One Night in London (13 page)

“What did you say to him?” I asked.

“Nothing. I just told him it was nice to see him and that you were here with us celebrating the success of opening night. You should have seen the look on his face when he looked over and saw you sitting here.”

“Yeah, because he got caught. The sorry son of a bitch,” Ellery spoke.

“He didn’t get caught at anything. We aren’t dating. So let’s enjoy our dinner and talk about something else.”

The waiter brought our shots of whiskey and set them in the middle of the table.

“Are those what I think they are?” Connor asked Ellery.

“Yes.”

“Elle, this isn’t the kind of restaurant where you do shots.”

“Connor, sweetheart. As long as a place has a bar and serves alcohol, shots can be done anywhere.”

He sighed and shifted in his chair. I laughed. After doing the first shot, I set the glass down and closed my eyes. The burn felt so good. Picking up the second glass, I brought it to my lips just as Sebastian approached our table.

“Hello, Chloe. Ellery.” He nodded.

“Hello, Sebastian.” I smiled and gulped at the same time. I needed to hold it together even though my heart was racing and my legs were shaking under the table.

“I hope you’re enjoying your dinner.”

“We are, Sebastian. How was Vegas?” Ellery grinned.

I looked over at Connor and he placed his hand over his face.

“Vegas was good.” Sebastian looked at me.

“Good. Good to hear. Connor and I love Vegas. Where did you and Chloe stay? You know, in Vegas, together for an entire weekend?”

“The Palazzo Hotel.”

“Nice. We usually stay at the Bellagio.”

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your dinner. It was nice seeing the three of you.”

He gave me a small smile as he walked away. His lips might have been smiling, but his eyes told a different story.

“Why did you bring up Vegas?” Connor asked as he glared at Ellery.

“Why not? He’s wrong and he knows it. Someone had to call him out on his bullshit.”

“But—”

“No buts, Connor.”

I simply sat there across from this adorable couple and smiled. After we finished eating, we said our goodbyes.

“Call me if you want to talk.” Ellery hugged me.

“I’m fine, Ellery. But I promise I will.”

“I’ll be in touch, Chloe,” Connor spoke as he hugged me. “Have a good night. I’m sorry about what happened.”

“Don’t be. Maybe it’s the universe sending me a sign.” I smiled.

****

Sebastian

F
uck. Fuck. Fuck
. I ran my hands through my hair as Serena and I exited the restaurant.

“Let’s go back to my place,” Serena whispered in my ear.

Yeah. That was what I needed. I needed to fuck her and release this tension that had been brewing inside me the last few days.

“Let’s go.” I hooked my arm around her and we walked to the limo.

As I slid in next to her, Eli shot me a look. I turned and looked out the passenger window to avoid any further eye contact with him. He didn’t know shit. When we stepped inside Serena’s apartment, she asked me to unzip her dress. Taking off my suit coat, my fingers deftly grasped her zipper and slowly pulled it down. My lips traveled to her shoulder as I slipped off her dress and let it fall to the ground. She turned to face me and our lips locked tightly together. She moaned. My hands cupped her bare breasts, kneading them and tugging at her hardened nipples.

“God, I’ve missed this, Sebastian,” she moaned as my lips traveled to her neck.

Thoughts of Chloe went off in my head like a slide show. Me fucking her. Her smile. Her laugh. Her incredibly sexy body and her beautiful green eyes. Eyes that could light up a dark room. Eyes that smiled at me every time I looked into them. Pulling away, I put my hand up.

“I’m sorry, Serena. I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? Come on, baby.” She smiled as her lips brushed against mine.

“I can’t.”  I pulled away and paced around the room.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” she shouted rather loudly.

“I have to go.”

Grabbing my jacket, I left her apartment and climbed into the limo.

“That sure as hell didn’t take very long,” Eli spoke.

“That’s because nothing happened. Just drive.”

When I arrived home, I poured myself a drink and took it out on the patio. What the hell was happening to me? I needed to call her and make sure she was okay. Her phone rang and then went straight to voicemail. She ignored my call. Great. I sent her a text message.

“Chloe, I think we need to talk about tonight.”

