Let Her Get There on Her Own
(Liam)
“I wish we could’ve stayed longer,” Darcy says, nestling her head against my shoulder.
We’re sitting on my private jet, having just taken off on our way back to New York. As soon as we were in the air, we take off our seat belts and moved to the sofa I just had installed at the rear of the plane. Before now, the jet’s only been used for business, although it does have a bedroom. Now that I see Darcy being a permanent part of my life, I’ve had it reconfigured for more personal journeys.
We only had one night in Paris, before she had to hurry back to work for an important meeting. I should be hurrying back too, but work no longer holds me captive the way it used to. Not now that I have Darcy.
“We’ll come back. Next weekend, if you want.”
She laughs and the sound blankets me with happiness. Real, actual fucking happiness. Something foreign to me. Sure, money makes me happy, but that’s just a game. Darcy is real happiness.
I’m still shocked at myself for telling Darcy that I love her. It was easy enough to do in French, when I knew she didn’t know what I was saying, but telling her the words in English was harder. I let the moment help force them out. Because I needed to tell her, but they’re three words I’ve never told anyone before.
They’re also three words that leave me open to pain. Perhaps I should put a second bodyguard on her, to help Chase. Nothing can ever happen to her because of me.
“I don’t know. I might be too busy,” she says, running her hand down my side.
“Why would you possibly be too busy for Paris? And don’t say Timothy. You need to get out of that company and away from your father.”
“Actually, I had a call from a headhunter yesterday.”
“Great, that’s perfect. When’s the interview?”
Darcy opens her mouth and hesitates. I don’t like it. She should be jumping at the chance to get away from Timothy’s bullshit.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if I should consider it.”
“Why not?” I press.
“Because it’s for Elite Exhibitions, our main competitor, and it would be a slap in the face to my father. No, forget that. It would be a punch in the face with a sledgehammer.”
“It would be exactly what he deserves,” I say, my lips tight.
She uses her hand that’s on my chest to push herself up and away from me.
“How can you say that? He’s my father.”
“He treats you like shit.”
“He’s still my dad.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know. But the way he treats you infuriates me. You have a chance to make it all end, and you should jump at it.”
“I really do want to leave Knight Global Events, but I hadn’t considered going to a competitor. I figured I’d go to a completely different industry.”
“Why? So you could use wanting to work in a new industry as an excuse for leaving? Instead of the real reason of wanting to be treated with basic respect?” My voice is sharp, and she visibly recoils.
Darcy remains quiet, her neck and jaw tense. Will she shift her anger onto me? She needs to see the situation for what it is. Timothy’s a dick and treats her like shit, I don’t care if he is her father, no one is going to treat her that way while I’m around.
“I don’t want him to hate me. I still want to have a relationship with him after I leave. What I’m hoping is our relationship will be better when we don’t work together.”
“What was it like before you started working there?”
“I don’t know. I started part time when I was a teenager. He’s going to freak. I’ve been there so long.”
“You mean you’ve been under his control for so long.”
She sighs. “I don’t know. I guess.”
The conversation’s made me more determined than ever to get her away from the poisonous environment she works in. And a large part of me wants to punish Timothy for treating her the way he does.
“Look, he might be upset when you first leave, but it won’t last. He’ll realize it’s his fault, and that his actions are what pushed you away.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’ll make sure of it.”
Becky, my new sixty-year-old flight attendant, brings us dinner. I reassigned my last one, the young, perky blonde one whose name I don’t remember, because I have Darcy now.
She’s holding two plates of coq au vin — cooked on the ground by the best personal chef in Paris and reheated by her, chicken baked in a light broth with mushrooms, and one of my must eats when I visit Paris.
Darcy settles back into the sofa beside me, and I raise up the coffee table to a comfortable height for eating. I love the way all airplane furniture converts to what you need to do at the time.
Becky places a plate in front of each of us, and hurries away to get us drinks. She returns with an expensive bottle of white wine in an ice bucket, and two white wine glasses.
“Thanks, Becky. I’ll open it.”
“Yes, sir. Just push the button when you want me again,” she says, and disappears into the back of the jet.
We eat in silence at first. I want Darcy to chew over what she’s thinking. To come to her own conclusion about going to the competition. If she still hasn’t decided that by the end of dinner, I’ll convince her.
As we eat, we discuss the interior design show, the global events market, and the biggest growing new sectors. Our conversation moves onto the broader economy, both domestically and globally.
I could discuss this shit with her all day. Darcy’s more insightful than ninety percent of my CEOs, and I know she has a lot to contribute to my empire.
Although the more time I spend with her, the less I want to work. And the less I want her to work too. I want to buy a private island in the Caribbean, and take her there and neither of us thinks about work again.
Except I know neither of us could ever turn off completely. Our minds need to be active. Still, it’s nice to imagine Darcy naked and laid out on the beach.
Our food is long finished. We’re working our way through a second bottle of wine. A pink plate with colorful pink, purple and green macaroons from Café Pouchkine is beside it, tempting us.
“I’ve been thinking,” Darcy says, changing the subject.
“About the job?”
“Yeah, I think I should go for it. I mean, it’s my life, right? I can’t pass up an opportunity like this. Being CEO of a company three times the size of my father’s company would be such an accomplishment.”
“Don’t forget a challenge. Think of all the changes you could implicate. You could run things the way you want and see the results of your ideas.”
“That’s true, it would feel amazing to be able to act on my ideas instead of having to spend all my time trying to convince my father they’re good ones.”
I put my arm around her, and kiss her silky hair. The tension in my back lessens, knowing I’ve succeeded in getting her out of that horrible environment, and that she’s going to a place she deserves.
“You’re going to be so much happier,” I say.
“Well, it’s just an interview. I don’t have the job yet.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it. You’re clearly the best for the job.”
She looks at me and smiles, her blue eyes shining, and my pulse races, confirming everything I told her on top of the Eiffel Tower.
When I walked into the Fat Kok and saw Timothy Knight standing there, I never once anticipated things to turn out the way they have. I only thought I’d have an evening of sizing him up without him knowing, and maybe get some inside information on his company while I was at it.