Chapter 83 – Pleasing the Boss

I let out a stilted laugh. My lack of housekeeping skills is a frequent joke between the two of us, but it feels especially pointed today.

It’s probably just that I hadn’t expected to see him. And my decision to leave him informs how I behave around him, and that feels awkward since he isn’t privy to the same information.

But wait a minute… “You mean you’re trying to figure out if I slept here last night?” I set the suitcase on the chest at the bottom of the bed. The loss of weight in my arms doesn’t lessen the guilt pressing on my shoulders.

Which is stupid, since I have every right to sleep where I want, considering the terms he set for our marriage. “It was your night in Manhattan. Why were you thinking about me?”

He smiles. “I’m always thinking about you, sweet girl.”

I’m immediately annoyed. Because sure. When he’s railing a different woman every weekend, he’s definitely thinking of me. When he’s prowling the night scenes without a wedding ring, I’m top of his mind. When he’s sending me to the bedroom of SNC’s CEO to “discuss” the opportunity to host the show that I helped conceive, I’m all he’s thinking about.

It’s bullshit. All of it.

It hadn’t been clear to me before, when I thought I was in love with him, but now it’s so clear I smell the stink for what it is—fetid shit, just as Hadrian had said.

But I’m not ready to fight with him, so I open my suitcase, hoping that the distraction will keep me civil. “I guess what I’m really asking is, why did you come by to check in the first place?”

He answers with one word. “Jared.”

“The doorman?” I grab a handful of panties from my dresser drawer and drop them into the empty suitcase. Having already thrown all my dirty things in the laundry on Friday night, all I have to do today is restock.

“He texted me when he left his shift this morning. Said you never came in last night, and he was concerned.”

I’m on my way to the closet, but I spin back toward him. “Hold up. Jared texted you because I didn’t come home last night?” I’m practically blind with fury. “That is such a violation of privacy. Have you called the management company yet? He should be fired on the spot.”

Elvis sits forward. “Hey, hey, don’t get so worked up. He only texted because I asked him to. No need to get anyone fired.”

Um… “You, what?”

“I asked him to. Months ago. Explained I’m not always here, and that I worry about you alone.”

“Oh, hell no.” So many thoughts cross my mind at once, it’s hard to decide which one to follow first. “First of all, you aren’t always here because you’re fucking other women. Did you tell that to Jared, too? The reasons for your absentia? Second of all, per the agreement that allows you to fuck these other women, I’m also permitted to fuck other men. So it seems there might be plenty of nights that I either don’t sleep here, or I don’t sleep here alone. Was that what you really wanted to know from Jared? Whether I’m fucking other people?”

Whether or not I’m fucking Hadrian, more likely. He’s been consumed with our relationship, wanting it to be over. Threatened, perhaps, by Hadrian’s money and status. He never seemed to care who I was sleeping with before.

“No. Don’t be ridiculous. I am…just…aware…that you…” Whatever he’s trying to say, he’s attempting to say it carefully.

It hits me where he’s going, and I jump in to finish for him. “That I usually don’t take advantage of our open marriage. Uh-huh. I see.”

He never cared who I was sleeping with because he knew I wasn’t sleeping with anyone.

It occurs to me that the woman I was would have found sentimentality in this. Would have thought it was endearing to look out for me while he was preoccupied and that it meant something that he knew me so well as to know that I wouldn’t have been similarly preoccupied.

I am not that woman anymore. “Did you ever intend for me to take advantage of our open marriage?”

“Come on, Brystin. Whatever you’re thinking—”

“What I’m thinking is that you set up this arrangement knowing full well that I wouldn’t sleep with another man. I mean until you sent me to use sex to get the host spot on this show, which you probably didn’t think I would go through with, did you?”

“It’s not like you’re suggesting. Sex was never important to you.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re going with men just like sex more so instead of assuming the traditional unfaithful husband role, you came up with this deal, knowing you’d get your cake and get to eat it too?”

