Still In Love With Her (2 page)

He grabs my wrist. “Drop it.”

I flinch, taken aback. “The tissue?”

“The tissue.”

My frown deepens. “Have you fallen on your head? Is that what’s wrong with you?” He hasn’t removed his hand, so I drop the tissue.
 

There’s a knock on the door.
 

Vince looks over his shoulder. “What do you want?”
 

Langley tries to open the door but it‘s locked. “The meeting starts in four minutes.”
 

“Is that it?” he says.

She hesitates. “Well, yes.”

“Got it.”

I shake my head. “Did an alien abduct my boyfriend and replace him with an evil twin?”

“I’m not your boyfriend, Maggie. Do you remember I asked you to marry me?”

Shit. I’d thought his proposal was tucked away safely in my drawer along with the ring. “Yes…”

He sniffs disdainfully. “There are lots of lessons I need to teach you.”

“You have lessons to teach me?” I say sarcastically.

“If you want to fuck Rob, then go right ahead, but I’m not going to make you come until you learn how to get on your fucking knees when I tell you to.”

Did he just accuse me of wanting to bang Robert?
I’m generally a quick thinker, but I’m still trying to process everything that just happened. I watch, stunned, as Vince fixes himself up.
 

He indulgently runs his thumb across my bottom lip. His lips comes close to mine, but he doesn’t kiss me. “Don’t be late.” He strolls out of the office, leaving the door wide open.

I peek at Langley, who’s sitting at her desk and staring at my exposed pussy. I lower the bottom of my dress, rake my fingers through my hair, and grab my satchel. I avoid eye contact with her as I sweep past her desk, heading toward the conference room. The meeting hasn’t started, but everyone is here. I make the rounds, and people express how pleasantly surprised they are to see me.

Samantha from the ads department pulls her lips squeamishly. “Especially in light of things.”
 

I want to ask in light of what, but I’m afraid of the answer. The only empty seat is next to Robert. I’ve had enough of him for one day, so I tap Angela from finance on the shoulder. “Could you take the seat up front? I have to sneak out in a little while and link into a conference call.” I show her my best smile. “I don’t want to disturb the meeting after it gets on the way.”

“Absolutely,” she says, ogling Robert.
 

Every woman in the room would like to sit next to him. He’s probably banged half the women in here.

“I need you up front, Maggie,” Vince says as Angela stands.

Angela gives me a consoling look. I hate that smirk Robert wears as I approach and sit beside him. I take my pad out of my bag and scribble,
“What did you say to Vince?”
on the top page.

Robert flips the page.
“I say a lot to Vince. We’re buddies.”

I scoff.
“You’re a buddy who tries to fuck his friend’s girlfriend!”

“A buddy who has fucked his buddy’s girlfriend.”

I furrow my eyebrows. Robert and I have never had sex. He leers at Emily as if he’s trying to tell me something.
 

“Okay, let’s start,” Vince says.
 

Robert’s knee hits my leg and settles against it. I shift, turning my body away from his. Vince always winks at me before he starts a meeting, but today, he doesn’t look in my direction. Instead, he winks at Emily, who winks back. My mouth falls open as my heart takes a dive. I want to run out of the room crying. It’s no secret that we’re a couple, so our colleagues exchange looks. They realize he’s snubbing me, so on top of hurt, I’m embarrassed. I keep my eyes on the blank sheet of paper in front of me.
 

Vince runs down the list of our new video/media projects. I’m listening but pondering my last conversation with Monroe. She’d suggested that I quit my job and go into business with her as an image consultant. She said it’s right up my alley. I know how to sell anything to the public, so why not people? I actually liked the idea. However, I assumed Monroe was just trying to get me to make major changes in my life so we could spend more time together. I hardly see her anymore, and she’s made it very clear how much she doesn’t like that.

“By the way, I want to formally introduce Emily Callahan,” Vince says. “She’s been around since last week, and everyone in the L.A. office has noticed her, I’m sure.” He and Emily share another smile.
 

A bitter laugh escapes me. Everyone looks at me. Vince has blatantly disrespected me on so many levels. If he thinks I’m a little debutante he can make jealous by flirting with other women after only half fucking me, then he’s wrong. I shoot to my feet and gather my things. I don’t care who’s watching or what they think.

