by Amy Baker
I deliberately took my time getting to the door and swung it open tucking my little jeweled handbag under my arm. “What?” I asked with resentment.
Hugh walked in brushing past me and turned toward me in the middle of my living area. Focusing on Hugh and how good he looked, my mouth contorted slightly as I bit the inside of my cheek. He was wearing a black tuxedo, crisp white shirt with a straight aubergine tie and a matching hankie in his jacket pocket. He looked unbelievably dapper and it was working against my resolve to be a bitch.
I watched as Hugh’s eyes slowly worked me over. It was difficult to stand my ground knowing that his eyes were taking in every curve and nuance of my body. He certainly couldn’t have missed much because he took his sweet ass time. I pretended that I didn’t notice his admiration and forged on. “Hugh. What are you doing here?” I somewhat reiterated.
He tore his face away while he contemplated his response. I just stared at him as venomously as I could and waited. It probably wasn’t as impressive as I intended.
When he looked back at me I could tell that he was reining in a plethora of different emotions. “There’s nothing going on with me and Stacey,” he began while sliding his jacket open so his hands could slide into the pockets of his slacks. Since I didn’t respond immediately, he raised his shoulders and lowered them to accentuate his point. As soon as he saw me twitch he held up one hand with the universal signal to stop. “Don’t go there, Delilah. She asked me to lunch to talk about the merger. That’s all.”
Did he think I was a moron? I threw my hands on my hips to mimic his stance before I spoke. Not a very feminine position given I didn’t have pockets and I was wearing a designer dress and heels. But I was trying to make a point. “Tell me something, Hugh.” I ordered heatedly. “When you met with Steven were you holding hands across the conference table while you made small talk about the merger?”
Since my perceptiveness and sarcasm left him speechless I knew I had scored a point. But then he clenched his jaw together and responded with the lamest excuse I’d ever heard. “If you’d taken the time to notice, Stacey was the one stretched across the table toward me,” his right hand slid from his pocket to point at himself, “I wasn’t even meeting her halfway.”
I’m sorry. On what planet did he think this reasoning actually made sense?
I was already shaking my head before my hands had risen in protest because there was no way that I could have this conversation with Hugh just before the gala. If I didn’t burst into hysterics from being upset I would lose it over the overwhelming sense of frustration as a result of his ridiculous argument. I was already barely holding it together and my last thread of composure was stressed to say the least.
“I can’t do this right now,” I whispered still holding up my hands to silence any effort on his part to try to change my mind.
“Well, I can’t wait till later.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
Clearly we were at an impasse.
“Hugh, it took me a half an hour to do my eye make up alone. I can’t get all upset and have to start over,” I explained the reasoning behind my statement. When it registered that our conversation would be so painful that I would be reduced to tears his demeanor softened slightly. But it was imperative to my mental well being that I carried on. “Listen. I have to go or I’ll be late.”
“Fine. We’ll go together,” he responded. Hugh walked toward me as I tried to figure out a way to tell him that his suggestion wasn’t an option. I know he saw me stammering because instead of letting me think of something to say he grabbed my arm and spun me toward the door. I dragged my heels as best I could in protest.
“Um, Hugh. We, um, aren’t going to be able to go together.”
“Delilah, please,” he complained. Clearly Hugh was still agitated. “I’ve already told you that there is nothing going on with Stacey.” He shook his head as he tried to escort me out the door. I was still resisting and I could tell that Hugh was unable to understand why I was being so stubborn.
“No, no. That’s not what I mean.” I pulled a little more firmly in the opposite direction. “We, um, can’t go together because we can’t be seen arriving together.” I wasn’t prepared to explain to Hugh that Will had already threatened to tell my boss about us having dinner together. If Will saw us show up in the same cab at the gala things could get dicey. Well dicey-er anyway.
But Hugh was not going to take my resistance at face value. He stopped pulling and turned to confront me nose-to-nose, well…nose-to-forehead. “Why should that matter?” He looked at me unwaveringly. “Who would even notice?” he shrugged, challenging me to answer.
My mouth bobbed up and down while I tried to fabricate a plausible excuse. The cologne he was wearing was making it difficult for me to form an intelligent sentence. “Uh. Well, I just think it would give people the wrong idea.”
Well, if that wasn’t the last thing I should have said I don’t know what was.
I could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t like the remark or its connotation. “The wrong idea,” he repeated.
Shit. Why couldn’t he just let it go?
“You know what I mean,” I tried.
But he was shaking his head before he spoke. “No. I don’t know what you mean. Why don’t you enlighten me? And since you are so concerned with being late, you can do so in the cab on the ride over,” he finished with a hint of satisfaction since he was essentially getting his way. Hugh turned hooking me by the arm as he spun and marched me out my door. Before I could realize what was happening, we were streaming past Davis who was yelling at Hugh that he should seek out classes for anger management. I wiggled my fingers as a departing gesture to Davis and found myself ushered into a cab.
“Go,” he ordered.
The cab driver thought Hugh was talking to him so he began to drive. The problem was that I was too wrapped up in Hugh’s bossiness to give the driver a destination. Hugh was too wrapped up in the “wrong idea” comment to notice. The ‘go’ was aimed at me to start explaining.
