Page 96 of Rich Girl
“Well…” Adeline hesitates. “She… She could be better.”
I get a weird pang in my chest at hearing that. Hayden looked heartbroken when she left here three weeks ago. I almost expected her to run back and beg me to let her stay. But she never did. Instead, she packed her bags and called for a service car to take her to the airport. I don’t even know how she got them to come this out of the way. I’m sure she paid a pretty penny for it. Then again, money is no object in her world.
“She is extremely depressed,” Adeline now tells me. “I finally got her to get out of bed and take a shower. And let me tell you, if she could’ve smelled her bedroom, she would’ve been horrified by how badly she stunk up the place. I had no idea a human could produce that odor. Her hair was dirty… Just a mess all around.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say when Cal taps me on the arm to speak. I guess I was taking too long. I didn’t expect to hear that of Hayden.
“We talked for the longest time,” Adeline explains. “She told me about how she found you on that app. And I understand she lied to you, but you have to know that she didn’t mean any harm by it.”
“I never said she did,” I argue. “That is not why I told her we wouldn’t work.”
Adeline hums in understanding. “It’s about the money.”
Her tone is direct and concise, leaving no room for doubt.
“I understand that you have money of your own, so why would you be bothered by her fortune?”
Just the fact that she uses words likefortunetells me that these people truly don’t understand how different our worlds are.
“Her having all that money is not the problem, Adeline.”
I sigh and lean back in my chair, starting to rock back and forth again.
“The problem is that I could never offer her the social life that she has there. Even if it was available in the small town I live, that is just not me,” I explain. “Yeah, I have a shitload of money. I don’t even need to work.”
Cal leans forward toward my desk, dropping his elbows on its surface, completely invested in what’s going on. I almost start laughing at the picture he makes.
“But I was working before I made my money. Throwing my business away because I didn’t need it anymore was never an option. My grandfather worked his butt off to make it successful and give people jobs. I would’ve been the scum of the earth to take it away from them.”
Silence is louder than words when I stop talking. I didn’t realize how passionate I was getting about it.
I’ve never met this woman who called me, but I can somehow picture her sitting perfectly in her chair and processing what I just told her. She most likely doesn’t understand it, which is fine. But it does hurt knowing that Hayden is in pain because of me, and I can’t do anything to ease it for her.
“Let me ask you one question, Ray Parker.”
I smile at the way she speaks. It reminds me of Hayden. It also makes me miss her a thousand times more.
“Do you love Hayden?”
That’s easy.
“I love her so much, I am working myself to death here so I don’t think about her. I pray every night that I’ll just fall asleep when I close my eyes so that I can see her in my dreams.”
By the time I stop talking, I am breathing heavy. I am so worked up, I want to punch a hole in the wall. Cal is staring at me like he’s never seen me before in his life.
“That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard, Ray,” Adeline’s soft voice floats over the line. For some reason, it only serves to aggravate me more.
“That’s great, Adeline. It’s very helpful. Can I just go back to my fucked-up life now?”
Adeline’s small giggle further solidifies the fact that me and Hayden do not belong in each other’s worlds.
“I’m sorry for laughing,” she apologizes. “It was uncalled for. But you really sounded as cute as Hayden had made you up to be.”
Cal leans back in his chair and bites into her fist in an attempt to stop himself from howling.Cute, he mouths at me.
“Is there a reason for your call?” I snap at her.
“There actually is.” She is all business now. “I am getting married this weekend.”
