Trainwreck 2 (Trainwreck #2) (5 page)

“Sarah.” He knew it was me because his phone probably had caller ID.

“Ari, I need your help. I’m with my friend, Lauren. She’s overdosed on wine and aspirin.” I was speaking a mile a minute.

His tone took on urgency. “Where are you?”

I gave him Lauren’s address and apartment number.

“I’ll be right there. In the meantime, see if she has any Gatorade. If not, make her drink water.”
CLICK.

There was no time to question him. Plus, he sounded knowledgeable. Perhaps, Catherine had overdosed once? Banishing the thought of her after wishing she had, I hurried to Lauren’s refrigerator, and miraculously, among all the Diet Cokes, I found a single bottle of Gatorade.

“Drink this!” I urged Lauren when I returned to her side. She was still shaking like a leaf and sweating buckets. I put the bottle to her lips, and to my relief, she slowly sipped the contents down. I prayed that Ari would get here soon. In the meantime, I managed to get Lauren cleaned up and into a fresh set of clothes. I noticed, for the first time, that she wasn’t wearing her five-carat engagement ring.

The intercom buzzed ten minutes later. Ari! Pretending I was Lauren, I told the doorman to send him up. He fell for my impersonation.

Two minutes later, the doorbell rang. I ran to open it. I was not prepared for my reaction when I met him face to face. I thought my knees would buckle as blood rushed to my head. He held me in his gaze for a brief moment—oh, those beautiful, but unreadable, gemstone eyes—and then sprinted past me to Lauren. Shaking violently, she had begun to hallucinate.

“Fuck!” he said. “She’s convulsing. We need to get her to a hospital right away.”

I bit down on my lip.

“Get me a blanket.”

Scanning Lauren’s chicly furnished living room, I immediately located one on the couch. I made a dash for it and hurried back to Ari and Lauren.

While Ari wrapped it around her, he ordered me to grab the bottle of wine and aspirin. “They’ll need to analyze how much she consumed.” Without a word, I did exactly what he asked.

He scooped Lauren up in his arms, and I followed him out the door. The silence we shared in the elevator was tense. We avoided eye contact. I couldn’t begin to imagine what was going on in his head. As for me, there was a sick, sinking feeling that deepened as the elevator descended.

When the elevator doors parted, Ari wasted no time, taking long, fast strides with his powerful legs to the entrance of the building, with me keeping pace beside him. The doorman gave us a strange look as we skirted past him. “Too much partying,” I told him. “She’ll be okay.”
I only prayed.

Ari’s Bentley was parked right outside the building. He loaded Lauren, who was now in a semi-conscious state, into the backseat with the blanket around her. Quickly and solemnly, he opened the front passenger door for me and then hopped into the driver’s seat. The car peeled off the curb. More silence.

Turning left on to Fifty-Ninth Street, the car raced up Park Avenue. Finally, Ari broke the ice, but kept his eyes focused on the road. “I’m taking her to Lenox Hill Hospital. We’re almost there.”

I told him about my concern about the negative publicity this incident might generate for Lauren and her family along with the possibility that Lauren’s parents might send her away to some rehab clinic.

“Don’t worry, Sarah.”

Coldness coated his voice as he said my name. While the way he usually said it with a sexy lilt made me melt, the unexpected sharpness sent a shiver up my spine as he continued.

“We’re going to use a private, backdoor entrance and check her in under a different name. No one except you and me will know about this incident. I’ve already taken care of everything.”

I glanced back at Lauren. She was resting peacefully. Hope coursed through me. Ari had that effect on me. In his presence, I believed everything was possible. Everything would be okay. Even better than just okay. This god-like man was a healer. Oh, how I loved him! But he wasn’t meant to be mine. I fought back the tears that threatened to fall.

In no time, we reached the private entrance to Lenox Hill Hospital. An emergency team was already there waiting for us with a gurney. The paramedics quickly unloaded Lauren onto the stretcher, took her vitals, and hooked her up to a portable IV. She looked so frail. So vulnerable. So lifeless.

As they rushed her through the entrance, the dam that was holding back my tears collapsed. A river poured down my cheeks, and I began to sob.

