First Class to New York (8 page)

First of all, he didn’t even think about Beth being at the
fundraiser. Ever the socialite, she made sure she hit every event where there
would be cameras and rich men. She just hadn’t even crossed his mind. In his
defense, they had been divorced for over 5 years.

And then there was the Chicago almost-fiasco. Why Ben hadn’t
taken two seconds to call
before
the sellers threatened to pull the plug
on their deal, he’ll never know. Fortunately, Matt had penciled out all
possible scenarios when putting the offer together, so he had been able to
tighten up the deal before it completely unraveled.

And then, of course, there was Janie. What a revelation that
turned out to be! Widowed with two sons?
How the hell had that not come up
in conversation?

Ray pulled in front of the high-rise office building centered
in the financial district. Matt said goodnight and headed into the massive
glass building.

The security guard wasn’t surprised to see Matt arriving
back at the office on a Sunday evening at 11pm. Matt was here all hours of the
day and night, every day of the week. He was a workaholic. He prided himself on
his success and it had not come quickly or easily. It was true he had been born
with some advantages; his parents were still happily married after 50 years,
they had been financially secure because of his father’s work ethic and a knack
for selling insurance, and he had received an excellent education at a private
Catholic school and then at Duke University.

But Matt had worked three jobs after college and scrimped
and saved to get the down payment together for his first real estate investment
and he continued to do so until his hard work started paying off. That first
brownstone had sold 5 years later and he had almost doubled his investment. Now
here he was 18 years later purchasing sky scrapers in Chicago and Buenos Aires
and on every other continent.

He opened the large door to his office and left the room
dark. He sat behind his desk and swung to look out over the city. It was an
amazing sight at night. He should bring Janie up here.
Janie!
And Matt
was back to the problem at hand. He had resolved to show her a good time while
she was here in New York, and he would have a good time in return. But that was
all different now. He hadn’t known she was a
widow.

Rubbing his forehead again he wondered why that bothered
him. Would he feel the same if she was divorced? Matt shook his head, not being
able to answer that question. He moved on to the next revelation; that of her
sons. Matt openly acknowledged his two ex-wives on the plane but Janie had not
even hinted of having kids.
Are all women really just the same deep down?
No, that wasn’t fair. He had been the one pursuing her. She didn’t have to tell
him anything. She owed him no explanations.

Well it didn’t matter now. He didn’t think there was any
point in seeing her again. He was still attracted to her; to her eyes, her
hair, her smile, and the way she chewed on her cheek. And he definitely wanted her
physically. He couldn’t think of anyone he would rather have sex with, but she
was off limits now. It was all he could do to leave her hotel room this evening
without ripping off her dress and giving her a night she would remember. But he
had left her alone, well, except for that kiss which he had to take. He needed
to taste her. It took more will power than he knew he had to walk out and leave
her standing there with that look of disappointment on her face. But he just
couldn’t sleep with her, not now! It would be violating her emotionally, and
that is something he just wouldn’t do.

Monday came and went without a word from Matt. Janie kept
herself busy all day at the Museum of Modern Art. She wandered through the
galleries, in awe of what she saw. It was unbelievable to her that all of this
amazing art was housed under one roof, right at her fingertips. She tried to
keep her mind off Matt but it was difficult.

Sunday night had been spent tossing and turning, trying to
come to some kind of understanding as to what had happened, both at the
fundraiser after his business call, and back in her room when she was putty in
his hands and he had just left. No matter how long she dwelt on it, an answer hadn’t
revealed itself.

Janie stopped at a little deli on the way back to the hotel
and sat at the table by the window and watched the hustle and bustle all around
her as she fiddled with her pastrami on rye. She usually had a healthy appetite,
but she didn’t have any desire to eat. The sandwich seemed tasteless and she
found herself just playing with the food on her plate. After quite some time,
she gave up on dinner and headed back to the hotel.

