First Class to New York (20 page)

“Are you offering Matty?”

Matt stood and grabbed Beth by the shoulders. He wanted to
shake her. But instead he dropped his arms and walked away, his back to her.

“Beth. I don’t ever want you back here. Do you understand?” Matt
growled, teeth gritted and his eyes cold. He turned to face her and her eyes
registered that she knew he was deathly serious.

“If you see me anywhere, turn and go the other way. Now
leave!”

Beth understood. She stood and walked quickly out of the room,
not looking back.

Matt tried to calm down. He walked past the sofa to the
cupboard against the wall and poured himself a drink. He didn’t care if it was
only 11am. The idea of Beth talking about Janie made him sick; sick to his
stomach. Janie was nothing like Beth. She was kind and sweet and smart and sexy
as hell, and she had no idea, and that made her that much more desirable. He
knew that it was about to end on Thursday but that didn’t matter. He wouldn’t
allow Beth to tarnish it in any way, whatever
it
was.

*****

Stepping off the elevator, Janie felt happy, excited to see
Matt, even though it had only been a couple of hours since he had left her.
Hoping he had finished his meeting, Janie stepped around to the desk to
announce her arrival, but there was no one there. The security guard had called
up to Matt’s office, making sure she was allowed to go straight to his personal
office and not to the receptionist’s desk on the floor below, but it was empty.

Janie stood in the middle of the office space looking
around. She spotted the large double doors and read Matt’s name on the plaque
and started towards his office.
Oh well. I guess I’m here.
She stopped
as she heard voices. The door was slightly ajar. It was a woman’s voice.
His
secretary?
she thought.

“So, tell me about the little woman? Janie, isn’t it?”

Janie recognized the voice. She’d heard it before. Was it
the secretary? She wasn’t sure.

“Janie is none of your business and she isn’t the ‘little
woman’!” Matt responded.

“Well you looked mighty cozy last Sunday.”

No, that’s not his secretary,
she realized.

“I told you it’s none of your business.”

“She isn’t really your type, all doe-eyed and shy. I know
what you like Matt and it’s not shy,” the voice purred.

“Yeah Beth, she’s not my type. But you know exactly what I
like, don’t you? All tits and legs. No brains needed. Just let me fuck you till
you’re raw and I’m good to go. Right?”

 “Are you offering Matty?”

Oh God! Oh God! It’s Beth! Shit! Get out! GET OUT OF
HERE!!!!!

Janie turned and all but ran into the woman walking in
behind her.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked.

Janie couldn’t think, she had to get out. She shoved the
laptop into the woman’s arms and ran to the elevators. She pushed the buttons
and miraculously the door opened and she stumbled in, frantically pushing the
‘L’ button.

Close! Close!
she begged. And the doors slowly came
together and the elevator gave the slightest of jolts and she was moving down.

*****

Angela was dumbfounded as the woman shoved the computer in
her arms and ran off. She didn’t know what to think but then another woman ran
out of Matt’s office. She stood there momentarily, trying to comprehend what
had just taken place.

She walked into Matt’s office, his door open, and saw him
downing a glass of amber liquid.

“Ahem.”

“Angela? You picked a fine time to leave me alone.” Matt
shook his head and walked back to his desk.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” she apologized.

“No,” he shook his head. “I just had an unannounced visitor.
Not a pleasant one either,” he grimaced.

“Well, that’s my fault. I apologize. They called from
downstairs to say Ms. Anderson was here and I was sure you would want her to
come up, so I…”

“Janie? Janie’s here?”

“Well, yes, I guess, but there was a woman out there and one
in here and,” Angela was still confused.

“What woman out there? Beth was in here,” he rubbed his
forehead.

“When I came back up from accounting, there was a woman at
my desk and she shoved this laptop in my hands and ran out.” Angela was piecing
it together. “Your ex-wife, Beth? She was in here?”

“Yeah, she arrived unannounced. I got rid of her, but Janie?
Janie was outside?” He took his laptop from her, it dawning on him that he had
left it in her hotel room. “So she was bringing me my laptop and Beth was in
here. Oh, fuck!”

