“I thought you didn’t have any engagements this week? What took up so much of your time that you couldn’t text me and say ‘hey, wanna go on a talk show with me and talk about your business?’ How long does that take?”
“You want to go, don’t you?”
“That’s not the point.”
He sighed. “Can we talk about this another time?” The line clicked, and he groaned. “My call waiting is going off and I need to get that.”
“Is Jenna out of the office?” I knew she wasn’t, but I was past the point of making peace for peace’s sake.
“She’s here, but I’m still fielding calls about what I said. Maybe you don’t understand, but a lot of my clients want to hear from me directly before they decide to move forward. I said a lot of things I shouldn’t, and they’re rightfully concerned. That’s why I booked the Jacob Granger Show.”
“And what about me? Why do I need to be there?”
“It’s good for your business.”
“Do you hear yourself? You’ve slipped back into that old façade and you’re just feeding me words I want to hear. Caine, I saw the description on Granger’s website. I’m listed as your partner. Partner. Not your boyfriend, not a business partner, but as a committed partner. How do you think that makes me feel when you haven’t returned my texts or bothered calling? Is this how you see a committed relationship going?”
“What do I have to say to make this better?”
“The truth. Not the optimistic, perfectly curated response that will de-escalate this in a few minutes. I want to know why you’re bringing me on the show, and why you didn’t tell me about it.”
“Because I wasn’t sure you would come if you knew, all right?” His words left me shell-shocked. But he wasn’t finished. “You want me to lead, right? To take charge in the relationship and be ‘the man,’ right? Well, I made a decision that’s good for both of us, and all I want is to put the last couple weeks behind me and move on. This helps us both out, so why are you acting like it’s a bad thing?”
“It’s not the show I’m upset about.”
“You’ve made that clear.” The overly bouncy, lighthearted tone was gone. “Shelton, it’s not that big of a deal. I just thought you would be excited and I wanted to surprise you. If you can’t make it, that’s fine as well. I can do it alone.”
I was taken aback, and his dismissal stung. Not that big of a deal? “You cleared two full workdays without telling me about it, and it’s not that big of a deal? Caine, this is my life and you’ve made it clear that you’re going to come and go as you please. If I can’t depend on you to be around when I need you, then you can’t just make plans for us without consulting me first.”
“You’re blowing this way out of proportion. The talk show is going to help your business, too. This is a good thing. I thought you’d be happy for the opportunity, but I guess I was wrong.”
His words cut deep, and I wondered for a moment if I was being unreasonable. Then I shook my head and took a deep breath.
Before I could speak, he cut in. “Listen, I have to get back to work,” he said without offering an apology, his tone distant once more. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“I don’t know how you can,” I began, but the line was already dead in my ear. He didn’t even ask if I was willing to accept the invitation.
Furious, I grabbed my keys and took the stairs down to the parking lot. I needed to talk to someone. If this was how patrons acted, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a consort. I needed to talk to Arlo, and I knew just where to find him.
When I showed up at TeaMuse, I was surprised to find Arlo hurrying around the cozy little shop, obviously upset. When he noticed me, he forced a smile. “Shelton, so nice to see you.”
“Do you have time to talk?” I asked him, then I pitched my voice low so only he could hear me. “I’m having a problem with my patron.”
“You should talk to the recruiter, Alex.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that kind of problem. I need some advice, but this is a situation only another consort will understand. Alex works for The Club. I want to keep this between you and me.”
He nodded, ditching his apron and letting a perky redhead with a bright smile know he would be right back.
It turned out that I wasn’t the only consort having second thoughts, and by the time I made it to TeaMuse and pulled Arlo away from his work, my anger had faded to a dull roar. Arlo had problems of his own, and as we talked about his confusion over Walter’s behavior, I decided to keep most of my argument with Caine to myself. Arlo was too overwhelmed by his own problems, he didn’t need the weight of mine as well, even if he was the only one I could talk to about my struggles with Caine. So I listened instead, and told him I would see him at the next event, then I hugged him quickly and said goodbye.
I left TeaMuse and bypassed the parking lot, my focus on the small park across the street. It was empty except for a young mother and her toddler feeding the turtles that lingered just below the water’s surface at the edge of the pond, eager for a handout. I stuck to the smooth cement walkway that surrounded the entire pond, weaving through the line of trees that had been intentionally planted to obscure the view of the city. Halfway around the track, I couldn’t see the mother and her child anymore, and the light traffic that had been at my back was now completely silent.
The shock of finding out about the talk show had worn off, and with each step my anger softened until the only thing that was left was regret. Caine was wrong to make that decision for me without so much as letting me know, but now that I had calmed down, I wished I’d waited to address it with him. It was an exciting opportunity, and I was in no position to turn down that level of free publicity. I produced a weekly vlog for my Instagram, so it wasn’t like I was uncomfortable in front of a camera. With it being two weeks out, I had plenty of time to prepare, and it would only benefit my already growing business.
I groaned, still frustrated with Caine being so inconsiderate, but I couldn’t let the chance to boost my sales go. With a heavy sigh, I pulled out my phone and sat on the nearest of several park benches that lined the sidewalk.
This time when Caine answered, I spoke before he could. “I’ll go with you to the talk show. It’s good for both our images, but in the future, please talk to me before you make decisions about how my time is going to be spent.”
“Fair enough,” Caine said.
“I think after that I need a couple days to catch my breath. We’re both so busy and I just-”
He cut me off. “Of course, things get busy and that’s okay.”
My heart sank. That was it? He wasn’t even going to argue? “Should we talk about what we’re going to say?” I pressed, hoping he would take the hint.
“Yeah, sure. I have a list of questions we can go over together.”
“Tonight?”
“I’m swamped,” he said. “I’ll call you.”
“I’ll talk to you then,” I said, angry at how meek my voice sounded to my own ears.
“Sounds great, see you then.” He hung up then, and I sat on that lonely park bench staring into the trees for a long time, planning my next move, thinking about the talk show, and hoping that Caine would come back around soon.