Wanda waited in the silence, chewing her lower lip and stifling her sobs and holding back her tears. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of actually seeing her cry again. Because, apparently, he wasn't worth her tears. That remark continued to bewilder her, but deep down a part of her understood and slowly the realization dawned on her. It was the same sentiment that had made her break off her engagement and stopped her from ever dating anyone. It was a feeling of guilt, that someone might care for her more than she did for them. If this was the case with Tony, then it hurt all the more. She'd never intended to give the impression that she was in love with him. She wasn't. And when the doubtful voice in her mind began its protests she countered it vehemently- No, he's stupid. He's wrong.
Wanda didn't know if it were the truth, that he was afraid she was in love, and she couldn't bring herself to ask but now the idea was cementing itself in her mind. It disappointed her. After everything, that he could be so changed by such a gross misconception was heart achingly disillusioning. She wasn't sure what else she could say and all the threats and entreaties she'd had planned died on her lips. The best she could do now, she supposed, was leave and in the future try to cope with his attitude towards her. Without another word she turned and she grabbed her discarded purse from the side table and she made her way to the door.
"All I ever wanted from you was a friend," Wanda murmured weakly from the doorway. She gazed back at him over her shoulder, her eyes over bright with unshed tears. "I'm sorry for being such a waste of your time."
Wanda left then and closed the door quietly behind her and, miraculously still composed, made her way down the hallway. When she was alone in the elevator she rested her face against the cool wall and finally allowed the hot tears to spill down her cheeks as vicious sobs wracked her body and escaped her throat. Away from him, her anger was returning to fortify her, a better alternative to the desolation ready to swamp her. Tony's ego was ridiculous, and he was ridiculous, and she was better off and maybe, the doubtful part of her mind whispered, his fears were founded.
She lifted her face and glared at the elevator doors. No, he was still stupid and he was still wrong. But for all of this emphatic repudiation, Wanda could not deny the fact that whenever he touched her it made her shiver.
In the lobby she did not look around, avoiding the gaze of the bellboy who held open the front doors, and then she was out on the sidewalk and she realized she'd left her coat up in Tony's room. It was freezing and she'd have to take another cab because she still didn't have the strength to teleport and she was probably too distressed even to try now.
Behind her the lights of the courtyard twinkled cheerfully in the falling darkness and across the street St. Patrick's rose majestically into the night sky. Around a corner the snowflake lights on Saks Fifth Avenue were springing to life while and down at the plaza the Christmas tree was probably blazing. And here Wanda stood, cold and weeping, in the snow.