Glass Towers, Shattered (Glass Towers Trilogy)

by Adler

  I find my bag and wander down the hallway to the bathroom. As I slowly walk past all the rooms, I think Harrison has a point. I could see myself here. It is my kind of architecture. I like the endless possibilities for restoring the home, while putting my stamp on it. I sadden a little at the thought that it would likely be sold. What else could Harrison do with this property? I think he decided that having one winery in Oregon is enough. Besides, he also has the beachfront development that is still just sitting there. I told him that I thought he should scrap the idea of building several houses there and instead build a few larger homes. He would still make a fortune on the project, but would allow for more privacy and exclusivity. He seemed to like the idea.

  Once in the bathroom, I take a relatively quick shower. Despite the fact I can tell it has been thoroughly cleaned in preparation for our stay here, the bathroom still seems dirty to me. I should probably be ashamed of myself for my snobbery. Heck, when I was in college, some of the sleeping and showering quarters were less than acceptable. I even used to go camping back in the day. Now, talk about the eww factor. I towel dry my hair for fear of blowing out the ancient circuitry. I apply a little makeup and dab on a plum lipstick with a gloss overlay. I am more accustomed to a natural palette, but when we were shopping in Palm Springs, Simone insisted that I buy some new colors to spice up my look. I figure I will give it a whirl.

  Showered and refreshed, I find Harrison downstairs, perched on the hearth in the gentleman’s den, deep in conversation. I put my bag down outside the door, and he motions for me to come in. He is speaking in French, while looking me up and down, smiling. I know I am blushing. How could I not, this man is looking me up and down with lust on his mind. My black sweater and jeans don’t seem to be a barrier for his eyes. I hardly notice that he is off the phone because all I can focus on are his eyes fixed on mine. He advances toward me, and takes me into an embrace. He holds me, stroking my hair and whispering in my ear, “Everything is going to be all right. I can feel it.”

  After a few more moments, we pull away from one another. I look up at him, and I see a glimmer in his eye. “Ok Towers, what’s going on? You seem extra happy this morning.”

  He takes my hand. “Can’t I just be happy about the direction in which life has swerved us? It’s as if we have been traveling down a highway, not knowing it will take us. I finally got a road map back in my hands, and I intend to use it. Control is a very important component in my life. Besides, can’t I just be happy without question?”

  “Well, of course you can, but you seem extra happy this morning. I was simply thinking that I would like to share in that.”

  “I will share with you all the happiness the world has to offer. But for now, just know that I love you.” He kisses the top of my head and then looks at his watch. “Now, as much as I hate to say this, I must bit adieu to you. I’ll have the Towers car take you back to town. I have work matters that need my attention.”

  “Oh, ok.” I’m taken a little off guard by the sudden goodbye. “Are you riding back to town now?”

  “Yes, I am going into the office for the remainder of the day.” He walks me out to the car, as Jeff remains in the driver’s seat. Harrison opens the door for me, takes my bag, and places it on the bench seat. I look up into his eyes and see a tenderness there that I haven’t seen yet. My heart skips a beat and the butterflies in my stomach do a dance. I feel loved. I feel really and truly loved. I reach my arms up around his neck, and we kiss a long and passionate goodbye. No tongues, just lips connecting and souls soaring.

  Just as climb into the car, he says, “Oh, and by the way, I am giving this house to you.” With that, he shuts the door before I can respond. Shit! He is so good at always getting in the last word. We’ll see about that.

  Chapter 32

  Two days later, I am in my office, working on a bid for the professors’ next door neighbor’s. The Mason’s were so impressed with the work that I did at the professors’ house that they decided to take the plunge and have their den and possibly master bedroom decorated. I need the business, so I meet with them right away. I want to get this job under way as quickly as possible.

  I am sitting at my desk, when I feel something strange and the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stand on end. I turn my head to catch a man standing in my window looking at me. I jump with a start. I look again and see that it is Bradley. Shit! He sees me get up and comes to my door.

