Chapter3: Slightly Ajar

Maddison’s POV

The voice was the same one from inside. It was deep and rich, with a calm power that broke right through her thoughts and even though she composed herself, a shock of worry went through her, she turned and saw the man in the dark suit coming from the doorway, as he stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight.

He moved quietly and surely, his broad shoulders filling out the pricey suit well and his face, now that she saw it quite well in the light, serious and interesting. He possessed a rugged jaw, and dark gray eyes that seemed to scrutinize her, and this was both smart and somewhat daunting. He was the party guy, the one who talked about business transactions of a large magnitude while other people ordered coffee.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you," he said, and his eyes didn't leave hers. It was like he wasn't staring at her, but studying her, as if he was trying to see how much she could handle. "Some things, regretfully, must be done in haste. I was in the building, and I couldn't help but overhear your speech, and I must say that was good…very good. The honesty is the best policy thing was very astute.”

Maddison clenched her fingers around her phone tighter until her knuckles hurt. "Thank you." She tried to figure out who he was, and for her, he didn't seem like a professor or one of the wealthy donors that she knew, and certainly not one of her friends' parents; he was clearly a wealthy businessman who was clearly in the wrong place at a college party.

"You have a unique mind, Ms. Carter," he continued, and then he took another extremely slow and careful step closer. He moved with a silent confidence. "Your brain works in a very logical, very orderly way, something that is very rare, and you can picture where things are going to go wrong before they ever happen. I saw that in your big school project, and I saw it today in your presentation." Then he continued, "It's like everybody else can see a bridge but you're seeing the little tiny details that make the bridge exist."

A shiver and an unpleasant feeling crept down her spine because even when he was praising her, it didn't feel the same, as if he could penetrate through her. "You've read my paper?"

A faint smile skimmed the edge of his mouth. "Your research about how tiny cracks form in long-lasting materials was great. You described how things start to weaken and break down where everyone thinks they are strongest; that's a good concept for buildings, and for life too."

She was shocked to discover him talking about her work. It was not just a polite compliment, he had taken the trouble to find out things about her which was extremely flattering, but which was also rather unsettling at the same time.

"I take it upon myself to find new talent," he told her, answering the unspoken question. "My name is Grant Harrison."

The name rang a bell; Grant Harrison, of Harrison Enterprises. The man was a big time player in the construction world. His company had built so many buildings that it had changed the face of entire cities and his face was featured in all the big time magazines, along with stories of billion dollar deals. What in the world was he doing here, talking about her school paper?

"I… It's good to see you, Mr. Harrison," she continued, but the words tasted awkward on her tongue.

"The pleasure is all mine." His sharp eyes flashed directly into hers. For an instant, she glimpsed something in them, not just a look of judgment but a flash of something like hunger like he was starving for something from her, and it vanished before she could even analyze it. "I wasn't here by accident Maddison, I came here today just for you." He dipped into his suit jacket and retrieved a business card and it was thick heavy paper, white with simple black print, and handed it over to her. "I think you are capable of something more than the ordinary job that you are probably thinking of. I can provide you with a different kind of life and the opportunity to do things on a much greater scale."

The offer was bold and cryptic, and it lingered between them. *A completely different life.* They rang in her head continually, and for one thrilling second, she let herself believe it, she saw a world of glass-walled offices, of projects so enormous that they would reshape a city, and of hurdles that were as enormous as her dreams. It was a world so different from the stable, everyday career she had taken for granted.

Abruptly, her memory of the empty red seat at her graduation hall came rushing back to mind, and the stabs of sorrow were real. Tyler. Her future, devotion and heart were his but this man, this formidable stranger was bricking her up.

She set her chin, and her doubt gave way to a feeling of audacious courage.

"Appreciate the offer, Mr. Harrison, but I won't take it," she asserted. Her tone was unbreakable, each syllable another brick in a wall she was building around herself. She refused to take a step forward to receive the card he was offering her. "I already have a life and am very content with it. My boyfriend and I have our future planned."

The words were a shield and it was a promise of loyalty she made for him as much as for herself. She was Maddison Carter, Tyler Cook's girlfriend, and that was her whole world.

Grant Harrison's face did not alter in the slightest but it seemed as though his eyes could see through the wall she had tried to build. He did not look angry or even shocked. He just held out the card for another long moment, and his calm was intimidating, yet when it was clear she was not going to take it, he slowly pulled back his hand.

"Loyalty is a wonderful thing, Ms. Carter," he said to her. His voice was deep but it was extremely final-sounding. "Just see that you're giving it to someone who'll value it."

And then he nodded to her briefly, and then he turned and headed back towards the party, where he shortly disappeared into the crowds of people and music.

Maddison remained still but his words reverberated inside her, like the last blow that had struck, and then rage surged through her body. How did he dare? How could he assume to understand anything of her existence, of Tyler, or of their love?

She spun around with a rapid, wrathful movement and took a few steps back, her heels anchored in the grass as fury moved her forward. Her path took her past a high, decorative trash can near the edge of the lawn, and at that point, on the spotless green grass next to it, she saw Grant Harrison's business card which was white standing out against the grass. He hadn't put it back in his pocket and it seemed as if he had just dropped it.

Seething and still very proud, she stopped. She bent stiffly and picked up the heavy, nice-looking card. She didn't read the words, but felt its weight, and noticed the shining, fancy edges. After this Maddison held it between her thumb and finger like a piece of trash, and then quickly flipped it into the bin with a flick of her wrist.

A hollow, strange sense of gratification overcame her because she had come to a decision, and she had stood firm on her beliefs and her allegiance.

She made an adjustment, smoothed out her dress, and then looked back toward the party one last time but through the tall glass of the oak doors, she could see him. Grant Harrison stood just inside, staring straight at her and hadn't moved. And again, he did not appear mad and he did not even seem to be disappointed, but his face instead had an expression that she could not comprehend at first. It was a look of deep, almost sorrowful understanding, as if he felt sorry for her, and in that moment, a small voice at the back of her mind warned her she might have just thrown away something so much more important than a piece of paper.

She raised her shoulders, her rail-thin graduation gown the only thing standing between her and harm, so she was thinking that she needed to speak with him and demand some answers from him. Loyalty; that was why she'd reject the billionaire and his stare, and all her loyalty was meant for one man named Tyler.

***

She finally made it to the edge of the campus and stood under the gigantic stone archway when the world outside seemed unforgiving and cruel, then she turned over her hand, and a yellow cab rushed to her to pull over for her.

The cab's interior smelled of stale smoke and air freshener. Maddison gave Tyler's address to the driver, and her own voice was dull. The ride in the yellow cab through town was a blur of city lights and an increasingly tight knot in her gut. When the cab finally arrived at the three-story brick building she knew so well, she gave the fare to the driver with trembling hands and pushed open the heavy front door. Her heels clattered harshly on the floor as she ascended the stairs, her heart racing in her chest with every flight.

When she came to his floor, she took the final few steps to his door, 3B. She took deep breaths, bracing herself for a confrontation, for crying, for an explanation. She curled her hand into a fist to knock on the wood, but she never got the chance to. The door was already slightly open.

And from the sliver of darkness, a sound drifted out that stopped her heart. It wasn't the TV, and it wasn't Tyler's voice. It was a woman's laugh; light, soft, and intimately at home.