“It is me, but—” His hands picked her off the sofa and pinned her against a wall. “I wasn’t giving an interview.” She hit the wall with enough force for a picture to fall. His grip hurt her arms, she could taste the salt of her tears, and her ears reverberated with his booming voice and rang from his repeated slaps.
His face descended upon hers. “Then what in the hell are you doing?” He shook her again. “Claire, I put my trust in you! You told me I could trust you and I believed you. I sent you to a spa day. This is how you thank me? By breaking all my rules, by public failure?” he dropped her to the floor like a rag doll.
Claire scurried to pick up the papers. She wanted to know what the article said. “What is this?”
“It is an exclusive Internet release of an upcoming story. It will run simultaneously in People and Rolling Stone.” He hovered over her and then turned abruptly away. He went to the bookshelf, picked up a book, and threw it into the fireplace. He tried to gain control of his anger and of himself. “Shelly, my publicist found it today and immediately forwarded a copy to me. I flew home as soon as I could.” She wondered how long he’d been waiting and brewing in her suite. She desperately tried to read.
Well, you believe you know Anthony Rawlings, forty-five, self-made billionaire? Or maybe you would like to know him? You may be too late. Since May of 2010 Anthony has been seen out on the town with the same mystery woman. Up until now we have not known much about Anthony’s special woman. That is until she agreed to sit down with old friend and freelance writer Meredith Banks. The woman in Anthony Rawlings’s life is Claire Nichols, twenty-six. She is originally from Fishers, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis.
Claire graduated from Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana in 2006. She has a bachelor’s degree in meteorology. Ms. Nichols and Meredith were in the same sorority from 2003 through 2006. It is believed that this long-time friendship is why Claire finally agreed to sit down and discuss her relationship with one of the world’s top bachelors.
Claire looked up from the page in her hand. Tony sat on the sofa and watched her reaction as she sat on the floor and read. Her whole body trembled as nausea erupted in her empty stomach.
“Tony, I did go to school with Meredith, she did come up to me the other day and started talking. I didn’t know she was a reporter. I wasn’t giving an interview. I didn’t say anything about you. Your name was never mentioned!”
He didn’t speak. Instead, he nodded toward the pages and she continued to read.
Anthony Rawlings has long been seen as a wonderful catch for that one deserving woman. He dated such women as supermodel Cynthia Simmons and recording artist Julia Owens. However, none of his previous relationships lasted very long. That is until now, now that Rawlings and Nichols have been together. These two were first seen together in late May (see picture) at the Quad City Symphony not far from the large wooded estate of Anthony Rawlings. And since that time, they have been spotted by curious onlookers at various charity events, as well as taking on two of the nation’s biggest cities, New York (see picture) and Chicago (see picture).