Chapter 7 Confession

Grayson's point of view:

She would not stop yelling at me in the elevator.

She showed a screenshot of me and her walking into her apartment on her phone.

We got to our floor, and she is still screaming at me.

"Come inside" I snarled at her as people started coming out of their rooms to see what the commotion was. She was reluctant, standing there with her arms folded in front of her.

"Come inside and I will explain everything." I said as I pulled her into the room.

"Sit" I told her forcefully. As mad as she was at me, she listened. I barely sat down before she started berating me again.

"Were you stalking me? You saw my interview tape and practically hired me immediately. Was this because I looked like your dead wife? Did you follow me to the bar that night? I was drunk and scared and you took advantage of that." tears were forming in her eyes as the spoke.

"Stop talking and listen." I told her.

I began from the beginning.

"When I saw your interview tape, yes, I immediately saw the resemblance. I honestly thought about denying your application due to this. But I hired you because you were the right person for the position. I was upstairs in the private room of Crown Bar as it was the one year anniversary of my wife and sons death. I did not want to be alone on this day, so I decided to invite some friends and family to a drink. I was on the balcony when I saw you in line at the bar getting harassed. I was going to come down to help but you handled yourself and I saw you heading back to your table alone. I went back to the table to enjoy a few more drinks and try to drown out what this day meant to me now. I had drunk far too much and decided it was time to go home. I called my driver to pick me up. As I was getting into the car, I saw you leaving. Shortly after I saw that guy leave behind you. I had my driver follow you as I didn't trust that guy. At this point, you know the rest of the story.”

She sat there silently, staring at me.

She finally spoke. "You were drunk too?" she said.

"I tell you all of this and this is your first question?" I laughed inwardly. "I did not go up to your apartment to have sex with you. I wanted to make sure you were safe. You asked me to stay, you kissed me, you jumped on top of me. If you think about it, you took advantage of me." She seemed shocked by my statement.

Tessa's point of view:

Thinking back on that night, he was right. I asked him to stay, I kissed him, and I jumped on top of him and pinned him on the couch. We were both drunk and both going through our own struggles that day. I finally had time to collect my thoughts and asked,

"Why did you sleep with me that night?"

He sighed and answered, "I don't know if it was because you reminded me of my wife, but I instantly felt drawn to you and that night you did a very good job convincing me to stay.”

I felt somewhat pleased with his explanation, but one question remained.

"We were both drunk, but I had never met you before. However, you knew who I was beforehand. Why did you pretend like nothing happened and that you didn't know me?”

He put his head down and said, "because I was ashamed.”

I felt like I had been stabbed in the heart. Was it that shameful to have had a one night stand with me? Was it that bad? Is that why he was so rude to me? I felt so hurt and knew I wouldn't be able to control my emotions, so I went to get up and leave. Before I could get up, he grabbed my arm to stop me.

"I was not ashamed of you. I was ashamed of myself." He looked at me with sincerity in his eyes. He tugged my arm to tell me to sit back down.

"I was ashamed that the first woman I slept with was on the anniversary of the day I lost my wife. I was ashamed that I chose a woman that looked like her. Most importantly, I was ashamed that I enjoyed it."

He undoubtedly had a way to make me have a loss for words.

As I sat there silently, he got up and said "We need to get up early to catch our flight. It has been a long day. Let's talk more tomorrow." He walked me to the door, opened it and said "Goodnight Ms. Jones.”

"Goodnight Mr., Foster." I said as I walked out.

I was no longer angry and honestly, felt a sense of relief. We were leaving to go back home in the morning so I packed up. This whole trip was physically and emotionally draining. I could not help but wonder how things will be like at work now. Was he still going to be standoffish and rude to me? Will anything happen between us in the future? My face blushed just thinking about it. I guess only time will tell.