  “Bradley! Do you know how much you just scared me?”

  He laughs, “Sorry! I thought you saw me walk up to the window.” His eyes are darting around the room, and he is not making eye contact with me. He looks like crap, with dark shadows under his eyes and dry, dull skin. He certainly does not appear to be the ridiculously metro sexual man that he normally is.

  “Well, to what do I owe this visit?”

  Looking at the cement floor rather than me, “I was just in the neighborhood and thought I would see if you were in. You haven’t been around lately, so I am surprised to see you here today, actually.”

  “Have you been checking? I’ve been working from home a lot.”

  He grunts, “You mean Simone’s?”

  “Yeah, whatever. So listen, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have a proposal that I have to put together for some new clients. Unless you have something important, I would like to get back to work.”

  He gives me his wounded-puppy look. I hate it when he does that, and I really just want him to leave. He is taking away precious work time. “What Bradley, I know that look, what’s up?”

  “Oh, nothing, are you still seeing your mogul on the side?”

  “What? I’m not seeing Harrison on the side. What gave you that idea, and furthermore, even if I were, what business of it is yours?” I have to keep the charade up for just a little bit longer, Harrison tells me. It’s not for Bradley to know anyway.

  He walks over to my desk and looks down at my sketches then looks back to me. “Oh, I don’t know, a hunch perhaps. And, you are my wife, that’s why I make it my business.”

  “What??” I snarl at him, “Ex, I am your EX wife! We are divorced, and that does not give you the right to poke around in my personal life. I am not seeing anyone currently but again, that is none of your business anyway.” I walk to the door and hold it open.

  “I am not sure what is going on with you, Bradley. You have changed and for the worse. You need to leave and maybe you shouldn’t come around again.” There, I finally said it.

  His jaw is flinching, “You know, you’ve changed too. You are acting like a little bitch, like you are all of the sudden too good for me. I am just concerned for you, but if this is how you are going to treat me, then forget it. You are on your own.”

  I have been on my own, I think to myself. What a jerk.

  He leaves through the door, but as he passes by the other window, he slams his fist against it, causing me to jump a mile in the air. I can only see the side profile of his face, but what I see gives me chills. Bradley scares me.

  A few minutes later, Albert returns with sandwiches from the deli down the street. So much for having a bodyguard, I muse. I decide not to bother telling him or Harrison about Bradley’s visit. Harrison already hates Bradley, and this will just fuel his fire.

  Instead, I eat my sandwich with Albert in silence and continue my work. Albert has his ear buds in and is transfixed on his tablet. I think he is watching some talk show on Hulu. He is rapidly plugging into all the junky parts of American culture. I am hoping this whole mess will be over soon, before Albert is completely ruined. I can just imagine him ending up as an on-set bodyguard on the Jerry Springer Show.

  After a few more hours of work, I save my proposal and close out the program. I stand to stretch and shake out my legs. I have not gone for a run for several days, so I make a note to self: tomorrow morning I will take a run and Albert will follow behind in his car. I am sure Henry will be thrilled.

  I turn to Albert, who is totally engrossed in whatever
show he is watching. He looks up and removes his buds, so I tell him that I am about ready to call it a day. I power down my laptop and stow it in my briefcase. As I quickly tidy up my desk, I see Albert head toward the door. In one swift movement, he throws open the door to a bewildered delivery guy. Albert takes the envelope from the guy, signs the sheet, and shuts the door. Wow, he’s efficient, despite the trashy talk show distraction. He hands me the envelope.

  I walk back over to my desk. It is a plain manila envelope with my name and office address hand-written on the address label. I hold my breath when I see that the return address is Towers Holdings. I wonder what this could be.

  I turn the envelope over and proceed to slide my finger to open the seal. It seems like I am taking forever to get this thing open. I can’t get the gummy part to unseal. I reach into my desk drawer and find a pair of scissors. I slide the scissor blade under the seal, and success, the envelope is open. I remove several items, including a couple business-sized envelopes and a somewhat hefty packet of papers. I begin by looking at the papers.

