Chapter 89

DORIS

The sound of me wildly slinging hangers from one side of the bar to the other, scratched and scratched like nails screeching down a blackboard. The sound grated. Each sound felt like mini daggers, flaying my skin, ripping my heart.

I roughly pulled each of my new and old favorite dresses and blouses off the hangers and threw them as quickly as I could into the suitcases.

I kept sniffling as tears brimmed and filled my eyes. I blinked them back. I refused to cry.

This was the reason I never gave my heart to Arthur completely.

This is the reason I could never trust any man. They were liars. They were cheaters. When you least expected it, you would find out. And they would break your heart.

I slammed the first suitcase shut.

I hurried into the bathroom and threw all my make-up and toiletries into the other suitcase, cramming them next to my shoes, skirts, pants, and underwear.

“Men! Unbelievable!”

I looked around the bedroom. For a place I had spent so many wonderful hours over the last few weeks. I didn’t have a lot of things here. Just my clothing.

I took the suitcases and rolled them into the hallway, stopping at the door to Mia’s room.

Now I did cry. Hard, ugly sobs.

There was that big, adorable unicorn that I bought for the first day. Leaving Arthur wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. If he wanted Cathy instead of me, fine, that was his choice.

But leaving Mia… That was going to be impossible. How would I ever explain that?

I would have to find a way to see her. I still had my own apartment. I could pick Mia up after school and spend a few hours with her. I could have Mrs. Martinez bring her home to the penthouse every day in time for dinner.

I would never have to see Arthur again, that lying, cheating, gorgeous, ridiculous, wonderful, generous… Oh shit, I really do love him. God, I’m so screwed.

Then I thought about how Cathy and Arthur I’ve been so entwined, how passionate the kiss looked at Rockefeller Center earlier today. They seemed awfully familiar with each other.

I remembered how Cathy walked into the hospital, like she owned it, in a sexy dress and with a lot of hip sway.

Had Arthur and Cathy been dating all along?

I made a choking sound as my nose and throat filled with snot. No, please, God, no. That just made me feel like an idiot and I started crying harder.

I had to get out of here.

I grabbed my suitcases and slammed the door.

I raced down the hall, and I was almost to the elevator, but I stopped. If Arthur worked late, someone would have to look after Mia.

I made a quick call to Mrs. Martinez to make sure she would set up a monitor for Mia.

I raced the rest of the way to the elevator and pressed the elevator button over and over and over and over again. God forbid Arthur decided to stop home for some reason and caught me before I could leave. The last thing I needed right now was a confrontation. I looked like a mess, and I felt worse.

The elevator ride was only a few seconds, but it felt like I was plummeting into hell. This was 1000 times worse when I caught Bob, and I caught him actually having sex.

My entire face was red and swollen by the time the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Rolling a suitcase in each hand, I rushed through the lobby towards the front door.

“Whoa, whoa,” Jim, the lobby doorman receptionist said. “Hold up there. What’s going on?”

I just shook my head as tears continued to stream down my face. I was too upset to even talk.

Jim gently took my arm and led me behind the receptionist counter to a chair where the doorman could sit.

Jim crouched down, so he was closer to my eye level. His face was compassionate, and that just made me cry harder, and I started to hiccup.

I pointed to the door. “Ta-ta-taxi?” I gulped, trying to clear my throat enough to talk. I pointed out the glass doors again. “Taxi."

“A domestic spat with the mister, I take it?”

More like a domestic rift the size of an epic earthquake plus a tsunami but OK. I just nodded.

“How about we just take a minute.”

I shook my head.

“It can’t be that bad.”

I nodded. It definitely was that bad.

“If I had a dime for every time my wife wanted to leave me, I would have a skycraper full of dimes. If I had a year off my life for every time she wanted to kill me because I did something stupid, I probably would’ve been dead before I was born.”

I sniffed.

“It can’t be that bad. I think over the 30 years I’ve been married, my wife has run to her sister, her mother, or her sister-in-law 15 times, and we’re the happiest couple that I know!”

I laughed, but the tears kept coming.

“Now, I’ll call you a cab if you want, but why don’t you just calm down a second. You can tell me what’s going on. You can talk to me.”

I looked down at my shoes. I was suddenly so tired. All the crying and anger took so much out of me.

Jim pulled a water bottle from a small refrigerator under his desk. He cracked open the cap and handed it to me.

“I bet you packed your bags in such a hurry you don’t even know where you’re going. Do you have a place to stay?"

I hadn’t even thought beyond the fact of getting a taxi. I guess in the back of my mind, I figured I would go to my apartment. I mean, that was the reason I kept my apartment, but that’s the first place Arthur would look for me.

Bob always made excuses. He always had some reason why he was working late or some excuse to blame things on me.

I knew Arthur wasn’t Bob, but still, I wanted to be alone for a minute. I didn’t want to be somewhere where Arthur would come barging in with rationalizations.

I could go to Nina’s house, but surely Arthur would call and ask if I was there.

“I haven’t really thought about it, Jim. Can you recommend a hotel?"

“I have an idea. This building has a showroom model apartment. Because all of the units are currently sold, we won’t be showing the model apartment anytime soon. Why don’t I open it up for you, and you can go rest for a few hours.”

I had been so shocked, hurt, angry, and now I was so exhausted from my crying jag that it took me a minute to understand what he was saying.

“I bet you’ll feel better after a nap, a snack, and some time to calm down. Whatever your husband did, just give him time to realize how much he misses you, and he’ll come groveling back at your feet.”

I looked around me as if somehow I would be able to see the model apartment appear right in the lobby.

“And when you do go back to him how great will it feel for you to know that you were right under his nose, the whole time?”

I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. I reminded myself that I got sick the last time I pushed myself too hard.

“Besides, this way, you’ll save yourself the expense of a taxi ride, the money you would spend on a hotel, and the pain in the neck it would be dragging those suitcases around."

Jim gently took the water bottle out of my hand. He took one suitcase and looked at me.

I nodded. I was just too demoralized to put up any kind of fight. “OK.”

Jim put a sign on the front reception desk that said ‘Be back in five minutes’. We took the elevator to the first floor, and I followed him down the hallway.

Jim took out a key card like you see in hotels and swiped it on a reader to the side of the door he pushed open the door. He stepped to the side so I could walk through first.

I shouldn’t be surprised that the apartment was staged to look like something out of New York’s House and Gardens Beautiful magazine.

Everything was done in calming shades of beige, brown, and gold.

Jim wheeled my suitcase into the living room and left it next to the coffee table.

"The kitchen is even stocked with coffee and tea to make it look cozy when people come to take a look at the apartment. Make yourself a cup of tea."

Jim walked into the kitchen, and I followed him. He gestured it at the obviously everything-was-just-so-perfect set up.

“The bed even has sheets on it. Hell, the bathroom even has toilet paper, and the end tables by the sofa has tissues, in case you could start crying again."

At the mention of crying, I could feel my eyes well up with tears.

“Don’t, don’t, don’t. You know there’s nothing tough men like me hate more than a woman in tears. Just make your old man sweat it out, and he’ll come running back to you in no time, I’m sure of it."

Jim continued. “If you get hungry, just order something and have them leave it at the front desk. I'll bring it up to you.”

I looked around the gorgeously decked-out apartment. “You know, Jim, this is just what I need. Thank you so much."

“Don’t mention it, kid.”