Betsy and The Beast

Five (Betsy)

Anthony Chapman was in my apartment. Holy shit was all that came to mind. My whole apartment was smaller than his office at work. It had a bedroom-bathroom combo and a living room-kitchen combo. That was literally it. It suited me fine, but I had no doubt he'd find it lacking.  Judging by his fancy, clearly expensive car, I knew he must be used to glamorous things.  Which kept bringing up the question of why was he here with me?

I'd politely excused myself so I could clean up, while he said he'd order the pizza. I took a shower and stressed about what to wear. Normally, in the evening, I'd put on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt, without a bra. I couldn't do that tonight.  Instead, I put on black gaucho pants and a blue form-fitting sweater. It wasn't my best ensemble, but I figured the sweater was low cut enough to draw his attention to some of my best assets and the flowy pants would offset that, making me seem less desperate. I wasn't desperate. In fact, I should have never invited him over.

When I exited my bedroom, Anthony was paying the delivery guy who had just delivered the pizza. My eyes widened when Anthony turned and headed for me, placing three large pizzas on my kitchen counter.

"How much do you think I eat?" I asked with a laugh, making him smile. A real smile. It was the first one I'd seen on him and it looked damned good. The smile increased his good looks, which I hadn't thought was possible.

His eyes roamed over my still wet hair, freshly scrubbed face, and attire. When his eyes met mine, I suddenly felt like I might explode from the heat. I wasn't experienced with men at all, but if I didn't know better, I'd think he was attracted to me.

Suddenly he shook his head and explained, "We didn't discuss what kind of pizza you liked. So, I ordered one with everything, one with just cheese, and one taco pizza."

"I'll eat anything." I said with a shrug.

"You're not like most women." He declared.

"Um, is that a good thing?" I asked as I got us some paper plates for the pizza. He may as well know how I rolled. Paper plates was a must and I also grabbed us a couple of cheap beers out of the fridge. Can, not bottle.

"Very good thing. The women I'm used to find a problem with everything. They'd never settle for pizza and beer."

"See now that just pisses me off." I tell him, placing two slices on my plate. Then I looked up at him with a grin, "Who says I'm settling? I love pizza and beer!"

"You're right. That was offensive. I didn't mean it the way that sounded."

"Wow? Is Anthony Chapman apologizing to me?"

He glared, "You like busting my balls, don't you?"

That made me laugh, but I didn't reply as I grabbed my beer and plate, moving to the sofa. I picked up the remote and found the Monday night football game. I had one slice down and had just started on my second when I noticed Anthony finally joined me.  He was looking at me with complete bewilderment.

"What?" I asked.

"You like football?"

"You don't?"

"I don't really have time to watch sports most of the time, but the few times I do it's usually football."

"So, what on earth do you do for fun? It sounds like all you do is work. No wonder your so grumpy all the time. All work and no play make Anthony an angry boy." I teased.

"Man." He growled.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, confused.

"I'm no boy, Betsy. I'm all man. Never forget that."

"Oh." My mouth formed the word, more than actual sound came out.

"You're my employee. You're eight years younger than me. It may as well be fifty years. I'm not a nice man. I should go." He said suddenly and stood.

I jumped to my feet, frowning, "Wait! What just happened?"

"I came to my senses." He said, heading for the door.

I reached him when his hand landed on my doorknob. Without thought I grabbed his arm and then I did what I did when I was nervous. I rambled, "Look, I don't know much about you and you don't know anything about me...even though I know you think you do. However, I know pain when I see it and your eyes are full of it. I know because I see the same when I look in the mirror. I usually do everything I can to avoid getting close to people, because it seems like when I do...they leave me. For some reason though, it feels different with you. I feel..."

I trailed off, not knowing what I was trying to say. I could feel it but I couldn't seem to put it into words. He stood glaring at me. I looked down at my hand, still on his arm, and I took the hint, removing it. I stepped back, head down, suddenly embarrassed. He was a very wealthy, attractive, and well-known man. I was nobody. He was also my boss. What had I been thinking?

A knuckle under my chin, had me raising to meet his eyes. I sucked in a breath at what I saw on his face. Raw need. Then, just as suddenly his mask fell back into place and I couldn't read him anymore. I felt the loss all the way to my soul.

"Thank you for the company tonight. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Report to my office at eight." Anthony said, without emotion and then he was gone.

I went to the kitchen, put the pizza in the fridge. There was so much of it, I doubted I'd get it all eaten before it went bad. Maybe I'd take it down to the nearest homeless shelter where I volunteer sometimes, and they needed the pizza more than I did.

I turned off all the lights and locked my front door. Then I stripped out of my clothes and crawled beneath my sheets. I suddenly felt drained, but I still lay there staring at the ceiling. It had been such a strange day. I half wondered if I'd dreamed it all. No such luck. The ache in my chest told me it'd been real. All too real. What in the world would tomorrow bring?