He rolled his eyes. “What are we, tenth graders? You’re not in high school, Tristan; neither is J
ason. You and Molly are consenting adults. If you want to date one another, I doubt Jason will stand in your way.”
“And my lifestyle?” I said. “You know how hard we have to work.”
“I do,” Ben nodded. “And, I think Molly is smart enough to have realized that, too. It doesn’t seem to be a factor for her. So, why do you keep insisting you know what’s best for her? Why do you keep making her decisions for her?”
I bit my lip and kept pacing. “I’ve been trying to run from my feelings for so long… I don’t know how to stop now.”
“You stop by admitting the truth,” Ben said.
I stopped pacing and looked at him. “I don’t want her to leave,” I said. “I can’t let her leave.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know when I’ll see her again,” I admitted. “And I don’t want to have to endure another six years without seeing her face.”
He smiled. “I think you need to tell her that.”
“What if it’s too late?” I asked, suddenly nervous. “What if she leaves anyway?”
“Then at least you tried,” he said. “I don’t understand how you can be so fearless in business, but not in your personal life.”
“Because there’s more to lose here,” I said. “Molly is…special.”
“Then don’t let her go without a fight.”
I stared at Ben for a second and then jumped into action. He was right. Gregory was right. Molly was right. Apparently, everyone had been except for me. I needed to be a man and stop running from the things that scared me.
I headed straight for Molly’s suite, without stopping to talk to anyone on the way. When I arrived at her door, I paused with my hand inches from the wood.
I was scared, but I took a deep breath and knocked anyway. I stood away from the peephole so that Molly couldn’t see whom it was. I was worried she wouldn’t answer the door if she knew it was me standing there.
A few seconds later, the door opened and Molly stood before me. She was wearing the same faded blue jeans from yesterday and a plain white-shirt that brought out the blue in her eyes. Her hair fell carelessly around her shoulders, and I realized she looked most beautiful when there wasn’t a stitch of makeup on her face.
“Molly,” I said.
She stared at me for a second and then she proceeded to slam the door in my face. I jammed my leg into the threshold, preventing her from closing the door completely.
“Get your foot out of my doorway,” she said in a no-nonsense tone.
“I can’t do that.”
“What do you want, Tristan?” she demanded.
“I just want to talk.”
“The time for that is done,” she said coldly. “I’m not interested in talking now. Nor am I interested in assuaging your conscience of guilt.”
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“Why else would you be here?”
“If you let me in, I could explain,” I suggested.
Her blue eyes were pinpricks of steel, so I searched the rest of her face for some small indication that she might be softening towards me. Her expression was impatient at best, however, and I could barely see the rest of her through the small opening in the door. My leg was starting to hurt a little bit, too.
“Please, Molly,” I said. “I owe you an apology after the other night.”