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“Yeah. I know. Gross.”
“You asked!”
She stuck out her tongue before leaning back against the park bench, letting the sun fall across her tan face. She looked like her brother. I didn’t really see it until now. Tan and green-eyed.
“I’m just happy for him,” she said, as if speaking to the sky. “He needed you, you know?” She turned and faced me.
“He wasn’t happy. I could tell. He could lie to me all he wanted, and tell me that this was the life he wanted, but I knew. He was never meant to be the playboy, Richie Rich type. Troy was always justTroygrowing up. Kind to everyone. Funny. Smart. Then our dad had to go and fuck him all up. I hate him for it sometimes.”
My heart broke at her words.
“You’re his silver lining, though. He wouldn’t have met you without his fancy job. I just hope he doesn’t stay forever. He deserves more. He deserved to stand on his own two feet.”
“He does,” I said softly.
“Okay.” She clapped suddenly. “Enough seriousness. Tell me about your next submission!”
I smiled at her as I told her about my short story about a girl from a small town coming to the big city, but with a spin no one sees coming. It felt good to be excited about something, confident in my words.
When I got back to the office, there were three new emails in my inbox waiting for me. The first one was from a tech executive, asking for an interview. The second was from a financial lawyer, asking the same thing. The third was from an advertising exec. Again. The same. I had sent résumés out just a few days ago, hoping someone would bite. It seemed as if they all had.
One email even wrote:
A personal assistant who lasted for more than a few months with Troy Gunner. I’m in awe and utter curiosity. You have my attention.
His reputation clearly preceded him, and while I didn’t exactly like it, I accepted it. We all had pasts. Some messier than others. His, a lot more messy than mine, but I loved him just the same. Everything had led us to each other. Even his psycho ex-wife.
My excitement by the emails was short-lived as I looked over at his empty office, imagining him sitting there with that smile of his as he looked at me. Taking a new job meant not being here with him. I somehow missed him already, and I hadn’t even interviewed yet. He had only been gone on his retreat for a day, and I felt like a piece of me was missing.
But, I had to push those feelings aside, knowing that the outcome of us not working together meant being together. Reallybeingtogether.
Chapter 46
Troy
As the limo made its way down the brightly lit streets of Atlantic City, I stared out the window at the neon signs and the casinos that lined the crowded street. Around me, the music was loud and the men were rowdy as we made our way to a high-end strip club. I had zero desire to go, but I knew my father would ask questions if I didn’t, when I was normally up front and center with hundred-dollar bills. It was better to go along with it, and just post up by the bar, away from the drooling men with too much whiskey on their breath.
I felt like I was suffocating in this car, even though it was practically the length of a bus. I could barely look at my father without feeling physically ill. He sat at the very end of the car, right in the center, just how he liked it, with a cigar in hand. I hated how smug he looked, knowing how he had acted at the restaurant we had just left when he had his wife at home.Mymother.
At first, it had seemed innocent. We had a private room with our own dedicated servers. I wondered if he paid extra to have these particular two women wait on us. Both had platinum blonde hair and the overly-tan of skin that came from tanning beds. They wore skin-tight black mini dresses and my father’s hands found their way up both by the end of the night.
I had to turn away, tried to drown out their giggles as they perched on his lap. The guy was well over half their age, but they didn’t see it like that. They saw the money. The cash tip they would get by the end of dinner.
The rest of the men in the group cheered him on, like the pigs they were. Jeremy, especially, which made me want to deck him in the face, because out of anyone, he was closest to the family. My mother adored him, but then again, she didn’t have the best judge of character. I could see that now with my father.
I looked over at him through the cloud of smoke of cigars, my eyes watering due to the gray haze. He showed no remorse as the other guys now patted him on the back. My blood boiled. He was such a hypocrite. He was always on my ass about my in-office relationships, or my past flings with whatever new Victoria’s Secret model, saying it would tarnish my reputation. But what about his? Surely, his wandering eye and hands were worse when he had a wife at home.
He was completely shameless. It was as if he was trying to get all the attention off of him, and casting all of his own faults onto me. I sighed frustratedly and pulled out my phone from my jacket pocket. I texted Monica, the only thing keeping me sane on this trip, and it had only been two days:Get me home.
Monica:That bad?
Me:Worse.
Monica:I’m sorry, babe.
Me:What are you doing?
Monica:Writing ?