“Oh, Ari, I’m so scared. What if she dies?”

Before I could blink, Ari took me into his strong, brawny arms. Too distraught to resist, I buried my tear-soaked face into his soft cotton tee as he caressed my damp, tangled tresses.

“Shhh,” he whispered in my ear. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

He let me weep in that position for a while. I don’t know how long I’d been there when he said, “Come on. Let’s find out how she’s doing.”

I let him take my hand in his and lead me up to the fifth floor. The Benjamin M. Golden Pavilion. The wing was named after his father. My guess was that this is where he was treated for cancer, and that the Golden family had built the wing in his memory. The waiting room resembled the lobby of a luxury hotel, filled with expensive Persian rugs, sleek leather seating arrangements, and eye-catching works of art on the walls. Ari sat down on one of the couches while I, deliberately distancing myself from him, sat across the way in an armchair. My sobbing had subsided, but I was still very anxious.

Ari glared at me, his blue eyes fierce. I knew what was coming and braced myself.

“Sarah, why did you stand me up?” His lips thinned into an angry line, awaiting my response.

My heart pounded, and I fidgeted with my fingers.
Because your psycho ex-wife is my psycho boss!
is what I wanted to scream out, but revealing this would just open a Pandora’s box with dire consequences for everyone. And in my emotionally vulnerable state, I couldn’t handle them. I pondered an excuse.

I had to work late?
While that was a good excuse (and partially true), I could only keep that up for the rest of the workweek, and would have to come up with another one to avoid seeing him over the weekend.

My mind raced. Finally, I knew what to say. “I’m seeing someone else.” I blurted out. While I appeared calm on the outside, inside I was aching. Falling apart.

Ari’s eyes grew steely. He said nothing, but his expression begged for information.

“It’s someone at work. We’ve been seeing each other for a while, but decided to cool it for a bit. You know, to see if we really wanted to be a couple.”

Ari listened silently and intently, not blinking an eye.

“I’ve missed him terribly.” Oh God, was this hard!

Ari’s eyes narrowed. “So, Sarah, I’ve just been a Band-Aid.”

I felt sick-to-my-stomach terrible. “He told me today that he wants me back. That he can’t live without me.”

Silence.

“And I feel the same way. I’m going to move in with him.”

Silence.

“Ari, I hope you understand.”

“I understand.” His voice was glacial, devoid of emotion.

I forced a half-smile that said thanks. Inside, my heart was bleeding tears. After tonight, I would never see my gorgeous stranger on a train—or his son, Ben—again.

I might have burst into real, ugly tears again had a doctor not lumbered up to us. I jumped up from my chair, my heart hammering.

The doctor lifted his horn-rim glasses on top of his balding head and wiped sweat from his brow. Oh, God. Wasn’t this what they did on TV shows when the doctor was going to break the bad news that the patient had died?

“Ms. Greene…Mr. Golden…”

My heart beat so hard against my chest I thought it would burst out. Ari squeezed my ice-cold hand, a kind gesture I didn’t deserve.

“I have good news for you. Ms. Hoffmeier will be fine. Fortunately, she did not ingest enough aspirin to cause any permanent liver or kidney damage. We’re going to keep her here a couple of days for observation.”

I breathed a loud sigh of relief. Thank goodness!

“Can I see her?” I asked.

“Yes. She’s awake now and has asked for you.”

I turned to Ari. He jerked his chin, signaling me to follow the doctor. “I’ll wait for you here.” His frosty voice sent a chill down my spine. The doctor sent his regards to Ari’s family, and without looking back at my beautiful companion, I let him lead the way.

Lauren’s room was a far cry from my mother’s sterile, shoebox-size hospital room. It was a huge suite that looked like it belonged in a luxury five-star hotel with bleached hardwood floors, sleek white leather furnishings, and pale gray silk drapes. A floor-to-ceiling window overlooked the sparkling city. Lauren, in a hospital bed, was propped up against a mountain of plump pillows and covered with a luxurious white duvet. An IV was attached to her arm. She looked pale and tired. I planted a kiss on her forehead and plunked down in the armchair next to her bed.

