Kevin
Hull is in a black mood. He isn’t my favorite person as it is – he always looks like he has something on his mind and he doesn’t waste his time with bullshit unless it benefits him in some way. But this, this is different.
He is ready to pull the plug on the funding, and that will pull the plug on my entire company.
“I don’t see why we should stay on board with this,” he says. Two of the other investors are there, too, but they shrink to the background with Hull in the room and I see only him as a threat.
“Because there has been no evidence of any of the allegations,” I say. “The tip is anonymous and led to nothing and the tape hasn’t even surfaced.”
Hull shakes his head. He walks to my window, hands clasped behind his back, and looks out at the view. If he takes back his funding Raven Publishers isn’t going to survive it. I built this company up from scratch and the money from Hull – difficult as the man is – has allowed me to take the next step and make my company something great. Without him, though, I will fall. I’m in that space where I need him.
I hate that, but it’s the truth.
“The rumors are enough,” one of the other investors say.
Hull nods and turns to me. “I agree,” he says. “The rumors make you look bad, whether they’re true or not. Because we invest in your company, it makes us look bad, too. Give me a reason why we shouldn’t pull out.”
“Because they’re not true,” I say again.
Hull shakes his head and paces the office. I sit behind my desk but I don’t feel like I’m in charge. I feel like Hull is here to chastise me, to be a tyrant of sorts.
“I told you that I’m getting to the bottom of it and the investigation is bringing some facts to light, but I need a bit more time to find out all of it.”
I’m not even lying about it. We know enough to know that Emma is behind it and that she is serious enough to do something as bad as planting a camera in Carly’s bedroom. Of course, I can’t say any of that to Hull. I don’t want him to know that we have an idea of what happened because he will find out that we really did what the tip and the tape are suggesting.
He’ll pull out for sure if he knows what’s going on. I just need to keep him on board.
“I just need a bit more time,” I say.
Hull shakes his head. “If you ask me, you should fire that PA of yours.”
I blink at Hull. I didn’t ask him, but I’m smart enough not to say it. I know I’m in a bad place, no need to make it worse.
“Fire her?” I ask.
Hull nods. “She seems to be the common denominator in all of this and all the trouble only started when you hired her It’s a shame really. She has the potential to become some much more.”
Shit. He’s closer than he knows. It’s true, of course, because I started fucking Carly. And fuck, it seems that Scott and I were doing was working – Hull is impressed with Carly. So how do I get rid of her just to save the company? It seems like the worst thing to do.
“I can’t do that,” I say. “I’m also part of this so-called scandal. It’s hardly reasonable to get rid of whoever might be implicated in this rumor.”
Hull gives me hard look and I realize what he is thinking. He’s planning on getting rid of me, too.
My stomach turns to stone. I don’t like the direction this is going.
“I just need time,” I say. “If it turns out that Miss Brown really is the problem I won’t hesitate to let her go. But if she’s innocent and these are just rumors – which they are – then it will be unfair to fire her for no good reason.”
Hull doesn’t look like he agrees with me.
“I don’t think you understand how serious this is, Meyers,” Hull says. He is calling me by my surname now, he never addresses me as Kevin anymore. That is a bad sign. To Hull, calling me by my first name is a privilege of sorts. That he refers to me as Meyers now means that I’ve been demoted.
The next step will be them withdrawing their funding.
“You’ve got forty-eight hours,” Hull says and I blink at him, surprised. I didn’t expect him to budge on this.
“Thank you,” I say.
Hull shakes his head. “Don’t thank me. If you don’t find out anything in the two days I’m giving you, you’re firing Miss Brown. If you don’t do it I’m not even going to hesitate to withdraw.”
I swallow hard. If I don’t find anything I’m either going to lose Carly or lose the company. That is a hell of a choice to make.
“I’ll be back here on Friday, Meyers,” Hull says. “You better have something to show me.”
I nod. The other investors – all quiet, still – get up. They walk in a line out of my office with Hull leading the way. The symbolism isn’t lost on me.
