Today was the day. It was their day.
Shane had been thinking about it so much, he barely got any sleep the night before.
His wife thought he was going to some important music conference to scout new talent. She was under the impression the idea of signing talented hopefuls excited her husband, not the idea of rolling around with another woman.
"See you tomorrow, honey." Shane always made sure to kiss his wife goodbye and use affectionate terms like 'honey'. He was an expert at making the most suspicious of acts seem normal.
All the excitement that Shane had collected from last night and this morning quickly disappeared once he walked into his office building.
"Where's Mitchie?" Shane asked the receptionist at the front desk.
"She called in sick, sir."
The color drained from his face. Called in sick? She knew it was their day. She never missed a day, let alone one that had such a special meaning.
"I see. Well I'll be in my office." Shane calmly walked into his office. It wasn't until he shut the door behind him that he let his true emotions show.
Called in sick. That echoed in his head. Why would she do such a thing? The previous day she seemed perfectly healthy. Her skin was glowing, there was 'pep' in her step and she seemed in good spirits. No. She wouldn't just call in sick. There was something else going on.
Shane pulled out his cellphone and dialed the number he didn't have saved in his phone. He didn't want his wife to look at his call log and see the name 'Mitchie Torres' listed endlessly.
"What do you want?"
He clenched his jaw. Yes, something was definitely wrong with her.
"You couldn't call to say you weren't coming in today?"
"Just because I didn't call you doesn't mean I didn't call. Ask the front desk."
"But you didn't call me." He dropped his voice down to a whisper, paranoid that someone was listening in. "You know tonight's our night."
"And I'll be there. Stop worrying, Mr. Gray."
Shane sighed heavily when he heard the line go dead.
She had hung up on him. Something about her tone was different.
Yes, something was definitely wrong with her.
…
Mitchie sat on the edge of the hotel bed tapping her foot anxiously. She knew in a few minutes Shane would come through the door, smirk on his face, lust in his eyes, ready to get down to business. And that happen to be what she wanted to do too.
Get down to 'business'.
As if on cue, Shane came rushing through the door. She noticed he was still in his work clothing. Usually he would have changed by the time he got here. It wasn't the normal, then again, she had a feeling the entire night wouldn't be normal.
"Sorry I'm late. Who knew working thirty minutes overtime would set me back so late?" He said struggling to get his room key out of the door.
"It's fine." She said flatly.
"Good," He turned to face her and a familiar smirk grew on his lips. "Nice outfit choice. I don't remember buying you that, though."
Mitchie looked down at the pink and black lace bustier she had chosen to wear and stood up to walk over to him. Once she was standing nearly toe-to-toe with him, she placed her hands on her hips. He obviously wasn't getting from her body language that she was slightly upset seeing as how he just smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Its because you didn't." She informed him. His forehead crinkled in confusion. "Liam Mayer."
"Is that a brand?" He asked dumbly.
"No, that's the name on the guy who bought this for me."
Shane's hands dropped from her waist and his easy demeanor tensed. He shook his head and walked past her, taking a seat on the bed. He buried his head in his hands and the room went silent.
"Are you mad?" She asked, finally breaking the silence.
"No, I'm actually filled with joy from the though that some other man is buying you lingerie!" He said with a dry laugh. He jumped up from the bed and quickly walked over to her. "Why is some other guy buying you lingerie, Mitchie?"
"Why are you getting so upset?" He was falling right into her trap. He was reacting exactly the way she wanted him to.
"No, you don't get to ask questions. You only get to answer them." He said in a harsh tone. "Why is some other man buying you stuff?"
"He gave it to me as a gift on our fifth date."
"Oh so now you're dating too?" He was practically foaming at the mouth. She had never seen Shane so pissed in her life. She figured now it was time.
"Do you hear yourself Shane? You're getting upset that I, your secret lover, is dating another guy." Her words once again caused his forehead to wrinkle up. "While you and I both know if your wife told you what I just told you you'd actually be relieved. It'd give you a reason to end things with her."
"I-I don't get what you're trying to say." He stammered.
"I'm tired of this, Shane. It sucks that the only time I get to feel close to you is one night a month in a stupid hotel room. How you reacted just now only proves what you and I have been trying to ignore for a while now."
"And what is that?"
"This isn't just sex anymore. We both have feelings for each other."
She had to admit, she was a little nervous to just come out and say that. She could have been wrong. Maybe she was the only one with feelings. Maybe it was still just sex to him. She knew that was pretty unlikely but it was still a possibility.
Shane stood in front of Mitchie with his mouth hanging open. He had to admit, it was pretty gutsy of her to come out and say that. She didn't know if she was right to imply that. For all she knew, he still thought of their relationship as just sex. All the little gestures he did outside of the hotel room, calling her late at night to talk, flirting with her at work, made it highly unlikely though. But it was still a possibility.
"I don't know, maybe this is just my conscience speaking. Maybe after a year and half I'm finally starting to feel bad about hooking up with a married man but," She continued. "I like you, Shane. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love what goes on in these hotel rooms but I find myself wanting to just go to the movie theater with you or to go out to a nice dinner. I…I kind of want to date you. You know, have a real relationship."
He had never seen Mitchie this…timid. The Mitchie he knew was always brash and confident. The Mitchie confessing her feelings in front of him now was anything but confident. She was actually quite vulnerable.
"Mitchie," He spoke her name softly as he walked up to her, pulling her into a hug. "I've tried to convince myself otherwise but I have feelings for you too. I like you and I want all those things to but–"
She wiggled out of his grip. "But what?"
"You know my situation with Ashley and her dad and the label. If I break things off with her, I can kiss my label goodbye." He said with a heavy sigh.
"But you've signed so many good artists. Do you really need help from your 'rich daddy-in-law'?" She said grabbing his hands in hers.
Shane looked into her eyes and then quickly looked away.
"I can't…I just can't, Mitchie." He said softly.
"So that's it?" She asked, pushing him away from her.
Shane shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. He didn't know what else to say. He was in between a rock and a hard place.
"Well then Shane, if you can't than neither can I."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't keep living my life like this. I'm twenty-four years old. I want a real relationship, not a scandalous rendezvous once a month. And if you don't want to have that with me than I guess we're done here."
Shane couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was she breaking things off?
"Mitchie, wait," He grabbed her arm, stopping her from walking away from him. "Are you saying you don't want to see me anymore?"
She shook her head. "Not if it's like this."
Mitchie had to admit she felt a little bad about this. She was basically asking the man to end his marriage to be with her but it wasn't that crazy of a request. He was unhappy in his marriage and he was happy with her. He had told her both plenty of times.
"See you tomorrow, Shane." She reached up and placed a kiss on Shane's cheek.
Shane watched her gather her things and walk out of the hotel room. In a year and a half, never had she walked out of the room if he wasn't following close behind.
He slowly sat down on the bed and tried to process what had just happened. There wasn't much he could do. It was almost like he was literally choosing between business and pleasure.
Yes, he would love to be with Mitchie in a greater capacity but he also wanted to keep the man who had invested so much money in Shane's label happy.
There was no easy choice. It seemed like whatever he chose, he'd be losing something.
It just came down to which he was willing to lose.
...
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Thanks for reading! :]