I waited for a response and nothing. Slamming my glass down on the table, I flew out the door and hailed a cab to her apartment. As I was walking up the steps, a couple came walking out. I ran and held the door open for them and then headed up the stairs to Chloe’s apartment. I softly knocked and waited. No answer. I knocked again. No answer. Pulling out my phone, I sent her a text message.

“Damn it, Chloe! Answer the fucking door!”

As I hit the send button, I heard her voice down the hallway.

“Sebastian? What are you doing here?” She cocked her head while holding a large brown bag in her hands.

“Doesn’t matter. What matters is I don’t appreciate my calls or text messages being ignored,” I spoke in an abrupt tone.

“Huh? I didn’t get any calls or text messages from you.” She handed me the large paper bag as she slid her key in the lock.

“Don’t lie to me, Chloe.” I followed her inside.

She pulled her phone from her purse. “It’s dead. That’s why I didn’t get anything from you. See for yourself.” She held up her phone.

She took it into the kitchen and plugged the charger into it. Then, she turned and narrowed her eyes at me.

“Just ignore that last text,” I said. “Why are you going to Whole Foods so late? Do you know how dangerous that is?”

She started removing the groceries from the bag and set them on the counter.

“I needed a few things and on my way home, I stopped and talked to Willie. We had a nice conversation and then I gave him some apples. Actually, I gave him all the apples I bought, so I guess I’ll have to go back tomorrow and get some more.”

“Who the hell is Willie?” I stood there in confusion at the fact that she gave him apples.

“The nice homeless man that resides on the next block. During the day, he camps out in front of Barnes and Nobles, and at night, he moves to the alley. But he was still at Barnes and Noble when I walked by.”

“May I ask why you talk to him?”

“Why wouldn’t I talk to him? He’s an interesting person. He served in the military for thirty years and fought in two wars and received the Medal of Honor.”

“Then why is he homeless?”

“When his kids grew up, his wife left him. He started drinking heavily, lost his job, couldn’t afford his house, so the bank took it and now he’s on the street. It’s sad that he’s been living like that for five years.”

“It’s his own fault. He could do something, but he chooses not to. So he has no one to blame but himself.”

“Wow, Sebastian, that’s really cold-hearted.”

“It’s the truth, Chloe. You know it, and the fact that you even talk to him.”

She sighed. “He’s a human being just like you and me. Is there a reason you came over, because I’m really tired and would like to go to bed?”

“I think we need to talk about tonight.”

“What about it?”

“I wanted to explain about Serena.”

“I don’t care about her. You obviously had your reasons for going to dinner with her. It’s none of my business.” She placed her hands on the counter.

“It was just dinner. If there were more, I wouldn’t be standing here in your apartment.”

“Like I said, it’s none of my business.”

Walking over to her, I placed my hand on her cheek.

“Good night, Sebastian,” she spoke as she stared into my eyes.

“Do you really want me to leave, Chloe?”

“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate to answer.

Removing my hand from her cheek, I lightly kissed her forehead.

“I’ll be in touch,” I spoke as I began to walk away.

“Please don’t,” she said in a low voice.

With my back turned to her, I stopped and looked down. Taking in a deep breath, I walked out of her apartment and hailed a cab back home. The pain I had buried so long ago was back. I felt it in my chest. I felt it when I looked at her. She claimed she didn’t care, but she did. Her eyes, which were always full of light, were now filled with sadness.

Chloe

P
lacing the last piece of art on the wall, I stood back and studied the display we all helped organize.

“It’s truly a beautiful sight.” Gregory sighed.

“It sure is.”

“Everyone that we sent invites to has responded that they will be attending. This is going to be huge.” He smiled.

“What about Mr. Bennett?” I asked as I looked at Gregory.

“He responded with a no.”

“That’s good. It’s probably for the best. I’m going to finish up some work and take the rest of the day off. I think I’ll go see my dad.”

When I walked into my office, my phone rang. It was Sienna.

“Hey.” I hit the answer button and set my phone on the metal stand on my desk.

“So I have a bit of a problem.”

“What’s wrong?”

She rested her cheek in her hand. “I hate that Sam went back to England.”

