Chapter 26
Claire
“What are you doing about all this?!” I nearly shouted the words at Bianca when I stormed into her minimalistic Madison Avenue office. Bianca's secretary was in tow, she was threatening to call security.
Go right ahead.
I was allowed to see Maynard briefly in Central Booking right after his arraignment. For some vindictive reason the judge denied bail for Maynard. So after a sweet kiss and him telling me not to worry, he was quickly whisked off to Rikers Island to wait for his court date.
I was a wreck for weeks. The more research I did about that prison the sicker I became. It was commonly described as one of the worst places in the country. Each time I talked to him he refused to let me visit. The whole thing was so horrible.
Where was Bianca in all this?
Aside from a brief and extremely dismissive conversation I had with Maynard's sister the day he was arrested, Bianca's schedule had been 'too full' to see me. Three months later and she was still ‘too busy’! It was insane!
I was done waiting.
She would see me today even if I had to be removed from the building because of it. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I really didn't want to be here. Bianca was such a powerful, intimidating woman. She'd achieved so much in her short career. Who was I to barge in on her?
The mother of Maynard's child, that's who.
Bianca was on the phone when I entered the room. My false bravado wilted when Bianca glanced at me then scowled at her secretary. The woman behind me froze until Bianca dismissed her, then she gestured for me to sit in one of the room's uncomfortable chairs. Maynard's office was so much warmer in theme and tone, whereas Bianca's was one gastrointestinal system poster away from being a doctor's office.
Bianca looked me over with a clinical gaze, her eyes lingered on my stomach. Content with whatever she saw, Bianca turned her chair away from me and continued her phone call.
It was a mid-July heatwave and I wore a tent-y tank-style dress and large breezy hat. I had just hit the six-month mark and wasn't exactly trying to hide anything anymore. Maynard's stripper baby mama scandal had broken in the tabloids the previous month.
All the looks I received from strangers made me feel awful. I hated knowing that so many people had these horrible opinions of me. Every time I stepped outside I felt judged. Being in the limelight was torture. How did Maynard tolerate this?
This last month at college had been particularly hellish. For as much as I wanted to curl up under a blanket and hide in my apartment, I couldn't until my final exams were over. My grades had slipped throughout this circus that was my life, but I checked online and saw that I had passed everything. I had hoped to maintain the Dean's list all the way to the end but that was impossible.
It was all finally over. I was a college graduate now.
One trendy classmate had the gall to ask me if my boyfriend bought my grades for me. I blew her off but I took her comment home with me. There was no truth in it; I earned that diploma. It still cheapened everything I worked so hard for. I could only hope that employers didn't think the same way that girl in my class did.
Several long minutes later Bianca hung up her phone and turned back to me. You'd never know that she was no longer a CEO to look at her. Bianca was technically unemployed but still looked every bit the professional in her pencil skirt and matching two-button jacket.
“Doing about what, dear?” Bianca asked. “The part where my emotional brother pummeled a man half to death in a room with nearly two dozen witnesses? Or the part where the judge, who is obviously a friend of the Milspoor family, has suddenly taken a hard stance against the favorable biases the one-percenters receive through the legal system?”
“You make it sound like you're not New York royalty.”
“We might have been that once, while my parents were still alive, and Maynard was too young to take up residence on every front page in the city.” Bianca stood up and straightened her dress. She pressed the intercom button for her secretary. “Tea. Two cups.”
“You're still a billionaire for fuck's sake.” I was nearly shaking because of her cavalier attitude about the whole thing, and also because I was so nervous. I felt like I was over my head but I pressed on anyway. “Get him out of there!”
“After the reckless course he's been on it might do him good to cool his heels for a few months.”
Maynard was her brother, did she really not care what was happening to him?
“Cool his heels? Maynard isn't in a day spa or on a holiday; he's in a prison!”
“I am well aware of my brother's current location.” Bianca's tone took on a harder edge and her eyes narrowed. She made it clear that she wasn't the kind of woman that got screamed at.
I froze in place and started to sweat. Was I really yelling at the most powerful woman in New York? I was twenty-four weeks along, could I blame the baby yet for my temporary insanity?
In the tense silence that followed, the secretary came in quietly, and set a tray down on a side table that looked to be designed for only that function. The woman poured two cups of tea and laid out a variety of sweeteners and creams on the small table. I'd noticed that those additions were only brought for my benefit. Bianca's tea was black and untainted when it was brought to her.
Mine was left on the table. I wasn't important enough to get it handed to me. That's fine, I thought, defiantly. I was a coffee girl anyway. That, and I was too scared to move under Bianca's glare.
Bianca turned back toward the window and tasted her tea. For a woman who was always so busy, she wasn't in any rush now to finish this conversation. Every move she made and every lengthy silence that went unfilled reminded me where I was. This was her house and I was here at her leisure.
“I understand that you're worried,” Bianca said. “What's being done to him is unfair. But trust me when I tell you that I am doing everything I can to expedite his situation.”
