I debate as to whether or not be truthful with her. Do I admit I'm home, or do I say I took a late client meeting? I figure lying takes too much energy, so I decide to tell her the truth.
"I just walked in the door," I reply.
"Good, I'd like to come over," she says, and I can almost hear her lips curl into a smile.
"Truthfully, I'm pretty tired tonight," I say. It's the best I can muster.
"Nonsense," she demands. "I'll bring a nice bottle of Pinot Noir, and we can unwind together. How does that sound?"
That sounds like my worst nightmare.
"I can't," I continue. "I'm tired enough; the wine will put me over the edge."
Her voice now assumes a hard edge to it.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to avoid me, Mason."
"Well, there's clearly no avoiding you."
"We're technically married," she says. "Are you forgetting that?"
"How could I forget when you make it painfully clear every waking moment?" I ask. It's true. I can't even count how many times she's given me this spiel at this point.
"As husband and wife, I refuse to be in a sexless marriage," she says. "We need to have sex, Mason. My patience is running thin."
It takes me a moment to say anything. The idea of having sex with that woman is repulsive. I'd drag my feet to the ends of the earth before I agreed to that.
"I mean it," she continues. "If you keep playing this silly little game of yours, I'll tell the Board."
"Tell the Board what exactly?" I ask.
"I'll make a big deal about Red Lion Aviation," she says matter-of-fact. "What CEO can be respected for walking away from a cool trillion dollars?"
"You know as well as I do that the investment would go bust."
"Is that so?" she asks. "The Board listens to me. On paper, Red Lion Aviation looks good Mason. They're profitable and expanding. You slammed them for having poor safety ratings, but you should know that they've cleaned up th
eir act. They're in good standing now. They're even adding new flights this year beyond Southeast Asia. A sizeable investment in Red Lion could change the future of Kane Price."
"Yeah, it could shutter our doors," I say.
"You're wrong," she continues. "It could increase our reach. We could break into US markets, and profits could reach unprecedented levels. We'll turn a billion dollars into a trillion."
I laugh. I don't laugh because it's funny … because this situation is anything but funny … it's downright infuriating, but I laugh at the irony. Here she is talking about increasing profits by such a wide margin, when I know the opposite would happen.
Still don't believe me?" she asks. "Well, I don't need you to believe me; I just need you to do as I say. If you don't, there will be consequences. I'll be sure to make a big deal about it with the Board."
Fuck. It's a catch 22. She has me by the balls and she knows it. What can I do at this point? I feel like I've got my neck in a rope and the longer I'm with Lorna, the tighter it gets. I'll hang myself if I'm not careful.
I realize there's only one thing left for me to do.
I grab my keys and wallet.
"I'm coming over," I tell Lorna before hanging up the phone.
"Now that's more like it," she purrs.
But she has no idea why I'm coming over.