Chapter 7: The Cold War

Alexander's POV

The surveillance footage plays on repeat on my laptop screen…

 Elena pacing her room at two in the morning, back and forth like a caged animal.

She can't sleep and honestly I don't care, 

What irritates me is that she's making everything more complicated than it needs to be.

I pour another scotch, my third tonight, lean back in my leather chair and watch her finally sit on the edge of her bed.

Her head in her hands, she looks small on that screen, defeated, good, maybe she'll finally learn her place.

My phone buzzes…..

I check the calendar notification, back to back meetings tomorrow starting at seven, conference call with London at noon.

Then the charity gala next week with Elena.

We'll smile for cameras, play the perfect couple, pretend we don't hate each other.

I dial my assistant James, he answers on the second ring.

"Mr. Harrington?"

"Clear my schedule for tomorrow night, I'm having dinner with Simone, make a reservation somewhere upscale, somewhere the photographers will be."

James hesitates, "Sir, the press has been covering your social activities quite heavily lately, perhaps it would be better to maintain a lower profile."

"I pay you to manage my schedule, not my personal life…..make the reservation James."

"Yes sir, I'll handle it immediately."

I hang up, drain my scotch, Elena's still sitting on her bed staring at nothing.

I close the laptop, I have actual work to do.

The next morning I'm in the office by six thirty.

My desk already covered in reports and contracts.

I spend three hours dismantling a competitor's merger attempt, ruthless work.

 The kind I'm good at, by ten I've already destroyed two companies and made the Harrington family another five million.

My COO David walks in, drops into the chair across from my desk.

 "Morning Alex, board meeting at three."

"Fine, what else?"

"Markets up, stock prices looking good," he flips through his tablet.

 "Oh and I saw that Marcus Rivera is expanding his education division, rumor is he's looking for partnerships with literacy foundations."

My jaw tightens, I keep my eyes on my computer screen.

 "Rivera can do whatever he wants, it doesn't concern me."

"Right, I just thought since your wife runs a literacy foundation."

"My wife's foundation is adequately funded, she doesn't need partnerships with my competitors."

David leaves and I sit there staring at nothing.

Marcus Rivera expanding into education, looking for literacy partnerships.

 it's too convenient, too targeted, he's circling Elena and she's too naive to see it.

At six I leave the office, drive home to change for dinner.

The house is quiet when I walk in.

I head upstairs and almost run into Elena in the hallway, she's dressed simply, heading toward Julian's room.

We stop, stand there, two strangers in a cold house.

"Going out?" she asks, her voice flat.

"Yes," I don't elaborate.

"With her?" she doesn't need to specify.

"Does it matter?" I counter.

"Not anymore," Elena says, there's something different in her voice, resignation maybe, or the beginning of not caring.

She looks at me like I'm a stranger, "Don't wait up."

"I never do," she replies, walking past me without looking back.

I watch her go, shake off whatever uncomfortable feeling that was, head to my room to change.

Dinner with Simone is at some new French place downtown, she's already there when I arrive, beautiful in a red dress, she kisses my cheek, her perfume expensive and cloying.

"Alexander, you look handsome as always."

We order wine, appetizers, she talks about her charity work, some gala she's planning, a trip to Paris.

I nod in the right places but my mind keeps drifting.

"Are you alright?" Simone touches my hand.

 "You seem distracted."

"Just work, sorry, you were talking about Paris?"

She launches into another story and I watch her lips move but barely hear the words. 

I'm thinking about Elena, about the way she looked at me like I was nothing, like she'd already moved on emotionally.

Photographers are waiting when we leave, cameras flashing, Simone's hand on my arm.

 I see the flashes, know tomorrow's headlines will be brutal for Elena, and I feel nothing, just the same emptiness.

I drop Simone at her apartment, she leans in expecting me to come up.

"Do you want to come in for a drink?"

"Not tonight, early morning tomorrow.

" I say, already pulling away.

The drive home is quiet, I pull into the driveway at midnight.

The house is dark except for one light in Julian's room.

Inside I pour another scotch, pull up the surveillance feed.

 Elena is in Julian's room, curled up in his small bed with our son tucked against her…..reading him a story even though he's clearly asleep, her voice soft and gentle, the way she never talks to me.

I watch this tender moment through a camera and feel something tighten in my chest….something I immediately dismiss as indigestion, too much rich food probably.

I drain my scotch, pour another, sit alone surrounded by wealth and power and silence…..try to remember the last time I felt anything but this hollow emptiness, can't recall a single moment.

My phone buzzes, an alert from Elena's tracking app, she's scheduled a lunch meeting tomorrow at a restaurant downtown.

I click for details, the reservation name makes my jaw clench.

Marcus Rivera.

She's meeting him again, directly defying me, making a fool of me, showing Manhattan that she doesn't respect her husband's authority.

I stare at the alert, and instead of rage or jealousy I feel something colder, something calculated.

A determination to make Elena regret every moment she's spent thinking she can defy me.

I pick up my phone, dial James, "I need you to send flowers to my wife, roses, two dozen, the most expensive ones you can find."

"Sir? It's midnight."

"Then find a florist who's open.

 I don't care what it costs, I want them delivered tomorrow at one pm to the restaurant on Fifth and Twenty Third, including a card that says To my devoted wife….with all my love, Alexander."

"Of course sir, I'll handle it."

"I want confirmation by eight am that it's arranged."

"Yes sir."

I hang up, smile coldly at nothing, let her have her lunch with Rivera, let her think she's getting away with something….I'll remind her exactly who she belongs to, exactly who controls her life.

Tomorrow Elena will learn that defiance has consequences, that every small rebellion will be met with a reminder of the cage she lives in.

I check the surveillance feed one more time, Elena's still in Julian's room, still holding our son, still looking peaceful in a way she never does around me.

I close the app, head upstairs to my empty bedroom, lay in bed staring at the ceiling……tell myself the tightness in my chest is satisfaction, nothing more.