The Billionaire's Weekend Bride (11 page)

The Final Chapter

Sonia's head was thumping when she opened her eyes. Her eyelids felt heavy and she was feeling groggy. It was as if she'd just slept a for a million years on an uncomfortable bed on a ship in the middle of a storm.

She'd lost all track of reality and didn't even know what day it was. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the sun pouring in from her window. She figured out she had woken on the same day but wasn't sure.

Blinking several times, as if she could blink the heaviness of her eyes away, the events of the morning came flooding back.

Sonia dragged her head off the pillow and rested on her elbow and tried to focus on the room around her. All that crying had made her a wreck and she dreaded looking in a mirror. Then the panic set in as the events from earlier that day came flooding back to her, playing out like a disaster movie in real time and in glorious Technicolor. She cringed.

Slowly, she forced herself to sit up when she remembered that she had decided to face Damian today, to set the record straight and to walk away with her head held high. But a niggle in the back of her mind asked if she should really be doing this after all that had happened?

She wondered if he'd already washed his hands of her and was sorry to have met her. After all, she was, she felt, partially to blame for the mess they'd found themselves in.

With her eyes feeling sore and her head feeling like it had been used for a drum, she pulled herself out of bed and went to find Bibi. She was in her room working on some designs for a new lingerie range.

“You look like hell, Sonia,” Bibi said looking up when she saw Sonia standing in the doorway.

“Well, thanks a lot.” Sonia let out a huge yawn and rubbed her eyes. “Actually, I feel like hell.”

“At least you slept long,” said Bibi. “Feeling any better?”

“Not really. What time is it anyway?”

“A little after four.”

“A little after
four
? I didn't realize it was so late. Why didn't you wake me? Damian might already have gone.” She rushed to the bathroom to splash water on her face. Rushing to her bedroom, Sonia pulled on a t-shirt and jeans. She found her sneakers in the living room and sat to lace them up. Bibi followed her around the apartment while she got ready.

“I'm sorry,” Bibi said. “I was working and lost track of time. Besides, I came in one time and you were so peaceful I couldn't wake you.”

“Damn it, Bibi you should have.” Sonia looked in the mirror and tried to fix her hair. She was beginning to look like herself again. “Sorry to snap at you but I really need to get this out of the way if I'm ever going to move on.”

“Okay, then, let's get over to the hotel. Shouldn't we call ahead first, make sure he hasn't left?”

Sonia was already out the front door. “No time for that. The hotel isn't far, we might just make it.”

Out on the street, they hailed a taxi which sped them off to the hotel. All the time, the girls held hands and Sonia shook with anticipation.

“What will you say to him?” Bibi asked.

“I don't know yet. But I want to clear the air. Then I can erase the whole thing from my memory.” She glanced out the window and sighed. “There's one other thing, Bibi.”

“And what's that?”

“I'm returning the quarter of a million dollars to Damian's account.”

“You're what?” Bibi squeezed the hand she was holding.

“I don't want it,” Sonia said in a quiet voice. “Every time I go to spend any of it it'll be a constant reminder of him, Bibi. How can I move on if I keep it?”

“But, honey, don't you think you're owed that money after all you've been through?”

“No. It's money for lying and I don't want it. It's like I'm selling myself and I don't want that on my conscience.”

“I understand.” Bibi patted Sonia's hand.

The taxi pulled up outside the hotel and the girls rushed up to reception.

“I'd like to see Damian Hedley,” Sonia said, out of breath and flustered.

“I'm sorry,” said the man at the desk. “Mr. Hedley checked out about half an hour ago. In fact less than that, about fifteen minutes.”

“You're kidding me?” Sonia gasped.

“I'm afraid not. I'm sorry.”

“And he went straight to the airport?”

“I believe so.” The phone rang and the clerk excused himself to answer it.

“Well I guess that's that,” said Sonia, whose shoulders had slumped. “It's too late. I can't believe it.”

“Can't you call him?” Bibi said.

“No. We don't have each other's cells.”

“Oh Sonia, I'm sorry. But, I'm sure we can look him up on line and you could write to him in DC.”

“It's no use. It just wasn't meant to be. Let's just go – get something to eat. Or drink. I'm buying. It was a ridiculous idea to come here in the first place. Sorry I wasted your time, Bee.”

“Don't be. You wanted closure and at least we tried.” While she was still speaking, Bibi noticed that her friend had frozen to the spot. “Sonia? What is it?”

Sonia's eyes were opened wide and she was staring straight ahead. Her eyes had locked on a well-dressed woman just at the entrance to the bar.

“Penny?” Sonia had locked her gaze on Gloria Merriman. “You're the last person I expected to see here.”

They approached each other tentatively. “Well, what are
you
doing at Damian's hotel?” Sonia managed to say.

“This is one of our hotels. My husband came here to see Damian before he left.”

“You did?” asked Sonia. “Because that's exactly what I'm doing here. But I was too late.”

