First Class to New York Page 15

  As promised, Ray was waiting downstairs, the BMW parked at the curb. He smiled when he saw her exit the elevator and escorted her out of the building. Janie asked him to take her back to the Ritz Carlton. As they pulled up outside her hotel he asked her if she needed him to take her anywhere else, but she said no and said goodbye.

  She went up to her room and threw her purse on the bed. What to do today? she thought.

  First off, to get changed she decided. She kicked off her sandals and bent to pick them up and something shiny caught her eye. She looked on the sofa and there was Matt’s laptop, right where he had left it yesterday. There were also all of his clothes he had changed out of Saturday evening before dinner. Janie grinned big. She was thrilled to have a reason to see him today!

  Matt will surely need his laptop at work, right?

  Janie quickly dressed in some slacks and a satin blouse and then wished she had asked Ray to wait.

  Oh well, she thought, and left her room to go see Matt, his laptop securely in her grasp.

  *****

  Shaking hands, Matt showed the men out and was relieved to have that meeting behind him. Licenses and permits were no longer a problem on the Soho property conversion. They could finally move forward after being stalled for several weeks.

  Angela stuck her head in his office to let him know she was running down to the floor below to make sure some paperwork was completed before being Fed-Ex’d off to Sydney. Matt nodded absent-mindedly and went back to his desk to return some calls.

  He was leaving a voicemail when the door flung open and Beth ambled in.

  Shit! he thought. What the hell does she want?

  She sauntered towards him as he hung up the phone.

  “Beth,” he said, making it none too obvious he was not pleased to see her.

  “Matty.”

  “Don’t call me that,” he snapped.

  Beth walked around the desk and sat on the corner, looking out at the skyline.

  “I was in the neighborhood and thought I would pop in and say hi,” she purred.

  “Well you have, so now you can go.”

  “Don’t be like that Matty. We’re friends! Friends can stop in unannounced and say hello!”

  “Beth, the only time you have ever been here was when the divorce was final and you wanted your check. So, I am assuming that you want something now.” Matt was finding it difficult to keep his temper in check.

  “Actually, I was in the building.”

  Matt rolled his eyes.

  “Really, I was. 42nd floor.”

  “So which hedge fund manager are you after this week?” His voice was laced with disgust.

  “Come on Matt. Don’t be like that. You know I can’t be poor.” Her whiny voice really got on his nerves.

  “Your lawyer made damn sure that you were not poor.”

  “Your money isn’t going to last forever, Matt. I need to take care of myself.”

  “You always made sure you took care of yourself first Beth. You have said hello. Now you can leave. I have work to do.”

  “So, tell me about the little woman? Janie, isn’t it?”

  Ah! There it is, he thought.

  “Janie is none of your business and she isn’t the ‘little woman’!” he snapped.

  “Well you looked mighty cozy last Sunday.”

  “I told you it’s none of your business.” Where is Angela???

  “She isn’t really your type, all doe-eyed and shy. I know what you like Matt and it’s not shy,” she purred.

  “Yeah Beth, she’s not my type. But you know exactly what I like, don’t you? All tits and legs. No brains needed. Just let me fuck you till you’re raw and I’m good to go. Right?”

  His eyes were hard and he was angry; angrier than he had ever been in a very long time.

  “Are you offering Matty?”

  Matt stood and grabbed Beth by the shoulders. He wanted to shake her. But instead he dropped his arms and walked away, his back to her.

  “Beth. I don’t ever want you back here. Do you understand?” Matt growled, teeth gritted and his eyes cold. He turned to face her and her eyes registered that she knew he was deathly serious.

  “If you see me anywhere, turn and go the other way. Now leave!”

  Beth understood. She stood and walked quickly out of the room, not looking back.

  Matt tried to calm down. He walked past the sofa to the cupboard against the wall and poured himself a drink. He didn’t care if it was only 11am. The idea of Beth talking about Janie made him sick; sick to his stomach. Janie was nothing like Beth. She was kind and sweet and smart and sexy as hell, and she had no idea, and that made her that much more desirable. He knew that it was about to end on Thursday but that didn’t matter. He wouldn’t allow Beth to tarnish it in any way, whatever it was.

