Silently Falling in Love: Race (THE EDITED VERSION)

Chapter 45 - Late Night Conference Calls

Alex: November 1996

I hung up the phone after a lengthy conference call, exhausted. It was Saturday night, and this was not how I wanted to spend it, but the company I was working with was in the Middle East and their weekends were Thursday and Friday, so our weekends were the beginning of their workweek.

I untucked my shirt and ran my hands through my hair. Exhausted, hungry and tired, I stood up wondering whether I should pour myself a drink, take a shower, eat or skip it all and go to bed. It was already one in the morning.

As I debated my plan of action, I heard a knock. It couldn't be my door, it was so soft. Who would show up at my door at one in the morning?

I stared at the door, too tired to do anything, but I heard a key being inserted in the lock and the doorknob turned. Within seconds the door opened, and my guest stared back at me.

Shocked to see Anjali, I stood speechless. She closed the door behind her. "Hi," was all she said.

She wore a light fall jacket with ruffles down the front and a belt tied around her waist, a long skirt with a slit up the right side, long brown boots with heels that made her at least another three inches taller and straightened hair unlike her natural wavy hair. I didn't know how long I stared, but it must have been too long because she said, "Hi," again.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, all manners thrown out the door.

I walked to my kitchen table where my paperwork was spread out to ignore the betrayal of my body. I noticed as Anjali walked in that the slit on her skirt revealed the garter belt she wore. What the hell was she doing here, dressed like that?

Anjali smiled at me but stood near the door as if she wasn't sure if she would stay.

"What are you doing here, Anjali?" I asked again.

"It was girls' night out at a bar in your neighborhood, so I thought I'd take my chances and stop by and say hi before I headed home," Anjali stated.

"You stopped by at one in the morning?" I asked.

"I was in the neighborhood," she repeated herself.

She looked sexy in that outfit and thank god my shirttails were hiding the erection developing. I had to stay mad at her or I would lose it.

"Why are you really here?" I asked, not moving an inch.

"Come on Alex," Anjali said as she placed her clutch on a side table and walked closer to me, "How long are we going to ignore each other? I haven't heard from you in weeks, you don't return my calls, we don't go to lunch anymore, how long are we going to do this?"

"You know why."

"We're throwing away our entire friendship over one incident?" Anjali pleaded as she walked closer to me, but still kept her distance.

"What do you want from me Anjali?" I asked, trying to keep my resolve.

Anjali paced back and forth and flopped her hands in front of her, "Alex, I want our friendship back! I miss talking to you, I miss seeing you, I miss our lunches, I miss our racing, I... I just, god Alex, I just miss you. Why are you doing this?"

"You need to leave."

"Why do I need to leave? Can't we talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"How can you say that?" she pleaded. "Don't you miss me? Don't you miss our friendship?"

"What do you want?" I asked her again.

"I want our friendship back!" she said again. "Why can't we pretend nothing happened and go back to the way things were?" Anjali said as she took a step closer to me.

"You want us to go back to the way things were?" I asked as I took my first steps towards her.

I took a few more steps, and I was within inches of Anjali, "Just go back to our Friday lunches, our monthly race track afternoons, and the daily calls?"

"Yes," Anjali said, moving backwards but bumping into a table.

"Sure," I said.

"Sure?" Anjali replied.

"But I have a few conditions," I said, closing the distance between us.

"Anything," Anjali whispered.

I bent down and grabbed the back of her head and tipped it back and kissed her hard while my other hand ran up and down her curves. If I would let go of Anjali, I wanted to know what one kiss sober with her would be like.

I kissed her, pushing my tongue into her mouth and almost bending her over the table. My hand roamed the sides of her body and I pulled her into my body so she could feel how aroused I was. Except she was just as aroused, and I felt her nipples harden underneath that sexy blouse she was wearing. I slid my hands to where the garter-belt met the hose and ran my fingers up her thigh, then I broke the kiss.

"Every time we meet this is what I want, this is what I'm thinking of. You think you can handle that? You think you can handle that all I want to do is throw you over my shoulder and take you to my bed and make love to you until you scream my name. Still think we can be friends, Anjali?"

Anjali closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears.

"You need to go before we both do and say things we will regret," I croaked and moved away from her beautiful body.

I looked at her for the last time.

Anjali opened her eyes and looked at me.

Neither of us said anything.

She walked over to the side table, grabbed her clutch, and walked towards the door.

She opened the door and was about to walk out, "I need my keys back," was all I said.

Anjali turned around one last time and handed me the keys while tears fell down her face. I took the keys from her, and she walked out the door.

I closed the door behind her. I hated myself for making her cry. It had taken everything in me not to pull her back into my arms and apologize. I couldn't keep being her friend; it wasn't fair to her or to me. And I wanted more than friendship.

In the morning, I would call my boss and accept the assignment in China. I couldn't stay in New York and watch Anjali marry Raj.

I'd never hurt so badly; not even when I found out Chris cheated on me. Watching Anjali walk away hurt more. The image of her tonight would forever be etched into my memory.