“No,” Alicia said, the single syllable coming out even more angrily than she had intended. She took a deep breath and strove for a lighter tone. “He was one of those ‘actors lie for a living, therefore I can’t trust them’ people.”
Kathleen wrinkled her nose as she looked around the glittering crowd. “Ugh. That’s a drag. Well, now that I’ve rescued you, fair damsel, we’d better find some other dragons to talk to. Can’t risk getting in trouble for chatting like we’re at a cast party. These people paid for the privilege of hobnobbing with the players…”
“I know. Thanks again,” Alicia said.
“Any time, sweetie. You’d do it for me, I’m sure.” Kathleen’s eyes crinkled with humor, and Alicia realized she was still fingering her earring. “Careful, girl. You keep yanking on that thing and someone is going to think you need rescuing from me.”
“Right. The show must go on.” Alicia saluted Kathleen with her champagne glass before turning toward an elderly couple a few feet away. “Hello, I’m Alicia Johnson. I hope you enjoyed the show…”
Her mask of comedy was firmly back in place.
Chapter 2
“Colin, your…your former…Tressa is on the line.” Jeanette gave Colin a terse smile as he returned from lunch the next day.
Pinching the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger, he heaved a deep sigh. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell her to bugger off forever for me?”
Jeanette shot him a sarcastic look. “Colin, I may be your personal assistant, but that doesn’t mean I assist you in personal matters. And considering she’s Will Lloyd-Hudson’s daughter, it’s not fair to even ask me to get involved.”
Colin raised a hand, “It’s not fair of her to call at the office at all. But the woman is impossible.”
“That doesn’t make her my problem. You almost got engaged to her; you can tell her it’s over.”
“I have done,” Colin said as he went through to his office. “Repeatedly. She doesn’t listen.” The quiet Federal-style décor was intended to communicate a soothing and reassuring stability to clients and visitors, but Colin felt anything but soothed and reassured as he slid behind his massive mahogany desk.
Taking a deep breath before picking up the receiver, Colin went on the offensive immediately. “Tressa, I’ve told you, I have absolutely nothing to say to you anymore. And you have nothing to say to me that I would ever want to hear.”
“Colin, I thought we could get past this. I made a mistake. I admitted it.” Tressa at least did not waste any energy with denials or evasions this time. A lawyer’s daughter, she knew where to cut her adversarial losses.
“That’s right. You admitted to the one ‘mistake’ that I find unforgivable. Honesty is crucial to me, and sexual fidelity is paramount. Apparently, you don’t see things the same way. That’s what your father would call a ‘deal breaker.’”
“Colin, it’s been two months…”
“And in two years or two decades, I will still feel the same way.”
“But I am so incredibly sorry—”
“As I’ve heard before. I appreciate your apology, but it doesn’t change anything. And as someone recently said to me, when you apologize once, people remember the apology. When you apologize repeatedly, they remember what you had to apologize for. Not that I could forget in either case.” He swiveled in his chair, looked out the window. An uninspiring view of the generic office building on the other side of K Street.
“But—”
“No.” Colin squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You seem to think I’m going to change my mind. I am not. Once my trust is lost, it’s lost forever. I won’t be taking your calls again. Goodbye.”
He rang off, cradling the receiver softly. Where did that come from? Why had he remembered that woman’s—Alicia’s—words at that moment? Remembering her impish smile, her quickness, made him take a deep breath. Never mind. She was probably trouble. And he had hopefully just said his last goodbye to trouble.
Jeanette walked through the door he had left open, glancing at his credenza with the photos of his father, brother, and sister. She reached out a hand to move a photo to the still-empty spot where a picture of him and Tressa on holiday in the Bahamas had once sat. Colin looked at the photo of his family, the four of them in front of the Washington Monument, a souvenir from a visit the year before. Their smiles were warm and genuine. He did miss them.
“Your dad also called earlier,” Jeanette said.
“And what did Dr. St. Cyr have to say?” Colin sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“The usual. He wanted to know when you’re coming home. Tried to dig any inside information I might have out of me, in fact.”
“Dad’s not subtle,” Colin said. “And it appears he may never understand that I am home.” He’d made a new home here, one that was his own, free of the shadow of unmet expectation. “I’ll call Gemma tonight.” Maybe his sister could give him some insight on whatever new lever his father had decided to pressure him with.
Alicia shucked off her sweaty spandex capris and pulled on a pair of shorts in the dressing room of the barre studio. Sitting to tie her sneakers, she went through the rest of her plans for the day. The theater was dark on Monday, her one day off of the week. She didn’t mind the busy schedule. To be honest, she welcomed it.
In fact, having the entire day to fill wasn’t something she relished.
Yanking on her shoelaces, she stood up and riffled her fingers through her hair. Glancing in the mirror, she saw that it was sticking up in strange, sweaty tufts. “Ugh.” She moved to the sink to splash water on her face, running her wet hands through and over her hair to smooth it down.
“At least water works for you, not against you,” a voice said as Alicia patted her face with a