  *****

  Stepping off the elevator, Janie felt happy, excited to see Matt, even though it had only been a couple of hours since he had left her. Hoping he had finished his meeting, Janie stepped around to the desk to announce her arrival, but there was no one there. The security guard had called up to Matt’s office, making sure she was allowed to go straight to his personal office and not to the receptionist’s desk on the floor below, but it was empty.

  Janie stood in the middle of the office space looking around. She spotted the large double doors and read Matt’s name on the plaque and started towards his office. Oh well. I guess I’m here. She stopped as she heard voices. The door was slightly ajar. It was a woman’s voice. His secretary? she thought.

  “So, tell me about the little woman? Janie, isn’t it?”

  Janie recognized the voice. She’d heard it before. Was it the secretary? She wasn’t sure.

  “Janie is none of your business and she isn’t the ‘little woman’!” Matt responded.

  “Well you looked mighty cozy last Sunday.”

  No, that’s not his secretary, she realized.

  “I told you it’s none of your business.”

  “She isn’t really your type, all doe-eyed and shy. I know what you like Matt and it’s not shy,” the voice purred.

  “Yeah Beth, she’s not my type. But you know exactly what I like, don’t you? All tits and legs. No brains needed. Just let me fuck you till you’re raw and I’m good to go. Right?”

  “Are you offering Matty?”

  Oh God! Oh God! It’s Beth! Shit! Get out! GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!

  Janie turned and all but ran into the woman walking in behind her.

  “Can I help you?” the woman asked.

  Janie couldn’t think, she had to get out. She shoved the laptop into the woman’s arms and ran to the elevators. She pushed the buttons and miraculously the door opened and she stumbled in, frantically pushing the ‘L’ button.

  Close! Close! she begged. And the doors slowly came together and the elevator gave the slightest of jolts and she was moving down.

  *****

  Angela was dumbfounded as the woman shoved the computer in her arms and ran off. She didn’t know what to think but then another woman ran out of Matt’s office. She stood there momentarily, trying to comprehend what had just taken place.

  She walked into Matt’s office, his door open, and saw him downing a glass of amber liquid.

  “Ahem.”

  “Angela? You picked a fine time to leave me alone.” Matt shook his head and walked back to his desk.

  “I’m so sorry, sir,” she apologized.

  “No,” he shook his head. “I just had an unannounced visitor. Not a pleasant one either,” he grimaced.

  “Well, that’s my fault. I apologize. They called from downstairs to say Ms. Anderson was here and I was sure you would want her to come up, so I…”

  “Janie? Janie’s here?”

  “Well, yes, I guess, but there was a woman out there and one in here and,” Angela was still confused.

  “What woman out there? Beth was in here,” he rubbed his forehead.

  “When I came back up from acco
unting, there was a woman at my desk and she shoved this laptop in my hands and ran out.” Angela was piecing it together. “Your ex-wife, Beth? She was in here?”

  “Yeah, she arrived unannounced. I got rid of her, but Janie? Janie was outside?” He took his laptop from her, it dawning on him that he had left it in her hotel room. “So she was bringing me my laptop and Beth was in here. Oh, fuck!”

  Matt threw the laptop on the chair and slammed his fists on his desk.

  “Oh Sir, I am so sorry.”

  “Not your fault Angela. This one is all mine.”

  *****

  Janie got out of the building as fast as she possibly could, literally running through the lobby. What she had overheard was screaming in her head. It wouldn’t stop; just repeated over and over again. She was such an idiot! She was a fool; a naïve stupid fool.

  She managed to get herself together enough to walk down the street without looking like a crazed lunatic. She had to get back to the hotel, back to where she felt safe.

