Chapter 83

Miles hangs up the phone and glares at Amber. He hopes Esther didn’t hear Amber’s whimpering but with how close Amber is to him and how loud she was being, it seems unlikely that Esther couldn’t have heard.

Miles was just thinking of leaving his office when Amber rushed toward him, crying her eyes out. She has no idea how close she was to being tackled by Miles’s security.

Maybe he should have let them.

But Amber has been a friend to him through thick and thin for a very long time. Even though he’s pissed as hell at the way she’s been treating Esther, it’s hard to remain unaffected when the woman he cares about like a sister is appearing to have a mental breakdown.

He invited her into his office and made the call to Esther, but Amber’s promise to be quiet was clearly a bold-faced lie.

Now, Miles is ready to chuck Amber back out onto the street, crying or no.

“Can we talk now?” Amber asks, bottom lip trembling.

“You can say what you have to say,” Miles says, “Then you can leave.”

“I want to be friends again,” she says in a quick ramble. “I can’t stand how distant we’ve been. I know I’ve messed things up, but it’s only because I care about you. I worry about you. Please, Miles.”

Rolling his eyes, Miles removes a handkerchief from his pocket and hands it to Amber. She immediately blows her nose.

“I never wanted to stop being friends, Amber,” Miles says, “But your treatment of Esther cannot and will not be tolerated. If you want to be friends with me, you must accept that Esther is a part of our lives now. She is special to me.”

“But why?” Amber asks. “Why her? A married woman? So much older?”

“We’re friends.”

“Don’t lie to me. I’ve seen the way you look at her.” Amber’s voice turns vicious and ugly, revealing her inner jealousy.

So that’s what this is about.

“I’ve dated before. This wasn’t an issue then,” Miles says.

“Those girls were vapid nobodies. I knew they weren’t going to stick around for more than a night or two.”

She’s right about that. Miles had plenty of flings but they never really meant anything to him.

Not like Esther does.

“Esther’s different. For whatever the reason, you’re attached to her,” Amber says. “And it’s too much.”

“Esther is non-negotiable,” Miles says. “You want to be my friend? You are here crying, begging to stay in my life. I’m tell you how you can. Just don’t be a bitch to Esther. That’s all you have to do, and you are refusing it.”

“She’s not good enough for you.”

Anger snaps in Miles’s heart. “She’s better than me!” Closing his eyes, he sucks in a breath. It won’t do to lose his temper here. Half of Amber’s plan is surely just to get a rise out of him.

She sees his attachment to Esther as an affront to her and is lashing out against him, to make him hurt as she is hurting.

He’d have some measure of sympathy for her, if the person she is choosing to attack was anyone but Esther.

When he opens his eyes, he sees things with a clearer head.

“Even if Esther wasn’t in the picture, you and I would never be a couple, Amber,” Miles says.

Amber’s eyes go wide, and pink dusts her cheeks. “That’s not… I didn’t…” Her tears dry so quickly Miles starts to suspect they were never honest ones to start.

“You’ve had this childhood crush on me forever,” Miles says. “I never said anything because I thought you understood I don’t feel the same.”

“I know that,” Amber says. “But I thought… in time… things might change. We’re so well suited for one another. Why can’t you see you are my perfect match?”

Miles sees two routes of conversation in front of him: insulting or kind. Remembering the Amber from his childhood, he tries for the latter.

“I’m not your match,” Miles says. “That person is out there somewhere for you. You need to stop focusing so much on me and go find him.”

“You only think that because this cow has put you under her spell,” Amber says in a cruel tone.

Miles freezes. Amber, seeing him, stills as well. The room goes quiet enough to hear a pin drop, at least until the old heater kicks in.

“Get out,” Miles says, each word stilted and curt.

“I didn’t –”

“Now, Amber.”

When she doesn’t immediately comply, I start walking toward the door. I throw it open and gesture for security.

“You can’t be serious!” She starts crying again.

“I asked for only one thing from you,” Miles says, voice low and dangerous as he walks back toward her, two of his security detail in tow.

They were black suits with black ties, dark sunglasses, and earpieces. They are carrying handguns, stun guns, and mace. None will be necessary here.

“I asked you show Esther respect,” Miles says. “You couldn’t do that, and now we’ll never be friends again.”

“But--!”

The security men stand on either side of the chair Amber now kneels on, her attention on Miles.

“Please stand, Miss,” one of them says.

“Don’t make us carry you out,” says the other.

Amber, face a sheet of white, pushes herself off of the chair. However, the seriousness of her situation only seems to bring out her vitriol. Like an animal trapped in a corner, she starts bringing out her theoretical claws.

“She’s a bitch, Miles! She’s corrupting you and you can’t even see it! Cast me aside. Go ahead! You are only trying to block out what you know is the truth!”

“Get her out of here,” Miles says. To Amber, he says, “I’m getting a restraining order. You come near me or Esther again, and you’ll go to prison.”

Maybe he should have done this the last time Amber made herself a nuisance. Maybe if Esther was here, he would have. It’s much easier to be protective of her than of himself.

But now it’s time he step up and shield them both.

Amber stands still like she’s rooted. That tactic doesn’t work with federal officers. They grab her under her arms and haul her out of the room.

“Miles, please!” she screams. Even as they drag her into the hallway, he can hear her. “You can’t do this to me! We’re friends!”

“Not anymore,” he says to himself and picks up his phone.

With my dinner plans canceled, I head to the store to do some grocery shopping before I return home for the night. I’m just about to check out when her phone rings. Seeing its Miles, I step out of the line to answer it.

I’ve tried playing it cool, but truthfully I’ve been out of my mind with worry, wondering what’s going on with Miles and Amber, and hoping Miles is alright.

Now, blessedly, I’m about to get my answers.

“Miles? Is everything okay? I didn’t expect to hear back from you so soon.”

“You sound relieved,” he says.

Maybe I do, but, “So do you.”

“Yeah. I guess I probably do.”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, just sits in silence with me on the line.

“What happened?” I ask.

Miles hums. “I’ll tell you over dinner?”