“And? I know there”s more with you, Alicia.”
She smiles at me and reaches out a single finger, running it along my shoulder. I move out of her way. Her touch makes me shiver, but not out of enjoyment - out of sheer annoyance.
“I just told her that you don”t stick with just one woman and how we”ve been seeing each other for months. I also told her that you don”t chase women.” She”s smiling, and it looks grotesque on her.
“I didn”t chase you. I”d never chase any woman who is spiteful, thinks she”s the shit, only gets with rich men so she can have all the niceties in life. I can”t believe you said those things to Lily; she”s sensitive and loving, all the things you”re not. If you”ve ruined this relationship for me, Alicia, then I am going to tear down your life piece by piece. Don”t think I don”t know who pays for your apartment. That”s right, your married man. That could make quite a splash in the news, don”t you think? So you”d better stay out of my life unless you want me to tell the world and tell him how many men you”re also sleeping with.”
She stands in front of me, her mouth wide open. She can”t believe what I just said.
“You wouldn”t dare; we dated while I lived there too.”
“Yes, we did, until I realized how callous you were and how I realized that you were a whore. Living in that apartment shows your true self; you are nothing but a prostitute, Alicia.”
She gasps as she realizes the door is still open, and everyone can hear us.
“And give me back my key card. You are never stepping inside my apartment again. I”ll make sure Sid knows that, and the next time someone enters when I”m not there and he finds it”s you, he will call the cops. I”m serious.” I hold out my hand for her to return the key card. She goes to her purse and gets it out. She slaps it down into my hand and then turns away. I see tears in her eyes, but they do nothing for me, not when I know that she has ripped Lily”s heart to pieces.
I turn and walk away from Alicia. I can”t get away quick enough. Next stop is the airport.
The plane touches down, and all I can think about is getting to Lily immediately. We disembark, and luckily, I get through quickly as it”s my private jet. I get in the car, which I”m sure Britney has arranged for me. I give the driver Lily”s address and keep calling her cell.
Still no answer. When I get to her house, I can”t see her car. “Can you wait for me? She might not be in.”
“Of course, Sir.”
I step out and go to the front door. Knocking, I shout, “Lily, it”s me. Open the door. We need to talk. Everything that Alicia said is a lie. Open the door.”
I keep knocking and call her cell. I don”t hear it ringing in the house. “Damn.”
Getting back into the car, I tell the driver where to go next: Jess and Rory”s house. The driver is going to wait for me. I have a feeling I am going to do a lot of running around today.
Rory opens the door when I knock on it. “Hey what you doing here? Thought Lily was coming out to you this weekend?”
“Yeah, she was supposed to. She got to my apartment, and Alicia had made herself at home. She must have heard me talking to Sid about getting a key for Lily for when she arrived from the airport.”
“Oh crap, come on in.” He opens the door, and I walk straight through to their kitchen. It”s the meeting point in their house, and it makes me feel at home.
Jess is there, and she hugs me when I walk in. “Hey, Ry. What are you doing here? Aren”t you supposed to be in Vegas this weekend? I”m sure Lily told me she was going to see you.”
“Yeah, she did. She must have got an earlier flight, and when she got to my apartment, Alicia was there and she told her that I would never chase a woman and I would never keep just one woman.” I take the beer that Rory is holding out for me.
“Lily told Sid that I should have taken the trash out and not left it for her to see.” I take a swig. “If I could get hold of her, I would laugh at that.”
“So why are you here?” Jess asks as she hands me a sandwich. “Eat and talk.”
“I can”t find her. She left the apartment, went to the coffee shop, and now she won”t answer any calls or messages that I”m sending her. I don”t know where she is. She”s not at her house. So I thought I”d come here to see if either of you heard from her?” I look at my two friends, and they shake their heads.
“No, man. We”ve not heard from her.” Rory takes a swig of his beer too.
“I haven”t heard from her either, though I”m sure she”s hurting somewhere. What about Alison who works with her? She might know. She probably spoke to Alicia today.”
“That”s a great idea, now how do I find her?”
“We’ve got their business card with their office address on it, she night be there. We were given it just in case we need to get hold of Lily and we can”t. I just need to remember where I put it.” Jess moves out of the kitchen looking for the business card.
“You”re into Lily for real, aren”t you?” Rory says as he tips his bottle to clink mine.
“Yeah, I”ve fallen in love with her so quickly. I know she”s the one, just like you did with Jess. I hate to think of her being so upset and angry at me that she might hate me right now. Even if what Alicia said isn”t true. The way I feel about Lily is totally different from the way I”ve felt about anyone else.”
Jess comes in about ten minutes later. “Wow, that took a while. Here”s Alison”s card. Maybe call her and find out what she knows.”
“Thanks, Jess.” I take the business card and stand up. “Guy’s I’ve got to…” I give a helpless shrug and they wave me away.
The office isn’t far away, in a nice part of town. Alison is there, but the expression on her face says it all. “What are you doing here?” She’s spitting fire and I stand back in case she decides to slap my face.
“Look, this is all a misunderstanding. The woman in my apartment is not allowed to have my key; I dated her once, and she thought she was going to move in and marry me - which is not going to happen. Since then, she”s made it her business to gatecrash any date I bring back to the apartment.”
Alison looks skeptical to say the least. “But she told Lily that you always had more than one woman on the go. Lily is really upset, Ryan.”
“I know that. I”ve been looking for her. She”s not at home...”
“Wait? You”re here in LA?” I hear Alison shuffling around. “Damn.”
“What? Alison? What”s going on?”
“Lily is still in Las Vegas; she decided that she was going to stay there. She”s going out tonight to try and get over you. You know what they say, ”The only way to get over a man is to get under a different one.”“
“That is not funny, Alison. Is she really?” Damn. What can I do now? I”m stuck here. I need to get back to Vegas as quick as I can. “Alison, I know she”s your boss and your friend, but you need to tell me where she”s staying.”
“I promised her that I wouldn”t tell you, Ryan. She thinks you cheated on her and that you were only using her. She believes that everything you said is bullshit.” Alison heads to the white desk and grabs a pen and a small notebook, and scribbles something down. As she comes back to me, she offers me the piece of paper.
“What”s that?” I reach out and take it.
“I”m not allowed to tell you where she is, but she didn”t say anything about not writing it down.” She looks up at me. “You”d better be the right man for her, Ryan, because if you mess her around, then I will personally come to Vegas and cut your dick off. She”s precious to me.”
“And to me too. I”ve never felt like this about anyone before, and to be honest, her being there thinking that I betrayed her is killing me right now.”
“Then get the hell out of here and get back to Vegas as quick as you can before she drowns her sorrows with another man.” Alison turns around and walks back to her desk to sit down. “What are you still doing here, Ryan? Get the hell out and find your woman.” She smiles at me. I walk away and head back to the airport. I need to get back to Vegas ASAP.