I was too busy taking care of other people to take care of myself.
I catered to the rich and famous, but my life didn’t mirror theirs at all. There were no vases of fresh flowers on the tables, no dry cleaning hanging in my closet, no clean sheets on my bed, no groceries in the kitchen.
Sometimes I wondered why I bothered to pay rent on this place, considering I was almost never here. Should just sleep in my office and save the cash.
But the hardest thing about coming home was the fact that no one was here.
I was alone.
My job consumed more than forty hours a week of my life, so I didn’t have time for much else.
Time for me.
The thought was so depressing that I skipped dinner and lay back on the couch, kicking off my heels, and pulled the blanket over my body so I could fall asleep right there.
I jolted awake at the sound of the knock on the door.
“Jesus…” I rolled onto the floor, the rug cushioning my fall.
The knock sounded again. “Cleo, open up.” It was Jake.
My squinted eyes looked out the window to see it was barely sunrise. I grabbed my phone off the floor and looked at the time. It was 6:30 a.m. I usually didn’t wake up for another hour before taking the walk to work.
He rang the doorbell a couple times.
“You’re so fucking obnoxious.” I finally got to my feet.
“Then open the door!”
I made it to the front door, my eyes still half closed, and unlocked it. “There. Happy?”
He came in and shut the door behind him, wearing a thick coat over his suit because it was still a freezing cold day for April. “I don’t want to talk in a goddamn elevator. I want us to talk this through—”
“When I have to get ready for work?” I asked incredulously. “You think that’s better?”
He looked me up and down. “Aren’t you ready right now?”
I looked down at myself, seeing the wrinkled top and twisted skirt, and I didn’t need to see my face to know my makeup was a shitshow. “Do I ever look like this at the office?”
He shrugged. “I think you look hot—”
“Jake, just shut up.” I closed my fingers to my thumb, mimicking his talking lips. “We’ve been doing…whatever the hell this is…for months. And you were married that entire time. Do you realize how disgusting that is?” I shivered, physically grossed out by the affair I’d had with someone’s husband.
“She’s never here—”
“You promised to be with her forever, Jake. Doesn’t matter if she’s here or in another country.”
He sighed in irritation, like I would never understand his justification.
He was right—I never would.
“I’m ending things next time she comes back into town—”
“You’re wasting your time.”
“I’m doing it, regardless. Because being with you has made me realize that a real relationship is more important than money. We got married years ago because it was ideal for business reasons. But we signed a hefty prenup, so we can go our separate ways without a problem. I should have done it a long time ago when I started to be unhappy, and I’m sorry I lied about it.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, his apology meaning nothing to me.
“Baby, I really am sorry—”
“Please don’t call me that again.”
He shut his mouth tightly, his nostrils flaring. “I started to have feelings for you, and then I wanted you so much that I didn’t think clearly. I honestly forgot I was married, forgot every time we were together.”
“Do you have any idea what I just risked? I could have lost everything, Jake.”
“I know,” he said gently. “But you didn’t. No one knows—except for the two of us.”
And hopefully it stayed that way.
“Please give me another chance—”
“No.”
He dropped his hands to his sides in defeat.
“You made me an adulterer. You made me the other woman.”
“That’s not fair. You didn’t know.”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s not the kind of person I want to be. You should know that better than anyone.”
A slight look of guilt came into his face, like he did understand. “I’m so sorry, Cleo. It all just happened…and then the longer I didn’t tell you, the less I wanted to. And the longer it went on, I thought I would just divorce my wife and you wouldn’t know about it…”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s so stupid, Jake. I don’t understand how you’re a billionaire.”
“Well, they say love makes you stupid…” His green eyes looked into mine with meaning.
I shook my head. “Don’t go there…”
“But I—”
“No.” I took a step back. “I really need to get ready for work, and there’s nothing more to say about this. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. We need to move on. You’re the client—and I’m the help. Period.”
He slid his hands into his pockets, showing puppy-dog eyes.