  Holy shit! If my eyes are not deceiving me, these papers state that I am now the proud owner of the manor house in the country. My knees feel weak and my hands start to shake. I sit down in my chair and stare at the papers in front of me. What am I going to do? I can’t accept this extravagant gift! It’s not right, and I wish he hadn’t just handed it over to me. I know, deep down, that my refusal of this gift is going to cause a significant argument. I was honestly hoping that when he proposed giving the house to me, it was only in jest.

  I pick up one of the smaller envelopes with my name and address showing through the window. I open it to find a check, a substantial check. I feel my eyes get as wide as saucers. There is a typed note stapled to the apron part of the check.

  It reads:

  This check is a retainer for your services for the enclosed restoration project.

  ~Towers Holdings~

  What?? Oh, now he has done it! I reach for my phone to call him, but then I notice the other white envelope sitting under the stapled papers. I open it up and pull out an airline ticket on Cayman Airways. I am confused. I had received a ticket from him for the Caymans just about a month ago. That was before he found out that Marion was blackmailing him. I look at the date on the ticket in my hand and I gasp aloud, covering my mouth with my hand.

  The departure date is for this Saturday. What is he up to? I look in the envelope for another note, but find nothing. How can we go to the Caymans without being detected by Marion’s goons? Furthermore, why are we going now? The original ticket was for some time in December. I had actually forgotten about the trip, as there have been more pressing things happening lately.

  Picking up my phone to call Harrison, I notice Albert sitting there. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of him. I decide to wait until I am home, so I can do this in the privacy of my room. I finish packing up my case, adding the ‘Pandora’s envelope’ to my business papers and laptop. Aptly named, I smile to myself, that envelope has a whole lot going on in there.

  We lock up and Albert drives me home in my Jeep. I used to insist that I drive, but I have grown accustom to this set up. As with everything else, it seems that I have given in and handed over the keys.

  While we are driving, I get a text. It is from my agent friend, Candace.

  5:12 PM

  Candace Cell

  Hey! Hoping you got my email. I sent over some properties to look at. Is next Monday good for you?

  5:13 PM

  Me

  Hi! Yes, Monday is great and I will look over the options and let you know which ones I want to see.

  5:15 PM

  Candace Cell

  Sounds great! Let me know by Friday so I can make sure we can have access. Some have current tenants so need 24 hours.

  5:15 PM

  Me

  Oh of course. I will email you by Fri. then! Thanks C.

  5:16PM

  Candace Cell

  Ok. Talk soon! Maybe coffee before we look? Miss you.

  5:18 PM

  Me

  Sure, that sounds great! Talk soon!

  It will sure be nice to have that taken care of, as I am anxious to get my new place. It has been so sweet of Clarke to be so gracious, but, I know that my being here cramps her style. It was very lucky that she had to be out of town for almost two weeks. It gave me run of the place while she was gone, aside from having Albert and Henry here. I guess we have been built-in dog sitters, now that I think about it. I glance over at my favorite Frankenstein and feel sentimental for an instant. Then, it passes. It will be a little strange to be completely alone again, once I move and Albert finally returns to Montreal. They will likely have to de-program him upon his arrival. Or maybe that should be debug. He has embraced our American culture well, but the trouble is which parts he has chosen to embrace.

