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I spun around. In front of me stood a tall, muscular middle-aged man wearing a security guard uniform, shining a flashlight in my face. Blinded, I squinted my eyes.
"What do you want here at this hour?" he repeated.
"I... we... uh..." I stammered.
"We're looking for Carter Jenkins." Hayley's voice. What would I have done without my friend?
"What do you want from him?" The security guard sounded stern. His gaze was probably stern too, but I couldn't tell in the beam of the flashlight.
"That's private." Hayley again.
"Then you shouldn't be harassing him at his workplace." The guard clearly wanted to get rid of us as quickly as possible.
"Is he at work then?" I blurted out. "He doesn't seem to be at his apartment."
"That's none of your business. I'm here to secure this building, which means I don't let unauthorized people in. And you two clearly fall into that category. Or do you have a company ID fromCarcoBatteries?" The guard now swung the flashlight from me to Hayley. I was grateful for a moment not to be so blinded by the light. But the darkness afterward seemed even blacker - and this in the middle of New York, where most lights never go out. I blinked, trying to regain my vision.
"No, we don't have company IDs. But I've worked for Carter Jenkins in a way," I claimed. That was true, after all. Carter had hired me as his fiancée. I frantically wondered if the guard's hint meant he knew where Carter was, and if so, how I could extract this information from him.
"This is Carter Jenkins' fiancée," Hayley blurted out at that moment. I looked at her, startled. But then I nodded.
"Yes, we're engaged." I could hardly contradict Hayley now. That would only have made the guard more suspicious. Maybe he would spill the beans now. As a fiancée, I had a right to know where Carter was, didn't I?
"Engaged? Just a moment ago, you were working for him." Suspiciously, the guard directed the flashlight beam back at me and looked me up and down. "I don't know anything about a fiancée. Carter Jenkins even explicitly requested that his family not be allowed to enter the apartment and the company. You definitely can't come in here."
"Does that mean he's in the office?" I asked hopefully. If I was being denied entry, it could only mean that Carter was on site. Right? And then I would just wait here until Carter came out. Yes, his apartment was right above the office, but he had to leave the building at some point, didn't he? Or come back if he wasn't here.
"I just said, it's none of your business. Not yours as his... fiancée, nor this other woman's." The guard nodded towards Hayley. "You should leave now."
"We'll wait until Mr. Jenkins returns." As much as I had hesitated to seek out Carter again at the beginning, I was now wildly determined to get this over with. I wouldn't give up so easily.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you!" The guard now sounded more forceful. "Nobody's going to wait for Mr. Jenkins here. That would be rich. Next thing you know, the whole street will be full of his exes, all waiting to throw themselves at him again."
At these words, I flinched. Wasn't that exactly what I was doing? I was standing here on the street and...
... wanting to throw myself at Carter again?
Yes.
I would have loved to do just that.
Isabella. Pull yourself together. The man owes you an explanation, and until you get it, you will not throw yourself at him again. He owes YOU something, not you HIM.
Above all, he owed something to our child.
"You should go now. I've told you this once before, now I'm telling you one last time nicely." The guard was now becoming much more forceful. I stared at him, unable to move.
"Come on, Isabella." Hayley tugged gently at my sleeve.
I still didn't move from the spot.
"You should listen to your friend!" The guard looked at me unfriendly. "If you don't leave, I'll have to call the police."
Hayley snorted indignantly. "We haven't done anything wrong."
"I'm in charge of security here. Leave." The guard pointed to the street.
I could only think one thing.