  She wasn’t his type. He wanted to fuck Beth; his words. And she had been gullible enough to fall for the lines he had fed her. He was probably laughing with Beth right now about how stupid the idiot from Oregon was. How funny it must be to them. She felt sick, nauseous, like she was going to throw up.

  Stepping out into the street she all but stood in front of the taxi to get it to stop. The driver slammed on his brakes and swore at her but she didn’t care. She crawled in the back and he drove off. Janie rolled down the window and tried to breathe. She tried to stop Matt’s words from buzzing through her head.

  *****

  At about 3 o’clock, Janie turned her phone off. Matt had called her several times and had left two messages. She couldn’t talk to him. She wouldn’t talk to him. The messages had asked her to call him, that he needed to talk to her. He didn’t mention whether or not Beth was still with him.

  She was curled up in the corner of the sofa in her hotel room. Eyes red, nose raw. She had cried for hours and vomited twice. This was not the trip she had envisioned at all. It felt as though months had passed since she’d run into Matt at the airport. So much had happened since then, all of it good till just a few hours ago. And then it all came crashing down and she felt her heart had broken.

  How could I have fallen in love so quickly? And how could I have been so completely fooled?

  But once again, her heart and her head were at odds. What she overheard today did not jive with the man that she had come to know. The man she knew was kind and intelligent and loved his family. He had been up front about not wanting a relationship, but did that mean that he would fuck his ex-wife in his office only two hours after leaving her in his bed? That didn’t seem right. But she knew what she’d heard. He owed her nothing. He had shown her a fabulous time, just like he’d said he would and it wasn’t his fault that she had fallen in love with him.

  So one half of her was devastated and the other was defending him. He had not lied to her. He had not done anything he had to apologize for. Yet she was still heart-broken.

  Janie remained on the couch, numb. The sun was setting and her room was getting dark. She stood and stretched her legs. Taking a deep breath, she gathered his clothes and carefully placed them in the garment bag, his shoes at the bottom. Then she placed the bag on the back of the chair. Somehow, it needed to be returned to him, but she would think about that later. She removed her clothes and slipped into the robe that was hanging on the bathroom door. Janie didn’t have the strength to have a shower, although her body ached for the stingingly hot water, so she drew a bath.

  Walking out into the bedroom, she froze as a knock at the door came.

  I can’t see him! she panicked. She couldn’t move as the knock came again. Bile rising in her throat, she felt weak.

  “Housekeeping,” came the voice from the other side of the door.

  Janie breathed in and out and stepped to open the door. The kind woman on the other side explained that she was just there for the turn-down service. Janie graciously let her in and watched as the bed covers were folded down perfectly and two chocolate mints were placed on both pillows, relief flowing through her.

  She shut the bathroom door behind her and slid into the scalding hot water in the tub, wiling it to wash away the pain and hurt, willing it to help her forget him.

  *****

  Matt hung up the phone for the tenth or the hundredth time, he had lost count. She wasn’t answering. It was dark now, after seven. He hadn’t made any plans with her before he had left the apartment this morning. He just assumed he would see her this evening. And now it was all fucked up.

  What had she heard? Had she heard anything? Why wouldn’t she answer her phone? It was going straight to voicemail so her phone was obviously turned off. He had even tried the hotel, calling her room. She hadn’t picked up that phone either. Maybe she wasn’t there? Where would she be?

  Maybe she’d gone back to his apartment. The thought inspired hope, but was quickly squashed when he realized the doorman wouldn’t have let her in. No, she wouldn’t be there.

  Shit! Should I go to her hotel? NO! You’ve called her a hundred times. The ball is in her court.

  Matt questioned Ray on the drive back to his apartment. Janie had been bright and cheerful when he had dropped her back at the hotel.

  So what the fuck is going on?

  *****

  The water was barely lukewarm when Janie finally climbed out of the tub. She wrapped herself in the robe and crawled onto the bed and curled into a fetal position.

