Chapter Four.
1175 Words
Lily.
Benny was cheating on me.
It was unbelievable. I was shaking my head, over and over. It was a dream, it had to be.
There was a woman laying beside my boyfriend, her hand slung over his chest. They were covered with his thick blanket, but I wasn’t stupid. I could tell they were naked under those sheets.
I was frozen in place. I didn’t know what it was that I felt in that moment, seeing them asleep in each other’s arms – Heartbroken? Angry? Maybe a whirling pool of both?
I was stuck between wanting to rip the blanket off both of them, confronting Benny – Bernard and walking away. What was there to listen to? An apology? Excuses?
I turned on my heels and closed the door, walking out and locking the door like I was never there in the first place. Things would be better off that way. As I got into a taxi, cursing him for making me spend money I didn’t have much of, I blocked his number. I would have to move out before the one week was up, and I had nowhere to go.
The first thing I did when I got to my apartment was picking up the business card Blake had handed to me last night.
I paced around my living room with the card in my hand. I knew that two wrongs didn’t equate to s right, but I wasn’t exactly doing something wrong to Bernard. He was a cheater and I had nothing to do with him anymore. I didn’t want him to contact me or find me. We would be lying to each other and nothing more.
I flung the card aside, sliding against a wall and crying into my hands. It hurt just thinking about it, I couldn’t even deny it. I trusted him. I loved him.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, crying and clutching my shirt as my chest hurt. I was too weak to do anything, I could barely even think.
I took Blake’s card and typed a disorganized but comprehensible email to the email address printed on the card.
Hello Blake,
I’ve given it a thought and I’ve agreed to talk extensively about this contract. Before signing it, I’d like to get the full idea of what this entails and why it was given to me.
Lily.
I sniffled, trudging into my bedroom and changing into a pair of shorts and a shirt. It was a sunny day, I had no TV, nowhere to go, nothing to do. I slowly realized that my life was centered on Bernard. I used to spend most of my weekends in his apartment.
Unexpectedly, there was a swift reply from Blake. It only had an address and a time. I had four hours to prepare for a dinner meeting with Blake. I decided to use most of those hours to make lunch for myself with the few groceries I had. I could only afford to make two club sandwiches, which I did.
I wolfed the sandwiches down, having half a bottle of water to go with it. I rubbed my eyes as I sat in the kitchen, alone and staring into space.
I wondered if Bernard would notice that I had been in the house. He could always tell when I came around when he wasn’t home. He said things were always in a certain way and he could tell when they changed, even in the slightest.
I wondered when it all started to go wrong. How long had I been consistently lied to? Was that what I got for lying to him and keeping a man in my bedroom without his knowledge? Even at that, I didn’t believe I deserved that. I never cheated on Bernard, and I would never have agreed to hear Blake out on the contract if he told me not to.
I decided to take a nap, setting an alarm for six, just in case I overslept.
****
I woke up three minutes before my alarm went off, but I let the alarm go off to give me a sense of emergency. I turned it off and took a quick shower, changing into a white, v-neck sling dress with a pleated skirt.
Winter was coming in full swing and the nights were getting colder, some of them bringing rain with them. I grabbed a red sweater as I finished my simple, natural makeup routine. Putting everything I needed into a black bag, I slipped on a pair of white shoes I got from a brand I collaborated with once.
I checked my phone and found an email from Blake. He made an inquiry on my arrival, asking me to inform him if I had a change of plans. I gave a quick reply, letting him know I was on my way. I had spent more money on taxis than I wanted to, on that day.
I made my way out of my house, bumping into Elma, my landlady on the staircase.
“Did you see my notice, Lily?” That’s what she asked me first.
I nodded, unable to meet her eyes. I was ashamed. I had overstayed, paying less than a morsel of my rent to keep me there, but it wasn’t enough. She was bound to send the eviction notice sooner or later.
The encounter with Elma was enough for me to make up my mind. I had to find a way to survive. I would be homeless if I continued to live the way I was. I had to secure a roof over my head, even if it meant getting married to Blake. He didn’t seem bad. He was handsome, most likely rich.
What’s the worst that could happen?
The moment I got to the restaurant, I spent a few seconds staring at the structure of the building. How could a restaurant be that huge? I didn’t even know something like that existed that close to my house.
I walked in as a security official opened the door from the inside, a metal detector scanning me before I was cleared.
A woman holding a clipboard headed in my direction with a warm, almost motherly smile at me. It caused me to smile back.
“Welcome to Declaire’s. Reservation name, please?” she requested.
“Blake Arnett?” I was unsure. I didn’t know if he used his name or mine, but she didn’t even check the clipboard. Her eyes brightened in recognition.
“Third floor, platinum room.” She nodded, gesturing for a man who seemed like a waiter. He told me to follow him, and I did.
It was quiet in the elevator, but I had to ask. “How much does a table at the platinum room cost?”
His brows shot up in surprise and he cleared his throat. “That’s um…. It’s a little over five hundred thousand dollars, ma’am.”
I sucked in a deep breath, clutching my bag.
He was definitely in the top percentage.
- Writer