“Aw, Sienna. I can honestly say I’m shocked.”

“I know, right? Me too. I miss the big goofball already and he’s only been gone a couple of hours.”

“I think someone is in love.” I smiled.

“Maybe. Who knows. He cried at the airport.”

“He did?”

“Yeah.” I could see her eyes start to fill with tears.

“He told me that he loved me and if I loved him, he’d stay.”

“I’m assuming you didn’t tell him.”

“I told him that I’d have to get back to him on that.”

“OMG! Sienna.”

“He freaked me out. I panicked. Listen, I have to go. My pain in the ass client is standing at the door looking at me.”

“Okay. Call me later or come over. We can do a girls’ night and sit on the couch with our gallon of ice cream and watch depressing movies.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Shaking my head, I cleaned up my desk, grabbed my purse, and headed out the door to see my dad. As I approached East 42
^nd
Street, I saw him sitting on the ground Indian style with his guitar in his hand.

“Hey, Dad.” I smiled as I sat down next to him.

“Hey, pumpkin. You’re going to get your fancy pants all dirty.”

“They can be washed. How’s business?” I asked, looking over at his guitar case, which was filled with green.

“It’s a good day. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because it’s a beautiful May day and everyone is in a good mood. Here.” He handed me his guitar. “Drum up some more business for your old man.”

With a grin, I took the guitar from him. This was something we did on occasion. I began playing and singing
Tomorrow Is a Long Time
by Nickel Creek. Before long, people stopped to listen as they threw dollar bills into the guitar case. My heart started racing as I was singing and looked up to see Sebastian standing amongst the crowd of people staring at me. When I finished the song, He walked over with his hands tucked into his pockets.

“Why, hello there, Sebastian.” My dad smiled.

“Hello, Larry. Chloe.” He nodded.

Handing my dad back his guitar, I gave him a kiss on his cheek.

“I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”

“Yeah. Okay. Enjoy the rest of your day, pumpkin.”

I began to walk away and Sebastian walked with me.

“You were really good,” he spoke.

“Thanks.” I stared straight ahead.

“So how have you been?”

I swallowed hard. “Fine. Busy. You?”

“Okay. I guess. Busy as well.”

“Good.” I turned the corner.

“Chloe, listen. I want to see you.”

“You’re seeing me.”

He lightly grabbed hold of my arm and forced me to stop walking.

“I want to see you. Let’s have dinner together tonight at my place.”

As I stood there and stared into his pleading eyes, a part of me wanted to slap him.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“You can’t or you won’t?” He cocked his head.

“I can’t. Sienna is coming over tonight. Sam went back to England today and she’s really sad, so we’re going to have a girls’ night in.”

“I see. How about tomorrow?”

“Sorry. I have an exhibition tomorrow.”

“That’s right. How about after the exhibition? We can have a late dinner.”

“I don’t know.” I began walking. Why was the thought of possibly having dinner with him going through my head?

“Just dinner. Nothing else. I promise.”

“Dinner at your place and you expect me to believe you won’t try to have sex?”

“I promise. I’ll be on my best behavior. Please, Chloe, just have dinner with me.”

His begging was pathetic. I stopped.

“Fine. I’ll have dinner with you after the exhibition. Gregory told me that you responded no on the invite.”

“Now that you’ve agreed to have dinner with me, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll be there.” The corners of his mouth curved upwards.

“Were you going somewhere before you saw me with my dad?”

“Oh shit. I was meeting Damien. I’ll see you tomorrow night at the gallery.”

“Okay.”

As I walked away, Sebastian called my name.

“Chloe.”

“Yeah?” I turned around.

“Have a fun girls’ night tonight.” He smiled.

“Thanks.”

I was nothing but the poster child for being a glutton for punishment.

****

Sebastian

I
barely slept a wink all night. Not only was I thinking about Chloe, but also about this big deal I was signing today. This had been in the making for months, and it was one of the biggest deals I’d made in a long time.

Sitting in the conference room alone, I had an unsettling feeling. I didn’t know where it came from or why, but something was really bothering me. Ed and John walked in and Damien followed behind.