The cab driver looked in his rearview mirror and back at the road trying to assess the situation. “Uh, buddy,” he called out of the corner of his mouth, “I don’t mind being told to drive but it would help if you told me where we were going.”
Hugh looked over the seat realizing he first had to deal with the formalities of a cab ride before he could interrogate me. “301 Park,” he informed and then turned his attention back to me allowing no reprieve. “Go,” he reiterated with a nod.
“I, um, just think that my coworkers will think that this isn’t a professional relationship if they see us spending a lot of time together outside of the office.” I shrugged one shoulder only, which was universal for ‘it was no big deal.’
“This isn’t a professional relationship, Delilah. It’s personal. Very personal. And I for one don’t give a shit if someone in your office finds out,” he raised his eyebrows in challenge. “Unless of course you really think that you and I are a wrong idea.” And then I watched the blanket of disappointment consume him as the possibility sunk in. “Is that what you think? For real? I’ve been waiting for you for like fucking ever. Are you telling me that I was wasting my time?”
“No,” I hurried. I had wanted Hugh for most of my life and I couldn’t let him think that I wasn’t interested. “It’s not that,” I promised.
“Then what is it?” he pressed.
I stared at my intertwining fingers in my lap trying to figure out how to tiptoe around the subject of Will’s threat. “I need my job, Hugh,” I said without further explanation.
“Okay,” he said confused. “I didn’t ask you to quit your job. This is the twenty-first century. I’m okay with you having a career.” As the words left his lips a dawning seemed to consume his features. “She threatened you didn’t she?” He meant Stacey. He didn’t have to say her name for me to know what he was thinking. And honestly, threats were certainly in Stacey’s arsenal of deceit. But it wasn’t Stac
ey. Not this time. “That bitch,” he finished.
“No,” I instantly responded as the cab jerked to a stop in front of the Waldorf. Hugh handed the driver a wad of cash and swung open his door. He was on the move sliding his body out of the cab on his side as he grabbed my hand to pull me across the seat with him. I was out of the cab before I even knew it.
He gripped my hand in his and held it firmly as we walked up the stairs to the front doors. I was trying to be discreet so I called his name on a half whisper. “Hugh.”
I needed to get his attention before he confronted Stacey in the lobby of one of the nicest hotels in the world and proceeded to call her a well deserved, yet poorly timed, name. But he was on a mission and seemed to have cocooned himself from listening to reason. “Hugh,” I tried again tugging on his hand that had a vice grip on mine.
“Don’t bother, Delilah.” He wouldn’t even turn to look at me. “I’ll handle this,” he assured.
“But…” Before I could say another word Stacey appeared from an adjacent room as if on cue. She looked like a bright and shiny Christmas package just begging to be opened by any male who had experienced the onset of puberty. Her red sequined dress had a deep V-neck, the black stilettos had straps that snaked up her ankle and she had a thin, black velvet bow slightly askew that was daintily tied around her neck. It was screaming, ‘open me.’
Damn, she looked hot.
“Hugh.” Stacey batted her eyelashes and gave him the once over. The smile on her face was coy and sexy as she took her time admiring him from head to toe. She locked her hands behind her back and began to sway her hips from side to side. She looked like a wild animal gearing up to pounce. “You look…very…handsome,” her eyes took another tour as mine rolled in a circle. I grunted my dissatisfaction bringing Stacey’s attention to me. “Delilah,” she stated abhorrently.
“Can I speak to you in private, Stacey?” Hugh interrupted trying to control his irritation.
Stacey shot me a look of satisfaction like she had just won the prize that I had spent my bottom dollar trying to win at the Fair. “By the way, Delilah, Will was looking for you. He’s more your speed,” she added snidely ending in a whisper. “He’s in there.” She pointed to the room that she had just vacated.
I didn’t respond to her remark. There was no need to. But I did call out to Hugh. Granted it was a half assed barely audible attempt at getting his attention. But at that point I really didn’t care. “Hugh. No. Stop.” I didn’t actually expect him to turn around since I deliberately said his name so quietly that trained military dogs would have had trouble hearing me. So, as he disappeared into the next room all I could do was sigh knowing Stacey was about to get the surprise of her life. Gee. What a shame.
I turned to watch Stacey saunter and sway her body lusting after my Hugh. She even turned back to look at me with the most lopsided yet gratifying grin I had ever seen on her professionally airbrushed face. At least that was one mystery solved. Stacey had spent all day getting ready for this evening. I just hope she had time to prepare her part of our speech.
“Delilah.” The slow drawl slid over me like hot wax during a hair removal session. Seemingly harmless at first yet unnerving, painful and irritating once it adhered to the body. “Stacey was just telling me what a wonderful lunch she had today.” I slowly turned around to face Will. I knew where this was going. I’m sure the expression on my face outlined my discontent but Will was undeterred. “Turns out Hugh enjoys eating out with all of his clients. Who knew?” A slow smirk appeared on his face.
Will thought he was sharing something hurtful that I didn’t already know. Which meant his words were meant to impale not protectively inform.
