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Chapter 21

"GLEN! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

Kim's screams echoed off of the bare walls of the deserted hallway, but her loud protests went ignored as Glen continued through the dimly lit corridor. Randomly checking the doors as he went, he finally found one at the end of the hallway that was partially open. Swinging the door open, he flipped on the switch and glanced around, nodding his head in approval as he strode inside. It appeared to be some kind of supply room, with various food items stacked along the metal shelving on the walls and numerous stacks of boxes scattered about in various areas along the floor. Definitely not the most romantic place in the world, but it was quiet and secluded. It would certainly serve his purpose for the time being. Kicking the door closed with his foot, he gently placed Kim back on her feet, then leaned back against it, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at her.

"What in the hell is wrong with you? First you sleep with me, then you sneak out on me, then you lie to me and pretend that your somebody else, and now you think you can just pick me up and carry me off like I'm some kind of prized possession!" she yelled, her face flushed with embarrassment as she tried to smooth down her dress. "Well, I hate to be the one to break the news to you Neanderthal man, but we are now in the twenty-first century. You can't go around forcing people to do things they don't want to do. So, why don't you just head on back to your cave…."

"You know, you're beautiful when you're angry." he interrupted, a small smile tilting at his lips as he gazed at her.

Surprised by his words, she faltered briefly, her jaw dropping as she stared up at him. Then just as quickly, she recovered and she snapped her mouth closed, giving a frustrated huff as she glared at him.

"Damn it Glen! This is not funny! Now, I'm only going to say this one more time. I don't want anything else to do with you. I don't want to hear whatever it is that you have to say. I don't want to be here with you. Now please move out of the way and let me out of here or I swear when I do get out, I'll go straight to the police and press charges against you for kidnapping!"

Glen remained silent as he rested against the door.

"Well?" she asked, when he didn't say anything. "Are you going to move or not?"

Shaking his head, he looked down at her and grinned.

"No."

"What the hell do you mean, no?" she yelled, her temper flaring at the smug look on his face.

"I meant just what I said. I'm not letting you go. Not yet, anyway." he stated as he uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off of the door. "You've had your say. Now I'm going to have mine. And you're going to stay right here and listen to me until I'm done."

"I am not going to waste my time listening to any more of your lies. As far as I'm concerned this conversation is over and I'm leaving NOW!" Kim replied, as she tried to dart around him toward the door.

But Glen had anticipated her movements and he quickly reached out and grabbed her again, hoisting her from the ground and carrying her across the room. Placing her on top of a pile of boxes that were stacked neatly against the wall, he placed a hand on either side of her legs and leaned in toward her, leaving her with no choice but to remain exactly where he had put her.

Staring into his face, which was now only inches from hers, Kim glared at him in frustration. Had she not been so angry, she would have probably given in to the temptation of having him so close to her again. But as it was now, she was too furious to think about any kind of attraction she might still have for him. In fact, she'd have to say that she was more upset than she could ever recall being in her entire life. After everything this man had done to her, now he was trying to boss her around on top of it all. How in the world had she ever let herself fall for someone like him in the first place?

"God, you are such an ass! You've got some nerve demanding anything from me after all the shit you put me through. You've got no right to keep me here like this. Now would you please let me go!"

Smiling as his eyes traveled over her face, Glen chuckled softly.

"You know if you keep on talking like that, I might just have to find someway to shut you up. And I certainly have an idea or two on how to do that." he stated, his eyes dropping to her lips.

Clamping her mouth closed, Kim crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him. She couldn't tell from his tone whether or not he was joking, but she certainly wasn't willing to take any chances.

Nodding his head at her sudden cooperation, Glen took a step back to give her some room.

"Does that mean you're ready to listen to me now?" he asked, the calmness in his voice hiding the nervousness that he was feeling at the moment. He knew this would be his last chance to get through to her. He had to make sure that he said the right things. If she left here tonight as angry as she was right now, he knew that he would never see her again.

