Page 158 of Chandelier Enthralled
She’d hurt me, too, betrayed me terribly, but right now I didn’t need to drive that home, didn’t need to blame her for my own inadequacy.
I wanted to change the subject. “How did you meet Hugo?”
She looked surprised. “Oh, at The Box in New York. It’s a club.”
“I’m not that old, I know The Box.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.”
She looked sheepish. “Eight years older than me.”
I gave a nod. “You hit it off right away with Hugo?”
“I had secretly crushed on him from afar. He had this thing about him, like he had stepped straight out of the nineteenth century. He has this Byron-esque vibe, always immersed in poetry and music, strumming his guitar. In many ways, I’d met my match. Or thought I had.”
“Sounds like you had fun.”
“At first, everything was great. We were happy, or at least I thought we were. But I had money, and he didn’t, which made him feel vulnerable at times. I didn’t mind, but it bothered him. Looking back, it may have affected his self-esteem more than I realized.”
“Because he cheated on you?”
“I wanted to make him happy. Make him feel welcome. He moved into my penthouse. But slowly he came to resent my privilege. Like I had control over it.”
“It can be intimidating to some.”
“It was like he secretly loathed it and yet he stayed.”
“Did you feel used?”
“I didn’t think of it like that.” She let out a sigh. “He called what I did for him charity.”
“Sounds like he was immature.”
“Cameron says his behavior was narcissistic.”
“I remember you saying so. What did Hugo do to deserve that label?”
“He made everything about him. Even on my birthday. I’d plan something special, but he would find a way to turn the attention back to his needs, his mood. Show up late, or sulk over something trivial, just enough to ruin the vibe. If I was happy, he would feel ignored, so he would disrupt it. My joy never felt as important as his.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I was at a restaurant having lunch with Hugo. It was spontaneous. I’d told him I was going to join him at the last minute. He had no time to text her, you see, to warn her, because we were together. I noticed this woman on the other side of the restaurant window staring at him. We were sitting inside, and she was sitting at an outside table. Hugo went all coy and kept watching her. I caught them flirting. He acted nonchalant, but my gut told me something was up. Later, I recognized her from his social media accounts. It was obvious they knew each other. So, why act like they didn’t?”
“Your intuition kicked in.”
“Cameron says our minds take everything in. And sometimes, our brains hold information back. We don’t see it. Not until our mind is in a more relaxed state and we can replay it in a safer state.”
“Makes sense.”
“Hugo’s lover was posting images of herself from the same location as him. I knew he was there, only they never posted pictures together.”
“How do you know for sure, that he was cheating?”
Willa cringed. “He was dating me, a wannabe investigative reporter.”
“Yet another mistake.” I smiled to lessen the intensity of the painful moment.