I popped open the little jeweled purse that I was carrying, which was quite tiny. It barely fit my cell phone and lip-gloss. Yet it was large enough to conceal the wicked bitch that I had neatly hidden inside. “Oh?” I asked incredulously as my fingers fished inside my bag. “Was Stacey actually able to remember your name when she spoke to you this time?” I whipped out my gloss and unscrewed the cap. “You know, when she shared this pertinent information with you, did she actually know who she was talking to?” I smeared a sheen of gloss over my lower lip. “She’s only met you…like…what?” I held up my gloss as I pretended to calculate the number in my head. “…ten times?”
His snide smirk disappeared when his jaw clenched and the muscles protruded in protest of his grinding teeth. I obviously touched a nerve. Stacey must have addressed him with one of her generic greetings like ‘Hey, Buddy’ or ‘Yo, Dude,’ which was what she resorted to in a pinch.
Ignoring my rebuttal, Will continued on his path of revenge. “Have you seen Steven?” He countered through clenched teeth.
“No,” I said with a hint of surprise in my tone taking the time to tuck my gloss inside my purse. “But as soon as Hugh returns from verbally tearing Stacey a brand new one, in your stead I might add…we, and when I say we I mean Hugh and myself, will go find Steven together.” I pressed my lips together and then popped my lips apart to even out my gloss and accentuate my point at the same time.
I saw Will’s eye twitch at my insinuation that whatever harsh words Hugh was releasing on Stacey was meant for him. Then instead of continuing the banter, he inhaled loudly and swallowed hard. Just as the two streams of hot steam escaped his nostrils, Stacey appeared in the lobby, her heels echoing her dismay.
As she neared Will and me I raised my eyebrows in question. “Everything okay, Stace?”
“Fuck you, Delilah.” She stormed past me heading toward the banquet room.
Before she got too far I yelled after her. “We need to begin the gala with a toast!”
“Toast this!” She screamed giving me the finger.
I looked around at the other people who were milling about in the lobby. Unfortunately, Steven was nowhere in sight to witness her charming behavior.
I turned to see if I could find Hugh and felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to find Will still standing there. Truthfully, I had forgotten all about him.
“Rent stabilized apartments are hard to come by in Manhattan, aren’t they Delilah? Shame you had to let yours go. I would have thought that you of all people would have had the foresight to lock that in,” Will drawled as he turned and walked into the banquet room.
My eyes squinted trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. Man, he was creepy. How the hell did he know that my apartment was rent stabilized? Well, however he found out, he obviously hadn’t done his due diligence because I had just extended my lease for my apartment for another year. The rich kid whose father bought it for him was traveling around Europe and having too much fun to come back and start graduate school. There was no question that I had an amazing apartment at an amazing price. I had no intention of giving it up until it was absolutely necessary.
“Good God, Delilah,” the husky voice vibrated behind me. “That is the sexiest dress I have ever seen in my entire life.” His warm breath against my ear sent a thrilling chill up my spine. It would seem that up until that moment Hugh hadn’t seen the back of my dress. I felt his warm hand gently land on my bared lower back and I couldn’t control the instantaneous feeling of warmth that flooded my lower abdomen.
I turned my head slightly in his direction and whispered over my shoulder. “I’m glad you like it.”
He urged me forward with a gentle press of his hand. “Let’s go get this over with so I can figure out how to get you out of it,” he groaned.
The satisfaction I was feeling commandeered my smile. Too bad Stacey wasn’t around to see it.
Chapter 9
My feet echoed on the hollowed out steps of the raised platform as I made my way toward the podium. I could actually feel the splotchy crimson creeping up my neck. I panicked a little more knowing how unattractive that must look. I never liked public speaking but it was an integral part of my job. That didn’t mean that it got any easier. I took a deep breath as I crossed the floor and blew it
out slowly threw my lips. I braced for the deafness that would ensue shortly after I reached the podium. I was expecting it. But hopefully it would dissipate after I began my speech and got into my groove. At least I hoped it would subside. It always had before.
It would seem that, despite the infuriation that she was experiencing at the time, Stacey had heard me about the toast after all. I knew this because she showed up next to me with two glasses of champagne in her hands. Oddly I didn’t hear her steps echoing as she approached. It was either the pending deafness starting early or she was using a stealth approach. As I turned to look at her, I noticed her white knuckles fiercely clenched around the crystal stems. Somehow the fragile glass wasn’t splintering in her tight grasp. Unlike me, Stacey had no problem whatsoever with public speaking so I knew the white knuckle hold was the result of Hugh’s talking to.
“Just get started,” Stacey ordered with a set jaw.
I was already looking forward to this evening coming to an end so I didn’t make haste. I stepped up to the microphone and tapped on the tip to see if it was working. It made that disturbing high-pitched shriek that was quite effective in getting everyone’s attention. I cleared my throat as I watched fingers scramble to plug sensitive ears and then I began.
“Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman. On behalf of all of us at Premiere, Stacey and I would like to welcome all of you to the Waldorf Astoria.” I managed a confident smile despite the flooding in my ears drowning out what I could see as hands coming together for a round of applause.