  We pull up to the house, and I can see an excited Henry in the front window, jumping up and down. He needs a walk and to be fed. Once Albert opens the door he unarms the system. I tell him that I am going to take Henry for a walk. Albert doesn’t seem too thrilled with my going by myself, so he puts his coat on and heads off to the mudroom. I sit on the sofa to put my shoes on and then head out to the mudroom, where Albert and Henry await. I reach up to the peg and remove Henry’s leash, clipping it to his collar. Albert turns to open the door and then stops, with both Henry and I plowing right into his backside. He flips on the light switch and leans down, then stands back up. He turns to me, and I see a bouquet of red rose, or what used to be red roses, now rotted and black. I gasp. The creases on Albert’s forehead are like caverns. He takes a step backward, so as to shut the door. He locks the door again and pushes past me and a disappointed Henry. He disappears down the hall, speaking in French on his phone. I assume that he is talking to Harrison. Great. I was getting complacent, I think to myself. Marion isn’t going to let up, despite them having set a wedding date and shopped for rings. Whatever Harrison has uncovered and whatever he is planning to do to expose that bitch, it can’t come soon enough. I am at my wits end. I run into my room and shut the door, belly flopping onto my bed. I lay there, sobbing into the pillow. I must have cried for a good half hour. When I was finally done with my heaves, I heard a soft knock at my door.

  I cautiously open my door to a towering Albert with Henry standing behind him, wagging his tail. “Mademoiselle, Mr. Towers wishes for you to call him. I took the dog for a walk and gave him dinner.” He gives me a quick smile and produces a white paper bag. “I got you some soup and sandwich.”

  I step out of my room, wiping my eyes with the cuff of my pink Juicy Couture sweatshirt. I had slipped into the sweatshirt sometime during my crying session; it seemed comforting. I wrap myself around Albert’s mid section and give him a quick squeeze. I look up into a bewildered face. “Thank you Albert!” I take the bag from his hand and head to the kitchen.

  After I sit down at the dining table, I dig into my food. I glance around the room to catch a look at the decrepit flowers. Noticing that they are nowhere to be seen, “Hey Albert?”

  From the sofa, “Oui mademoiselle?”

  “Where did you put the flowers?”

  “Mr. Towers told me to dispose of them, so I put them in the sink aerator.” He says while pointing toward the kitchen.

  I find myself grinning from ear to ear. “Do you mean you put them in the garbage disposal?”

  “Oui, I put them in the grinder.” I try very hard to stifle my laugh, but to no avail. I find myself laughing out loud. Poor Albert has no idea why this is funny to me.

  “Sorry, Albert. It just hit me funny that you put it down the sink disposal. Was there a note or anything else?”

  “No, there was nothing.” He turns back to the television, apparently just in time to catch an exciting play. He stands up and claps.

  I pick up my purse and briefcase, which I had left by the front door. “I’ll be in my room, if you need me.”

 
“Mmmmm.” I doubt that he heard me. I could probably have told him that some Martians had just landed in the back yard and are here to take the flat screen. He would not have heard a single word. Ugh, men. Deep down, they are all the same.

  Henry lifts his head to look at me and then closes his eyes. I guess he is content, sitting at Albert’s feet. Now the dog is ignoring me too.

  Once settled into my room, I dig my phone out of my purse. I see that I have missed three calls from Harrison. I guess I should have called him right away; although, he knows that I am safe here with Albert and Henry.

  I dial his phone.

  “Danielle, finally! Why haven’t been answering your phone?” He sounds mad.

  “Harrison, we only just got home about an hour ago, and I needed to eat.” I know exactly why he is upset with me.

  “Let me just point out that I know you had a little nasty surprise left for you tonight. Are you okay? I told Albert to dispose of the flowers. I figured you don’t need to deal with that.”

  I giggle.

  “Why are you laughing? Something I should know about?” Now he sounds annoyed.

  “Albert took you literally and didn’t throw the flowers in the garbage. Instead, he put them in the garbage disposal and ran them down the drain.” I am now laughing out loud and so is Harrison.

  At some point during the laughter, all the rest of the pent up tension dissipated. It felt good to have a good cry earlier, but laughter is always the best medicine. For certain.

  When I catch my breath, I decide it’s probably time to address the delivery that I received from him today.

  “Harrison, I need to talk to you about the contents of the envelope I received from you today.”

  “Uh huh. And?” There’s a lilt to his voice, and he sounds giddy.

  “Under no circumstances can I accept such a large gift. Not to mention, I will not accept the check either. It was a very generous offer, but in all good conscience I am unable to accept.”