"Do I really have a choice?" she quipped, her mouth closing almost as soon as she had opened it, fearful that he might follow through with his threat.

"No, I guess you really don't have a choice. But still, it would be nice to know that you're going to consider what I have to say before you dismiss it completely." he replied, sighing at her.

"Look Kim, I know what I did was wrong. All of it…the sneaking out on you, pretending to be someone else….it was all wrong. I'm not even going to try to deny that. All I'm asking for is a chance to explain my actions. I want you to at least know why I did the things I did. It might change things. It might not. But I'll at least feel better knowing that you've heard what I have to say."

"You'll feel better? Is that all your concerned about? How YOU feel? What about me? How the hell do you think I feel after everything you've done to me? How do you think I felt when I woke up alone that morning only to find that you'd snuck out in the middle of the night without even saying good-bye? How do you think I felt tonight, when I discovered that the person I'd been confiding in for the past few months is the same person who caused all of my pain to begin with? But you're not concerned with how I feel, are you? No, you never have been. You're just concerned with yourself. Making yourself feel better by clearing up your guilty conscience! Well, I'm not going to let you use me again, just so you can feel better about yourself. Maybe it will do you some good to suffer a little bit. Maybe then you'll see what it feels like to hurt."

"Damn it, Kim! I didn't do any of this to hurt you! Why the hell can't you see that? Do you really think I'd go through all of this…everything that I've done these past few months….just for a few laughs? Think about all the nights we spent together online. All of the conversations we had. We talked about a lot of different things. I told you things that not many other people know about me. I revealed just as much of myself to you as you did to me. Do you think I would have bothered to do that if it was nothing more than a joke? Do you really think I would risk hurting myself just so I could hurt you?"

Meeting his gaze for a brief moment, Kim glared at him coldly, but offered no response to his questions.

Running his hands over his face, Glen sighed loudly.

"That night that we met…the one that we spent together….I never meant for things to go that far. But you'd written all of those wonderful things about me and when I finally got to meet you in person, I just didn't want to disappoint you. I was trying to be the person you thought I was. The person you wanted me to be. I just got carried away. And when I realized what I had done, knowing that I could never live up to your expectations of me, I just couldn't bear to face you again. I couldn't stand the thought of seeing the disappointment in your eyes when you realized that I was not that person. So I left while you were still asleep, hoping that it would somehow keep the illusion alive."

He paused to look at Kim, who was still sitting quietly on top of the stack of boxes, her arms crossed over her chest as she gazed down at her lap. But thankfully, she appeared to be listening to him, so he took the opportunity to continue.

"You have every right to be angry at me for leaving the way I did. But I didn't leave without out saying good-bye. I did leave you a note."

Glen paused again when he saw her raise her head and look at him. She opened her mouth as if to speak and he raised his hands to silence her. He didn't need her getting angry again right now, not while he seemed to be making some progress.

"I didn't leave a note when I first left, that's true. I was in such a hurry to get out of there before you woke up, I didn't think to leave one. But after I got back to my room and realized what I had done, I did take the time to write you a letter and I slipped it under your door. I don't know why you didn't get it. Maybe you were already gone. Maybe you just didn't see it. All I know is that I thought you had read it."

Risking another glance in his direction, Kim measured him skeptically. Was it possible that he was actually telling her the truth? Or was this just one last desperate attempt to fool her so he could hurt her one more time before he disappeared from her life for good?

"After that night, I tried everything I could to forget about what happened between us." he continued. "I thought that maybe you would try and forget about it as well. But when you sent me that message saying that you were going to quit writing, I knew that I had to do something to change your mind. I couldn't let my mistake take away something that gave you so much pleasure. All I had to do was read your work and I could tell how much you enjoyed writing those stories. And you were so good at it, too. I just didn't want to be the reason that you gave it all up."

