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“I heard you,” I said.
“Monica, I…” He took a step toward me and reached for my hand.
“Don’t.” I snatched my hand away. “Don’t show up here and try to act like you care about me.”
“I do…” he started.
“Why? I’m just your personal assistant. It’s just business,” I said, repeating his own words. “I’m just a little plaything you keep around for when you want to fuck.”
“That’s not true,” he stammered.
“Isn’t it? Am I not just like all your other personal assistants?”
He looked taken aback.
“You think I didn’t know? It was the first thing Kathy warned me about when I took the job.”
“You’re different,” he said softly.
“Ha! Do you think I don’t already feel like a joke to you? Now you want to pretend that this time is different. Please.” I rolled my eyes.
“Itis.You know that.”
“I don’t know anything. I don’t know you.”
He shuffled his feet, not saying anything.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” I said as I reached up and fiddled with the clasp of the diamond necklace that now looked dull.
I shoved it at his chest, followed by the diamond earrings.
“I don’t want any of this,” I said.
He looked helpless as he stood there, grasping the jewelry.
“I don’t want anything to do with you outside of you being my boss and me being your personal assistant.” I kicked off the strappy shoes from my feet and tossed them toward the door of my apartment.
I would have taken the dress off right there if I could figure out the zipper, but then I would just be standing in my undergarments. The ones I had chosen just for him. I would just have to get the dress sent back to him.
“Go,” I said, looking at the door.
He swallowed hard, the lump of his throat bobbing slowly as he studied my face only to see the coldness that hardened my features.
“Fine,” he said with a slight shrug.
It was as if I could see his walls go up right in my living room. He tucked the diamond necklace and earrings into the inside pocket of his jacket. He barely looked at me as he turned toward the door I had just told him to go out of. He ignored the shoes on the floor as he opened the door and slipped outside of it. The click of the door sounded loudly in my ears, deafening me as I fell to my knees.
I let the tears fall, leaving crimson drops on the red, satin material of the dress that was a painful reminder of the man who had just left. A part of me wished he had fought harder. It was selfish. Stupid, really. But I couldn’t help it. Him leaving the way he did was just the painful confirmation that I had made the right decision in ending things.
As I sat on the hardwood floor of my apartment, I shook my head as I realized Veronica had been right. I was Cinderella and the clock had just struck midnight.
Chapter 28
Troy
Ihesitated outside Monica’s apartment door, debating if I should go back inside or leave like she asked. Like a piece of paper, I was being torn in two. I hated to see her like that. She was unrecognizable from the hurt that I had caused. So cold. So angry. It was better than seeing her cry because that would break me even more, although the redness around her eyes suggested I had just missed her tears.
I couldn’t believe the vile words that had come out of Veronica’s mouth. The spew of hatred her brain could weave together as a weapon to hurt someone she didn’t even know. I questioned myself on why I would ever be with such a woman, let alone marry her. There was no doubt in my mind that Monica wondered the same thing.