Page 37 of Truth Be Told
“No, thank you.” I follow him to an open waiting room not far away from the main doors. At least when Cohen comes down, he’ll be able to see me here. And waiting in here is a lot better than waiting out in the cold.
He shows me to a seat. “Here you are, Ms. Montgomery.” With that, he walks away and I take the seat.
“Stella Montgomery?” a voice calls, echoing through the front of the building.
I turn. The voice came from somewhere to my right, off to the side of the front desk. As I look, I see the man who just helped me pass by a female figure. She’s tall and blonde, and she too is dressed to perfection. She’s holding some papers in the crook of her arm and she’s standing still, looking at me. I stand up as she walks over.
“Are you Stella Montgomery?” she asks.
I nod and cross my arms in front of me, holding my elbows. “Yes.”
She smiles, her straight white teeth glowing. Her smile is perfect. She shifts the papers to the front of her, wrapping her arms around them. “You know Cohen, don’t you?” Her tone has suddenly switched to conversational.
“I do. Um, I’m sorry… how do you? I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her long hair. “No, we haven’t.” She puts a hand to the top of her chest, one of her rings clashing with her necklace. “I’m Scarlet. I’m Cohen’s assistant. One of his assistants.” She brings her hand down and holds it out to me. “He’s mentioned you before. I knew I remembered your name.”
I hesitantly take it. “What has he said?” I don’t like this, and I can only hope that I’m not some kind of water cooler talk around the office. But I know Cohen wouldn’t do that to me.
“Well, he’s only mentioned you once,” she explains.
I smirk. I can’t tell if that was supposed to sting. I can’t read this woman.
“But I have this thing with names, and I remember what he said about you.”
I brace for the impact, expecting to hear something about how I spent the night at his place. Maybe no one has ever spent the night at Cohen’s mansion, so it’s rare news, and that’s why it caught her attention. No. Again – he wouldn’t do that. And I’m not that naïve either.
“He said you’re having lunch today.”
I let my breath escape through my parted lips. Okay.That’sperfectly normal.
She evaluates me for a moment longer before saying, “Why don’t you come on up with me? I’m sure he’d love to see you.”
“Oh. Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Of course. Come on, this way.”
I follow her past the front desk, locking eyes only briefly with the man who just helped me. She walks quickly, even despite her tall heels, and I have to rush my steps in order to keep up with her.
We step into an oversized elevator, plated with mirrored walls. Scarlet presses the topmost button, the one which reads the number twenty, and it lights up with a warm white glow. She stands back, falling into place next to me.
“Have you known Cohen for very long?” she asks, briefly turning.
What happened toMr. Thatcher?I just got done scolding myself for that very mistake, and here she is, one of his secretaries, calling him by his first name. I guess I should give myself a little more credit.
“Not long at all.”
“How did you meet then?” She’s trying to be kind in her own sort of way, lilting her voice and smiling extra wide just for my benefit. I’m sure she’s glad we have this elevator all to ourselves for the twenty-story ride up. She has plenty of time to get all this information out of me.
I sigh, trying to keep my smile. “It’s a long story.” I think back on a few nights ago, on everything that went down at Sapphire. “A really long story.”
“Well,” she says as the elevator tings and comes to a stop, “I suppose those are always the best kind, aren’t they?”
The doors pan open, exposing a dim corridor that veers off in several different directions, each hallway carpeted in plush navy blue. Greeting us in the center is a mirrored console table with a vase of white flowers sitting perfectly atop it.
As soon as I take my first step off the elevator, the overhead lights flash on, illuminating everything around us.
“That gets everyone,” says Scarlet. “Not many people come all the way up here, so motion-sensing lights save some energy.”
