Harrison Towers, Memoirs of a Mogul (Glass Towers Trilogy) (4 page)

I do not reach out to console her. I don’t care to forgive her. I just want her out of my car and out of my life.

“Harry, please, please forgive me. I won’t leave until you say you will forgive me!” She has now grabbed my hand and is pleading with me just short of getting on her knees and groveling. I taste bile at the back of my throat.

“I am far too disgusted with you to have a rational discussion right now. You need to get out of this car now. When I am ready, we may or may not discuss this. As for right now, we are through.”

She sits back in her seat straightening herself. Holding her chin up high, she leans in to me and whispers, “Daddy knows all about it and has offered over a million dollars toward your investment project, if you are willing to forgive this indiscretion and move forward.” She holds up her finger toward my lips before I get a chance to bite her head off.

“Wait, before you protest, I know that you can’t touch any of your trust all at once and that it is dispensed as an allowance, just like mine. So, before you decide to throw me out on my ear, think about what a million dollars could do for your project! Maybe I can even get daddy to double that if I pour on the pout! Now, why don’t you just think about it and then let’s chat when I get home. In the meantime, think about how we just spent the weekend. Imagine a whole lifetime of that kind of fun. I promise you, I will never have such an indiscretion again and I will always be faithful from here on out!”

The bitter bile taste in my mouth is unbearable. I just want to leave but I can’t without getting the final word. I bite the last words out, “I will not be bought… nor will I forget that you cheated on me.”

Before I continue, I have a slight change of heart. This may solve a few problems after all.

“Although, if we can work past this, I will take the money for the investments and when I make the money back, I will pay your father back with interest.” She starts to speak and I shake my head.

“I wonder though, what about the pregnancy? Is it mine or is it his? When will you know? I will not agree to forgive you or stay with you if the baby is from another man. Get that sorted out and then we will talk. In the meantime, get the hell out of my car and go home.”

I turn away from her as she tries to kiss me. She slowly retreats from the car. I pull the door shut behind her and instruct the driver to leave. This is not at all what I have planned. The only reason at this point that I would pretend to forgive her is for the money. After I make myself rich, I will pay her daddy back and dump her. It seems a lot to go through just to get this real estate venture off the ground. But, I don’t dare go to my father for the rest of the money. He would hold the money over my head and insist I grovel in some way. Pretending to be in love and that I have forgiven her seems a smaller price to pay. A much smaller price in contrast.

The main hitch in this plan is the baby. If it’s mine, I am bound to the bitch the rest of my life, no matter what. If it’s another man’s I can walk away. In any case, I may have to explain a lot to my family and friends until such time that I can leave her. I will have to take some time to think this all through. I am honestly still in shock over her cheating on me. I honestly thought I was the center of her world, to think I have been so faithful to her. Cheating is a deal breaker for me.

A month later, I get a frantic call from Marion’s mother. She lost the baby. We will never know who fathered it aside from a special test but I declined. It is irrelevant now. I had already decided to pretend to forgive her and go along with the farce that we were going to be married. I told her that she is on probation and that until such time that I say, she is to do no further planning for the wedding. I instructed her that when people ask about how the planning is coming along, she’s to tell them it is great. Nothing more and nothing less. Keep up appearances I told her.

She was relieved that I said we are keeping our wedding date of September 14,1996. However, in the first few months following her miscarriage we saw each other infrequently. She fell into a deep depression and started seeing a therapist. Her father was so ashamed of her that he demanded that she get her act together and repent… to him. He forced her to work at Devereaux Distribution, much to her chagrin. That was always the plan to begin with but deep down, she had hoped she wouldn’t have to work. The only work she did was work hard to avoid working. She much preferred lunching and shopping her days away. For that reason, it appeared that her dalliance brought about some good. For me, I still don’t want to touch her nor do I feel good about myself for the charade I am playing. I know that given some more time, I may come to actually forgive her and welcome her back into my bed, but I’ll never forget she is a cheater.

It is going to be hard to marry her after all this. Despite the fact it would mean a powerful union for both families. I can’t wrap my mind around being bound to one person for the rest of my life whom I don’t know if I can trust. Furthermore, I know I don’t love her the way a man should love a woman. I only love her as someone I have always known. I suspect it’s a different type of love. I know my parents love each other but I question whether that is too a love of convenience or if they are
in love
. What I mostly feel for Marion these days is contempt and occasionally lust. An interesting and shallow combination. Only time will solve my dilemma and possibly heal a few wounds. However, some I fear, run too deep.

I continue to attend school and
when I’m not at school, I travel to New York City. My first investment project is well under way. The demolition on the building is completed and the renovations are in progress. I have so much to learn so I try to absorb as much information as I can by being as hands on and involved as possible.

