“Dax! What are you doing here?”
Jennifer had nearly collided with Dax on her way out of the bar and he shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s just been a while since I’ve seen you. I don’t know… I guess I just wanted to see how you’re doing. Everything going okay?”
For some reason, the sincerity in his deep brown eyes nearly made Jennifer cry. She had been getting more and more hormonal by the day and she had been missing him more than she would care to admit. Seeing him made it all worse.
“I’m fine,” she lied. “Everything’s great.”
“You look sick,” Dax said, peering at her from across the bar. “Are you drinking enough water?”
“I’m just a little nauseated, it’s no big deal. I mean, I work in this dive, so…”
Dax studied her, but there was no way of telling whether he was buying her story.
“I wanted to apologize for not keeping in touch,” he said, avoiding the subject of Jennifer’s health, much to her relief.
“You don’t have to apologize. I get it. Work stuff.”
“Yeah,” Dax agreed. “Work stuff.”
They stood there awkwardly, looking at each other, neither of them seeming to know what to say.
“I’m going to take off then,” Dax said. “Good night.”
“Bye,” Jennifer said quietly, watching him as he disappeared.
Somehow, even though she had been longing to see him, actually seeing him seemed to make everything that much worse. It was as if she’d just driven into a fog and a deep depression and loneliness settled over her.
“Hey, Dax! Good to see you, man!”
“Vince.”
Dax left without even laying eyes on the man, who was with a friend. Once Dax was out of earshot, they both began to laugh quietly, snickering unkindly as if they were making fun of him. Jennifer didn’t like it, not even a little bit. Even if she had never heard a thing about Vince from Dax, she would have been put off.
“He’s such a jerk,” Vince’s buddy said under his breath. “I bet you’re showing him.”
“You have no idea,” Vince said. “Mark my words, Billy, if I don’t end up on the Board of Directors, it’s not going to have anything to do with my qualifications. It’ll be because that dumb asshole managed to show off his eight months of sobriety badge to the right person.”
They both dissolved into laughter and Jennifer prickled. They were talking about Dax as if he were some kind of useless alcoholic. She had a feeling Vince would say anything he had to in order to convince himself the people he as screwing over deserved it. It was a dangerous game he was playing.
The men settled down at the bar and Jen did her best to greet them noncommittally. They ordered their drinks and she cheerfully got them for the men, feeling all the while like a traitor. Still, she didn’t want them to know that she didn’t like them. If she did, they might not speak quite so freely with each other.
“Really though, what’s the plan?” Billy asked, eyeing Vince with a cold smile. “How are you gonna make sure it works out the way you want it to? They’re considering him for a reason, you know. It’s hard to be a single parent and do what we do, but he still manages to do both.”
“Barely!” Vince scoffed. “I probably won’t need a backup plan, but if I do, I wouldn’t worry too much about it because I’ve already prepared everything.”
“What do you mean?” Billy asked. “We have to take this guy down. He stole my job. I need to make sure you know exactly what you’re doing.”
“Technically, the elders fired you because you couldn’t quit stealing from the supply room, but I get what you’re saying. He took your job and once he’s out of there for good, then you’ll get your job back. I told you not to worry, I have a plan.”
Billy slammed the counter hard enough to make Jen jump. She had been on edge the past few weeks, especially with the baby growing so rapidly. Soon she was afraid it would be almost impossible to hide her pregnancy. She wished she could tell them to knock off the loud and sudden noises. She didn’t want the stress to hurt the baby.
“I need to know it’s foolproof! I’m struggling out there! Do you know how shitty it is to be stuck working the mines? Blaine doesn’t give a rat’s ass about us. He’ll work us to the bone if he thinks that will help him find his precious portals.”
“I’m working on it, man,” Vince exclaimed. “Shit. Take it easy.”
“Tell me your plan,” Billy demanded. “I’m not accepting any less than fucking perfect here. You got me?”
Their voices were hushed again, and although she pretended like she couldn’t hear what they were talking about, she could hear every word. The baby within her stirred as if it, too, could sense the danger being raised up against its father. She would do anything to protect him.
“Well, to start out with, I already took the paper he needs for his evaluation. They won’t even see him if he doesn’t present it to them. It’s the seal, you know. Official proof that he was being considered for an honorable position within the company. It’s a ceremonial thing. Without it, they’ll throw his ass out and laugh him out of the building.”
Billy grinned. “I like it. What else?”
“Now this is where it gets kind of brilliant,” Vince said, leaning forward and lowering his voice. “I put this bug on his computer so I can see everything he’s working on. Everything he’s planning on presenting to the elders in the conference, I can present first. They go in alphabetical order for most things and by the time it’s his turn to speak, he’s going to be too flustered to do a damn thing.”
“That’s evil man,” Billy said, a high laugh escaping his lips. “And nobody knows about it?”
“It’s untraceable. Even if someone went to the board right now and told them about it they would have no proof. I have a few connections in Stonybrooke. Those guys will do just about anything for a few of the crystals you found.”
“I guess being stuck in the mines isn’t all bad,” Billy said with a grin. “The crystals make great currency.”
“You don’t even want to know what they think they’re gonna do with them,” Vince said, chuckling. “Anyway, they worked it out so nobody would ever know what happened, and Dax has been so damn wrapped up in that brat of his he won’t even know the difference. He’ll think it was his own damn fault he lost the seal and I already have my presentation ready to go. The only thing left will be to impress the elders by having the perfect fucking family, and I’ve already got that covered. Dax is toast.”
“Cheers!” Billy exclaimed, throwing his head back and laughing as he clinked his glass against Vince’s. “A round for everybody! On me!”
Jennifer nodded, seething inside as she filled up a pitcher of beer and placed it on the counter. They were really going to fuck Dax over, and the worst part about it was, there was no possible way for her to stop it.