He stands, probably not enjoying being yelled at from someone standing over him. “I’m not talking about men and women, Brystin. I’m talking about you and me.”

Now his height towers over me, and once upon a time, that might have made me cower.

Today, my spine is ramrod straight. “You know what, Elvis? There is no you and me. I’m done with this. With all of this. I want a divorce.”

Hadrian was being smart when he suggested I have a plan, but saying the words, getting them off my chest like this feels liberating in a way that I never imagined. And it has nothing to do with Hadrian. It’s about finally freeing myself from the awful contorted positions I put myself in, in order to have this man. This man who took more and more space until I was so curled in on myself that I could hardly breathe.

Right here, right now, my lungs have more room to expand than they have in years.

Despite the power I feel flowing through my veins, Elvis rolls his eyes like I’m nothing more than a nuisance. A bug to be squashed. “You’re being over dramatic. A divorce? Did you not get what I promised out of this relationship? Look where you are. Look where you were.”

I huff. “I’m where I am now because of my talent. You told me that. Remember?”

“Oh, is that why you’re where you are.”

“Okay, I’m where I am because I fucked the CEO. Many times, in fact. Not because I fucked you.” Knowing it will piss him off, I turn my back on him and open my closet. I’m usually thoughtful about my weekly wardrobe, but I want to get out of here, so I grab a handful of items at random.

“Is this because of him? You think you’ll make a happy home with the billionaire who can have any woman in the world he wants. That sounds realistic, Brystin. I thought you were smarter than that.”

I know he’s trying to hurt me. Remembering how important it was for me to keep Hadrian out of it, I ignore his goading and give him an honest answer. “It’s because I don’t love you anymore, Elvis. The reason many a marriage falls apart.”

“We were never about love.”

“No.” I drop my clothes, hangers and all, into the suitcase. “You were never about love. I tried to love you enough for both of us. Now it’s run out, and I’m leaving.”

I turn back to the closet, hearing him mutter something about dumb bitch under his breath.

It stings, but my eyes don’t prick. Instead, it fuels my rage. Pretending to deliberate, I stay turned away longer this time, trying not to let the adrenaline get the best of me.

“It was all his idea, you know,” Elvis says, behind me.

I refuse to engage.

He continues on his own. “Hadrian’s. The whole charade. He said he needed a show with ratings, that’s all he cared about. Ratings that would astound the board. He didn’t care what our idea was really, but he needed it to be you—a woman who was young and attractive. It helped that you were white and blonde. Someone the press would want to gossip about. ‘Perfect ingredients,’ he said. All that was left was to create the scandal.”

I pretend I’m not listening. Except I am, and my heart is thumping a million beats an hour in my chest while my stomach is slowly descending.

“He thought it was best you weren’t aware that it was all a PR scam. Neither of us were sure you’d be a good enough actress. Hadrian said he’d take care of making it look like you’re having an affair.”

He’s lying. He has to be. Trying to manipulate me as always.

“I didn’t think he was actually going to convince you to fuck him. He’s better at his job than I thought. Or you’re more willing to spread your legs than I realized.”

I spin to find him standing over my suitcase. “Fuck you.” When he turns to face me, I realize he’s holding a pair of my panties.

A chill runs down my back. I step forward and swipe them out of his hand. “You’re pathetic, right now, Elvis. This…this…story of yours. You think I’m going to come running back to you if you demonize him?”

“I’m trying to protect you! Don’t you see what you’ve fallen for? He’s using you, Brystin.”

“He’s using me? You used me, Elvis. You just admitted it. That the only reason we got this show was because of me. Isn’t that what you just said? You used your young, attractive wife to land you the job of a lifetime. And somehow you think you should get credit because it wasn’t your idea? You were just the one who thought you had the right to sign me up for it.”

I pause to swallow back emotion. “Well, you got the job. But you don’t have me anymore. We are done.”

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