  Maybe it was just sex for Matt. Maybe she was just a diversion for him. But it wasn’t for her. No, not even close. She could admit it was a powerful physical attraction. When he turned to her in the airport it was like she’d had had the wind knocked out of her. He was gorgeous, like nothing she had ever seen. But it was more than skin deep; she had discovered the beautiful man underneath too. She was usually a good judge of character. How did this go wrong?

  Janie looked outside to the darkened sky. Her heart was broken; her pride wounded. But she would get over it. She’d been through worse, much worse.

  She reached for her phone and turned it on. There were a couple of texts from Matt, both asking her to call him. There were two new voicemails, both from Matt, asking her to call him. She didn’t delete them. She couldn’t do it.

  Janie called Katy. She answered on the second ring.

  “I didn’t expect to hear from you again,” Katy sounded surprised. “I figured you’d be holed up in a fantastic apartment having amazing sex,” she giggled.

  And Janie burst into tears.

  *****

  “Bastard!” she spat. Katy was obviously furious. “How dare he!”

  Janie blew her nose again and sighed. “He didn’t promise me anything, Katy. In fact, he was real clear up front that he was offering nothing. It was all out on the table that this meant nothing, so how can I be mad at him? I’m furious with myself for getting swept up in a shitty make-believe fairytale. This is not ‘Pretty Woman’! I am not Julia Roberts and he isn’t Richard Gere. There is no happy ending here, not for me and Matt anyway.”

  Katy snorted, “Well you’re not a hooker so that’s in your favor!” They both smiled, Janie feeling glad she had called her best friend.

  “I let my heart go and that’s my fault,” Janie admitted. “He warned me, Katy. He warned me twice. It’s not his fault. He didn’t break any imaginary rule.”

  “How can you defend him? He wanted to fuck his ex-wife!”

  “Well you haven’t seen her! Every man would want to!”

  “That is SO not the point.” Katy was irritated. “Besides, he obviously wanted to fuck you too! Janie, this is on him, not you.”

  Janie knew Katy would have her back. She had wanted someone to prove to her that it was, in fact, all Matt’s fault. But deep down she knew better and no amount of discussion could convince her otherwise.

  “Thank you Katy. You’re a good friend.”<
br />
  Yes, Katy had done what she had wanted her to, but it hadn’t worked so she said her goodbyes and hung up.

  She crawled under the covers and closed her eyes. It will all be better in the morning.

  *****

  Not usually an early riser, Janie once again awoke before 6am. She untangled herself from the hotel robe that was twisted around her body and stood, stretching. Taking a deep breath, she assessed her mood. Yes, she was feeling a tiny bit better.

  Grabbing her phone, Janie made a bold decision, one she hoped she would not regret. She had dreamed of Matt all night and there was no anger in her today. Somehow, her mind and heart had come to some kind of understanding, allowing her to appreciate her time with Matt but come to terms that it was just a fleeting moment; just one small blip in her life, a blip that had come to an end. He was indeed a very special man, a man she would never forget, a man she would not regret. He had been the precipice in getting her to move on, to start over. And she would be forever grateful to him for that, even though he probably had no idea the major role he had played. Her only wish was that she would be a fond memory for him too, not immediately forgotten.

  She typed in a simple text message and hit the send button. She did want to see him again. She actually needed to see him again. And then she needed to walk away.

  *****

  Matt had barely slept. He had returned to his empty apartment and had been restless, not able to concentrate, not able to do anything. He could picture her nestled in the sofa. He remembered her on the balcony, in his kitchen doing the dishes, making his breakfast.

  When he walked out of the bathroom after a shower, he envisioned her on the desk, beautifully naked, their bodies joined as one. When he climbed into bed he could smell her. She was everywhere. So he’d gone into his office and tried to work but he couldn’t focus.

  Matt stood at the window looking at nothing. All he could see was Janie.

  What’s wrong? Is she okay? Did she overhear me and Beth? Why won’t she call me?

  He was frustrated she hadn’t called, but mostly he was worried; worried that she was hurt, either physically or emotionally. He couldn’t bear it if he had hurt her.