What Now?

Hailey

I let my guard down. He was a professional and technically one of my bosses, I assumed. “I’m good. How are you?” I extended my hand.

He grinned, taking my hand in his before bringing the back of it to his lips for a too-long kiss. “Better now, thanks to you. I’m Marty, by the way. It’s very nice to meet you.” His friendly smile turned into one of pure lechery, making my skin crawl.

“Good to meet you, Marty,” I said, ignoring his attempt to flatter me while pulling my hand back.

“What brings a gorgeous woman like you here today? It isn’t often we are blessed with a woman of your beauty.”

I politely laughed at his attempt to flirt while taking a step back. “I was just here for a meeting with Mr. Maddox.”

“Oh, how’d that go?” he asked, the smile still in place, but his eyes began to wander.

“It didn’t. He isn’t in.” I did my best to remain friendly, but his roving eyes were starting to piss me off.

“Oh, that’s too bad. I have some free time. I can get us a couple of coffees, and we can have a meeting.” He winked.

And just like that, I realized he was nothing more than the average snake. His fancy suit couldn’t hide who and what he really was. “No thanks,” I mumbled.

“Oh, come on now. You just said your meeting was canceled, which means you have a minute.” 

“I do. However, I’d rather not spend it here.” I turned on my heel and headed toward the elevator.

The man seemed nice enough at first, and he was attractive, but he was not the man for me. He wanted me because of what I looked like. He didn’t know me at all and could care less about who I was beyond the looks. I had learned at a very young age, men like him wanted one thing from me. I refused to give it. It had become my life’s mission to guard it from them. Mandy was the only one who knew how serious I was about holding on to what I felt was my most precious commodity—my virginity.

I wasn’t going to give it to a man who only saw me for what I looked like on the outside. I was much more than a pretty face, no matter how cliché that sounded. I wanted to share that one part of me with someone special. So many people knew my face and even my body, but no one knew that part of me. When I did meet a man I felt was worthy, it would be my gift to him, assuming the fact I was a twenty-eight-year-old virgin didn’t scare him away. I had never started out with the goal of being a virgin this long, but as more time passed and I dated more men, it just became a thing.

I was feeling defeated and a lot stressed as I left the building. I was going to go crazy waiting another twenty-four hours to find out why the CEO of the company wanted to meet me. I had nothing pressing to do to keep my mind off the stupid meeting. My schedule was cleared in case the meeting had gone bad, and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to work.

I found myself wandering into a coffee shop, grabbing a healthy dose of caffeine before heading back to the city street to do some window shopping. I saw a pretty doll at a vintage store and bought it. I wanted to give it to Melissa. I couldn’t walk in there and give it to her, but I knew she had a birthday coming up. I often bought gifts for the kids at the orphanage for their birthday. This doll reminded me of her in so many ways.

Mandy called a short time later.

“Well, are you fired? Promoted? What happened?” 

I sighed. “Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.”

“What do you mean? Did they just want to say hi or what?”

“He wasn’t there. I guess he got called away at the last minute. I go back tomorrow morning, same time. Until then, I know nothing.”

She groaned. “The suspense is killing me.”

“You and me both. I wish he or they or whoever thinks this meeting is so important would at least give me a heads up about what it has to do with.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It does seem unprofessional.” 

“It sucks,” I pouted.

“So, what are you doing with your day off?”

I laughed. “Window shopping.”

“Oh, are you already spending that money you’re going to be making when they give you a big fat raise for being the best damn model they’ve ever had?”

“I could only hope.”

“I have to get back to work, but I wanted to check on you. Don’t dwell on it too much. Treat yourself to a day of rest and relaxation. You deserve it.”

“Thanks. I think I’m going to grab my bike and go for a long ride in the hills.”

“Be careful, and take your pepper spray,” she warned.

“I will.”

We hung up, and I made my way back to my apartment. It had been a while since I’d been able to go on a long bike ride. It would be cathartic and help keep my mind off whatever it was Mr. CEO had in store for me. Plus, the extra exercise couldn’t hurt. I always wore big sunglasses that shielded my face and usually made me fairly unrecognizable.

An hour later, I was changed into some of my promotional exercise gear and headed up to one of the many trails that surrounded the city of Los Angeles. The company loved it when I wore their stuff in public. It was actually in my contract that I had to make official appearances in their gear, but today was a freebie. I personally liked their merchandise and was happy to wear the pretty stretch pants.

I set off, loving the feeling of the sun and the breeze washing over me. This was exactly what I needed to forget about the meeting.