Matt threw the laptop on the chair and slammed his fists on
his desk.

“Oh Sir, I am so sorry.”

“Not your fault Angela. This one is all mine.”

*****

Janie got out of the building as fast as she possibly could,
literally running through the lobby. What she had overheard was screaming in
her head. It wouldn’t stop; just repeated over and over again. She was such an
idiot! She was a fool; a naïve stupid fool.

She managed to get herself together enough to walk down the
street without looking like a crazed lunatic. She had to get back to the hotel,
back to where she felt safe.

She wasn’t his type. He wanted to fuck Beth; his words. And
she had been gullible enough to fall for the lines he had fed her. He was
probably laughing with Beth right now about how stupid the idiot from Oregon was.
How funny it must be to them. She felt sick, nauseous, like she was going to
throw up.

Stepping out into the street she all but stood in front of
the taxi to get it to stop. The driver slammed on his brakes and swore at her
but she didn’t care. She crawled in the back and he drove off. Janie rolled
down the window and tried to breathe. She tried to stop Matt’s words from
buzzing through her head.

*****

At about 3 o’clock, Janie turned her phone off. Matt had
called her several times and had left two messages. She couldn’t talk to him.
She wouldn’t talk to him. The messages had asked her to call him, that he
needed to talk to her. He didn’t mention whether or not Beth was still with
him.

She was curled up in the corner of the sofa in her hotel
room. Eyes red, nose raw. She had cried for hours and vomited twice. This was
not the trip she had envisioned at all. It felt as though months had passed
since she’d run into Matt at the airport. So much had happened since then, all
of it good till just a few hours ago. And then it all came crashing down and
she felt her heart had broken.

How could I have fallen in love so quickly? And how could
I have been so completely fooled?

But once again, her heart and her head were at odds. What she
overheard today did not jive with the man that she had come to know. The man
she knew was kind and intelligent and loved his family. He had been up front
about not wanting a relationship, but did that mean that he would fuck his
ex-wife in his office only two hours after leaving her in his bed? That didn’t
seem right. But she knew what she’d heard. He owed her nothing. He had shown
her a fabulous time, just like he’d said he would and it wasn’t his fault that
she had fallen in love with him.

So one half of her was devastated and the other was
defending him. He had not lied to her. He had not done anything he had to
apologize for. Yet she was still heart-broken.

Janie remained on the couch, numb. The sun was setting and
her room was getting dark. She stood and stretched her legs. Taking a deep
breath, she gathered his clothes and carefully placed them in the garment bag,
his shoes at the bottom. Then she placed the bag on the back of the chair.
Somehow, it needed to be returned to him, but she would think about that later.
She removed her clothes and slipped into the robe that was hanging on the
bathroom door. Janie didn’t have the strength to have a shower, although her
body ached for the stingingly hot water, so she drew a bath.

Walking out into the bedroom, she froze as a knock at the
door came.

I can’t see him!
she panicked. She couldn’t move as
the knock came again. Bile rising in her throat, she felt weak.

“Housekeeping,” came the voice from the other side of the
door.

Janie breathed in and out and stepped to open the door. The
kind woman on the other side explained that she was just there for the
turn-down service. Janie graciously let her in and watched as the bed covers
were folded down perfectly and two chocolate mints were placed on both pillows,
relief flowing through her.

She shut the bathroom door behind her and slid into the
scalding hot water in the tub, wiling it to wash away the pain and hurt,
willing it to help her forget him.

*****

Matt hung up the phone for the tenth or the hundredth time, he
had lost count. She wasn’t answering. It was dark now, after seven. He hadn’t
made any plans with her before he had left the apartment this morning. He just
assumed he would see her this evening. And now it was all fucked up.

What had she heard? Had she heard anything? Why wouldn’t she
answer her phone? It was going straight to voicemail so her phone was obviously
turned off. He had even tried the hotel, calling her room. She hadn’t picked up
that phone either. Maybe she wasn’t there? Where would she be?

