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“Mmm, hmm,” he said “Look at me, Maddie”
Listless, I pushed myself up and turned to face him
“I’lad you’re okay I’ll take some time to consider this news and let you know my decision Goodbye”
With that, he turned and began to walk out of the bedroom
Goodbye?
A wave of horror and disbelief broke overainst the door jamb, I yelled, “Goodbye?! Decision about what, Grey?”
Without turning back to face me, he continued to walk down the hall towards the front door
“Grey!” I screamed “Come back! Please!”
The pace of his stride never altered As he passed by a stunned Katy, her eyes traced his movements like a wary h it into the hallway
“Grey!” I cried out “Grey!”
GREY
You’d think that having more money than you need or ever hope to spend in your lifetioddamn freedom you need to enjoy it while you’re alive Yet here I sat, at thirty-eight thousand feet in the air, winging lobe indeal
Funny thing is, I didn’t use to think of the-the-flesh interactions Hell, I lived for it After all, business is the ultimate for loved everything about it So I always took the responsibility that came with it in stride, despite the inconvenience
Were they tedious? Yeah
Unnecessary? Alot the exact saotiated over the phone
But ? No No Not that
For as long as I could ree transaction, well, not much else came close to pure pleasure inI wanted to do right now
Half a bottle of vodka gone, I waved off ht attendant, Melanie, as she offered me some water
“Ice,” I grunted “And a goddalass”
Melanie sed hard as she took the crystal from the table in front of me The snarl in my tone reflected in her hands, which trembled as she attempted to steady the tray
With a slow blink and a deep exhale, I sed and said, “I’m um, sorry Sorry about that Melanie, sweetheart”
A nervous smile flickered at the corner of herelse Mr Sinclair?”
I shook lass and some ice, please Thank you”
Melanie turned and walked away, disappearing froalley at the front of the aircraft Resting ether and pinched my lips between them
I stared in her direction, looking at nothing
The sound of ice cubes dancing inside a glass broke ht for ainto view, I noticed the tray contained a full ice bucket and four clean rocks glasses She placed it down on the table without comment I allowed her to do so without observation
After she finished, she nodded at me
“Anything else Mr Sinclair?”
I shook ht now”
She turned to walk back to the front
A few seconds later, she’d vanished again Grabbing the vodka bottle, I tilted it upward The liquid gurgled into the glass, splashing out in randoles of the cubes I placed the bottle back down on the table with a single thulass to my mouth
The alcohol no longer burned as I gulped it down Numbness took its place
Finally
I poured another And another I lasses in five minutes
With each one, the heat from the booze hit me later and later until at last I reached the point I wanted, needed Nothingness I wrapped ed one more back with two hard ss
The alcohol coursed throughmy muscles
My h…
Melanie had a boy Lucas I think his name was That sounds shitty doesn’t it? Why wouldn’t I know the name of the wo life with his mother? It wasn’t intentional I just never paid
I never cared for row up, really After randfather’s care It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the man or what he did, but a boy without a father is like a ship without a captain Rudderless, adrift and ready to run aground at any minute
I beached oddamn remember
I exhaled as the effects of the vodka kicked in, at last
I’d even h She seereat mother Frankly, she never spoke much about him, but I suppose that’s because I never asked IShe probably figured it wasn’t appropriate Man, if I could get a hundred Melanies working for me, what a pleasure my life would be
Fucking Maddie
What the hell was she thinking? I thinned my lips as I looked out sht sky A hard s forced its way down oddamn irresponsible Months she’d kept this from me!