Chapter 77 The taste of rejection
CHAPTER 77: The taste of rejection
Natalie
The vintage Merlot tasted like ash against my tongue. I sat on the high stools at my kitchen island staring at the takeout dishes that lined the counter top. I had no appetite, and had barely managed a bite, opting to swallow intermittent mouthfuls of wine that didn't appeal to me either.
Gale watched me from across the marble countertop, her eyes far too perceptive for my comfort.
“You know sulking and not having your dinner is not going to change a thing, Nat,” she said, swirling her glass. “It's not going to make those pesky women disappear.”
By pesky women, she meant Claudia, and Vera.
“I’m not sulking, Gale. I’m thinking,” I snapped.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Says the one who called me on the brink of a meltdown—”
My gaze cut to her sharply. She backed off with a light chuckle, her hands raised.
“Alright, fine,” she back-pedaled. “Still, you’re thinking about how the man you’ve always been a part of his life, and protected since college just chose a contract over you.”
I knocked back the rest of the drink and poured a fresh glass.
I scoffed. “It sounds too emotional when you say it like that.”
She set down her glass and leaned forward. “I hate to say I told you so, but I did warn you.”
I swirled the wine in my glass. “About what?”
“Who else? Silas. I told you that you two casually fucking each other wouldn't stop him from being a Rutherford.”
I didn't have any friends beside Gale. Technically, she was my cousin. And she was the only one who I ever told most things about me.
“We’ve been through everything together, Gale,” I said, my voice tight. “Even after my divorce… his loss of Simone. I’ve been his only constant for years. This isn't about history. It's about his focus. He’s losing it.”
“Is he?” Gale let out a dry laugh. “Or are you the one that's losing yours out of jealousy?”
“What are you talking about?” I snapped, defensively.
“Admit it. You’re terrified that his plain new wife is actually getting under his skin.”
“I am not jealous,” I lied, my eyes darting to my phone screen for the tenth time.
No missed calls.
No texts.
No apology for the way he had pushed me away in the office like I was a stranger. I had never been treated that way by any man before, not even him…until today.
I may be lying to everyone, but I knew the truth within myself. I was possessive towards Silas. It had always been nothing but pure friendship between us. But somewhere along the line, the lines had blurred… for me…for us.
We had fallen into a physical relationship that we had agreed would remain explicitly that, but I couldn't help that now I wanted so much more out of it.
I wanted him all to myself.
Never did I think or believe that anything more could ever arise between him and his contract wife. I believed nothing would change between us. That was miscalculation on my part.
Maybe I should have accepted his proposal when he offered?
But I was afraid of being bound to any man after my last ugly experience with marriage. Then, I wasn't willing to walk down that road with any man again, not even him.
Now I was beginning to second-guess my decision.
“He didn't call,” Gale noted, her voice softening.
“He’s busy,” I muttered, making excuses for him, though I didn't even believe it. I gulped the remaining wine at a go, slamming the glass on the marble surface with a sharp clack. “I hate her.”
She leaned closer. “Who? I mean which of them?”
“I truly, deeply hate Vera. She’s a nobody. But I have no idea what Silas sees in her.” I chuckled bitterly. “Did you know she's already spreading her legs for him?” My words were beginning to slur a bit.
Gale’s eyes widened. “What a slut!”
I snickered. “Oh, come on,” I dragged my fingers through my damp hair. “They are married afterall.”
“It means nothing, Nat,” she sneered. “You deserve him more. That tramp is going to dismantle everything you’ve built with him.”
“I won't allow it. I’ve worked too hard, and invested a lot to have her sink everything.”
“Then do something about it,” she urged. “That girl has nothing on you. She’s a commoner who got lucky. You need to put her, and that bratty sister of his in their place.”
Of course I wasn't going to leave Claudia out.
The chime of the doorbell interrupted us. Gale checked her watch.
“I hate to leave you like this, but that’s my ride.” She stood up and reached for my hand across the table. “Think about what I said, Nat. Don't let her win.”
That was never going to happen.
I stood up and hugged her, then walked her to the door.
Once she was gone, the silence of the apartment felt suffocating. I was about to head back to the kitchen when another knock came, sharper this time.
My heart leaped.
Silas?
Had he realized how cold he’d been and was personally here to mend things?
I smoothed my silk robe and hurried to the door, pulling it open with a breathy expectation, only to find my neighbor’s son standing there.
My smile died.
Leo, my neighbor’s son, was barely twenty-three. He was in his second year in college and it wasn’t hard to recognise that eager, boyish crush he’d been nursing since he moved in.
He was good-looking, with a lean build and grey eyes that had been trailing me through the hallways for months. I had rejected his clumsy advances more times than I could count, but tonight, he looked at me with an adoration that felt like a balm to my bruised ego.
“Hey, I saw your light. And, I wanted to see if you needed help with anything? Maybe the sink is acting up again?”
I was more than a decade older than he was, but it didn’t seem to stop him.
“The sink is fine, Leo,” I said, my voice flat, almost about to slam the door in his face.
“Right. Of course.” He shifted on his feet, looking disappointed. “I just... I wanted to see you. I’ll go,” he turned to leave.
I looked at his youthful, eager face and then thought of the way Silas had gripped my wrists to keep me away. The humiliation fueled a sudden, dark impulse.
“Wait,” I said, my voice dropping into a sultry, dangerous register.
He stopped and quickly spun around with wide eyes.
“Come in,” I said, stepping away from the door and leaving it open for him. An invitation he immediately took and slammed the door shut behind him.
“I think I do need your help with something… more pressing,” I husked in a sultry voice.
He swallowed heavily.
Silas’s face flashed through my mind… cold… distant.
I reached for the belt of my silk robe and pulled it loose, letting the black fabric slide slowly down my shoulders to pool on the floor. I was left in my tiny lacy lingerie.
“Tell me something, Leo,” I whispered, stepping into his space, so close until I could see the pulse jumping erratically in his neck. “Could you ever pick any woman over me? Could any girl compare to what you see right now?”
The boy looked like he had stopped breathing. “Never,” he choked out. “You’re... you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Natalie. I’ve always dreamed about this.”
A triumphant, bitter smile touched my lips. I turned and walked back into the living room, my steps slow and measured, swaying my hips as I stripped away the last of my silk until I was completely bare.
I reclined onto the velvet couch, my legs intentionally spread wide apart and my gaze pinning him to the spot.
“Strip,” I ordered, watching his hands tremble as they reached for his shirt. “Everything. Now.”