“Tell me what you’re doing.” I didn't want to be placated. I needed to know that Maynard was really being helped. I swallowed hard and found the courage to press on. He'd have done that for me without a second thought. “You know that I'm pregnant. Maynard is a part of my life forever now. I'm not going to conveniently disappear.”
At least I hoped I wasn't!
No, Bianca always terrified me, but not for those reasons. I honestly didn't know if I would be able to confront her like this. I must have made a hundred excuses why I shouldn't on the ride here alone. She was just a hard woman to be around and she had a way of dominating every situation she was in.
I guess Maynard was the same way, well, not the exact same way. Maynard was more sexually dominant. I felt my temperature rise and my stomach tense at the memory of his touch. I thought I'd be able to deal with not having sex considering my dry spell before and after Chance, but I was seriously aching for Maynard.
The most frustrating part was that we had gotten back together. We were hours away from— I had to shake my head to clear the scorching image of beads of sweat trailing down his muscled torso.
“Our team of lawyers have worked out a plea deal for Maynard. He will be fined, and given one year of probation.” Bianca faced me again and raised an eyebrow.
I stood there for a long moment feeling indecisive. What now? I hadn't gotten this far in my head. I figured that it would be more difficult to get answers out of Bianca or at the very least the conversation would last a little longer.
“Good.” I said, picking up my tea and taking a sip. If she could drink it black then so could I. She was beginning to take me seriously, that made me swell with a little pride. I was able to get something I wanted out of the icy witch—
Oh, god! So bitter! I casually turned my back to her and then let my face scrunch up from the taste of the tea. How did she drink it like this? I added what must have been four tablespoons of honey and turned back around as if nothing had happened.
“Good,” I repeated, trying to fill that damn chilling silence.
“Did you think I was keeping this information from you out of spite?”
“What?” The question caught me off guard. I breathed in a sip of the hot tea by accident and coughed.
“I was going to see you once everything was finalized.” She let the sharpness slip from her voice. “I remember my college finals being very stressful. I didn't want to distract you from your studies.”
I didn't have any reason to believe she was lying, it just felt odd hearing her try to relate to me. What could a billionaire heiress and I possibly have in common?
“Too late for that.” I took another sip to wash down my rough, suddenly dry, throat.
“Apparently.” She frowned, then sighed with a hint of disgust in her voice. “People can be cruel for cruelty’s sake. You graduated, yes?”
“Yeah. The ceremony is coming up but I'm not going.” I still needed to find a way to break that to my parents. My father, in particular, was looking forward to it because I'm the first Tremont to graduate college.
“You're not going?”
“No, thank you. I'm all set with public appearances for a while. I'm not looking for work as a punching bag.” The thought of all the hushed tones, snide comments, and sidelong glances made me shiver. I didn't care how form concealing that black gown was.
“You should go.” Bianca walked closer to me.
“Why?” And why did Bianca all of a sudden care about any of this? This was a woman who seemed to barely tolerate me. I could probably count on one hand the times we had spoken to each other directly.
“Because we are not defined by the opinions of others, only by our own actions. I would never have become CEO of a multi-billion dollar company if I had allowed myself to be dissuaded by my contemporaries. You are entitled to that stage and those accolades just as much as anyone else.”
It wasn't just the words that had the impact on me. I didn't know if it was the way she said them, or just the fact that she was the one saying them, but I was stunned. She was right, I did bust my ass in high school and college to get to this point. It was a big deal. I didn't know how to respond to that unexpected encouragement and fortunately I didn't have to.
“Your five o'clock appointment is here, Ms. Cooper,” the secretary's voice rang out over the intercom speaker. Bianca checked her watch but otherwise ignored the notification.
“I don't dislike you, Claire.” Bianca must have seen the shock and awe all over my face because that prompted her to clarify. “Quite the opposite in fact. I think you are just what Maynard needs.”
“More than that actually.” She cocked her head ever so slightly as if forcing herself to speak more freely. This was unfamiliar territory for her. “You stayed in your apartment and finished school when it would have been far easier to simply run off with Maynard and live in a wealthy insulated fairytale. I admire your dedication to your ideals.”
Bianca was cold, ruthless, intelligent, and did whatever it took to accomplish her goals. However, beneath all that, I’d come to find out that she actually was a good person. Hard around the edges and... slightly less hard on the inside. My parents would love Bianca.
“Uh… Thank you. That means a lot.”
Bianca bowed her head slightly and opened the door for me to leave.
“Don't worry, Maynard and I have a plan. I will be in touch.” She promised.
And I believed her. I arrived angry and afraid, and I left respecting her so much more. Despite her utter lack of social niceties Bianca really was inspiring. It was completely crazy, but talking to her made me think that we might all pull through this. For the first time in months everything didn't feel completely hopeless.
All those good feelings wouldn't last long, nothing could've prepared me for what came next...