Once we had everything in place, I explained that I had found my future wife.
“Wow. You get your eyes fixed, and now you find the one. Are you sure you’re not doing this because your eyesight has improved or that she isn’t doing it now that you can see well?”
“I met her the day before the Lasik. She was the one I hit on the expressway. I thought she was amazing then. I wanted to do things to her I haven’t done in over ten years.”
“So you’re lusting after her. Just fuck her and move on. She is probably looking at dollar signs since you hit her car.”
“She isn’t like that. She just finished college and had a boyfriend until last night.”
“Yeah, when she thought she could do better with you, she ditched the other guy.”
“Stop being a bitch, Patricia. She is sweet, and she ditched the prick because he put his hands on her and sent her to the ER. If she wanted me so much, she would have called me when it happened and not waited until I found out from her boss that she fled back to her family in Chicago.”
“Sorry, Max. You know I am just looking out for you. We have been friends for what seems like forever. Tell me you kicked his ass.”
“Of course I did. That’s why we are having a conference call. I needed to get the blood off my clothes. Fucking pussy… he’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”
“I want to meet this sweet beauty.”
“Hey, hey, hey. No trying to steal her away from me.”
“I can’t make any promises, but you haven’t been with a woman yet that was worth even bothering to try and take.”
“Well, I was an idiot before. This one is special, and I am going after her.”
“Good luck!”
We hung up, and I ran down to the limo and made it to the airport to my private jet before the sun set.
I checked into the Fairmont Hotel—my favorite when I was in town. It was my fifth time in the city and hopefully the most important. The other times had been strictly for business; this was all personal.
Chapter 6—Alexandria
I woke to my mother playing with my hair. “Mom, it’s so good to see you. Please don’t cry. I will be fine.”
“My poor baby, I am sorry that this happened to you. Your father is on a rampage down there. Some of his buddies are ready to take a trip to Texas.”
“Oh no, they can’t. They could lose their jobs and go to jail!” I cried out.
“Oh, sweetheart, the men are just letting out their frustrations. They know they can’t go down there.”
I calmed down. It would be my fault if they did. I mean, I knew it was stupid to date a guy like Trevor. He had an overinflated ego and was a total ass most of the time. What I saw in him, I didn’t know. But like they said, hindsight was twenty/twenty. Sight; it made me think of Max. I needed to call him back to let him know I was safe; better yet, I should just text him. I pulled out my cell phone and sent the message.
Max, I am sorry to worry you and to leave without saying goodbye, but it’s for the best.
My mother helped me put some concealer on my face—not that my dad didn’t know what happened, but just so it wasn’t so noticeable. I never could understand why a woman could put up with an abusive man. It was just once, and I would never take him back. The humiliation alone was enough, not to mention the pain. I went downstairs reluctantly but was greeted with nothing but love.
Dinner was takeout for tonight since there were so many guests. It was delicious, and it was great that no one brought up the situation that brought me back to Chicago. After dinner, we all sat around and discussed what we could do for the summer. The whole time, all I could think about was not seeing Max again. It was eating at me, and I was sure everyone was thinking I was just miserable with what happened to me. My dad introduced me to some of the guys on his force, including a really cute rookie detective who couldn’t take his eyes off of me.
Officer Dean Baldwin was really sweet; we talked throughout the whole evening. If I hadn’t met Max, I think I could really be interested in him. He told me that at present, he wasn’t emotionally ready for a new relationship. His ex-girlfriend had dumped him because she couldn’t be the wife of a cop. Dean knew I wasn’t available emotionally either, but he didn’t know it was because of Max. They all assumed that Trevor had really done a number on me since I had been mostly quiet. Despite the shock of being attacked, nothing regarding Trevor bothered me anymore.
Everyone started to scatter, and Dean told me he would stop by before his shift tomorrow with my dad. I was looking forward to it. He was a nice guy and could be a really good friend. I went to bed wondering if it was possible to go back to Texas and back to my life that I’d been creating. I hadn’t gotten a response from Max, and I was anxious. Sleep seemed to elude me as I had thoughts as to why he didn’t respond. Perhaps he took my words as final. I wanted to cry, but I was normally not a crier, and I’d already done that now twice in less than twenty-four hours.