“Maggie, no leaving before the meeting ends,” Vince says.

I flip him the bird. “Fuck you.”
 

“Sit down,” he says as if he’s the prime minister of Maggieville. “I’m telling you as your boss.”

I hang my bag on my shoulder and tuck my notepad under my arm just so I can flip him off with both hands. “You’re not my boss. I quit, you jackass. On so many levels, I quit you.”

I’m feverishly hot as I walk out of the room, because my anger has spiraled out of control. I don’t expect Vince to chase me since he tried so hard to humiliate me, but just in case, I take the stairs, running down twenty-seven flights. My face is damp from tears and sweat when I reach the bottom. I’m surprised to see Vince standing out front speaking to Darren. I turn left and right, searching for another way out. I run down the escalator to the parking garage. People look at me as if I’ve gone insane, and indeed I have. I make it to the green level and rush past the parked cars, searching for an exit sign. Once I see the way, I run out into the heated morning.
 

I lean against the wall to collect my breath. I can’t believe the morning I’m having. Just like that, Vince has replaced me with a debutante. Maybe he was just with me to get his kicks. He always knew that in the end, he would settle down with someone like Emily. I should’ve known he hasn’t changed. That’s why Robert thinks it’s his turn to have me, because Vince is over me. What a jackass.

I walk without thinking about where I am going. I turn down a street with very little traffic, take out my cell phone, and call Monroe. I can always count on her to pick up on the first ring.

“What’s up, Mags?” she says.
 

“He… Vince…” I’m blubbering.

“Where are you?” she asks, sounding panicked.

“I’m in L.A.”

“Where in L.A?”

I look for the street signs. “I’m on Galaxy Way.”

“Don’t move,” Monroe says and hangs up.

I lean against an iron gate, bury my face in my hands, and bawl. I feel so used and abused. Deep down, I knew before I arrived that my day would probably end with Vince and I breaking up, but I never thought he would treat me as if he hadn’t an ounce of love for me. He was a real jerk. So Emily
was
the “girlfriend” Robert was referring to in the note, and not Vince’s old girlfriend but his new one. I’ve been replaced.
 

I want to cry harder, but instead I wipe my tears and get a grip. I feel like the girl in one of those movies where the popular boy seduces her just to get his kicks. But in the end, the unpopular girl realizes that she didn’t need his ass in the first place. I don’t need Vincent Adams. My life will keep going. I have the rest of it to find the real thing one day. I set my stone-cold glare on the street. Monroe should be here soon.

“What the hell? Has he been reading novels and shit?” Monroe laughs, making light of my situation.

I grimace. “Why do you say that?”
 

I’m at Monroe’s house. She and I are sitting against the headboard in the guest room she keeps for me. I’m wearing one of her sexy nightshirts since all of my clothes are in my suitcase, which is in the back of my Range Rover.

She flings her hands as she talks. “It’s popular in books today. Submissive and dominant shit. I’m surprised you don’t know this. Isn’t it your job to know that shit?”

“Submissive and dominant what? Jerks? Assholes?”

“No, it’s sex-slave shit. He tells you what to do, and you do it. And if you disobey him, then he punishes you.”

“Punish me?” The more details she feeds me, the more off course she sounds. I don’t think Vince would ever try to emulate such nonsense, although I’m not sure if I ever knew him at all. “Who does that kind of shit in real life anyway?”

“You’d be surprised.”

I lift my eyebrows. “You’ve done it?”

“I don’t submit to cock. And usually it’s the people you least expect who do.”

I’m confused. My brain isn’t as sharp as usual, so I have no idea what that meant. “Whatever. I just don’t know what I did for him to betray me like that.”

Monroe rubs my back consolingly. “I’m sorry, Mags. Vince is a stupid ass. You’re not an easy one to get, and he had you.”

I smile with the sides of my mouth turned down. “You’re so good for my self-esteem. But he accused me of wanting to fuck Robert. I can’t believe I let Robert grind my ass on the elevator.” I shake my head. “I mean, he was really getting in there. It was… gross.”

“Uh-oh,” Monroe says.

“Uh-oh what?”

Monroe tilts her head. “You liked it. You like him.”
 

“I don’t hate him, but he drives me crazy.”

“I know you, Mags. You like him,
like
him.”

