Wrong Room, Right Mistake

ped me out of his car, "are you

lad our Friday night "date" was finally over. My

or plan to stay up all night for some reason, cof

g lot, so I could see the funny look o

e said, grabbing my arm and

kipping the polite stuff.

hen? Soda

't know what Maria told you but... my ex runs with the Russian mob. He thinks he still owns me somehow, which is why the last guy who

I, uh, see. Well, I'll be on my way and I, um, hop

s Mercedes, tripped and

I called, hold

ing into his car. Seconds later the tires

, turning and walki

n mafia or a Mexican cartel. The end of my story was always the same. My

r. I thought about ignoring it until it

atchmaker herself,"

"The poor guy just threatened to kill me. At midnight, no l

dly, all the guys you try to set me up with

ood money and look pretty good," Maria said wi

x, but now that we were twenty-four, I sometimes wondered what my life would have been like without her sticking her nose in my private stuff. Like my l

elevator and walking to my apartment door. "I want what

"Oh right. The Plan. Get a good job. Get your own house. Blow your nose a

my dreams when I'm good and ready and not before." Envelopes were scattered in the entrance, clearly pushed under the

Maria was still on the phone. "You'

lied. Edgar Fenwick, the building's superintendent, and I had a short history of clashing.

like ninety. So Juan ha

g that down fast. "No more.

so wrong w

y. As an accountant, he was good with numbers yet didn't brag about it. He wasn't the hottest guy but then again, I wasn't shallow. Anymo

s I ki

ity bill. I was no longer a naive teenager who believed in true love and boys like Ca

e phone before Maria said carefully, "I didn

owing the envelope back down and picking up anoth

up again." She paused. "Well, Juan has this friend who's bee

esley Snipes." I turned the cream-colored envelope ov

What

of a fox in the middle. Just that picture brought back the memory of the first

Feeling the shame again, I remembered how I had made some weak excuse about being called to join my parents in Corfu for Christmas. My

thing more had happened that night, something I didn't wan

a sleepy roll in the dark with a warm body for him. Desperate to feel wanted, I had thrown my

when he gave me the best sex of my life. Carlos's father, the current king, was twenty year

ld I ever look Carlos in the eye knowing I had slept with his uncle? I

ere still friends and I knew I could call him whenever. I knew Carlos's father was alive and well, even remarried, so Carlos wasn't i

it's

? You

voice, and without waiting I hung up. Taking a d

ena Sokolova in a month's time. Two first-