Maybe she’d gone back to his apartment. The thought inspired
hope, but was quickly squashed when he realized the doorman wouldn’t have let
her in. No, she wouldn’t be there.

Shit! Should I go to her hotel? NO! You’ve called her a
hundred times. The ball is in her court.

Matt questioned Ray on the drive back to his apartment.
Janie had been bright and cheerful when he had dropped her back at the hotel.

So what the fuck is going on?

*****

The water was barely lukewarm when Janie finally climbed out
of the tub. She wrapped herself in the robe and crawled onto the bed and curled
into a fetal position.

Maybe it was just sex for Matt. Maybe she was just a
diversion for him. But it wasn’t for her. No, not even close. She could admit
it was a powerful physical attraction. When he turned to her in the airport it
was like she’d had had the wind knocked out of her. He was gorgeous, like
nothing she had ever seen. But it was more than skin deep; she had discovered the
beautiful man underneath too. She was usually a good judge of character. How
did this go wrong?

Janie looked outside to the darkened sky. Her heart was
broken; her pride wounded. But she would get over it. She’d been through worse,
much worse.

She reached for her phone and turned it on. There were a
couple of texts from Matt, both asking her to call him. There were two new
voicemails, both from Matt, asking her to call him. She didn’t delete them. She
couldn’t do it.

Janie called Katy. She answered on the second ring.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you again,” Katy sounded
surprised. “I figured you’d be holed up in a fantastic apartment having amazing
sex,” she giggled.

And Janie burst into tears.

*****

 “Bastard!” she spat. Katy was obviously furious. “How dare
he!”

Janie blew her nose again and sighed. “He didn’t promise me
anything, Katy. In fact, he was real clear up front that he was offering
nothing. It was all out on the table that this meant nothing, so how can I be
mad at him? I’m furious with myself for getting swept up in a shitty
make-believe fairytale. This is not ‘Pretty Woman’! I am not Julia Roberts and
he isn’t Richard Gere. There is no happy ending here, not for me and Matt anyway.”

Katy snorted, “Well you’re not a hooker so that’s in your
favor!” They both smiled, Janie feeling glad she had called her best friend.

“I let my heart go and that’s my fault,” Janie admitted. “He
warned me, Katy. He warned me twice. It’s not his fault. He didn’t break any
imaginary rule.”

“How can you defend him? He wanted to fuck his ex-wife!”

“Well you haven’t seen her! Every man would want to!”

“That is
SO
not the point.” Katy was irritated. “Besides,
he obviously wanted to fuck you too! Janie, this is on him, not you.”

Janie knew Katy would have her back. She had wanted someone
to prove to her that it was, in fact, all Matt’s fault. But deep down she knew
better and no amount of discussion could convince her otherwise.

“Thank you Katy. You’re a good friend.”

Yes, Katy had done what she had wanted her to, but it hadn’t
worked so she said her goodbyes and hung up.

She crawled under the covers and closed her eyes.
It will
all be better in the morning.

*****

Not usually an early riser, Janie once again awoke before
6am. She untangled herself from the hotel robe that was twisted around her body
and stood, stretching. Taking a deep breath, she assessed her mood. Yes, she
was feeling a tiny bit better.

Grabbing her phone, Janie made a bold decision, one she
hoped she would not regret. She had dreamed of Matt all night and there was no
anger in her today. Somehow, her mind and heart had come to some kind of understanding,
allowing her to appreciate her time with Matt but come to terms that it was
just a fleeting moment; just one small blip in her life, a blip that had come
to an end. He was indeed a very special man, a man she would never forget, a
man she would not regret. He had been the precipice in getting her to move on,
to start over. And she would be forever grateful to him for that, even though
he probably had no idea the major role he had played. Her only wish was that
she would be a fond memory for him too, not immediately forgotten.

She typed in a simple text message and hit the send button. She
did want to see him again. She actually
needed
to see him again. And
then she needed to walk away.