Chapter 92: WHEN THE STARS ARE OUT

TRISTAN

The interview ended after a ton of uncomfortable questions followed my admission to my careless handling of the scandal involving Laura and my company, five years ago.

She was even more furious than she was in the beginning, storming right out after the interviewees packed up and left.

I had hoped to talk to her after the interview, so I hopped right after her.

“Laura, wait up.”

“Just let me go, Tristan. And count me out of any more embarrassing interviews!”

“I didn’t expect the questions to be so heavy, myself!” Agitation coursed through me in waves as I tried to get her to slow down, or maybe catch up with her. But she was going too fast. Was she always that fast? Or was it the anger spiking her speed?

I wanted to reach out and grab her arm to get her to stop, but there were employees milling around and through the corridors. I couldn’t risk it…not because I cared what any one of them thought.

But because I cared about what Laura thought. I cared about how it would affect her and her image. I cared about her.

Wait a minute. Was I sure about that last part? Or was it just my sexual urges speaking again? I mean…these insane urges should have been gotten rid of after we fucked. But why did it seem like they only tripled since? Why did it feel like I wanted her all the time? To know how and what she’s doing…to see her face…to hear her voice.

It was like a fever that burned me in the dead of the night and soaked my sheets.

“Just hear me out for goodness’ sake,” I pleaded, my own voice sounding foreign to my ears.

If anyone told me I’d ever beg a woman to listen to me…to hear me out…to let me explain… I’d have told them to go to hell because it never would have been possible—until this one woman came along.

What was it about her?

What was it that made me chase her all the way to the parking lot, to where her car was parked?

She ignored me until her stiff-faced driver unlocked the backseat door for her while glaring at me, and she tried to get in. I caught the car door and stood in the gap, glaring down at her.

“Are you really going to keep being stubborn?”

“Step away from her, sir,” the driver got in my face, squaring his shoulders. “Or I’ll be forced to move you.”

“Enough, José,” Laura’s voice rang out in a stern warning. “Let me handle this.”

I glared at him until he backed away. Then I returned my gaze to Laura’s face.

Her expression remained stoic. “Stubborn is not a word that should be found in the vocabulary of business relationships, Mr. Pierce. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get to my other business for the day.”

“Listen, I didn’t know about the wedding.”

She tilted her head and observed me with curious interest. “But you’re getting married anyway, aren’t you?”

Agitation swirled in my insides like a troubled ocean. “Laura, this marriage is not what you think it—”

“You know,” she got in my face and her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m really a fool for letting myself want you again…for fucking you and letting you fuck me…for wanting to do it again. But I won’t. I’ve learnt my lesson. I hope you have a happy married life, Mr. Pierce. Just don’t have any nasty ideas of me, or us, anymore in your head.”

Having dumped her mind with a coldness that hits me like a whiplash, she turned on her heels, got into her car, and slammed the door shut.

I stood there, staring at the tinted glass, chest tight, wishing that the glass would just roll down and she’d stick her head through and hear the rest of what I have to say…about how much I really did not mean to hurt her.

The driver got into the car and ignited the engine, and I still stood there, watching the car roll away and screech against the floors.

A heavy feeling nagged at the back of my mind. Would I ever get it right with her?

Withered and exhausted to my bones, I left the office later than usual. Then I locked myself up in my room and played music all evening, trying to drown out the thoughts swirling around in my head…the voices judging and yelling at me for fumbling one person that mattered to me.

After 3-4 hours, music did not seem to have helped much. The thoughts of Laura and the images of her face still attacked me, the guilt still weighed heavily on my chest, the bleakness still hung over me like a heavy blanket.

Sometime towards 8pm, I went up to the rooftop with a bottle of cognac in hopes that the cool evening breeze would do some good to my troubled soul.

Thankfully, it was so calm and peaceful out here. The breeze was soft and gentle against my skin, as if it aimed to soothe my pain. The stars were out early, scattered across the sky like the pieces of my heart.

Heaving a deep sigh, I grabbed a mat by the corner and spread it out. Then I laid on my back and fixed my gaze on the stars. Their beauty managed to get Laura off my mind for a few moments, until it made me think about her again.

She was just like these tiny sparkly heavenly bodies. Maybe even one of them. Because she sparkled just like them, and she was a light to my bleak life.

The thought of losing that light and being thrown into darkness once again left me weak. Panic seized my being, and chugging down the cognac did not help anymore.

I needed to get out here.

The longer I stared at the stars, the more I was convinced.

I should go see her.

Because I just realized that henceforth…I would think of her whenever the stars are out.

So I chugged down the rest of the alcohol and rushed down to my room. I grabbed my car keys and threw on a winter jacket. I already passed by the mirror before I decided I should make sure that I looked good enough to win her heart and get her to hear me out.

I was taking a risk by trying to show up unannounced, because she had specifically warned me about it.

But I couldn’t help this urge to go see her.

So, while my mother and Madison were engrossed in sitcoms in the living room, I snuck out of the house to go see the woman who mattered more to me.