"So you decided to lie to me instead?" she asked sarcastically, her eyes boring into him as he began to pace across the floor.

"I never intended for things to go as far as they did, Kim. I had already posted several messages for you on the board, even before we met, so I just decided to carry things a little further. I thought that maybe if I encouraged you enough, that I could convince you to start writing again. That's all I wanted to do. But once we started talking, I realized that there was so much that I didn't know about you. So much that I wanted to learn. You were so easy to talk to and just knowing how you felt about me….I just couldn't seem to stop myself. I let things get out of control….again."

He paused again, turning to Kim and was surprised to see her lift her head and meet his gaze.

"What about tonight? You can't tell me that you didn't have some kind of ulterior motive for inviting me here. What about all of the other guys inside the dining room? What about your buddy from the lobby? They all seemed to be expecting me too. You said that nobody else knew about me, but Chris certainly seemed to know who I was." she questioned.

"Chris is the only one who knew about you and even he doesn't know the whole story. The only reason he knew anything at all is because he was snooping around on my computer one day while he was in my room. As far as the other guys go, I was as surprised as you were to see them here tonight. This place certainly doesn't fit the description of their normal hangouts. It was purely coincidental that they happened to be here."

Growing quiet, Glen watched Kim intently, pleased to notice that she appeared to be considering his words. She was calmer now. That was certainly a good thing. She'd be much more rational and hopefully more accepting of his explanation. If only she'd be willing to forgive him, he'd gladly spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to her.

"I swear Kim, I didn't do any of this just to hurt you. If I could go back and change things, I would have never left you that night. I just want you to know that I'm sorry and I hope that you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

"So it was all just a big misunderstanding? Is that what you're saying? It was all just a big mistake?" Kim finally asked. The anger was gone from her voice now. Instead she just sounded…tired.

Holding his breath, Glen nodded his head as she met his gaze. All he needed was to hear her say yes. For her to grant him her forgiveness. To let him know that she understood.

"Are you finished now?"

The question caught him completely off guard and he frowned as he stared down at her.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" she repeated, glaring at him in annoyance as she waited for an answer.

Glen nodded silently.

"I guess that means we're done here then." she added, hoping down off of the stack of boxes and gathering up her purse before taking a step toward the door.

"Wait. You're leaving?" he asked, confused, as he stepped into her path.

"Yes, that's what it looks like. Well, I'm trying to anyway, if somebody would get out of my way." she stated in exasperation, placing her hands on her hips as she frowned at him.

"Kim, please. You can't go. Not yet. Just please…listen to me…"

"No. We had a deal. You said you weren't going to let me leave until I listened to what you had to say. Well, I listened, you're finished, and now I'm leaving." she argued, as she tried to move around him, only to have him block her path again.

"Kim, please don't go. You don't know how long I've waited to see you again. At least stay and have dinner with me. Give me a chance to make things up to you."

Closing her eyes, Kim tried to block out the sound of desperation in his voice, tried to block out the pain that was starting to surface in her heart. She'd spent so many years lusting after this man. Dreaming of him. Obsessing over him. Living for a time when she might possibly be with him. And now she had it all. He was standing right in front of her, pleading for her not to walk out on him, and all she could think about was how badly he had hurt her. Of the pain and suffering he had caused. The battle that was raging inside of her mind and her heart was nearly tearing her apart, but in the end, she knew there could only be one choice. The dreams had never been real. The pain was. And she couldn't let him hurt her anymore.

"I'm sorry that things have come to this, but after everything that's happened, you leave me with no choice. Good-bye Glen. I hope that things work out for you some day."

Fighting the urge to grab her and hold her back, Glen forced himself to let her go as she stepped around him and headed toward the door. He'd given it his best shot, but apparently it hadn't been good enough. Kim had obviously made up her mind and now she was leaving. Things were now out of his hands. There was nothing left for him to try. All he could do was stand back and watch her as she walked out of his life for good.