Throb(46)
Sitting around the boardroom table, I vaguely hear the voices of each department head drone on with their project updates. My mind is somewhere else. A vision of Kate beneath me fills my head, her smiling up at me, eyes shining with emotion. But then just as quickly as it came, the vision is gone, replaced by him singing to her. She looks up at him with the same emotion in her eyes.
I thought not seeing it on the screen would save me from another day of picturing her in his arms. Damn, was I wrong. My brain has gotten more creative, deciding to play a scene for me to watch, even though it has no idea what really is on the video.
I make no effort to participate in the meeting. It’s a waste of my time and that of a dozen other high-priced people on my payroll. “Thank you for coming. See you next week,” I mutter, standing abruptly, and walk out of the room, leaving faces full of confusion in my wake.
Irritated with myself for my lack of focus, I decide to feed my obsession, even though I know it’s a bad idea. I walk into my office and head straight for my laptop. Helen follows me in, looking concerned. “Is everything okay? It’s only eleven and your meeting usually goes until at least one.”
“It’s fine. I cut it early. I have some pressing things I need to take care of today.” Yeah, like stalking.
I open the jewel case and slip in the DVD just as Helen begins to walk back to her desk. “Do you have Miles’s show schedule for today?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me when they’re shooting?”
“Sure.” She heads to her computer and comes back a minute later with a printout. “He’s shooting a commercial up at the rental house.” She looks at her watch. “It’s scheduled to start right about now.”
My jacket is on before she finishes the sentence. “Reschedule my afternoon meetings.”
“Really?” The surprise in her voice matches her face. I don’t go off schedule.
“Push them until tomorrow. I may not be back this afternoon,” I yell back over my shoulder, already halfway out the door.
My foot leans on the accelerator harder as my anxiety builds. The needle on the speedometer ratchets up to eighty, although I don’t even notice. My hands grip the wheel tightly as I weave in and out of traffic.
Her beat-up blue Jeep is parked in the circular driveway, jammed in with twenty other cars. I catch my reflection in the window—jaw tight, eyes set with determination, mouth in a taut line. The same way I look when a deal I’ve been salivating over for months is about to go south. I take a deep cleansing breath before walking inside.
“How’s it going today, Joel?” The director turns, surprised to see me again.
“Cooper. Twice in as many weeks. You must have a big investment in the show.” You could say that. And it has nothing to do with the one-point-two I loaned my brother.
“What are you shooting now?”
“Some footage for commercials. We’re going one woman at a time. Still waiting for the first one to come out of makeup. This one’s a bit of a prima donna.”
“Which one?”
“Name’s Jessica.”
“What’s the scene?”
“A kiss. Rough life this Flynn has. Has to kiss five beautiful women today.”
“Where’s Miles?”
“Last I saw him, he was giving one of the women a lecture on what her kiss should look like.”
I pass by the makeup and wardrobe room. Jessica’s in a chair, a team of frayed-looking assistants primping and priming as she berates them. I stop a stagehand walking down the hall. “Kate?”
“Bathroom, I think,” he says, pointing in the direction he just came from.
I knock gently on the door. Her voice hits me like a ton of bricks. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
I wait, eyes anxiously patrolling the empty halls. Finally the doorknob begins to turn and I see Kate before she sees me. I guide her back into the bathroom and close the door quickly, successfully avoiding being caught by anyone.
“Cooper!” Her eyes go wide. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you.”
“Here? What’s the matter?”
“Why did you let me win?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Cards. Why did you let me win?”
“You know why.”
“No, tell me.” I move in closer.
“I wanted to be with you.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m here. You knew I had to come back.”
“Have you slept with him?”
“Did you seriously just come here and push me into a bathroom to ask me that?”
“Answer the question.”
“No.”