Chapter Twenty-Three
One Month Later
“Hey you,” Emanuela answered her cell. “How’s the world tour going?”
Finn and Simon had begun making their scheduled appearances at the top ten engineering universities in the country, and Emanuela and Finn had become experts at phone tag.
“So far, so good!” he said. “We’re finishing up the West Coast leg. Cal Tech tomorrow, and then we shoot for your side of the country in a few days.”
“It’s so exciting! I watched your presentation at Berkeley last night. I thought Simon was very compelling.”
“Simon?”
“He’s such a great public speaker, really knows how to capture his audience. There’s something sweet about his mad scientist persona,” she said, rambling on without mercy.
Finn groaned.
She snickered. “I’m sure you were very good too, but I was a little too distracted by how good you looked to really pay attention to what you were saying.”
“I’m going on the record as being outraged about your treating me like a piece of meat, Emmi. Off the record, I’ll keep in mind from now on that, while I’m trying to inspire the masses, you’re out there undressing me with your eyes.”
“Shamelessly, I’m afraid.” She reached for a magazine on her desk. “Especially now that you’re a superstar. World tours, magazine covers—”
“That’s out already?”
“Mmhmmm.” She looked at Finn and Simon on the cover of Popular Mechanics Magazine. They were provocatively styled in white lab coats opened over designer duds. They wore skinny ties and slicked-back hair, standing with their feet apart and arms folded. Their expressions were fixed like James Bond, sexy and stony. Most of the left leg of Finn’s tuxedo pants was deliberately torn off, exposing the fine line on his thigh where the smart limb’s “skin” met his own. It was a stunning image and Emanuela couldn’t stop staring at it.
“Wow, that was fast,” Finn said. “Feels like we just shot that.”
“Their offices aren’t far from here. You two should get a copy in the next week or so. It’s really something else.”
There was a pause.
“I miss you, Emmi.”
“I miss you too. If there was anything else keeping you from me, I’d be jealous.” She smiled down at the cover again. “But since you’re off cavorting with hundreds of people instead of just one, I’ll let it slide.”
“Oh, well, I appreciate that.”
****
“Miss Monroe?” Lydia poked her head into Emanuela’s office half an hour later. “Mr. Hurst would like to see you.”
Emanuela pursed her lips. Philip usually called her himself or stopped by her office if he needed something. “Did he say what about?”
“No, he just asked me to tell you to stop by his office as soon as you get a chance.”
“Okay. Thanks, Lids.”
She saved her work, locked her computer, and headed to Philip’s office. Things seemed to be returning to some semblance of normal between them. Their old camaraderie wasn’t completely restored, but being in each other’s company was feeling more comfortable. He looked directly at her more instead of somewhere off to the side when he spoke. They were back in sync, delegating to each other during meetings as seamlessly as they’d always done. She released a soft breath and knocked on his open office door.
“Come on in, Em,” he said, after looking up at her briefly. “Have a seat.”
She smiled and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. When he didn’t say anything after a few seconds, she spoke up. “Lydia said you wanted to see me. Is everything okay?”
He finished scribbling some notes, then sat back to look at her a moment, his face expressionless. “How long have you been seeing Doctor Kane?”
Her face fell. “Excuse me?”
“Something seemed off about you two during our meeting,” he said in a measured tone. “There was this energy—tension.” He motioned a hand in the air for emphasis, getting up from his chair and rounding his desk to sit at its edge in front of her. “I suspected you were uncomfortable with him, and made a mental note to ask if he’d been bothering you. But as the meeting went on, I began to wonder if it was something else entirely.”
Emanuela quickly adjusted her initial look of surprise, carefully replacing it with her stoic mask, but remained silent.
“You don’t deny it,” he said.
“Why do I need to deny anything? Am I on trial?”
“Of course not.” He sighed, getting up to pace in front of the large windows behind his desk. He turned his back to her and looked out at the city below, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I couldn’t be sure of what I was picking up on, so I had Andy in IT check him out.”
Her mouth fell open. “You violated his privacy? Philip!”
He turned to look at her. “I had access to his hard drive, but I kept the investigation to a minimum. I could have discovered more than I did.”
“So I should commend you then? For keeping your violation of his privacy to his personal email account?”
“There was no violation. I have a right to monitor emails as I see fit, based on the privacy agreement he signed. You know that, Emanuela.”
Ah, the fine print. It never bothered her before because it never affected her directly. It was just part of the job. Nothing personal. Except that it was very personal.
“As you see fit,” Emanuela said. She nodded rapidly in disbelief, her body and mind at odds with what she was hearing, and released a heavy sigh. She was obviously no longer talking to her boss, and questioned whether she was talking to her friend. “Why didn’t you just ask me? As long as we’ve known each other—as close as we’ve been—you felt you had to go behind my back?”
He stared at her for a pregnant moment. “As a friend?”
“As a friend.” She spat the word as though it burned her tongue before it passed from her lips.
Philip at least looked ashamed. “I sensed something was going on with you two during the meeting. He was watching you like a hawk—You looked pretty damned uncomfortable, Em. And I don’t know, a switch went off. I couldn’t tell from your interactions whether it was mutual or one-sided. Given the way things between us had changed, it would have put you in an awkward spot to bring it up in conversation. When I saw the truth in those emails—”
He looked up at the ceiling for a moment and then back at her. “I was so looking forward to meeting him,” he said, not actually saying Finn’s name. “A man I had so much admiration for came out of nowhere and—”
“It’s not a contest,” Emanuela said. “I’m not a prize.”
