Chapter Six

It's been over an hour without any sign of Mark. I am slowly losing my patience. Even though I am so used to him abandoning me because of work, it fires me up every time. I decide to ask for the bill. Due to previous experience, I am pretty sure Mark will not be returning any time soon, maybe not even at all. Thank goodness I brought my wallet. What an asshole! I think to myself. What kind of man just walks out and leaves his fiance in a restaurant without any explanation, text or phone call?

I signal our waitress and ask for the bill.

"No main course tonight, ma'am?" The black headed waitress asks. I try to hide any annoyed or angry facial expressions and force my lips to form a smile.

"That will be all for tonight. Thank you so much. The starters were lovely." I lie again. I do not want to be rude. I watch as she takes away the untouched plate of shrimp salad sitting across the table with a confused look. Please don't ask any questions! I think to myself.  How embarrassing. While waiting for the waitress to bring the card machine, I look around the room again. I can feel everyone staring at me with intense judgement. Why am I so insecure.

After paying the bill, I head to the lobby. In an attempt to find out where Mark is, I decided to ask the receptionist if he saw Mark leave or head back up to the penthouse.

"Good Evening." I say as I am approaching the front desk.

"Good Evening, Madam. How may I assist you?" The gentleman standing at the front desk reception asks. He is dressed in a yellow suit. I am not sure I like the colour. Especially not for a suit. I am probably wasting my time. I don't know if he even knows who Mark is or what he looks like but I am pretty sure he is the same guy who talked to Mark this morning when we checked in. It's worth a try.

"I was wondering if you by any chance saw my fiance, Mark Johnson. He walked out of the restaurant more than an hour ago to take a phone call and he didn't return." I ask, irrelevantly pointing my finger to the restaurant. Leah, you need to think before you do stuff! I think, scolding myself while in the action. Of course this man knows exactly where the restaurant is.

To my surprise he did see Mark and knew exactly who he was, of course.

"Mr. Johnson asked me to arrange a driver for him." He says calmly. Interesting.

"Can you tell me where he went?" I ask.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson did not share that information with me." He says. Very interesting. "He only asked me to arrange the vehicle for him Miss..."

"Conner." I say. "Thank you for your help."

I let out a little cuckle while turning around and I head towards the stairs. This is so typical. I laugh because it's so funny how I just accepted this behaviour as the new normal. I guess the joke is on me.

I try calling Mark but it goes straight to voicemail so I leave a voice message. "Mark, where are you? Call me the moment you get this!" After sending the voice message I stand in front of the stairs for a few seconds just staring down at my phone. I take a deep breath. 1...2...3... I need to count to 10. I let out the last deep breath. You know what? Screw this! It might be the wine talking but I am not going to worry about where Mark is anymore. I am going back to the penthouse, take a warm, relaxing bath with lots of bubbles and go straight to bed afterwards. It was a long day and I do not need this bullshit to make my day feel any longer. I slowly start climbing the stairs. It takes me roughly 3 minutes to get to the penthouse which of course is on the top floor. I would take the elevator but I kind of have a phobia for elevators. I haven't been in an elevator since I was 13 years old and I am not planning on going in one any time soon.

As I open the doors to the penthouse, I can feel the exhaustion kicking in. Between flying for 11hours, the meeting, dinner with Mark and not actually having dinner Mark, this has been one hell of a rough day. I run myself a bath and put on some music which always makes me relax. As I am soaking my troubles away in what seem to be more bubble bath than water, I can't help but think about the moment I climbed into Logans car.

***

I have no choice. I do not feel like walking back to the hotel even though it is only a few blocks away. It took Logan awhile to convince me but I finally agreed to get into the car. He is very persuasive. I guess he is only trying to be nice. I would have done the same if the roles were reversed. I would have giving him a ride too.

He runs to the passenger side and opens the black door for me. Oh, so he is a gentleman as well, I think to myself.

As soon as I get into the passenger seat I notice a red bra hanging on the dashboard. I feel a little embarrassed but not surprised at all. I knew it from the moment I saw him. I knew he was a ladies man. I don't think he noticed the bra on the dashboard. He closes the door and walks around to the driver's side. What do I do with it? Should I just leave it there? I ask myself. He opens the door and the moment he gets into the car his facial expression makes it clear that he didn't see the bra. I think this is the first time I see him blush. He looks extremely embarrassed and his actions confirms it. Within seconds he grabs the bra from the dashboard and in one motion throws it to the backseat. "I am so sorry you had to see that." He says, not knowing where to look. This is so amusing! I am struggling to keep myself from laughing.

"It's okay. Really." I say quickly, not really knowing what else to say. Without saying another word, he puts the key into the ignition and start the car.

We had a very quiet and awkward ride. I am so thankful the hotel is only a few blocks from the theater. The car ride still felt like it was never-ending. "Well, this is me." I say when we finally arrive at the hotel, breaking the silence. A wave of relief rushes over me. I attempt to open the car door when Logan quickly says, "No, let me." He gets out of the car and walks to the passenger side. I could feel my face burning up again and I silently scold myself for allowing it to happen. He may be a playboy, but he is such a gentleman. He opens the door and I get out of the car. "Thank you for not letting me walk." I say while giving him a quick and shy smile.

"Anytime. I look forward to seeing you again at our next meeting." He says. Here comes the redness again. I really need to control my emotions.

"Me too." I blurt out. I don't know why I said that. I give him another smile and head towards the entrance of the lobby. "Hey!" I hear him scream. I turn around and he is still standing next to the car with his arm resting on the open car door. "Have a nice night, crazy girl." I can't help but smile. Get it together Leah! "I am not crazy." I say and I can see him smirking. I turn around and head into the lobby.