Page 60 of Boss On Notice
“Guess what?” he asks.
I’ve never seen him look so austere. “What?” I barely say. I’m worried about what happened between him and Hercules.
“The maid found a diamond ring in my trash can. I bought it when I got married to you while drunk. You want to see our wedding? We end with a bang, literally.”
My eyes keep expanding as my head feels like it’s floating to a galaxy far, far away.
“Do you know how a ring I bought for you ended up in the trash can?”
Tears burn the backs of my eyes as I nod. I have to tell the truth now.
Orion looks so disappointed in me. I can’t stop my tears from rolling.
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
I nod again.
“When?”
“I don’t know,” I barely say.
He snatches his glower off me and stares off at the wall, unfocused.
“I’m sorry,” I say in a tiny and ineffectual voice.
He doesn’t give me a second glance as he walks to the door and puts his hand on the knob. “I’ll text you our wedding video. And, um, you can leave for the day.”
I’m speechless. I have no defense for not telling him, other than I was horrified to wake up in his bed that morning. To me, he was still Boss Scoundrel. But he hasn’t been that in quite a while. I could have told him. I should have told him. The truth is, I was afraid that I waited too long without telling him.
“And, um, your two weeks’ notice? Accepted. You don’t have to come back. I’ll pay for the month.”
“Orion?” I chirp like a hurt bird.
But so quickly the door is opened and he’s gone.
* * *
I actually feellike I’m moving in an alternate universe as I walk home. The New York afternoon is particularly alive today. The heat is sweltering. The bars and cafés are packed. Everyone’s out already enjoying the period before the cold is ushered in. I on the other hand already feel the winter. I can’t stop shivering, and my tears won’t stop rolling either. I don’t care who sees me.
Eventually, I make it back to my apartment. I drag into my bedroom, fall on top of my bed, and stare at the ceiling. I’m aware that time is passing by, but I can’t look away from this one little speck of black in the white paint above my bed. I perceive the light changing all around me. My cell phone beeps in my purse, letting me know I received a message.
Why didn’t I just tell him? I could’ve said, “Oh, Orion, one more thing…” And then just said it. He probably would’ve laughed his ass off at our calamitous drunken behavior. I’m sure Hercules rubbed his nose in his mistake. He must’ve been embarrassed to find out that way, especially when I already knew. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to find out that I’m the one who tossed the ring in the trash. His brothers know. Their wives know. I humiliated him and he’ll never forgive me.
I sniff and wipe the swiftly moving tears off the side of my face. Then I curl up on my side. My phone rings and announces that the caller is Xena. I practically leap off the bed to answer her call. It’s time I tell her the truth too.
* * *
TWO HOURS LATER
Xena’s back in my bedroom with a box of tissues and a wet facecloth to wipe my face.
“Never cry over a boy, Delilah,” she says for the second time.
“He’s not a boy,” I whine. “Orion is all man.”
She rolls her eyes. I told her everything. I’m clearly the one in the wrong. But she still hates him so he’s probably always going to be the one who’s wrong in her eyes.
Xena sighs. “Okay, Lilly, I get that you fell in love with him, and it sounds like he fell in love with you. I’m saying not to cry because if he’s the kind of guy who can break it off with you because you didn’t tell him about the most embarrassing moment of your life, and his life too, then fuck him. You deserve better.”
