Before midnight Read online

  She reluctantly entered her bathroom and closed the door with a slam. She thought about deleting all traces of the night before but it turned out to be harder than that because the shower was the last place she and Caleb had pleasured each other for the last time before going to bed and falling asleep.

  ***

  “Are you going to help me with all of this?” Emke asked when she took out the last box from the attic. “The lights of the Christmas tree are not going to hang themselves, you know?”

  A piece of wood was burning and crackling in the old fireplace.

  Lauren had promised her friend to help her with her Christmas decoration but they’d kept postponing it due to Emke’s busy schedule.

  “I’m doing all I can,” Lauren replied in a harsh tone, pushing the cardboard box aside and tearing the wrapper off with some scissors. “Would the princess also want me to put it up all by myself?”

  The blonde girl looked at her with a frown.

  “You’ve been acting cranky the whole afternoon, so you’re going to spill it all out and tell me what’s wrong with you once and for all.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lauren mumbled before sitting down on the large armchair. She bent forward and pressed her elbows on her knees. “I’m not the best company right now,” she looked at the lights they’d already hung hours ago, “but it does look nice, right?”

  Emke leaned closer and took her friend’s hand.

  “Tell me,” she asked.

  “You better bring some of that good, old whiskey you keep for emergencies.”

  “Oh! Is it that bad?”

  “And make it a double.”

  ***

  Confused, that was the best way to describe how Caleb felt that afternoon. He was scared by all the emotions he experienced with the woman he thought was ‘Marie’, and he didn’t scare easily. In fact, he didn’t even know the meaning of the word ‘fear’.

  The peace he felt when he woke up and saw his lover cuddled next to him, unraveled an inexplicable need to open up to her. The same inexplicable need also urged him to get dressed and leave before dawn, like a thief.

  In spite of the fact that he had promised to spend the next few days with Marie, he knew that he could also spend the rest of his stay with his friends, before going back to New York. Meeting women wouldn’t be a problem at all. However, he couldn’t imagine spending the next few days in Amsterdam with someone other than the warm, brown-eyed girl.

  In his hotel suite, Caleb thought about all the fun he had missed during the past few years because of work. He was reluctant to pay too much attention to women because his experience had let him know that most of them were only after his money. But maybe it was time to take a chance and stop being so cynical.

  With his hands inside his pockets, Caleb tried to relax by enjoying the view in front of him: a white city full of snowflakes that kept falling and falling. Maybe it was time to delegate some tasks to other executives, enjoy life a little more and consider a potential life partner. He didn’t like his grandmother’s meddling at all, even though he knew that she meant well.

  It had been very rude of him to leave Marie’s bed without leaving at least a note. Every man had his own rules regarding his lovers, in his case, in particular, rude behaviors weren’t allowed; he had to apologize. Maybe Marie wasn’t more than a fling that we would surely remember in the future, but she definitely wasn’t just a body to have fun with. The truth was that he liked their conversations. Actually, he liked her, period, just like any other woman… or maybe a tiny bit more. It was exactly for that ‘tiny bit more’ that he had to find a way to redeem himself and apologize. She was surely going to ignore him completely but, even so, he was going to take the risk because his personal standards demanded that.

  Caleb used to see women in general as odd algorithms, and the odds were usually against them.

  He stepped away from the window and put on his jacket, he was about to get rid of his cynicism for a few days.

  CHAPTER 5

  With her earphones on and listening to ‘I can’t stop the feeling’ by Justin Timberlake, Lauren left her friend’s exposition about pottery and precious stones. The presentation had been private and a little boring but she never disappointed her loved ones, in this case, William.

  She had no other choice but to go alone because Emke avoided everything that could be labeled as ‘artistically incomprehensible’ and this time it wasn’t an exception. So there was Lauren, in the middle of a city invaded by cold and about to get on the tram that would leave her just a few blocks from her house.

  Emke had tried to make it up to her by inviting her to one of the most popular places in town, the Seymour Lounge, located at Nieuwezijds Voorbugwal. Lauren wanted to have some fun and maybe find an interesting guy who made her forget about her failed mission with Caleb. At some point, she had to call Sylvinna to tell her that she’d failed on her part of the agreement, but she kept postponing it. Earlier that afternoon, when she was going out of Emke’s place, she saw a little toy store with a sign that said ‘seller needed’; the store was closed but she planned to go first thing in the morning before anyone else. She wasn’t giving up that easily. She still had a few days ahead to get an employer.

  “What a beautiful time of the year,” a woman next to her whispered while she took her seat. “Too bad that everything goes back to war and inequality once it’s over.”

  “Yeah,” Lauren took a moment to watch the city lights, “it’s true.”

  “I imagine that some people live moment to moment.”

  Lauren looked at the woman that seemed like her own age but the wrinkles around her green eyes said that she had lived at least one more decade than her.

  “And is that bad?”

  “It’s neither good nor bad. The bad thing is when people don’t take advantage of those moments because they leave it for the ‘future’. What if that ‘future’ never comes? What about us?”

  The tram stopped, and the strange woman held the tub of the seat she had shared with Lauren and then got up.

  “This is my stop, merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas to you too.”

