As he spoke, he tried to grab the wine glass from my hand.
"I know you're too dignified for this kind of thing. I'm different—this is my only chance. Even if Ms. Lambert wanted me to drink a hundred glasses, I'd do it."
Lindsay slammed her glass onto the floor.
"Carl, you really want to do this the hard way?"
She rose to her feet, her exquisite face twisted with fury and disgust.
"It's just one glass of wine. Is that worth sabotaging Morton's career over?"
"Go apologize to Ms. Lambert. Now."
Morton stepped in front of her. "It's fine, Lindsay. Carl isn't going to do it—I'll go apologize to Ms. Lambert myself."
"I'm not as lucky as Carl, having you looking out for me from the start. This kind of thing is nothing to me."
Lindsay's expression grew even colder. She walked up to me and stopped inches away.
"Kneel."
"Lick it clean."
The private room went dead silent. No one dared breathe.
Morton peeked out from behind Lindsay, covering his mouth in exaggerated shock.
"Lindsay, isn't this... a bit much?"
Then, in a stage whisper: "Although, Carl always did whatever you told him to. He'll probably do it."
I looked at Lindsay's cold, unyielding face and asked quietly, "Lindsay, are you serious?"
She let out a contemptuous laugh.
"I've supported you for ten years. Asking you to kneel and lick up some wine—that's too much for you?"
"Don't push your luck, Carl. I can have PR release a story right now saying you're a diva who bullies newcomers. I'll find a few young men who just joined the company and have them say you sexually harassed them."
"Who do you think people will believe then?"
I closed my eyes.
That last flicker of something—whatever remained of what I'd once called love—extinguished completely.
The final thread of attachment I'd held onto, I severed with my own hands.
Ten years of devotion. Nothing but a joke.
I didn't kneel.
I grabbed the entire bottle and splashed it across Miriam's greasy face.
She shrieked and clutched her face. The room erupted into chaos.
Lindsay trembled with rage.
"Carl! Have you lost your mind?!"
Then her palm cracked across my cheek.
"Apologize to Ms. Lambert! Now!"
"Do you have any idea she's the biggest investor in this production? If you've offended her, what happens to Morton's role?"
I looked at her coldly.
"That's Morton's role. What does it have to do with me?"
"And this slap—consider it payment for ten years of your generosity."
"From now on, we're even."
I turned and walked out. The wind outside cut like a blade.
I was wearing nothing but a thin dress shirt. My whole body shook from the cold, but my mind had never been clearer.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I answered. An elderly voice came through.
"You little brat. So you do know how to pick up the phone."
Grandpa.
My nose stung. My throat seized up.
"Grandpa..."
The old man on the other end sighed. "Come home."
"The Chen girl has waited ten years for you. She can't wait any longer."
"The wedding's on the eighth of next month. It's already been arranged."
Tears fell without warning, scalding hot.
Ten years.
I'd given Lindsay ten years. And all along, someone had been waiting for me.
"Okay," I choked out. "I'm coming home."
I hung up and flagged down a taxi.
"The airport, please."
But when I got there, my ID was gone.
My heart dropped. A terrible feeling crept over me.