*****

Tuesday was bleak. She awoke to grey clouds and rain. The
weather seemed to match her mood. After her shower and consuming several cups
of coffee, there still had been no contact from Matt. Janie knew that it must
be her; she must have done something, said something. Beth’s image appeared in
her head and Janie had a fleeting glimpse of the problem. Beth was every man’s
fantasy and Matt had been married to her. How could Janie ever think to compete
with that standard?
Well, obviously I can’t!

After walking around her room for the umpteenth time, Janie
decided she may as well just head out into the weather and head to the
Guggenheim, one of the
must-see’s
on her list, where she could stay dry.
Dressing in tan linen slacks and a light blue sweater, she headed off to take
her mind off the man who didn’t seem to want her.

Janie had walked for what could have been 10 minutes or 2
hours, she wasn’t paying attention, when a sign in a window caught her eye;
‘Say it with muffins’. Janie stopped and looked at the display. There was a
basket with muffins and a bag of coffee beans; one with muffins and a cheese
assortment; and one with muffins and a thermos, that boasted being “spill-proof”.
Janie smiled as an idea formed.

Twenty minutes later she was hailing a cab and giving the
driver the address her phone said housed MEL Holdings. They drove through all
kinds of insane traffic and Janie now understood why Matt had a driver. She
vowed never to complain about the congestion on the I-5 again!

It was almost 45 minutes before the cab pulled up in front
of an extremely tall glass building that the driver assured her was the address
she had given him. She handed him an insane amount of money and walked towards
the building, a muffin basket in her arms. Making her way inside, Janie looked
around, trying to find a clue as to where she would find Matt’s office. She didn’t
want to see him, just drop off the gift and a card and be on her way. Realizing
she would have to go to the security desk to get the needed information, she
began crossing the marble floor.

“Janie?”

She turned in the direction of the voice and heard her name
again. “Janie!” She turned her head to the left and was met by Maureen Lathem.

“What a wonderful surprise seeing you here!” Maureen was
smiling and pulling Janie into a hug.

“Hi!” smiled Janie. “I was just dropping this basket off for
Matt, as a thank you for the other night.”

Maureen’s eyebrows raised high and she mouthed an O.

“Oh,” Janie blushed. “For taking me to the dinner. On
Sunday. Where I met you and Mr. Lathem.” Janie was rambling and Maureen chuckled.

“Let me take you up to his office. I was here to see one of
my other sons, Mark, but I am always happy to stop by and surprise Matthew.”

“Oh no!” exclaimed Janie. “I can’t go, I mean I can’t
interrupt him. I just wanted to leave this for him.”

“Of course we can interrupt him! I’m his mother!”

“No, no. I uh, don’t have time. I was um, on my way, to um,
and appointment, so I can’t stay.” Janie tripped over her tongue, desperately
trying to avoid seeing him.

“Well, dear, if that’s the case, I’ll take it up and deliver
it for you. I wouldn’t want you to be late for your, er,
appointment
.”
Maureen held out her arms for the basket and Janie handed it to her, the card
perched on top.

“Thank you very much. Well, I have to be going. Thanks
again.” And Janie turned and all but sprinted across the lobby to the door and
out into the wet air.

*****

Matt was on the phone as his door whipped open and his
mother flew in. She marched directly to stand in front of his desk and all but
slammed a wicker basket down on the folder he had open. The cellophane made a
loud crinkling noise and Matt mumbled an apology to the person on the other end
of the phone and hung up.

“Well hello mom. What brings you here with…muffins?” Matt
looked surprised.

“What did you do to her?” Maureen’s voice was low and
controlled but Matt could tell she was livid.

“What? Do to who?”

“To whom,” corrected Maureen. “To Janie! How many other women
are there?”

“What? Mom, what are you talking about?” Matt was truly
confused.

“This is from her.” Maureen pointed at the basket, doing her
best Vanna White impression.

“So you think, what, because she got me a muffin basket?” He
really wasn’t following at all.

