She gave him an address on the upper east side, a building he knew by reputation, the kind of address where the doormen wore gloves. He pulled out into the rain. For a few blocks, she was quiet, watching the city slide by. Then out of nowhere, she said, "He humiliated me tonight. Nathan kept his eyes on the road. " "Who did Adrien? " She said the name like it tasted bad.
Adrien Cole, my my fiance. She laughed again, but there was no humor in it now. The great Adrien Cole. You've probably read about him. Everyone's read about him.
Forbes did a profile. The man who never loses. She turned her head and looked out the window. He brought clients to dinner tonight. Important clients.
People I've been trying to bring into a deal for 8 months. My deal. Mr. Walker. My work, eight months of my life.
And I was in the middle of the pitch. I was three sentences from closing it. And he put his hand on my arm in front of all of them. And he smiled and he said, "Her voice caught. " He said, "Why don't you let the professionals handle this, sweetheart? " Nathan's hands tightened on the wheel and they laughed. She went on quieter now.
All of them. They laughed like it was funny, like I was funny. And Adrien laughed the loudest and he took the room for me. My room, my deal. And he closed it himself.
And afterward everyone shook his hand. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. And nobody, not one person, not one person at that table looked at me. It was like I disappeared, like I'd never been there at all. Where'd he go?
Nathan asked. After he left with the clients, drinks at some club. He didn't even She stopped, swallowed. He didn't even ask if I was coming. He just left me sitting there.
And you know the worst part? I sat there for an hour telling myself he'd come back, that he'd realize and he'd come back and he'd say he was sorry. She laughed and it broke apart in the middle. He didn't come back. Nobody came back.
So, I drank a bottle of wine and I looked at my phone and there wasn't a single name in it I could call. 400 people work for me. I know senators. I know movie stars. And there was not one human being on this earth I could call at midnight and say, "I'm not okay. " She turned and looked at him except a maintenance man whose number I only had because I signed off on his hire 3 years ago.