When they are gone I lean back in my chair and sigh deeply. This is a big mess, bigger than anything I’ve been in before. And to think I could have prevented it all if I didn’t sleep with Carly.
But I wouldn’t change it for the world. The time I spent with her, with Scott and without, has been worth it. No matter what happens. We just must get to the bottom of this, sort out whatever went wrong with Emma and get her to cough up that fucking sex tape before even more damage is done.
I get up and open my door. Carly sits at her desk, looking miserable
“I’d like to talk to you,” I say. She looks up and nods, getting up immediately. I wait for her to cross the office space to my door and let her walk in, first. I close the door behind her.
“Is everything okay?” she asks. The blinds are still drawn and I step closer to her. I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me in a hug. It isn’t sexual at all. I just need to feel her against me, to know what is real and what isn’t.
She hugs me back, holding on until I let go. When she steps back, her eyes search my face.
“What did they say?” she asks. “Did they withdraw?”
I shake my head and sigh, turning to my chair. Carly sits down in a chair opposite. The desk is between us and I don’t like it, but we are at work and being appropriate is better.
“Not yet,” I say.
“Yet?”
I hesitate before I fill her in. “Hull gave me forty-eight hours.”
“To do what?”
“Find something worth our while. Or fire you.”
Carly’s eyes widen. “Me?” she asks.
I nod. “He says it’s bad publicity whether it’s true or not and you seem to be at the center of it.”
Carly looks down at her hands and I watch her intently, searching for a reaction.
“Well, he’s not wrong,” Carly says.
I frown. “That’s not what I was getting at,” I say.
“No, I know. But I am at the center of it. We can’t really argue about that.”
I don’t know what to say to that.
“What if you take your forty-eight hours and find nothing?” she asks. “Will you fire me?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“You’ll lose the company.”
She is right. I feel sick to my stomach when I think about it. But losing Carly seems so much worse. I don’t know when she has become a priority that high on my list, but there it is.
“I don’t want to lose you.”
Carly smiles and it’s warm and gentle. “Kevin…” She swallows. “You won’t lose me. In fact, I’ll leave.”
“What?” This is going wrong.
“No, just hear me out. What if I leave? The sex tape hasn’t come out so my reputation is still fine. I can get another job. You won’t be pressurized to find anything so soon because I’m gone, and you’ll get to keep your funding and save your company.”
“I can’t let you do that,” I say.
“Kevin, I told you I’m not going to let your company fold because of this. It’s the best way to handle it, don’t you think?”
“But you won’t be here,” I say.
Carly smiles. “You’re right, but we can still see each other. I don’t have to walk out of your life, just the company.”
She’s making a hell of a lot of sense, but I don’t want to do it this way. I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want her to work for someone else. I want her with me. I realize my determination to keep her is about so much more than just her job. I want to keep her all to myself.
“I think we need to confront your sister, instead. What’s to stop her from doing this again when you’re somewhere else? I don’t know what she’s playing at but if we can fix the root of the problem, everything else will follow suit.”
Carly nods. “You’re right. That will be better.”
I’m relieved. It seems like she doesn’t want to leave, either. She is willing to take one for the team and that’s admirable, but she wants to be here as much as I want her here. It’s good to know.
“How can we confront her?” I ask. Emma is Carly’s sister. If anyone knows how to handle it, it is her.
Carly looks at her hands, thinking. I watch her, taking in her porcelain skin, the dark hair that frames her face. Her eyes are dark, pensive. Her face is riddled with concentration. She’s set on finding a way to make this work for me. It means so much to me I don’t know how to put it into words.
She’s such a beautiful person in so many ways.
“I think I have an idea,” Carly says, looking up at me. Her eyes are impossibly big.
“What?” I ask.
“I have to deal with this myself,” she says. “If I tell you, you can’t get involved.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because it’s my sister and I need to deal with her myself. But I think we can fix this.”
She takes a deep breath and nods as if she’s confirming it to herself.
“We have to fix this.”