25 ONE-SIDED
Ethan had intended to spend the entire night with Madison, but he suddenly remembered the phone call from Maya a few hours before.
He went downstairs, informed Evelyn that he was going out, and left the house.
Maya was staying at a five–star hotel in the city. “Oh, Mr. Dawson. You’re finally here. Ms. Maya has been waiting for you all afternoon.” Her assistant said when she met him at the lobby. They both got into the elevator.
“What’s wrong with her? Why did she call me so many times?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Dawson, but I’m unsure. I’ve been preoccupied with other tasks to know exactly what’s happening with her. Please speak to her directly.”
They both got out of the elevator and headed to Maya’s room. Ethan gave a quick knock before he opened the door. Immediately, he entered, his eyes landing on Maya.
She was on the bed dressed in a silky black lingerie. Her rosy skin seemed to glow in the warm light. If one were to peer closely, one could make out the silhouette of what lay underneath the silky fabric.
Immediately she saw Ethan, she hopped off the bed and ran into his arms, pressing her body into his.
Ethan was momentarily stunned but immediately shoved her away. “What is the meaning of this? What’s going on?”
“Ethan, what are you saying? Why did you push me away?”
“Why? You kept calling me non–stop, and I was worried something had happened to you; instead, you called me for this. To seduce me?”
“Seduce you? Ethan, don’t you love me anymore?” Maya said, her voice cracking.
“Love you? Maya, I have told you countless times that I am uninterested in you. I do not love Now, please put on some clothes; this is ridiculous.”
you.
“This is ridiculous,” Maya said, tears brimming in her eyes, “you’re saying the exact opposite of what you’ve been doing all these years. I was your plus–one to every event for so many years. You chose me to accompany you when you could have picked anyone else!”
“I thought you understood that it was business and nothing more.”
“So why did you give me this priceless diamond necklace?! Why did you treat me like I meant something to you? Why did you fucking lead me on Ethan?” Maya yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Lead you on?” Ethan sighed and combed his fingers aggressively through his hair, trying to calm himself down.” you know fully well that I’m married, and I already told you why you’re my plus–one for social events. It’s unsuitable for my wife to attend such events, so I needed someone else to act as
buy plus–one.
Married?” Maya scoffed bitterly.
“Ethan, you treated your wife like some ghost. You went around with me, letting her imaginations wild, and you didn’t even care. I was waiting for your divorce, and I was finally happy she took a big step and stood up to you.
“Keep Madison out of this,” Ethan growled.
“You’re the one who brought her into it. Let me save you all the trouble since you think I’m nothing but a doll you can carry to impress people. I’m calling off whatever agreement we had. Go find someone else.”
“I guess I’ll have to,” Ethan said and was about to walk away when Maya said,
“I do pray your divorce is successful so you can be all alone like you deserve.”
Ethan turned around to glare at Maya, who, despite her cheeks flushed and eyes puffy, had a satisfied grin on her face.
Ethan opened the door and stepped outside but bumped into Maya’s assistant.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Dawson. But are you leaving already?”
“Yes, I have other things to do.”
The assistant was surprised that Ethan was leaving so soon.
“Oh, but you can’t leave. Didn’t Ms. Maya tell you about her stalker.”
“Stalker?” Ethan was surprised about what the assistant had said. Maya had never mentioned a stalker to him.
“Yes,” Maya said. She was standing at the doorway with a robe on. “I can feel as though someone is following me wherever I go. Sometimes, I can hear someone knocking on my door. I haven’t been able to sleep well lately because of this.”
Ethan caught sight of the dark eye bags underneath her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Ethan said. He was already getting frustrated with all of Maya’s problems. It was one thing to the next.
“Would you have cared? Like you said, I’m nothing but a puppet.‘
11
“Maya, you know that’s different. I care about your safety.”
“There you go again,” Maya said, “giving me false hope.”
“I can care about you as a friend, Maya. It’s not false hope.”
“I don’t care. I told you our deal is off, which means my life doesn’t concern you, so you should leave
and run home to sweet Madison.”
25 ONE–SIDED
“Stop being immature, and let’s talk about this inside the room.”
Ethan and her assistant were seated on the couch while Maya lay on her bed, staring at the chandelier.
“Have you offended anyone recently?” Ethan asked.
. Maya chuckled and replied. “is that supposed to be a rhetorical question? Me breathing alone is an
offense to some people.”
“Maya, you know what I’m talking about. Maybe someone important.”
It took a moment before she replied, “I don’t think so.”
Suddenly, her assistant said, “Could it be Ms. Brooks? She threatened us the last time we met.”
Ethan’s expression darkened at the mention of Madison’s name. “How did you threaten you?”
Maya did not reply, but her assistant immediately continued, “Mr. Dawson, the last time we saw Ms. Brooks, she told Ms. Maya that she should leave you. If she didn’t, she would ruin her reputation and get fired from the company.”
Ethan shook his head, not believing what he had heard.” No. I don’t believe Madison would have done something like that.”
“Why do you think so, Mr. Dawson?”
“Because I know my wife. She wouldn’t even hurt a fly talk less of threatening someone.”
Maya stared at Ethan like he was some alien. She would have never believed that he would be taking
Madison’s side.
Ethan was never happy with Madison, and at the beginning, he seemed pleased with the divorce, so why was he changing his mind now?
“The quiet ones are the ones to be wary of.” Maya finally said.
Ethan grew even more annoyed at her statement. “If you called me here today just to slander my wife. I think you should stop now.”
“Wife? You sure are using that word while you can for someone who is getting a divorce soon.”
He furrowed his brows and spoke. “Look..”
Suddenly, he heard a scuffling noise from outside the door.
Having spent so many years in the spotlight, he instinctively knew that there was a reporter or a paparazzi on the other side of the door, so he leaped to his feet.
To his surprise, the door was slightly ajar, even though he clearly remembered closing the door when
he entered.
Once the person knew he had been discovered, he quickly took off, but Ethan was fast. He flung the door open and caught sight of someone darting down the hallway with a camera.
25 ONE–SIDED
He sprinted toward the person running away and, with long, straightforward strides, caught up to the person and pinned him against the wall. A crack and a painful groan followed.
“Who the hell are you?” Ethan asked sharply.