“Yes, he didn't leave here too long ago,” Mrs.  Merriman said.

“I don't get it. Why were you coming to see Damian? You had your meeting.”

Mrs. Merriman lowered her eyes. “It seems, after reconsidering everything that's happened with the company, Joseph and I decided Damian was the best person to do the deal with.”

Sonia looked from Bibi and then back to Mrs. Merriman. “But when I left the boardroom, Damian didn't come straight after me. I thought it was because he wanted to plead his case and seal the deal with you and your husband. I know what a smooth talker he is. I thought he stayed to secure all his months of hard work.”

“No,” said Mrs.  Merriman. “That's not what happened, not exactly. He stayed to tell us he was the best person to take on the hotels, all right, but he wasn't about to do a deal with us after what we …”

“After that shit you pulled earlier?” Bibi said, crossing her arms.

“It must have been humiliating for you, my dear,” Mrs.  Merriman went on with a look of total embarrassment on her face. “It wasn't my idea to handle it like that, but I was just as angry as Joseph to be taken for a fool by you both. But after Damian left and we got into the nitty gritty with the investor, we knew we were making a big mistake.

“Damian Hedley had the best business portfolio by far. And whether he's a single man or not, he was the one we should have trusted with the company. We dismissed the investor after hours of negotiations with the lawyer and came straight here. We had to find him and tell him we were wrong. And apologize, of course.”

“And by the look on your face he refused you didn't he?”

“He did. Once again,” she said. “At the office, after you'd gone, Damian did his best to try convince us that you were not a … well, you know. I must say I believed what he said was true in the end. He did all he could to defend your honor. No one can blame him for the decisions he made. I know he hired you and he wanted to take full responsibility for the deception, which of course he should. And believe me when I say I don't blame you for what happened, Penny.”

“Sonia. My name is Sonia and I have to go.”

The girls turned to leave.

“So, why did
you
want to see Damian, Sonia?” Mrs. Merriman called after her.

Sonia turned around. “I thought I owed him an explanation, but I changed my mind. I don't owe him or any of you anything. So I guess I don't know what I'm doing here.”

“It's strange, though,” Mrs.  Merriman went on.

“What is?”

“That once I knew you were a fake, I would have thought the real story behind you and Damian was that you'd both been dating for some time. You look so comfortable together and he lights up when you're next to him. You pulled off the newlywed couple so well, I would never have guessed it wasn't true. You seemed, I don't know, made for each other. Sonia, please accept my sincerest apology. It'll be hard, I know, for you to accept it at all. But I hope you do – in time. And I wish you all the very best in whatever you do.”

Sonia simply smiled. She didn't know how else to react to this woman who had put her through such an ordeal. Bibi shot Mrs. Merriman one of her famous filthy looks and hooked Sonia's arm, leading her back out to the street.

“Well, that's it I guess,” Sonia said.

“Not unless you want to do one of those dramatic scenes from the movies when the heroine goes running to the airport and stops the hero getting on his flight. And then everyone cheers when you get together.”

“That's only for movies and for happy ever afters,” Sonia said. “I think the way things have been left between us, there isn't going to be a happy ever after.”

“I'm sorry, Sonia.”

“Don't be. All of this started because I'm too impulsive. Taking the first job that comes my way without thinking it through. First it was the escort job. If I hadn't been in a rush to accept it, I would never have met Damian Hedley.”

“But if it hadn't been Damian, you still could have gotten mixed up with someone else's lies. That's what escorting is all about.”

“I guess that's true,” Sonia said. “But it was only because I met Damian I ended up being fired after one day. It's not exactly the kind of thing you want on your CV is it?”

“I guess, neither is prostitution.” Bibi bit her bottom lip but smiled through the awkwardness of the situation. “Sorry.”

“No, you're right.” They linked arms as they walked down the street. “I tell you what. If I never get an acting role, ever, in my life, I can say that this was the week in which I gave the performance of my life. Now let's go get a drink. Monday I'll return that quarter of a million and erase Damian Hedley from my life.”

As Bibi chatted on about what she would do with a quarter of a million dollars, all Sonia wondered about was how she was going to cope with not having Damian in her life anymore.

*

Sonia and Bibi walked into a trendy Manhattan restaurant and bar. It was expensive and though they'd always wanted to go there, they hadn't so far. But a treat was in order. Sonia needed cheering up – urgently. They ordered Cosmopolitans which went down very quickly and then they ordered a second round.

“We'd like to book a table for dinner,” Sonia said to the girl at the bar.

“Sure. For two?” she said and went to speak to the maître d'.

“Are you sure about this?” Bibi said once the girl was out of earshot. “This place is really pricey.”

“I know but I'm in an 'I don't care' mood, so just go with it.”

“Okay.”

It was early evening, so they were the first to be seated and their waiter made a big fuss over them. He must have thought that they were celebrating something when he saw the cocktails flowing and brought them extra bread with the meal with a big smile. He was very attentive and made sure they had a complimentary spirit at the end of the meal.