I sigh hard. “Am I curious?”

“Yes you are!”

“Yes I am but it’s never going to happen.”

“You’re like a guy who wants to fuck his girlfriend’s best friend.” She looks at me askew. “So are you going to do it now that you’ve broken up with Vince in front of the entire company?”

Jeez
. I pause to think about what I did. “I must’ve lost it.”
 

Monroe laughs. “Well, when someone pisses you off to that point, watch out! I mean, you don’t get there quickly, but when you go, you blow.”

I cover my face with a pillow. “I made a fool of myself!” I shout into its fluffiness. “Oh my God, I don’t have a job!”

“You don’t need one. You’re Jack Lord’s cousin.”

I lower the pillow. “I’m not going to mooch off Jack.”

“Or we can go into business together. I already have a client lined up.” Her eyes shine with hope.

“I’ve been counting on you mentioning that.”

“And?”

“I just need to put this day behind me, but I’m ready. I think we should do it.”

“You do?” she asks.

I shrug. “Why not?”

“For real, Mags. You’re not fucking with me?”

“I wouldn’t fuck with you.”

“Then let’s shake on it.” She holds up her hand. “And don’t shake on it if you don’t mean it.”

I shake her hand. “I mean it.”

“There’s no turning back now. It’s a done deal.”

“Okay,” I say.

“Okay.”

We grin at each other. I really like the way this decision makes me feel. I’ve made it under duress, which is never a good thing to do, but so what? Since leaving the tutelage of Cruella La Bitch, I’ve learned to take life by the horns and try like hell to bend it to my will.
 

I pat Monroe’s thigh to signal a change in conversation. “Oh, congratulations on
The Great Dame
. I heard it got good ratings as a made-for-TV movie.”

Monroe smiles proudly. “It did.”

I smile. “And there’s Emmy talk for best made-for-TV movie and a best actress nomination for Mandy Hill.”

“Can you believe it? The way that chick bumps coke, you’d think her brains would be too fried to remember her lines.”

“She’s an addict?”

Monroe nods. “She has a serious problem. I like her, you know. She’s crazier than I am!”

“That’s indeed crazy.”

She elbows me. I laugh.

“A group of us were thinking about putting together an intervention for her,” Monroe says.

I flinch, taken aback. “Wow. You’re that close to her?”

“We’re friends. Not like you and I—we’re sisters.”

I grin. “That’s what I want to hear.”

She rolls her eyes playfully. “But deep down, Mandy’s a good person. By the way, I noticed you were wearing the Valentino dress I gave you. Really, Mags, are you still wearing my hand-me-downs?”

“I still don’t like to shop.”

“I know. It’s part of your psychosis.”

I grunt. “I still don’t understand what the hell you’re saying when you say that.”

“I’ll tell you what, Vince isn’t going to let you go. He’s going to ride your ride until the wheels fall off.”
 

I shake my head. “No, we’re done. He used me. And the way he fucked me this morning… And the way he embarrassed me… He’s just an asshole I’d rather forget.”

Monroe rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. “Listen, the next time he tries to get you to submit, do it.”

“He’s not. We’re done. He has a new girlfriend.”

“Sometimes you can be so smart yet so dense. He’s not done with you. He was trying to get your attention, and it worked!”

I frown. “Huh?”

She takes my shoulders. “Apparently he wants you to submit to him. So just do it.”

I squirm out of her grasp. “No, and why are you asking me to do that? It’s warped.”

“Men like that shit. It turns them on.”

“Well, it doesn’t turn me on. And if that’s the case, then why do all the bitches have the best guys? Huh?”
 

“I’m a bitch, and I’ve had horrible luck with men,” she says. “Let’s start with Charlie. I bet Angelina would climb a tree if he asked her to.”

“Not even the least bit true. But he is into her tits in a strange way. Charlie and Jack are alike—they fixate on tits and ass and shit like that. They’re both Scorpios. I’m positive that has something to do with it.”

Monroe lifts her shirt. “But I have great tits.”

I roll my eyes playfully. “Yes, you do. You bought a great pair.”

She elbows me. “Screw you.”

“It’s not even that hers are real and yours aren’t. Their fixations are specific. It can be a mole or the way the nipple is shaped. I’ve seen Angel’s tits. They slope like a slide. She’s got great ones.”