Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Still, I walked out with stiff steps, feeling like my crappy world was crumbling even more. The hot summer air filled my lungs, and for a moment, I thought that it might suffocate me. Gasping, I tightened my grip on my purse and slowly walked down the sidewalk. People hurried by, bumped into me, barely saw me. I felt like an insect.
A powerless insect that was going to be crushed. When had my life spiraled out of control? When had I stopped being able to make my own choices?
I wandered around the city aimlessly for a little while before finally heading home. I reached for the doorknob, but my neighbor, an older black man with a badly scarred face and a walker, stuck his head out the door. “Baby girl? Why don’t you come over and keep me company for a little while? I haven’t seen you in forever.”
Hesitating, I paused. I knew what he did for a living. The shady, shaky, and sometimes violent people going in and out of his apartment day and night were testament of that, and while I liked talking to him in the hall, I didn’t want to be in his home. Didn’t want to be noticed by any of his customers.
But then, the loud moaning inside my father’s apartment finally reached my ears, and I stepped back. “Yeah. Thanks,” I whispered.
“Don’t worry, baby girl. I won’t let nothing happen to you.” He understood my hesitation. “So your father got himself a new girlfriend?”
“She’s moving in.” I walked into his apartment, and gingerly sat down on his torn green couch while trying not to inhale too deeply. Johnson slammed the door shut and glared at the grunts and moans that were coming from my place. “And I’m moving out.”
“Good for you. You moving in with that nice boyfriend of yours?”
I wanted to tell him the truth. I didn’t love lying, but still had my pride. Admitting that my boyfriend didn’t want me to live with him and my father didn’t care was something that I couldn’t do, even to an old drug dealer who couldn’t remember my name to save his life. “With a friend,” I said finally. “Moving in with a friend.”
“That’s nice girl. Was starting to think that you didn’t have any friends. You never bring them around, although I can see why.”
“My father doesn’t like to be bothered.” Not exactly a lie, but Johnson wasn’t wrong. I didn’t have any friends.
All I had was a father who hated me, a boyfriend who didn’t love me, and a bunch of neighbors who were generally too stoned to care.
The banging on the wall grew louder, and I tried to drown it out. “So,” I said desperately. “How are things going with you?”
Chapter Four
Brick
Glancing at the front page of the social section of the newspaper, I cringed. The media’s obsession with my love life was getting tedious. I’d attended a charity dinner alone last night, and the salivating hyenas were already speculating. They hadn’t seen me with a woman on my arm in a month. Was I nursing a broken heart? Was my reputation as a ladies man finally affecting my love life? Were the women of Manhattan scorning me?
Was I gay?
“Fucking ridiculous,” I muttered to myself. There’d been no date because I’d planned to use the dinner to talk business, and didn’t want any distractions. Women lined up for me when it came to social dates, and most of them understood my needs, but these informal meetings were not something that I wanted to share with them. I’d been conducting them for a month, but clearly, the tactic wasn’t working.
I was getting more attention than ever.
So, I made a mental note to make sure that there was a date at my next function. I’d have Julia go through my contacts and pick someone suitable.
The devil herself cleared her throat as she stared at me. “The news could be worse,” she pointed out. “Being boring is far better than a scandal at this point.”
“Perhaps, but it’s out of the norm, and with the deal that I have cooking, I don’t want there to be any speculation about me. Make sure that I have dates for the next few events,” I said and pushed the newspaper aside. “And leak something about the donation that I made during the charity.”
“Already done. Your next event is a birthday party for the CEO of Salinger Incorporated in a little over a week. He’s turning fifty. I’ll make sure that you have a date.”
“Good.”
“Also, I made a few adjustment to the intern schedule,” Julia informed me as she tapped on her tablet. “And no, it’s not because I think the Johnson girl is too hot to work with you. She has an aptitude for graphic design, and she’s wasted on this floor. Everything else looks good. I’m going home for the weekend now. See you on Monday.”