Heartless: Episode 3

I wondered how the fuck Daniel had ever put up with this crap—let alone, how I’d gotten somehow involved in it.

“This is something you should be talking to Daniel about, not me.”

“He won’t take my calls. He refuses to speak to me!”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Get him to talk to me! Please? Tell him to hear me out. He owes me at least that much. I wasted two years of my life, for Christ’s sake!”

“I’m really not comfortable with that. Like I said, I’m sorry you’re hurting, but this isn’t my problem.” My head started to ache.

“Don’t you have a heart? I know you do. I realize that it’s been a long time, but I know what kind of person you once were. You used to care about other people, Elizabeth and I’m sure you still do. The old you wouldn’t want to see me hurting like this. You’d want to fix it. I refuse to believe that you’ve changed that drastically,” she stopped speaking and I stayed silent, listening to the sound of her breathing before she started up again. “I know my brother hurt you. You didn’t deserve it, but neither do I. I know you can relate to how betrayed I’m feeling.”

The idea of her comparing whatever she’d had with Daniel to my relationship with her brother caused me to bristle in my chair. “You’re right about a lot of things, but I don’t think that your situation with Daniel was anything like my situation with Ben.”

“Maybe not exactly, but I was still invested in what we had, and I love him. I love him, Elizabeth. Can you say the same? Do you love him?”

I shrank back in response to her question, not that she could see it. Did I love Daniel? No, not yet, but I knew the potential was there.

“Do you love him like I love him?” she asked again.

“That’s not really your business,” I said with little conviction.

“If you don’t love him, if you really don’t love him the way I love him, then please let him go. Please send him back to me. I’m begging you, Elizabeth. I just need to talk to him, so he can see…”

She started sobbing again into the phone, and my heart softened as I heard her genuine pain and longing for a man who would never love her back. Her pain started to weigh heavily on me, and I had to break our connection before I caved.

“I wish you the best, Kate. I truly do. But please don’t call my place of employment for things like this in the future. It isn’t appropriate. You need to take this whole affair up with Daniel and leave me out of it. I do not want to be involved. Good night, and good luck.” I ended the call without giving her a chance to say another word. My head was spinning, my resolve was breaking, and my heart was aching for the girl I used to know.

10.

DANIEL

“Daniel, Elizabeth Lyons is on line one for you.” Serena’s voice came through the speaker on my phone.

“Thank you. I’ll take it. And, Serena? Go home,” I responded before pressing down the button for line one.

“Babe!” My voice came out overly excited and I wanted to smack myself. This woman turned me into a child.

“I wasn’t sure you’d still be at the office.” She sounded off, and my stomach fell to the floor with the innate knowledge.

“You okay? What’s the matter?”

I waited as she inhaled a single breath. My knees started to bounce under my desk as I feared what was about to spill from her lips—the lips that I had kissed, tasted, and loved just this morning.

“I’ve just had a really long and weird day.” Her tone was riddled with avoidance and distance—two things I wanted least of all from her.

“What else? Something’s on your mind. I can sense it.”

“I just needed to tell you that I have a production deadline, and I’m not going to be available for the next few weeks.”

“What does that mean? I can’t see you for a few weeks? That’s okay, babe. We’ll have lots of phone sex,” I said with a laugh, hoping to lighten the mood.

She didn’t laugh back.

“I just can’t have you coming down here unannounced and stuff while I have this big project on the line, okay? Promise me that you won’t show up here without my permission.” Her voice pleaded and she sounded desperate and nervous.

“Elizabeth,” I all but begged, “what’s really going on?”