  Lauren watched as the woman got lost among the sea of people fighting to sit on the spot she had left. Nobody enjoyed the cold while standing up, it was worst if they had a long way home ahead.

  The tram’s doors closed with a noise.

  ‘What about us?’ the question kept haunting Lauren’s thoughts until her stop was announced through the tram’s speakers. She got off carefully and walked to the door of her building.

  She just had to change her boots and put on a more stylish dress for the occasion; the bar was a little fancier and though she wasn’t too excited to go, she wasn’t going to ruin her own pre-Christmas season. She put on her iPhone’s earphones again and hit ‘play’ on her list of favorite songs.

  It was easier to forget about the rest of the world when she was listening to Alicia Keys, humming and shaking her head to the beat. Once she started listening to her favorite music everything else, including her problems, disappeared.

  She let out a sigh of relief when the heat of the lobby welcomed her. Apparently, the stingy owner of the building was finally taking pity on his tenants during the European winter. Isn’t it fantastic? Lauren thought with irony.

  “I should’ve at least say goodbye to you this morning,” Caleb said, pushing Lauren’s earphones aside. She raised her face, surprised and incapable of uttering a word. “It’s not my style.”

  She just stared at him. The last thing she was expecting was to see him again, let alone in the lobby of her building.

  Once her brain started working again, she walked past him and pushed the button for the elevator. “What’s not your style?”

  He wasn’t used to be ignored by women in any way but he knew he deserved it. He couldn’t help but notice that Marie was particularly beautiful; she had half of her hair put up in a half ponytail, the rest of her hair fell freely in s
oft waves, and she was wearing makeup but her lips still had that coral tone. He knew perfectly well the curves that were hidden behind her white coat and the mental image made him clench his teeth. She was the most desirable woman he had ever had in his bed.

  “I’m sorry for leaving the way I did, Marie. I’m not one of those men who apologize unnecessarily and, in this case, it’s necessary.

  When she heard him mention the famous ‘Marie’, Lauren snorted. She didn’t know what was more annoying, the fact that he thought she was someone else or the fact that she couldn’t just tell him the truth.

  When Caleb followed her inside the elevator, Lauren didn’t stop him. Once the metal doors opened, she didn’t look back; she opened her door with the key and left it open. At least she’s not shutting the door in my face, Caleb thought. He took off his scarf and crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for her to get comfortable. When she finally looked at him, he smiled shyly.

  “Hi Marie…”

  “It was a pretty good fuck, so thanks,” she said. “I’m guessing one night was more than enough; message received. Now I have to ask you to leave because I’m going to meet my friends.”

  “Is that true?” he asked, getting closer to her.

  “Yes, I’m going out with some friends. I think we both got what we wanted.”

  Except me, because now I’ll have to go back to my country, Lauren thought with regret.

  “That’s it, Caleb.”

  “You know I’m not talking about that,” he clarified. “I have three more days in town. Allow me to redeem myself for being a jerk, Marie. Would you have dinner with me?”

  “I have plans…”

  She didn’t know if seeing him there made her feel relieved, nervous or euphoric. Caleb’s presence gave her two perspectives: one was the possibility of getting him to go to Sylvinna’s party; the second one was the possibility of being with him again. One night hadn’t been enough, not at all.

  “Your time is as valuable as mine. I want you and I know you to want me too. I get that you’re mad but I already said I’m sorry,” Caleb turned around and walked to the door.

  You still have some hope. You can get him to take you to Sylvinna’s party.

  “You can join us,” she said hastily.

  Slowly, he turned around and looked at her again.

  “Does that mean that you’ve accepted my apology then?”

  “I have, but you could still show me with your actions if you really mean it” she replied. The idea of tasting Caleb’s sinful lips again caused a tingling sensation through her body.

  “I’ll try,” he retorted slyly.

  “I’ll go change,” Lauren cleared her throat and stepped away. She knew that if they started kissing, they wouldn’t meet Emke on time. “I want to have a good time at the bar. Will you wait for me?”

  Caleb took her chin so she wouldn’t be able to push away or avoid his burning look.

  “Are you scared of me?” He closed the distance between them, slipped an arm around her waist and pressed her against his body. “Or are you scared of yourself?”

  “Caleb…”

  “Let’s find out,” he whispered before leaning forward and catching her lips in a sensual kiss that created a bubble of delicious passion around them.

  She rested her hands on Caleb’s shoulder.

  “If we keep this up, I won’t be able to change my clothes,” she paused and looked at herself. “It’s a fancy place.”

  “Then I better help you undress quickly. We shouldn’t lose any more time, don’t you think?

  “I agree,” she mumbled against Caleb’s mouth.

  ***

  Three hours later, they finally got to the Seymour Lounge. They entered the exclusive place and asked for the table that Emke had reserved. The blonde girl was really surprised to see Lauren accompanied by such a hottie like Caleb. She didn’t ask any awkward questions and was completely charming as always, something that Lauren felt really grateful for.

  “Where did you find that hottie?” Emke asked while they were fixing their makeup in the ladies’ room.

  Lauren smiled and applied some lip-gloss on her lips.

