Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lilah
As I walked out of Asher's office, my throat began tightening up. The sting of tears threatened the corners of my eyes. I rarely cried, but after this, after everything that had happened, it just felt as if things had reached a tipping point and everything had just come crashing down. Facing Asher had been much harder than I'd imagined it would be. I just needed to be alone and my office was locked.
I walked as fast as I could, without drawing attention to myself from other people on the floor, and headed straight to the women's bathroom. Thankfully, it was unoccupied, so I went into one of the stalls and locked the door.
I gave myself a minute or two to let the tears and emotions out, and boy, did they come out. I sobbed and sniffed, and the tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my blouse and skirt. Thankfully, I’d worn a dark outfit, so the tearstains weren’t noticeable. It was one my favorite “power suits” and I’d chosen it specifically because I'd suspected that a confrontation with Asher was in the cards.
After I had finished crying, I stood and dried my eyes and cheeks. I was about to exit the stall when my phone buzzed in my bag. I took it out to see who the message was from. I was from Meg.
Hey, Lilah! Happy Monday! How has the start of your week been? You still need to tell me all about Friday night!
I typed out a quick reply.
Hi, Meg. It's not going well at all. Have a minute to talk?
Almost as soon as the message had been read, my phone started to ring.
“Hey, Meg.”
“Hey! What's wrong, Lilipop. Are you all right?”
“Not really. It's been a hell of a Monday morning already.”
“Wow! You’ve been at work 15 minutes. What happened?”
“Asher confronted me about Friday night,” I explained.
“Umm, how did he know?”
“I figured you might have seen it, but there was a huge glowing picture of me and Brendan on the social page of The Times Saturday.”
“Ohhhhhh,” she let out.
“Yeah. So, we got into it and I kind of told him that Brendan was interested in me not just professionally, but also romantically.”
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed. “You have not one but two billionaires lusting after both your body and your genius brain?! Wait. Sorry. I know on the surface it would seem like every girl's dream, but I can totally see how this can be pretty overwhelming to deal with. So, what happened on Friday night after the restaurant? Brendan wanted to take you back to his mansion, didn't he?”
“He did.”
“Oh my God, and did you let him?!”
“No!”
“Thank God. Did you let him kiss you goodnight?”
“Nope. I didn't even let him give me a peck on the cheek. Even that would have felt like I was cheating on Asher. Not that Asher and I are together. Although, it feels like we are. Ugh! You know what I mean! Anyway, I told you already, my interest in Brendan was strictly professional.”
“But, you knew from the start that his interest wasn't strictly professional, didn’t ya?”
“Yeah, and I feel bad about that. But I really wanted to see what kind of job offer he would make me.”
“And, what kind of offer did he make?”
“A very tempting one, I'll say that much. He's offered me a higher salary than Asher pays me, a corner office with a killer view, bonuses, and shares in his company, and a company car—a luxury vehicle from his friend's dealership.”
“Wow. That does sound tempting.”
“It is. But the truth is, I really love working here. That has nothing to do with my personal feelings for Asher. I mean that on a strictly professional level. The camaraderie here is fantastic, the team is inspiring and passionate, there’s no backstabbing, and Asher is a brilliant leader. I feel like I could really grow and develop here and build a stellar career for myself.”
“Well, here's what I think you should do. Go and talk to Asher. Tell him exactly what Brendan has offered you. Leave out the romantic interest bit, obviously, keep it professional. But tell him that this is what's waiting for you. See if he makes a counter-offer to keep you in his company.
“I mean, yes, you love the environment there, and you're working with a great team, but it sounds like Savage would be bumping you a few rungs up the ladder. More than you could achieve even after a few years at Sinclair.
“Just keep it as professional as you can. Don't let your feelings for Asher—or his feelings for you—get in the way.”
“You're right. You're exactly right. That's exactly what I'm going to do. Thanks, Megs. I'm so glad I can always count on you. You rock.”
“Yes, yes I do!” she chided. “Anything for my best friend. Now, go! You walk right in there and let Asher know what's what.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks again! Bye.”
“And, call me later. Bye.”
I put my phone away, exited the stall, and went straight to the mirror to clean up my face and touch-up my makeup.
“All right, Lilah,” I said to my reflection in the mirror, “you can do this. You can do this!”
I marched out of the restroom and headed straight to Asher's office. I knocked on the door and stood tapping my foot impatiently outside.
“Come in,” his voice echoed through the door.
I flung open the door and strode in with confidence.
“Lilah,” he stated, sounding and looking surprised and a little nervous. “Did you come back for the key?”
I closed the door behind me, marched straight up to his desk, sat down, and explained in clear terms everything Brendan Savage had offered me. I also told him that I loved working at Sinclair, but that, as any reasonable person could understand, Savage's offer was beyond tempting. I informed him that he'd need to make some concessions to keep me at Sinclair.
He sat in silence for a while after I'd explained everything to him, simply nodding with his hands clasped together on his desk. I could see that he was contemplating everything I'd just told him. Eventually, he spoke.
“Very well,” he said. “I'll match Savage's offer, term for term, to keep you here. With exception of the corner office, as that would mean displacing someone who has been here far longer than you. I hope you understand that I can't and won’t do that. Talent is important, but so is seniority. I'm not going to sell someone out who has been loyal to this company for years just to appease the demands of someone who has just arrived.”
I nodded. “I can understand that and I wouldn’t want you to. I'll stay then.”
“Good. We need you here.”
“I know you do.”
He chuckled. “Don't get too big for your boots now, Lilah. You're extremely talented, but it's still early. A lot of people get burned out in this line of work. Your streak of genius might not last forever.”
“Well, it's burning brightly now, and I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible.”
“I hope you do. Well, now that we've cleared everything up, is there anything else you'd like?”
“Yes, there is one more thing.”
“Name it.”
“The relationship between you and I . . . I know we’ve had this talk before, but it’s just too much to navigate while trying to balance with work. We're going to have to keep things strictly professional. And before you ask, no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Savage. I have no romantic interest in that man whatsoever. But I'm here for the sake of my career, and my career is always going to come first. Always. Can you understand?”
I recognized a flicker of pain concealed beneath his calm expression. It was the same pain I felt twisting my insides like the blade of a rusty knife. This was how it had to be, though.
“I understand. Strictly professional,” he said in a wounded, soft voice.
“All right then. If you’d be so kind as to give me the key, I’ll return it at the meeting later.”
Asher handed over the key, I turned on my heels and left, with my mouth dry and my heart pounding.
It was done.
***
The rest of my day had been nonstop meetings and conference calls with Paris. I was glad to be home and looking forward to unwinding. I had just stepped out of the shower when my phone buzzed. I figured it would be Meg since I had promised I’d call her to fill her in on how everything had gone. I wrapped a towel around myself and picked it up. On cue, it was her. I opened the message and read it.
You guys at Sinclair are in hot water, Lilah. Do you know anything about this??
Attached to the message was a link to a blog post which I opened immediately. The title hit me like an uppercut to the chin.
“Sinclair Agency Posts Transphobic Tweet and Sets off Twitter Storm!”
What the hell? That wasn’t what I was expecting. It was bad, really bad. I typed out a quick response to Meg.
Thanks for the heads up. I do NOT know anything about this, but I suspect Brendan Savage might—and I intend to find out exactly who is behind this. Looks like I’m going to have to fill you in later. I have a phone call to make.