“Hi,” she said weakly, her voice a mere rasp.

“Hi.” This was awkward.

“Thanks for being there for me. The doctor said I’m going to be okay.”

“I’m glad. But you’ve got to get some help when you get out of here and get over Taylor.” This wasn’t the right time to tell her about the repulsive Hampton’s incident, where drunk, slobbering Taylor hit on me. And would have likely raped me had not Ari intervened. Inwardly shuddering at the memory, I held her in my gaze.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Quirking the faintest of smiles, she asked me to pass her the water that was on her nightstand. I obliged, and she took a sip through the straw.

“How did I get here?”

“Ari drove you here. You don’t have to worry about your parents finding out. He’s got it all covered.”

She flashed another smile, this one bigger, more genuine. “He’s a great guy, Sarah. Have you slept with him yet?”

Only Lauren would have sex on her brain right after a suicide attempt. I nodded, my heart aching inside. In reality, we had never actually slept together nor would we ever.

My BFF’s face brightened. “Girlfriend, don’t let him go.”

Her words made my stomach churn as my heart sank to the floor. “Well, you’d better get some rest. I’ll check in on you tomorrow.”

Lauren closed her eyes, and I tiptoed out of the room. Oh, how love could hurt!

In the waiting room, Ari was on his cell phone. Upon hearing my footsteps, he ended the call and gazed up at me. Concern was written all over his face.

“How is she?”

“She’ll be fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

An awful, anxious feeling consumed me. Longing. I desperately wanted to be in his arms. Feel the warmth of his breath… his heartbeat against mine… the heat of his flesh. “Well, I’d better be going. I’ll take a cab.” I could use his hundred-dollar bill. No need for that anymore.

“No. I’ll take you home.” It was a gruff order.

“Actually, I’m staying over at my boyfriend’s apartment.” I don’t know what made me go back to the masquerade, never mind take it up a notch. My heart stuttered.

Ari pressed his lips tightly together. “Fine.” He stabbed the word at me. “Just tell me where it is. I’ll drop you off.”

I was too fatigued and emotionally drained to protest. And to be honest, every minute I spent with him was a gift. We departed the hospital steeped in silence. At the entrance to the hospital, we waited for a valet to bring his Bentley around. The car came quickly. After we got settled into it, I gave him the swank address of Lauren’s parents’ apartment. Fifty Sutton Place South.

Ari shifted the car into drive, his eyes facing forward. “So, your boyfriend must do well.”

“He does a lot of things well.” When I turned and saw the hurt look on Ari’s face, I immediately regretted my words. His long fingers tensed on the steering wheel as he stepped on the gas and pulled away from the curb. Wishing I could take back what I said, we drove the short distance in silence. Not once did he turn his head to look at me. When we pulled up to the elegant apartment building, the white-gloved doorman ran up to the car and opened the passenger door for me.

There was no teary goodbye. Ari was gone before I could say goodnight and thank him for his kindness. I watched his Bentley fade into the distance with my eyes watering. When I was sure he wasn’t coming back, I walked home, leaving a trail of tears behind me.

Ari

A
lethal cocktail of jealousy and rage coursed through me as I drove home. Goddammit. Sarah had played me. I was nothing more than a rebound fuck. And now, she was back with her rich boyfriend and living with him. How could I have been so blind? So fucking stupid? Maybe it served me right. I had treated her like a toy, offering her no sense of commitment. Whatever we had, if we ever had anything, was over. She had moved on and made it loud and clear that she didn’t want or need me in her life. Self-loathing mixed with my storm of emotions, burning me like acid rain. I could feel myself reddening as I heated up.

Goddamn fucking traffic. Stuck in the stop and go crawl, it allowed me too much time to fume behind the wheel of my Bentley. My uncontrollable fury manifested itself as road rage, and I honked and cursed at every Tom, Dick, and Harry who got in my way. It took me forty-five fucking minutes to get back uptown to my apartment. Valeting my car with the doorman, I wiggled my fingers, which had cramped up from clenching the steering wheel so tightly on account of my tension.