“I’m very, very disappointed with you, Penny,” my mother says, rubbing her temples. I purse my lips, staring at her image on my laptop, and then Laurel joins the chorus.
“Very disappointed, Penny,” she repeats after my mother, a small square with her picture popping up next to my mom’s. “This is not what we agreed on.”
Sunday night and here I am, sitting in front of my laptop and being grilled by my mother, the editor in the chief of the NY Daily Journal, and the New York City mayor. This is not how I expected to finish off the weekend.
“Look, I’ve just started this investigation and, besides --”
“What the hell are you talking about Penny?” my mother cuts me short and leans into her computer, her face appearing on my laptop like a bad dream. “Have you even read the article you wrote? You were supposed to destroy him, not help him build up his savior image!”
“All I tried to do was be fair and balanced, mom. That’s what a good reporter should do, right? Look for the truth?” I say, getting the words in before my mother continues with her diatribe. I can’t believe they’re this pissed with me because of the article I wrote. What were they expecting me to do? Smear Magnus just because they have a grudge against him? I’d never stoop that low. I accepted this job because I thought that, yes, Magnus needed to be knocked off his pedestal, but I never thought of achieving that by sacrificing the truth.
That’s just not me.
“The truth?” Laurel asks me before my mother can reply, her voice soothing, but not enough to hide how angry she really is. “Penny, you’re still a young woman … I know you hold all these ideals of justice and fairness, but that’s not how the real world works. And I can assure you that’s not how Magnus works either.”
“I don’t think I’m as naive as you think. I’m capable of making my own conclusions, and I stand by the article I wrote. You asked me to do this job, and I accepted it because I thought you wanted the truth… I’d never say yes if I realized this is a personal vendetta.” God, I can’t believe I’m talking to the freaking mayor like this. I really am getting more and more pissed off by the minute.
“Magnus is playing the whole city, and now he has played you as well,” Laurel tells me, and this time there’s nothing soothing about her voice. She’s a Trask alright; I can imagine her dominating a conference table full of politicians and billionaires with just a few words.
“How can you say he’s playing the whole city? I might not know much about him yet, but don’t you think you’re jumping the gun?”
“Penny, dear,” my mother jumps back into the conversation, perhaps feeling the tension rising between Laurel and I. “If there’s anyone in here qualified to talk about Magnus, that’s me… And listen to me when I tell you, he’s not what he seems. That man doesn’t care about anyone or anything, and you’d do well to keep that in mind.”
I take her words silently, trying to reconcile the image of Magnus I hold in my mind. Are they right? Is Magnus playing me, and the whole city? From what I’ve ever heard about him, that’d make sense … But after having dinner with him, after sharing a night with him, I find it hard to believe we’re talking about the same man.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell them both coldly, the words coming out of my mouth harsher than I expected. “But I won’t lie about him without a valid reason.”
“No one in here is asking you to lie, Penny,” Laurel says, and something in the way she pronounces her words sets me off.
“It sure seems like it. Because I’m doing my job and duty as a journalist, and all the two of you seem to care about is how much dirt I can sling at Magnus!” By the time I finish speaking, I realize that I’m leaning so much into my laptop that my nose is almost touching the webcam. My hands are balled into fists, and I’m breathing hard already.
“Watch your tone, young lady,” Laurel whispers, her eyes cold and shark-like. “We’ve given you a chance to play in the big leagues. You’d do well to pay attention and do your job like you were instructed or --”
“I was instructed to be a reporter, not your errand girl,” I say into the phone. “Sorry if that goes against your plans.”
“It’s not just me you’re crossing, little girl,” Laurel hisses and it strikes me as odd that when I hear the words ‘little girl’ from her it makes me shiver as opposed to when I hear it from Magnus.
“There are some powerful people who are funding my campaign for Governor that want Magnus out. They won’t be happy till he’s out. And they won’t be happy when some little girl from the Upper East Side decides to say no to them,” she finished.
“Or what? There’s only one way to do my job, and that way is the right way.” I hiss through my gritted teeth and, without waiting for a reply from either Laurel or my mother, I slam down my laptop’s lid.
I take a few deep breaths, staring down at my laptop as if it could explode at any minute, and then I let the realization of what I just did start to sink in. I just hung up on my mother and on the mayor. Jesus, what has gotten into me? I’m not the kind of girl that gets all worked up for nothing. But I guess this whole situation doesn’t fit the nothing category, huh?
I know what you’re thinking. I’ve just went on and on about my job and duty as a journalist, and I did all that after fucking the man I’m supposed to be investigating. If you think that makes me a hypocrite, well… There’s nothing I can do about that, is there? But I hope that, at the very least, you make an effort to understand.
It’s one thing to read about Magnus Davion, but it’s a whole new ball game when you experience him. More than a man, he’s a force of nature.
I knew that the moment I first laid eyes on him, back when I was only a wide-eyed 18-year-old. I was just a young girl back then, but I already felt that deep animal attraction, that magnetism that just draws you further and further in until you no longer know the way back.
Just a stupid fantasy, I lied to myself when I accepted this assignment, trying to box the lust I felt for him as a teenage crush on an older man. But when I saw him at the gala, I have to admit: I felt that fire in my belly again, that burning need to have his body pressed against mine taking me over... and so I just said yes when he asked me out.
We were supposed to have dinner and ‘reconnect’, whatever that means, but five minutes into the dinner and I knew how the night would end. And I was right. Yeah, yeah, I know… I kinda provoked it, but so what? It’s not like it’s going to happen again.
Did I enjoy it? Yup. Was it the best sex of my life? You can bet it was. But all that doesn’t mean I’ll allow myself to be dragged into a forbidden relationship. He’s my stepfather, after all. I haven’t forgotten about that.
The way I see it, that night with Magnus was just a one time thing. And now that I’ve scratched that itch, I can focus on the task at hand and—wait, did you hear that? Someone’s knocking at the door.
I place my laptop on the coffee table in front of me and get up from the couch; I make my way toward the door, stretching my arms as I go. Who the hell can it be this late? I don’t think Laurel’s pissed enough to drive all the way to my apartment. At least I hope not. My mother might be, though. That woman loves to fight as much as she loves her Louis Vuitton bags.
I open the door, sighing and waiting to see my mother standing in the doorway. But she isn’t there; it’s someone else entirely.
“Busy?” Magnus asks me, taking one step toward me and placing one arm around my waist. He pulls me into him and, without waiting for a reply, leans in and crushes his lips on mine.
Remember when I told you that what happened between Magnus and I was just a one-time thing?
I think I might have lied.
Penny