“Angie, don’t you think he would want you to go on with your life?”
“My head tells me that I should honor him by living a full life. But my heart can’t understand how I can be full ever again when my other half was ripped from me. There are pieces of that night that I don’t even remember. I have a box of memories buried deep in my closet that I have been avoiding for the past four years. But what’s the point of even looking? Not even the medical reports have details to help me understand why we were on the road so late that night.”
“It’s not your fault someone else was on the road at that time.”
“I know.”
We sit in silence for a few minutes, watching the sun shine through the back glass door. I refill our coffees, keeping Claire’s black and adding cream and sugar to mine.
“So, what’s been going on with you and Graham?”
Typically I would be glad for a subject change at this point in the conversation, but talking about Graham causes me stress too.
“He tampered with my work account and is basically trying to get me to quit. Or get me fired.”
“Wow. He can do that?”
“The man thinks he is above the law. He seriously has no set of rules that he lives by. Just does whatever the hell he wants, no matter who is in the way.”
“Yeah. I can see that. Men like him don’t get to be where they are unless they can take charge. He’s a brilliant businessman after all.”
“Yeah, he definitely likes to be in control. That’s the problem. So do I.”
“He likes you, Angie. I’ve never seen or heard of him being like this before. Trust me, I am hearing an earful from the other agency girls.”
“Well, I caught him kissing Sophia. Full-blown making out. He managed to get photographed with her for the newspaper. I am counting my blessings that I had enough self-respect not to stay up and watch it broadcasted all over the local news. Oh, and the best part of all of this is she is the face of his jewelry line. The solo model designed to increase profits. Even his publicist is pushing them together. So why does he need me?”
“He probably doesn’t want Sophia,” she says with a shrug. “Maybe the whole business-with-pleasure thing is a turn-off for him.”
“Well, she wants him.”
“Takes two to tango,” Claire agrees with a smirk.
“Why did she leave? And more importantly, why is she back?”
“She apparently left to handle some family issues. Rumor has it that she was on some form of contract before she left, securing her agency job, so returning might have been mandatory? It’s all speculation, though. Graham ignores my questions when I badger him about her.”
“When are you finding time to do that?”
She shrugs. “Oh, whenever. I did it at the hospital when you were admitted. Sometimes I see him at the coffee shop downtown. That man can talk his way out of anything, you know?”
“He’s a smooth operator, Claire. Sophia is currently under contract with the jewelry line. I didn’t sign up with the agency to add stress to my life.” I signed up for the easy money and for the chance to further my career. “And Sophia being the main advertising model for all the ads for Jealousy is just a reminder that Graham is out of my league. He plays dirty and takes whatever he wants.”
Claire gets up from the table and goes into the living room, but still talks to me. “He’s extremely private,” she hollers. I hear her rustling around on the shelves.
“But doesn’t respect anyone else’s privacy,” I yell back.
She returns holding a couple of magazines in hand. She flips through the pages in a hurry. “You sure it’s Sophia in the ads? I would recognize her face.”
“Unless they’re just photographing an individual body part. Then I guess it can be anyone.”
Claire stops on an ad featuring a plain gold chain dangling from the petals of a long-stemmed red rose. The only human part of the ad are the pink lips that kiss the necklace and the beautifully manicured fingers that hold the rose. Regardless of the amount of airbrushing I am sure goes into a magazine page, the picture is beautiful. But there’s no guarantee that is Sophia’s hand or lips.
“It’s pretty, that’s for sure,” Claire adds.
“He basically affirmed my suspicions today. She is a huge part of the marketing campaign. It’s her.”
“But he wants you, Angie. He is chasing after you.”