It didn’t matter if she hated that reality as it was the truth.
Finally, accepting that, she turned her cell phone on. She lay down in bed, getting comfortable. The moment her cell phone loaded, her cell began to beep with missed calls and texts.
She saw five missed calls and several texts.
Daniel: You didn’t need to hang up.
Daniel: It’s not what it sounded like.
Daniel: Look, I’m at a family party, and there’s a lot of women here from my past. Not lovers either. Just people I remember growing up, their kids, and whatnot.
Daniel: The woman you heard is the mother of two kids, and is very much in love with her actor husband.
Daniel: Elizabeth … please answer the phone.
Staring at the messages, guilt swamped her, and she gasped as in that moment, her cell phone began to ring.
She debated answering it but saw no real choice.
“Hello,” she said.
“Finally. Why did you hang up like that?” he asked.
“You sounded very busy.”
“I’m never too busy to answer the phone for you. Look, I know how it sounded, and I’m sorry. My parents arranged this party weeks ago. I didn’t know, and I decided to see them on my way back. Nothing has changed with them. They still want me to settle down with the right girl as if I’m not a forty-year-old guy who wants to make his own decisions.”
“You really don’t have to explain anything to me. This is our arrangement, remember. I shouldn’t have called you. I’m sorry.”
Silence met her words.
“Don’t. Don’t do that. I’ve got no problem with the fact you called. Do you even realize that this is the first time you’ve called me?”
She frowned. “It is?”
“Yes. I usually start all the talking and all the texting.”
“Oh.”
“Why did you hang up the phone?” he asked.
“I didn’t want to interrupt your evening. It’s fine, Daniel. I just wanted to tell you about figuring out about Billy.”
“Tell me,” he said.
She glanced over at the clock. “It’s really late, and I’ve got to get some sleep.”
Tears spilled out of her eyes. She had to take a step back now or risk even more pain when he ended this between them.
No matter how much she wanted to forget that he paid her for sex, she couldn’t. He owned her, and that was the way she’d see it.
“Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
She hung up without saying a word.
****
Daniel wanted to launch his cell phone across the damn balcony. She’d withdrawn from him. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know why. When her call came, he’d only just gotten to his parents’ house, and he’d been so tired, he’d been somewhat taken away by everything.
Her call had been a pleasure.
Damn it.
All the ground he’d fucking covered was now gone.
Taking a seat on one of the chairs outside of his room, he watched the moon. The party had started to die down an hour ago, and he wasn’t interested in joining anyone. Once he realized that his parents weren’t interested in seeing him, and kept throwing woman after woman in his face, he’d split, heading up to his room.
From there, he’d been phoning and texting Elizabeth, hoping she’d pick up.
He’d not had an ounce to drink, and by the time he woke up in the morning, he was alert enough to keep on driving.
Deciding not to linger to see his parents, Daniel went straight to his car, and began the journey back home. Only he didn’t park outside his penthouse or the apartment where he and Elizabeth spent most of their time. He parked outside her apartment building, and using the spare key he’d gotten made, let himself inside her home.
Her apartment, though small, was always spotless. She didn’t like mess, and he appreciated that.
Heading to her kitchen, he started the coffee machine he’d purchased for her, and then he began breakfast.
She didn’t have a lot of food, not as much as they shared in both of his apartments, but he found some slices of bacon, eggs, and bread.
He’d been in her home for ten minutes when she emerged from her bedroom, holding a bat.
“Don’t worry. I come in peace, baby.”
“Daniel?”
“The one and magnificent only.”
“What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” she asked.
“I’m making breakfast. I think that’s really obvious, and I have to say you really do look cute in those pajamas.”
She dropped the bat and glared at him. “Why are you here?”
“Is this one of those deep and meaningful questions that only scientists like to debate?”
He saw the twitch of her lips, but still, she didn’t completely laugh, which he didn’t like.
“How did you get inside my apartment?”
Daniel lifted up the spare key he’d gotten made. “Not hard to do when you left them on my kitchen counter a while ago. Before dropping them off with you at the coffee shop, I had a spare set made.”