The suspense was killing her. She thought the meeting was going to be over soon without having to revisit that night. But who was she kidding, it was the very reason why she was sitting in that oversized luxurious office in the first place.
“Okay … let’s just cut to the chase … let’s just get rid of the elephant in the room once and for all,” she got it out of her chest.
Gabriel sat back on his chair, crossed his leg over to the other, he seemed relaxed. “Do you know there are 5 women in Lancaster named Margot Simmins?”
A question she didn’t need to answer.
“Well … I do … because I’ve checked each and every one of them and none of them were you.” He took a deep breath, “That wasn’t very nice of you to lie to me like that.”
“To be fair … you knew it was just a one time thing, we were not supposed to meet again after that,” she was defensive.
“And yet … here we are … and no … I didn’t know it was supposed to be a one time thing, you seduced me into having sex with you in that God awful motel room and left me with 200 dollar bill like I was some kind of prostitute,” his tone was surprisingly flat.
“I don’t remember trying that hard to get you into that room, I did ask you if you were up for it and you agreed,” she wasn’t taking the blame.
“A gentleman does not refuse a beautiful woman’s offer of sex especially when she was clearly at the height of her mating season … it would be rude,” he said.
Her jaw dropped, “You did not just say that? How dare you?”
“Tell me, Ms. Knox, how many times have you done something like that after our lovely night at the Inn?” he was being judgemental.
“None!” she was getting stirred up a bit.
“And how many times have you done something like that before our meeting?”
She kept her mouth shut, she didn’t want to ruin the opportunity over one fateful night.
He pierced at her, “Exactly … I’m sure it’s a regular thing you do and quite understandable … it is your biological need that occurs every month that needs to be … tended … I was simply there to attend your needs and for that I was paid 200 dollars.”
Given the fact of who he was, she understood why he was severely offended. She pinched the bridge of her nose, “The money was not to pay for the sex, I was splitting the bill for the room and whatever amount you paid for at the coffee shop.”
“You could’ve just asked me from the beginning if I was willing to have sex with you because the urge was too much for you to bear, instead of going to all that trouble making conversations and dragged me around the city just to get me to have sex with you … that’s a bit manipulative of you, don’t you think?”
He was being rude without being rude and she was rendered speechless. She wanted to burst out her anger but what he said wasn’t entirely inaccurate, “It was a one night stand, please don’t act like you’ve never had one before because …” she raised both her hands to show her surroundings.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Look at this office, and …” she pointed her hand his way, “Look at you … clearly you have done something similar to that more than dozens of times in your life … because …”
He kept watching her calmly and she couldn’t find the words to finish her sentence.
“Are you accusing me of something, Ms. Knox? Just because you had the best sex you’ve ever had in your life, it doesn’t mean my sexual experiences was formed from a series of one-night-stands … trust me … I’m very conventional when it comes to women, that’s why I offered to take you home but you declined.”
Her mouth gaped open, she couldn’t believe her ears. “Don’t flatter yourself … okay? It was good … it wasn’t the best sex I ever had in my life,” she was in denial.
He curved a wicked smile, “You didn’t have to say it … it was obvious.”
She took a deep breath and held it in for a moment, she cleared her head, calmed herself down. This was a man she had to think twice before spitting her guts without a filter like she usually does. This was why she hated rich people, they were so full of themselves. “Look … Richard … Gabriel … clearly what happened had left you sour and surely it was a misunderstanding because I had the impression it was consensual and we both enjoyed it … can we at least agree on that?”
He paused for a split second, “Yes, we can.”
She let out a sigh of relief, “Good … now that we’ve agreed on that, can we put it behind us and consider it as a very valuable lesson to be learned? Because believe me when I say this … I will never have another one of those nights again … ever … unless we can put it behind us, I don’t think I can go through with our agreement, Mr. Love.”
“Oh I think it’s too late for that, Ms. Knox, you are legally bound by law after you signed that contract,” he pointed to the folder on the table. “You have agreed to work for me … don’t worry, it’ll be fun,” he said.
“But yes, you are right, we are professionals here … we should be able to put it behind us, consider it done … all I ask of you is … since we are legally bound by work now … there will be no more lies between us … I hate it when people lie to me and given our past experience, I need your word that there will be no more lies,” his eyes darkened, he was dead serious.
She swallowed hard, “Of course.”
What could she possibly lie to him about, she thought.
He tilted one side of his lips and extended his hand, “Very well … looking forward to a wonderful teamwork with you for the year ahead, Ms. Knox.”
She shook his hand, “Jamie … please call me Jamie.”
He smiled, “Jamie … by the way … it’s about that time again, isn’t it? For your biological urge to kick in again? Would you like me to attend to your needs this time?”
She raised her brows. If she hadn’t heard it with her own ears, she would never believe that he had asked her that question. “You’re joking, right?”
But he wasn’t, he was totally casual about it. “Not at all, I’m just saying, if you ever need my assistance in that area, please don’t hesitate to ask … now that we know each other, it would be more appropriate than looking for a random stranger on the streets.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, she pulled away her hand and hesitantly said, “Okay.” She left the room feeling weirder than when she came.
Gabriel Love was an extremely strange guy, there must be something awfully wrong with him.