Page 114 of The Last Good Man

“No. Of course you didn’t. I’m at work,” I puthimon notice while crossing an arm over my chest and propping my derriere against my desk. “Is everything all right?”

He laughs at the other end of the line while I try to be patient.

“Qui,qui.Everything is fine. I’m at the airport.”

My ears perk up.

“Where exactly?”

“Paris. I’m flying to London in an hour, where I’ll be spending a day or two. And then I’m flying to New York. Are you free this weekend? Or Thursday, perhaps? When I arrive? We can attend an art exhibition, and have drinks and dinner at my hotel. What say you?”

Well, color me unimpressed. I’ve never seen such a sudden reversal of direction since I watched gymnastics at the Olympics.

So, the other person didn’t work out. Maybe he’s giving someone else a try in London, and then he’s headed here with business and plans to bed me.

Isn’t that nice?

He, for sure, isn’t my high-value man or my high-quality man, but I’m in a vengeful mood, and my weekend is open.

Although my Thursday is off-limits.

I already envision myself tucked in a chair across from Dr. Stenson, and if things fuck with me like that, I might need a third session this week.

Still.

I won’t sleep with Emile.

I need so much more for that to happen than drinks and dinner at his hotel.I doubt dinnerwill happen at his hotel.

“I have plans for Thursday, but maybe Friday? Call me when you get here.”

“Oh. Superb. We’ll do that,” he says, overexcited, and I’m sure he’d wag his tail if he had one.

We end the conversation, and I’m all sweaty again, but I no longer care.

I’m back to playing this dirty game. And I need to keep doing it until I find my exit.

21

MELODY

Tuesday evening

At Aretha’s office

“I hate dating,” I bark the second I barge in.

It rarely happens that Aretha is in her office,waitingfor me.

She glances at me over the rim of her glasses, a book in her hands.

It’s taken me forever to get here.

My day wasn’t exactly how I expected it to be. Work was fine, but everything else wasn’t.

At lunch, I called my mother and told her about my intentions of buying an apartment.

She gleefully congratulated me and said she’d be in Manhattan next week so we could grab a bite and talk.

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