Thirty minutes later, the taxi dropped me in front of Zoe’s building. I handed the driver a hundred and told him to keep the change. I was less furious at Zoe now, but still seething at myself. Why couldn’t I have just let her handle the guy? I mean, obviously, there was something there that… holy shit… Jesus, Chad… you stupid fuck… obviously that was someone she had been seeing… someone she must have cared for at one time… And I had driven his face into the table…
Shit.
No wonder she was pissed.
Maybe she was still carrying a torch for him.
Maybe I was just wasting my time because of my stupid pride.
“Fuck it,” I said under my breath as I plastered on my best smile and nodded to the doorman, then went up to the desk. There was a big guy in a blue blazer behind the desk, older with a gray buzz cut and suspicious eyes. He stared as I approached. I had waited in the cab when I picked Zoe up. I hadn’t paid much attention to the building where she lived. A fucking doorman? A concierge? Marble floors? Zoe was doing fine for herself. This was a far cry from that little apartment I was giving her shit about at dinner.
“Hi, can you ring Zoe Maxwell for me,” I said formally, giving him my best “
I mean you no harm” smile.
“Is she expecting you?” he asked, still giving me a suspicious eye.
“No, but I’m sure she’ll see me,” I said. I set another hundred-dollar bill on the desk and slid it toward him. “Tell her it’s Chad Walters. We were just at dinner and she left her cellphone in the cab.”
He squinted at me for a second, then pushed the hundred bucks back toward me. He picked up the phone and dialed. “Miss Maxwell, Hank at the desk. Yes, ma’am. There’s a gentleman in the lobby to see you. Yes, Mr. Walters...”
Hank went silent for a few seconds, then said, “He says you forgot your cellphone at dinner and he has it.” More silence, a nod. “Yes, Miss Maxwell. No problem at all.” He hung up and folded his thick arms over his chest. He nodded at the door. “Miss Maxwell says her cellphone is with her, and that I should ask you to leave. Politely. Or call the police if you refuse to go.”
“Ah, okay, my mistake then,” I said holding up my hands, taking a step back. “You have a good night.”
Twelfth floor. She said she was on the twelfth floor.
I turned around and broke into a sprint past the desk.
“Hey!” Hank yelled as I raced past him.
I immediately made for the stairwell at the end of the corridor. I threw my weight against the stairwell door and began taking the stairs by twos. I could hear Hank huffing behind me, yelling, but after the first two floors, I was sure I had lost him. There was no way he was going to run up twelve flights of stairs without having a fucking heart attack.
I burst out of the stairwell at the twelfth floor, sweating and panting, and stood frozen at the end of the hall. There were a dozen apartments on the floor, and nothing at all to even hint at which one was Zoe’s.
“Zoe!” I yelled, slamming my fist repeatedly on the first two doors nearest me. “Zoe open the fucking door!”
I heard the chimes of the elevator and knew that Hank had caught up with me. He came barreling off the elevator with the look of a man possessed and grabbed me by the arm. I was about to swirl around and punch him in the face when a door behind me opened. We both turned to look at Zoe, who still looked stunning in her little black cocktail dress.
“Chad, what the fuck are you doing?” she asked.
“I came to apologize,” I said, wrestling out of Hank’s grip. The man might not have been fit, but he was strong as hell, and quickly twisted my arm behind my back and pushed me against the wall. I got the feeling that he was an old cop used to dealing with assholes like me.
“Sorry, Miss Maxwell,” Hank said. “I’ll take him downstairs and call the police.”
Another door opened and an elderly woman stuck her head out. Then a second door, then a third. The ruckus was bringing everyone out of their apartments, and I could see Zoe’s face turning bright red.
“Jesus Christ, Chad,” she hissed, grabbing me and pulling me inside. “Thanks, Hank, I’ll handle this.”
“Are you sure?” Hank asked.
She pushed me inside, a little too roughly.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she said and closed the door.
* * *
“Are you fucking insane?” Zoe yelled. “Do you have any idea what you just did? I’m going to be the gossip of the entire building thanks to you!”