A recent visit brought about running into a friend from college. I was just coming out of a bank when I hear my name, “Harrison…Harrison Towers!”

I turn my head and see a cute little blonde smiling and waving at me. I am confused, as she doesn’t look familiar. As she heads toward me, she looks more familiar but I am having a hard time placing her. Once she is standing directly in front of me, I realize she is Marion’s college roommate Adelaide.

“Oh hi! How are you?”

She looks up at me with her sparkling blue eyes that I had never noticed before. “I’m doing great, how are you?”

“I’m doing well. I didn’t recognize you at first, seeing you away from Montreal and all…so what brings you to New York?”

“Well, I am actually attending NYU to work on my masters in education. I will graduate in late spring.”

“Really. What a coincidence, I am going to graduate school myself, in Pennsylvania though.”

A smile comes over her face. She has to have the most angelic smile I have come across in a long time.

“So you will be attending business school?”

“Yes, actually I’m at Wharton Business School.”

“So what brings you to the city then?”

“I am working on a few projects here. Believe it or not, I’m jumping into the real estate market here.”

She looks surprised. “Oh wow, I would never have figured you for a real estate guy. What is the project?”

“It’s kind of a long story. The short version…a few of us have formed an investment group. Our objective is to buy and sell properties making our money back with a profit.”

“Sounds interesting. You weren’t kidding that you are going to pave your own way. I’m impressed.” She hesitates, then pretty much blurts out, “I heard the wedding plans are on hold.”

I clear my throat. I don’t want to discuss Marion right now, especially not with her best friend. I am shocked that she knows the plans are on hold. I told Marion to keep up appearances. I would have thought she’d kept tight lipped to save from embarrassing herself.

“Well, I want to get through graduate school and see where these investments take me first. The wedding planning can wait…though the date has not been changed.”

“Hmm. Not spoken like a man who wants to go to the altar at all.”

She is fidgeting with her sleeve, which I find to be kind of cute. I hadn’t ever noticed how attractive she is before. I find myself taken a little off guard that she would be so blunt though.

“We just need to take this next step carefully is all. When is the last time you spoke to Marion? I thought you two are close?”

“We are close, but with my having been here for the last year and half, we don’t talk much. I heard about the wedding actually from one of our sorority sisters, not from Mare. We aren’t as close as you might think anyway.”

Oh, that is a surprise. I am interested in just how this information is floating around out there. I glance at my watch and notice I need to get across town in less than twenty minutes. “Listen, I have to run across town, but it was nice running into you.”

“Oh…it was nice seeing you too…take care…maybe I’ll see you in September after all?”

“September?” I’m confused.

She laughs and it sounds like tinkling glass. “Wow, I’m referring to your wedding in September.”

I groan, “Right. I’m sorry my mind is already on my meeting. Hey, perhaps you would like to meet up while I’m still here?”

Her laughing face falls. “I don’t know, I have a tough schedule.”

Damn. I was hoping to probe her for info. “Okay, never mind then, I understand a tough schedule, maybe some other time.”

“Well, wait…maybe we could grab a quick coffee and walk over to Central Park?”

“I can do that, why don’t we meet tomorrow around eleven?”

“Okay how about we meet at the Coffee d’Art, it’s near the park at 85th.”

As the cab I haled stops, I nod and start to hop in, “Yes, see you then. Oh, and you might not want to mention this to Marion should you speak with her. She may not view it as innocently catching up with a college pal.”

There’s her tinkling laugh again, “I doubt I will be speaking with her but I couldn’t agree more. See you tomorrow.”

She turns and continues walking to who knows where. For some reason, I really want to talk to her more. If I didn’t have to get across town to a meeting, I would have taken her to dinner. I never looked at her twice back in college but then Marion demanded all my time anyway. When Marion and I would take our ‘breaks’ or break up, I never once considered Adelaide as a love interest. I don’t have an interest in her now either. I am simply intrigued to hear what her take on recent events may be. She is certainly bold and blunt, which is amusing coming from such a sweet little thing. I smile to myself as we pull up to the curb, I have to stop thinking about her.

A month later, I am back in town and once again, meeting Adelaide for coffee. She prefers to keep our meeting as ‘hanging out’ and in the form of coffee and the park. Each time I hang out with her, I realize there is an incredibly intelligent woman behind those sparkling blue eyes and pert nose. I do wonder what it would be like to have sex with her. I watch her lips move and think about sealing mine over hers. Instead, I routinely give her a sideways hug and make my best attempt at seeming aloof and not interested. I am supposedly engaged to her pseudo best friend after all. I have learned quite a bit about Marion in the past few weeks. I thought I knew her but seeing Marion through Adelaide’s eyes has shed a whole new perspective that concerns me to great lengths. On our last
coffee walk
as Adelaide calls it, she turns to me with a serious look that hardens her soft feminine features.

