Page 19 of Size King

“I promise, I had absolutelynointention of wanting to be late for work,” she assures me. “I’m prompt. I’mnotlate. That’s why I’m pissed off.”

“There’s no reason to be pissed off,” I assure her. “You weren’t delaying me from anything. I want to be at the office today. I get the feeling that there are people outside my house now with cameras at the ready.”

“That’s the paparazzi waiting to catch you in your next tawdry act,” says Kate.

“It takes a lot of commitment to stand outside a major building in New York City with cameras,” I point out. “People could harass you. Cops could tell you to move. Around a neighborhood, people like to keep that stuff quiet. They’re interested in what’s got the cameras so excited.”

“You understand all this public and human relations stuff just like us PR types, don’t you?” she asks with approval. “I’m impressed. You’re actually intelligent.”

“One has to be a little intelligent when designing something that relies on circuits and wires to operate,” I reply with gusto.

“I suppose you’re right.” She relents. “Anyway, I’m really sorry for being so late. This looks really bad.”

“I promise, don’t be sorry,” I repeat. “I swear I’m not even the slightest bit angry. You couldn’t make me angry if you tried. Well, okay, maybe if you tried you could, but you know what I mean.”

“I was held up at the agency,” she says in between breaths. “They were holding me up like real sons of bitches. I’m not trying to make excuses now, I’m just explaining.”

“Kate,” I say calmly. “I understand. Things happen. It’s okay. I’m just happy that we were still able to meet today. I feared you were going to give up on coming in today.”

“Why wouldn’t I come in today?” she asks.

“You know why,” I say bluntly. “With everything going on with us.”

“We’re behaving professionally,” she says. “Let’s not get carried away with ourselves. I’m not going to start blowing off work just because of some sexual tension.”

“You make it sound like the common cold. I feel like I’m living in a nightmare.”

“Aiden, I feel the same way, but we’ve been over this. Why do we keep doing this dance?”

“Because we’re both great fucking dancers,” I quickly answer.

We look into each other’s eyes for several uninterrupted moments. I half-expect one of us to pounce on the other again. Instead, Kate takes charge.

“To be totally honest, Ihadto come into work today,” she says. “What I have for you is too good not to discuss right away.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“I’ve got evidence that we can use in our case against Sarah,” she elaborates. “I acquired it, shall we say.”

“What kind of evidence?” I ask with newly restored hope.

“Well, most rumors considering solelyherare likely true,” she says. “I talked with a lot of people who have had dealings with her throughout the years, Aiden, trust me. Your situation is almost a picnic compared to some of these poor guys.”

“Well, we’re not through with each other yet,” I remind her. “She and I are locking horns, and neither of us has won or lost yet.”

“Well, you’ll probably end up being the winner in any sort of battle you might find yourself in,” she says. “I’m not worried about you, Mr. Marx.”

“Kate—”

“Evidently,” she interrupts to digress. “She had affairs with alotof men and ruined their lives. And not just the men’s lives, but their families’ lives and their friends’ lives. There wereplentyof people who I spoke to over the last two days who were willing to go on record as saying that this girl is basically a complete fucking she-demon. Character witnesses like that can’t be beat.”

“That’s terrific!” I cheer.

“Well, it’s not terrific that their home lives were basically destroyed,” she points out. “But yes, we’ve been catching a lot of lucky breaks. One of my old professors that she got fired is going to testify on your behalf, should it get to that.”

“Kate, you will never cease to amaze me, will you?” I ask, feeling almost like I could cry. “I’m so impressed. I’m so inspired by you. You have such amazing ideas.”

She blushes. “I always assume you have an idea before I did.”