“Oh, Matt. You didn’t see her! She was standing in the lobby
looking scared to death when I saw her. When I offered to bring her up to see
you, I thought she was going to wet her pants right there! She made up some
ridiculous excuse about not wanting to interrupt you and then something about
an appointment, which obviously wasn’t true, and then ran out of the building
after I’d offered to bring it up like some frightened animal.” Maureen had
known the instant she saw Janie that this was not the warm, open, sweet girl
she had met two days before. “So, what did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Matt rubbed his hand across his
forehead and remembered back to their last encounter, in her hotel room and the
kiss that nearly undone him. But he’d left before he’d had the opportunity to
play with her emotions. He’d left for that very reason! “Mom! I swear!”

“Be careful Matthew! She’s nothing like Suzanne and Beth,
those twits you married. She’s a sweet girl who has been through a lot and
doesn’t need some big city playboy coming in and carelessly toying with her.”
Maureen’s teeth were almost gritted as she spoke.

Matt was totally taken back by his mother’s outburst. He
really did not have any idea what she was talking about. “Mom, let’s sit down
and talk about this calmly, shall we?”

They walked over to the two black leather sofas and he held
her hand as she sat in one corner and Matt in the other. He twisted and lifted
his right knee and rested it on the soft leather between them. His hand went
back to rubbing his forehead, lost in thought, trying to remember what he may
have done.

“Don’t think I don’t know about ALL the women, Matthew.” His
mother was looking him square on, but her voice had softened. “I know those two
women did a number on you and so you just think that one night stands are the
way to
get what you need
and not let any emotion get in the way.”
Maureen used her fingers to make quotation marks as she spoke and Matt rolled
his eyes at the thought of discussing his sex life with his mother!

She went on. “Janie has suffered an enormous loss and is
probably just coming to terms with that. She’s fragile Matthew.”

“Yes, well, she told
you
about her loss, didn’t she?”
Matt was irked. “But she didn’t bother to give me that piece of information!”

Maureen’s eyes flew open! “You didn’t know?”

“Nope! Heard you guys talking and looking at her pictures.”

“Oh.”

“Yep, always the last to find out the important stuff.”

Maureen could see the pain Matt was trying to hide. “Matthew,
not all women are like your ex-wives! Please don’t condemn us ALL because of
them?” She wished she could say something that would help. “Suzanne desperately
wanted to hang on to you and she should have told you about the miscarriage
straight away. That was wrong of her. And Beth? Well, Beth was just a gold
digger and at least you figured that out sooner rather than later. You just
managed to let the two worst women in the city con you into marrying them.
You’ll know better next time. And your father and I have decided to approve all
engagements first from now on. For all you boys!” Maureen smiled, hoping to
lighten the mood just a little.

“Marriage isn’t for me mom. I tried it twice, for a total of
29 months. That doesn’t say much for my ability as husband potential.”

“Don’t let them get to you. You learnt a valuable life
lesson from them, and if you don’t know what that is, come for dinner one night
and your father and I will tell you!” Maureen smiled and Matt couldn’t help but
chuckle. “And forgive Janie for not telling you about her husband. She must
have gone through more grief than we can imagine and for her to still be such a
sweet girl says a lot about who she is in here.” Maureen put her hand over her
heart. “Besides, your father is an excellent judge of character and he thought
she was marvelous!” 

“Okay, but what about her having kids?” Matt questioned his
mother.

“They aren’t kids anymore. They are almost 21. And handsome
boys. They look just like her.”

Matt said nothing so Maureen continued. “Suzanne really
messed with your mind, didn’t she?”

“Hmph! Why would you say that?” he sneered. “She got
pregnant on purpose so that I would marry her and then we lost her…” Matt’s
voiced trailed off. Maureen could see the hurt in his eyes. “When she
miscarried, she didn’t tell me for 5 weeks! Five goddamn weeks, Mom! She was my
daughter too, and Suzanne just used her as a part of her big plan, just like a
chess piece.” Matt’s grief had turned to anger. “I will not bring a child into
this world so that they can be used like pawns.”