Chapter Five
Aria
I had to be dreaming! There was no way that my ex-boyfriend was walking out of Zayden’s office.
Even though I had been trying hard to pretend I didn’t care what Zayden was saying on the phone, I had been very alert when he ended it with his wife. In spite of myself, I couldn’t help but feel a little excited upon hearing that conversation, which was obviously happening loud and clear out in the hallway for my benefit. There was no way I was going to let him know that it made me feel better, though. Perhaps it didn’t even have anything to do with me and I was overanalyzing all of it. But as Rick walked towards my desk, I was starting to get a good idea of what was going on.
“Hi,” Rick said and smiled at me. “So, I was apparently called here and given permission to talk to you.”
Zayden was unmistakably focusing all his attention towards us, and knowing full well he could hear whatever I was saying, I said, “Well, it’s not up to anyone to give you permission to talk to whoever you want, is it?”
“Hey, it’s Zayden Sinclair, I’ll eat a hat if he tells me to. Can’t go too wrong with being in a billionaire’s good graces. I don’t know what is going on between the two of you but–”
“Nothing is going on between the two of us,” I said quickly. “And nothing is, or ever will, go on between you and me either, Rick. So just go home, and for your own good, stop taking instructions from strangers just because they happen to be influential people.”
Like I had any room to talk.
He looked hurt, and my anger was definitely misplaced at him, but I didn’t care. Giving him permission to talk to me! What was Zayden trying to pull? There did not need to be such a huge show, and he didn’t have to make Rick come all the way here just to prove a point. A small part of me couldn’t help but be happy, though. Clearly, he must have been regretting the situation and he was trying to change it.
“Okay, then, I’ll get going,” Rick said with a pained expression.
“I am sorry, Rick. I didn’t mean to offend you, but seriously, there is nothing between us. I am telling you so you don’t get your hopes up, I would hate to lead you on. Nobody deserves that.”
He probably did deserve it for what he did to me.
“Well, I am going to back off then.” As he walked away, I heard him mumble, “What a damn waste of my time.”
When he was gone, my phone rang and I immediately knew who it was.
“Come into my office,” Zayden said and hung up without even letting me answer.
I went without having any idea of what to expect, trying to calm the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. What’s the worst that could happen? He had, after all, just made the effort to show me that he was capable of making some changes. But did he really have to call Rick here and make a whole scene of it? No matter how excited I was, I couldn’t help my temper.
“Why did you call him here?” I snapped as soon as I walked into his office.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Wasn’t it obvious? I gave him the permission to talk to you!”
“Who do you think you are, God? You can just swing people around like puppets and tell them what they can or can’t do? If you were trying to make the point that you are not going to be controlling anymore, the best way to do it would not have been by controlling another human being and giving them ‘permission,’ as though you owned the rights to their life.”
Upon hearing that, his eyes got red with what seemed to be anger. “What the fuck do you even want from me, Aria? I just ended a very long and complicated relationship with my ex-wife, something for which I will have to face more consequences than you can imagine. And I let that guy talk to you. Why isn’t any of this shit enough?”
“Oh, the sad consequences of not having a beautiful blonde woman as a trophy wife. I feel your pain,” I said and immediately regretted it. I
was being bitchy for no reason, while he was making the effort. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean–”
“You have no idea what I will have to endure for ending that relationship.”
“Tell me, then. Give me an idea,” I spoke more softly. “What was the whole deal behind you and your wife?”
“My mother thinks that Gina is an angel who descended from heaven. She almost tried to kill herself because of our divorce, and I have been forced to try couples counseling ever since. She then invited her to come live in my home, making more threats about taking her own life. I didn’t have a choice in any of this, but I don’t expect you to understand. You have already made up your mind that I am a lying scumbag–”
“I don’t think you’re a scumbag!” I exclaimed, cutting him off. “I did think you were lying to me. I had no idea… about your mom… you never talked about her.”
“Well, she isn’t exactly my favorite topic of conversation.”
“I am sorry, Zayden,” I said his name properly for the first time in a while, and the effect on him was visible. His tense face lightened up considerably, and his muscles relaxed. “If I had known about your mother, I wouldn’t have been so harsh… you have to understand what it looked like to me… like you had been lying all along.”
“You didn’t think to give me the benefit of the doubt even for a second, did you? Even though I had never lied to you. Hell, I had convinced myself somehow that you thought I was a halfway decent human being, which was a refreshing change.” He started to look angry again, as though the full implications of my reaction were finally starting to sink in.