“Harry? Can I be blunt?”

I almost choke on my coffee, “Since when do you have to ask permission to be blunt? You always are anyway!” I am now chuckling at her.

She seems thrown off by my response as her face is now blushing. That is a characteristic that makes my blood simmer, on the right woman, it is incredibly sexy. “Oh sorry. I sometimes can’t help myself. I do tend to speak my mind and at times it’s rather inappropriate I’m afraid.”

Again, I laugh, “It’s okay, what did you need to say to me that required you to ask permission first? You know I am rather thick skinned, I mean look at whom I am supposed to marry!”

“Well, that’s just it, I know she is supposed to be my dear friend but I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her.” She pauses and starts fidgeting with her sleeve. A habit I have begun to notice she does when she is nervous.

I nod, “Go ahead, speak freely, I’m not going to fly into a rage and bite your head off.”

She smiles and then stops with her sleeve, “I guess I am wondering how you can still plan to marry someone that lacks integrity. She is shallow, ruthless at times and I fear she is more unstable than most of really know. Just think about how she practically stalks you. I don’t know how you can stand getting all of those emails and phone messages. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hired a private detective to report in on your day-to-day activities.”

Silence falls between us as I ponder what she has said. I assume she is wondering if she said too much because she has taken up with her sleeve again. “You know, I will pose the same to you…why do you remain friends with her?”

She looks surprised, “Well have you considered the alternative? I would much rather be on her good side than her bad side. My family does not have the money or clout that the Towers or Devereauxs have. I figure if I keep my safe distance from her, I am none the worse by remaining friends with her. It’s probably easier for me because I think I bore her anyway so she doesn’t think of me much. However, you, I wonder how you do it. Are you in love with her? Is she really your
forever
?”

“Wow, that is really a loaded statement or should I say question. You really know how to lower a weight on someone’s shoulders.” I ponder how to answer her question for a moment. “I don’t really know how I am feeling about her. On one hand, I suppose I feel a sense of duty like everyone has always expected us to marry but on the other, I feel resentment toward her.”

“So where does that leave you exactly?”

I wonder why she is probing me so hard. I thought I was the one pumping
her
for information. Then I start to feel suspicious, “Look, I hope you aren’t playing me and going to head straight back to her with what we have discussed. Can I trust you?”

She gasps, “Harrison! Of course, you can trust me. I have told no one of our running into each other, the least of which Marion. I just think you are a great guy and I would hate you to make a mistake that could haunt you the rest of your life. Its none of my business really, I know that. I must seem like a terrible friend for meddling and planting these seeds of doubt. Just forget I said anything.” She then slides off the cement wall we are sitting on and gathers up her things.

She turns to me, “Really, I am sorry I said anything. I have to run, congrats on the big coup on that building! That is super exciting…I can’t wait to see your name in the papers,” she waves her hand through the air, “I can see the headline now, ‘Harrison Towers…Mega Mogul signs another multi-billion deal!”

“Oh stop…however, thanks for your vote of confidence. Don’t be sorry you said anything. You just gave me a lot to process. You know I already have a lot to consider with her. I know deep down there is another path I am supposed to take. It’s time for me to have a serious talk with myself. I have ignored it and put it on the back burner for far too long. Thanks for pointing that out and congratulations to you too! In just another week you will have some more letters to stick behind your name!”

“Thanks Harry. I do have to run. I will be interested to know what you decide. Keep in touch. As soon as I graduate next week, I am heading back home to take a few months off before I start teaching in the fall. I won’t be able to do coffee anymore so you’ll have to drop me an email from time to time.” She smiles, “And please do not give up on finishing your degree. You have come this far, I would hate for all your real estate successes to stand in the way. It would be good to fall back on should your ventures not carry you where you want to go.”

“Spoken like a true educator.”

She blushes.

I give her a sideways hug and then as she starts to head off, “Addy, thanks for all of your time. I think I have a new perspective thanks to you.”

She whips her head around, “Uh oh! I hope I didn’t say too much or misguide you. Honestly, Harry, I have never been in love…only had crushes. I don’t know what it is yet, but I imagine when I do fall in love, it will knock me over the head and I will feel it radiating through my entire being. Anyway, gotta run. Take care and good luck to you!”

“You too!”

I watch her walk away with a lift to her step. After a bit, her figure is out of my sight but I remain sitting with my face toward the sun. With this real estate deal making me more money than I had planned, my timeline has accelerated by a year. I now know what I am going to do.