  “I already told you the story while we were putting your Christmas decorations up, you know, the mix-up at the escorts agency, his grandmother…”

  As unsubtle as always, Emke dropped her lipstick and picked it up again.

  “That’s Sylvinna’s grandchild? So… did you two make up?”

  “Something like that,” she answered, putting her makeup back in her bag.

  “He’s so hot! Even I would’ve agreed to be a part of that grandmother’s experiment and if it failed, I’d try the same thing with another one of her grandkids.” Emke exclaimed with a laugh. “I’m glad you’re telling me. Now that I know that this Caleb guy is ‘that Caleb’ I’ll make sure not to say anything inappropriate”. Lauren raised an eyebrow and Emke smiled. “I think this mission isn’t so hard, and by the look on your face I can see that it’s actually been fun so far, am I right?

  Lauren let out a laugh. Without uttering another word, she took her friend by the arm and pushed her back to the bar.

  The place was superb. There was a reason why it was one of trendiest places in town. It was amazing to see people from different countries mixing up and dancing to the beat of the same music.

  “If you tell Emke too many personal things, she’ll probably psychoanalyze you and I don’t think you’d like that very much, Caleb,” Lauren said with a smile. They had just finished dancing to a few tunes and they were about to enjoy some of the place’s famous cocktails.

  Now that Emke knew everything about the situation between Lauren and Caleb, she made sure to help her friend to maintain appearances. There were other friends around them but they were too busy dancing and filling their glasses to interact with them. When Emke introduced Lauren as ‘Marie’, one person in the group tried to object but Emke subtly changed the subject. With all the music and the sound of laughter around them, the only thing that mattered was having a good time. Sheine and Duncan were really nice; the first one was Emke’s colleague, while the second one worked in a shelter for Syrian immigrants and directed a special Van Gogh exhibition.

  That was the only one awkward moment that made Lauren sweat. Emke had set up that meeting with the purpose of giving Lauren a distraction, but she didn’t know that her friend would bring a date. Lauren hadn’t had time to call her anyway.

  “So, you work with technology, right?” Emke asked while the waiter served their second round of drinks.

  The electronic music echoed through the speakers.

  “Yes, I’ve done this for quite a while now,” Caleb replied taking a few sips of his whiskey. “My grandmother has a company here. I guess that it runs in the family; even though her work style is the opposite of mine.”

  “What kind of company does your grandmother own?”

  “Perfumes with personalized essences made from flowers extracted by Parisian perfumers. It’s interesting but I don’t…”

  In that moment, someone bumped into Caleb’s back. With his agile reflexes, he was able to hold the woman just before she fell face down. Instead of that, she ended up seated on Caleb’s masculine legs.

  “Hey, are you ok?” he asked.

  Shaine and Duncan tried to help the girl but Caleb did a hand gesture, telling them that everything was fine. Neither Emke nor Lauren uttered a word because it was clear that Caleb had everything under control, so they resumed the conversation they were having with Sheine and Duncan.

  Lauren was only half listening to Duncan’s story because she couldn’t stop looking out of the corner of her eye to see what was going on between them.

  Even though the woman got up as best as she could, her short purples dress still bunched up enough to expose her slim legs. Her black hair that fell in delicate waves to her mid back along with her almond-shaped brown eyes, gave her an exotic look.

  “I’m sorry, my heel got st
uck in…” she started to say but when she raised her face in Caleb’s direction, she suddenly stopped. “Caleb? Caleb Bescott? Wow!” she said. This time she gave him a fierce hug and that hug caught Lauren’s attention but neither Caleb nor the girl noticed it; they seemed trapped in their own little moment.

  “Harper, wow, I thought you had moved to Croatia with your father,” Caleb said. “It was such a long time ago…”

  When she realized that she was still hugging Caleb, she pushed away slightly and mumbled an apology. In that moment, the only person that existed for him was Harper. She wasn’t just any woman; she was the first woman he had loved as an adult.

  Harper Marković had been his fiancée and during their romance in the US, their relationship grew gradually. Six months before the wedding, Harper broke up with him stating that her father had a big project in Dubrovnik, Croatia’s capital, and she was a very important part of that project. It was a bittersweet goodbye and they hadn’t known anything about each other for the past six years. Even though sometimes one of the friends they had in common mentioned something about their whereabouts, they had lost contact completely. Maybe it had been better that way.

  Their relationship seemed like something from another lifetime.

  “I…” she sighed. “Caleb, I got married in Croatia” he waited for the thoughts of jealousy or even anger that would start to creep in, but they never showed up. “I’m here on vacation. My husband is a partner at my family’s company so he’s come here to close some deals with several Dutch executives who want to invest in my father’s new hotel project.”

  Caleb nodded.

  “Wow, well, congratulations.” When they broke up, she promised him that once her parents’ tourism company in Croatia grew enough, she would train someone else to take her job as business administrator so she could go back to the US to marry him. “I’m glad that you’re happy.”

  Harper gave him a sad look. The decision of cutting off all ties spoke volumes; the love that they once shared was over for both. They were all empty promises; Caleb understood that when six months after she left, all the emails, messages and calls simply stopped.