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If I could help it, I wanted to have Erica in my life without losing the company. She meant enough to me that I realized I had to announce it. Perhaps if we made a public announcement about our relationship, a scandal we had been involved in would fade away. Surely, I could have the company and Erica at the same time?
But I had to do something special for her. Something spectacular. A woman like Erica didn’t need a man to merely confessed his feelings for her. She needed a grand gesture like they did in the movies. I had both the money and the contacts to pull it off, and I was excited to plan something for her.
It was going to be romantic. It was going to be cliché. I hoped that she liked those things, but what princess didn’t like being taken to a ball?
Of course, I wasn’t going to take her to a real ball. Instead, I made reservations at one of the best restaurants in New York. I booked a limousine to pick her up, and I bought her jewelry—earrings and a necklace that was frosted with diamonds and looked like someone had managed to capture the night sky.
On Saturday evening, I was in the limousine, dressed to the nines. I was nervous as the limo made its way through the streets of New York to Erica’s apartment building. This wasn’t just a normal date where we were going to hang out, get to know each other, and maybe fall into bed together afterward. This was where I was going to confess my love for her.
When the limousine pulled up in front of her apartment building, I phoned her cell phone.
“Will you come downstairs?” I asked.
“Why?” Erica asked.
“Because I have a surprise for you. Please just come and see.”
She sounded reluctant, and I wasn’t sure why, but she agreed. I was sure as soon as she saw what I had planned for her, she would change her mind. I wanted to spoil her, and when money was no object, it was the easiest thing to do in the world.
When Erica came downstairs, she froze. Her eyes were glued to the limousine I leaned against.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“I’m taking you out tonight. I want you to go upstairs and get dressed in the best dress you have. And then finish it off with this.” I opened the velvet jewelry case and showed Erica the necklace and earrings I had bought for her. She stared at the diamonds, lifting her hand as if she wanted to touch them, but she pulled her hand back and shook her head.
“I can’t accept those,” she said.
“Yes, you can. I got them for you.”
Erica shook her head and took a small step back. This was going in the wrong direction. In my mind, I had pictured her excited and swooning, as in love as she had been at the hotel in Jersey. The woman in front of me seemed scared and confused.
“I can’t do this, Brett,” Erica said, and when I looked at her, her eyes filled with tears. This was all wrong. Why was she crying? Before I could ask her, Erica turned around and fled into the building. I cursed under my breath and put the jewels back into the limousine before running after her. Whatever was wrong, I was sure we could get through it together. I was an idiot for not contacting her the past couple of days—she must have been worried about what I thought about her. I had been selfish, but then I was known to be a dick. I would make it up to her, tonight if she would let me.
When I reached Erica’s door, it was closed. I tried to open it, but she had locked herself in. I rattled the door, calling her name.
“Please, don’t do this,” Erica said. She was crying, I could hear it in her voice.
“Just let me in. Tell me what’s wrong. We can talk about it.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, please leave.”
I had no idea what was going on. Since we had started working together, Erica had been very open, confident in voicing her opinions and feelings. It was unlike her to lock herself away and cry about something. I wasn’t sure I had ever seen her lose control of her emotions, never mind crying.
“Come on, Erica, please let me in.”
“No. I want you to go. We can’t be together.”
I shook my head, confused. “If this is about the media, I don’t care. I want them to know we are together, I want them to know how much you mean to me.” This wasn’t quite how I had planned to confess how I felt about her, but maybe doing it through a closed door was how I would get her to come out to me.
