Chapter Twenty
Vanessa
I sat back in my chair at the little gossip column office the next day, smiling as I recalled last night’s activities. My innocent bath had turned into a big learning experience for me, and I’d never been happier.
My relationship with Jacob had deepened over the last week or so, more than I ever thought possible, and I knew why. It was because he finally opened up to me and told me about the accident with his brother, and how he felt about it. It was awfully tragic, and I hated that he’d been so hurt, but at the same time, I was glad that he trusted me enough to share anything with me, no matter what. He knew I wouldn’t judge him, and he knew I’d never betray his trust.
He was my protector, and I was his little girl. Why would I ever want to betray that?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the gossip column’s deputy editor, Jaina, heading over to my desk as I typed up a new article about our college’s football team on the laptop Jacob had lent me. When she arrived, she clicked her heels on the floor impatiently to get my attention.
“Hi, Jaina,” I said, forcing a smile. I’d never cared much for her—she was so hell-bent on turning the column into a serious scandal-breaking thing, when in reality it was just a little college thing that people did for extra credit and experience. No one on campus who read it took it that seriously, and that was fine.
But not to Jaina.
“I need you to do something for me,” she said, not bothering with any small talk.
“Yes? I’m nearly done with the article about our football team.”
She waved her hand impatiently. “Forget that. Scrap it.”
I raised a brow. “What? Why?”
She smiled and leaned closer. “There’s another story I’ve been mulling over for a while now. A little bird tells me you work for Jacob Baldwin. Is that right?”
“How did you know that?” I asked, wondering who had told her.
“I saw you the other week at the aquarium with him and some kid. My apartment is near it, so I go jogging around there sometimes,” Jaina said. “And I just heard from Leah that you were a nanny for someone, so I put two and two together.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway,” she went on. “He’s basically the most famous guy in our city, and he’s been all over the media lately with all that insider trading accusation stuff. Who knows whether that’s true or not…”
I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat. I didn’t like hearing about or talking about this stuff. I knew of the troubles Jacob was having with the SEC auditing his company at the moment, but I also knew it was all bullcrap. He would never do anything wrong. People were obviously targeting him because he was so rich and famous, and they were just jealous.
“What about it?” I asked.
“Well, you know him and work with him. So I want you to write an article about the whole thing, and maybe see if he’ll give you some quotes. He’s barely spoken about it in the media—at least in print—because he seems to be choosing the whole ‘stay quiet and hope it blows over’ strategy, so it would be a real ‘get’ for our column if you got a little interview with him.”
I sighed. “I don’t know about that, Jaina.”
She sighed impatiently. “Just try, at least. I think it could elevate us from a silly little college rag to a publication everyone takes seriously. College or not.”
“Okay,” I said in a small voice, wondering how I was going to get out of this. I liked my position at the university column, and I didn’t want to lose it, but there was no way I was going to write about Jacob.
I’d figure out a way to get out of it somehow.
My cell phone rang next to my laptop, and I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing an opportunity to cut the conversation with Jaina short.
“Sorry, I better get this,” I said. She smiled and stayed at my desk to inspect her nails as I grabbed my phone and ducked into the bathroom to take the call.
“Hello, Vanessa. It’s me.”
I froze at the sound of my father’s voice and said nothing.
“Sorry to call you like this again. I know you aren’t interested in hearing from me. You’ve made that quite clear,” he went on. “Anyway, I…”
“Do you know someone called Damon Schwartz?” I blurted out suddenly, still wondering if he was the one teaming up with the SEC asshole to smear Jacob’s name by spreading rumors about our private relationship.
“What?”
“Damon Schwartz. Do you know him?”
“I…I’m not sure who that is. Why?” my father said, sounding very confused. I couldn’t quite tell if he was telling the truth. Obviously I couldn’t see him as this was a phone conversation, and that made it difficult.
“Never mind,” I muttered.
“I just called to see if you’d made a decision yet. About coming to one of my shows,” he said. “There’s a big one tomorrow night. I know I’m being very pushy, sweetie, but I’m just so keen to show you how much I’ve changed. I want you to be proud of me, Vanessa. It means a lot to me to know I can possibly right the wrongs I’ve committed in my past.”
“I…”
I was about to say no, but then I realized that it could help Jacob if I went. If I saw my father face-to-face, I’d be able to ask him about the Damon Schwartz thing again, and I’d be better equipped to see if he was lying or not. Of course, I’d tell Jacob all about it and get his permission, and he’d no doubt want to accompany me to protect me. That made me feel all warm and safe; like I could do anything. Even if my father hadn’t really changed, he couldn’t hurt me as long as Jacob was by my side, watching out for me.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll come.”
“You will? That’s fantastic news, Vanessa. Thank you. You won’t regret it,” my father replied. “I’ll add your name to the door list with a plus one. No ticket payment necessary, of course.”
I ended the call and went back into the office to get my laptop. It was time to head home—after the harrowing call with my father just now, I needed to do something to get my mind off it. Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was just past twelve. Tommy was at school, and I didn’t have another class here on campus till four o’clock. That gave me plenty of time…as long as Jacob was available.
I called him from the hands-free set in my new car as I drove. “Hi, Daddy Jacob,” I said flirtatiously.
He chuckled. “Hi. What are you up to?”
“Heading home from campus for a while. Where are you?”
“I’m actually home as well,” he replied. “Greg and I decided to have lunch here today. He’s still here.”
“Oh, Greg as in your deputy CEO?”
“That’s the one. You’ll have to meet him when you get here,” Jacob said. “Anyway, why did you want to know where I was?”
“I have something to talk to you about,” I replied. “And I was also hoping I could see you for...another reason.”
“Naughty girl,” he said in a teasing tone. “Well, I still have a while before I need to go back to the office, and Greg will be leaving soon. So I’ll be here waiting…”