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I knew because his wife had learned the truth and sent me the messages he’d sent her about it being a mistake he’d never make again, that he was done with me, that we were over.
I lift both shoulders. “I dumped him.” He was just another bad experience to add to my list of bad experiences. He didn't break my heart, but he definitely damaged my trust.
My phone chimes again, and I glance down to see another message from my mother.
This time, the part of the message that pops up catches my attention.
It’s an emergency...
Chapter Six
Michael
I'm not expecting my phone to ring, so when it does, I drop the pen that I've been twirling between my fingers and jolt out of my thoughts.
I quickly answer the call and a smile spreads across my face as a familiar voice reaches out to me across the distance between us.
“Hello, Michael.”
I sit upright in my comfortable leather office chair behind my desk. “Moira, it's good to hear from you.” My mind is racing and I wonder how she got my number. Then again, I'm pretty sure I gave her enough information to track me down if she wanted.
“You're surprised I'm calling you.” She sounds almost playful on the other end of the line.
“I am. But I'm also glad to hear from you.” I hope she can hear the genuine tone of my voice. I worried I'd never hear from her again. Now my heart kicks into overdrive as I think about connecting with her once more.
“Well, I'm glad to be talking to you again.” I can hear the almost girlish excitement in her voice, and I can't hold back a smile. “I called to invite you to a club I go to that’s... rather adult.” The way she says the word adult leaves no doubt in my mind what club she's talking about, and I know the answer before she ever says the name of the place. “It’s called Club Red.”
My palms begin to sweat and I wipe one on my slacks, then take my phone in my other hand to try to get rid of the moisture there too. All at once, ugly memories begin to flood back, and I put my hand to my temple as if I can silence them. I don't want to think about Club Red or her... Cynthia.
My ex-wife. The woman hellbent on breaking me, the one who’d destroyed my life. The one that left me sure I’ll never trust anyone - much less fall in love - ever again. She’d loved Club Red; she saw that place as a blank check to cheat on me. Hell, she’d found her new man there, even.
“Are you still there?” Her voice seems quieter, as if her joy has been muted and replaced with the more stern version of herself I’d first met.
“I'm still here.” I'm not sure if the statement really reflects the reality of the situation because I might physically be present, but in my mind I’m a million miles away. I'm not really sure how to answer the question because I wouldn't be caught dead at Club Red, but I really do want to spend more time with her.
Though to be completely honest, do I want to spend time with someone who frequents Club Red? Do I want to open myself up for that kind of heartache again? Sure, there's nothing serious between Moira and I right now, but if our relationship grows and we start to fall for one another, I'm going to have to ask her to choose between me and the Club. If we start out at Club Red, it's not going to be a fair boundary for me to set if things change in the future. Besides, I don't have any right to ask her to change any more than she could ask me.
The smart move would be to end everything right here, right now, to sever any further contact and move on with my life.
“If you're not interested, you can just say that.” Moira suddenly seems unsure.
“I apologize. I’m not ignoring you; I’m just trying to decide what to say. I'm familiar with Club Red and am not a fan of the locale or some of the regulars.” I figure there's no harm in being straightforward and honest. Instead of making a decision for the both of us, I will put that out there and let her decide how she’d like to move forward.
“Oh.” She sounds surprised. “Perhaps we can meet somewhere else then?” I can hear in her voice that she hadn't made a backup plan for if I said no.
I sigh. I like Moira a lot. I learned on the plane that she's smart, funny, beautiful, and driven. She's everything that I look for in a potential partner - not that I’m currently looking. Still, fate had thrown her into my life, and here she was again, showing up unexpectedly... but not unwelcome.
And for once in my life, I feel like she's the kind of woman that doesn't care about my wealth; likely because she has her own. Of course, that's just a hunch of mine, but I'm generally right about these things. Still, something in me whispers to take things slow because I don't want to get hurt again.
I've been hurt enough to last two lifetimes.
All at once, thoughts of my ex-wife, Cynthia, crowd my mind. When I first fell for Cynthia, she seemed like the perfect woman. The second that ring was on her finger, though, it was like flipping a switch. She became cold, selfish, manipulative, and ultimately unfaithful.
Of course, what I didn't know at the time was that she'd been cheating on me from the start. I don't think there was any point from the time we met that she was faithful to me. After plenty of therapy and some outside perspectives, I became convinced that she married me for my potential, not for who I was when we met. Me striking it rich was just the icing on the cake for her.
“Would you like to do something else instead?” Moira asks, and I feel bad for retreating into my mind rather than talking with her.
“That would be nice.” After all, Cynthia broke my heart six years ago. I’ve had time to heal, recover, and now maybe I’ll have a chance at love again. It's not like I don't want to move on, be happy, or have a family of my own. I just haven't met anyone I felt that I could trust, much less someone that I might want to marry or settle down or have children with. Could Moira be that person? Of course, it's way too early to tell, but I'm not going to close myself down to the possibility.
