Beautiful Stranger

men hoped they’d get to drink in for days, to know better than any other man has, to protect somehow, to take a punch for or to sweep away from an oncoming bus. I looked at every image I could find. She’d smiled so brightly in every photo prior to the ones dated last April. She’d been a natural in front of the camera, the brightness of her smile changing very little over the years.
    And this twat had cheated on her—multiple times, if the article was to be believed.
    He was a good enough looking bloke, I supposed, though obviously older than her. I clicked through to another article, one that listed his age at thirty-seven, ten years her senior.
    According to one story published only two months ago, it was the world’s worst-kept secret that Andy had cheated on Sara several times in the past year, and a growing perception was that he was using her for her family’s name and their money, exploiting the press’s love for their local-celebrityromance whenever his reputation was in need of a little public relations boost.
    I glanced through a few more photos before I pushed back from my desk, disgusted. That arsehole had used her. He’d asked her to marry him and then proceeded to fuck everything in a skirt. Christ, no wonder she had issues. And no wonder, too, that she was so mistrustful of paparazzi.
    My flat had grown dark by the time I powered off the computer and left the den. I made my way to the wet bar, switching on a few lamps as I went, and poured myself a scotch. The drink burned on its way down, immediately spreading warmth throughout my veins.
    It didn’t help, but I finished it anyway.
    I poured myself another drink and wondered what she was doing. Was she home? Had she called the cheating bastard back? After looking at those hundreds of pictures, I could just imagine the history they had. What if he called to apologize? What if she was on a plane, headed back to Chicago right now? Would she even tell me? I checked the time and let myself imagine tracking her down, throwing her over my shoulder and bringing her back here. Fucking her into the mattress until I was the only man she remembered.
    Clearly, I needed a distraction, and drinking wasn’t the answer.
    It took me less than five minutes to change out of my suit and into a pair of shorts and trainers. I took the elevatorto the gym on the twentieth floor and took to the running track. As usual this time of day, it was blissfully empty.
    I ran until my lungs were on fire and my legs numb. I ran until practically every thought had been wiped from my mind, except one: it would break me if she went back to him.
    I went to the locker room, stripped off my sweaty clothes, and then collapsed on the bench, dropping my head into my hands. The silence was broken by the sound of my mobile ringing inside my locker. My head snapped up; I was surprised that anyone would be calling at this hour. I crossed the room and froze when I saw Sara’s picture—a photo I’d snapped of her hand at her throat, the brush of caramel hair against creamy skin—light up the screen.
    “Sara?”
    “Hey.”
    “You all right?” I asked.
    A horn honked somewhere in the background and she cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m good. Look, are you busy? I could—”
    “No, no. Was just finishing a run. Where are you?”
    “Actually,” she said, laughing softly, “I’m outside your building.”
    I blinked. “You’re what?”
    “Yeah. Could I come up?”
    “Of course. Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you—”
    “No. Can I just meet you up there? I just . . . I’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve if I wait.”
    Well, that was cryptic. My stomach dropped. “Yeah, of course, Petal. Let me ring the front desk.”
    A few minutes later, Sara was walking through the door of the locker room to find me wearing nothing but a towel around my waist.
    She looked tired, with red-rimmed eyes and her bottom lip chapped and swollen. It was a softer, younger-looking version of Sara, one I had only seen today in photos. She smiled weakly, giving a small wave as the door closed behind her.
    “Hey,” I said, crossing the room. I bent at the knees to bring my eyes level with hers. “You okay? What happened?”
    She sighed, shook her head, and something snapped back in place in her expression. “I wanted to see you.”
    I knew she was avoiding my question but felt the smile pull at the corners of my mouth before I could stop it. I couldn’t keep my hands to myself and I placed them