He threw his hands up. “You’re right, Em. And I’m sorry, but I cannot unlearn the information I’ve obtained. The fact of the matter is that your boyfr—Doctor Kane’s—dealings could reflect poorly on this firm.”
“His dealings?” She felt her stomach drop, immediately registering what Philip was referring to. “He isn’t selling these things from the trunk of his car, Philip! He’s producing safe medical devices and giving them to people in need! Children!” She shot to her feet then, too wound up to remain seated.
“So why has he gone to such lengths to keep his charitable work from being discovered?” he asked. “And why have you never mentioned it, Em? Surely if it’s such a selfless cause, there should be no reason for the secrecy.”
“I signed a nondisclosure agreement. He has his reasons—reasons that I think are valid—Admirable! Since you’re so resourceful, perhaps you should discover them for yourself,” she said, throwing the word back at him with disdain. “You might find that his reasons surprise you.”
She glared at him from across his desk. His jaw tightened. Obviously, his pride was taking a beating. In all the time they’d known each other, he had never been the subject of such contempt in her eyes. But she was unmoved, crossing her arms over her chest.
His lips tensed. “Perhaps, but whatever his intentions, there is still the matter of optics.”
They obviously weren’t speaking as friends any longer.
“I’ll handle it,” Emanuela said, coolly.
“See that you do.”
****
Emanuela rubbed her temples in agitation. She was driving poor Lydia crazy all afternoon, working with her on a plan to legitimize Finn’s charity and make Hurst Capital look good. After countless calls to former clients and business acquaintances, setting up meetings with event planners and searching for an appropriate venue, they finally had a solution Emanuela believed Philip would go for. She left Finn a voice message urging him to call whenever he was able, but she hadn’t heard from him yet. He was probably busy networking, or preparing for the next stop on his and Simon’s talking tour.
She sighed. She hated having to tell Finn that his charity was about to go public in a very big way—much sooner than either of them had anticipated. She only hoped her plan would be successful enough to make it up to him somehow.
“I’ll go ahead and draft a program template for you, Miss Monroe. I can have it for you within the hour,” Lydia said.
“You’re a life saver, Lids. Hey, before you go—”
Lydia looked up at Emanuela, gathering her notes. “Miss Monroe?”
“I-if this event is approved, it will be my last task for Hurst Capital. I’ll be resigning shortly after.”
“Oh,” Lydia said, her face downcast.
“I know it’s happening fast,” Emanuela said. “For me, too. I didn’t intend to resign for a few months, but circumstances have come up that—” She took a deep breath, uncertain of how to proceed with her explanation since she hadn’t quite thought it through yet.
“There’s no need to explain, Miss Monroe,” Lydia said. “I have a friend at Titan Insurance Agency who says there’s a position opening there soon. All I’d need is your recommendation and—”
“Of course! I’ll call over there today and put in a good word for you.”
Lydia gave her a solemn smile. “Thank you so much, Miss Monroe. I’m really going to miss working for you.”
“You just let me know if you ever decide to move cross-country,” Emanuela said, half serious.
“I will, Miss Monroe.”
****
“Emmi,” Finn said when Emanuela picked up her line. “Sorry I missed you. We just finished touring some of the labs here and we’re breaking for lunch now.”
“Sounds like you’re having a great time.”
He frowned at the tension in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know that there’s an easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it straight out.”
He stiffened. “Okay.”
“Philip was monitoring your emails during your visit here a few weeks ago.”
Finn sucked in a breath.
She must have heard, because she spoke again quickly. “He kept it strictly to opened correspondence in your inbox. He assured me nothing else was compromised.”
“Great. Then I guess it’s okay.”
“Finn—”
“Why?”
Emanuela sighed. “He thought I looked uncomfortable and suspected that maybe—that you were—”
“Sexually harassing you? Is that it?” He scoffed. “I’m sure he did. I’m also one hundred percent sure he’s lying.”
“I believe him.”
Finn cursed.
“He was way out of line for what he did,” she said, “but he thought he was looking out for me.”
“You’re defending him?”
“I’m not! I’m pissed too, Finn! He obviously should have asked me himself, but considering the circumstances…” Her voice cracked. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. And that’s not even everything.”
Finn sighed in exasperation, but didn’t say anything further.
“He knows about your charity work,” she said.
“Obviously.” His tone was biting but he couldn’t help it.
“He voiced the same concerns I had when you first told me.”
Finn’s disbelieving laugh was his only answer.
“I didn’t expect this to happen, Finn. I worked hard on the plan I shared with you, but I didn’t want to move on it until you had time to think about it. The nonprofit hasn’t even been registered yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the timeline has changed. I don’t want to rush you, but I have a plan that will get your nonprofit up and going faster than we hoped. Hurst Capital will host a fundraising event for your charity. It’ll be formal, to attract influential people with deep wallets. It’s the best thing I could come up with that will make the firm look good, but only benefit your work. It’s fool-proof, Finn. Let me make this up to you.”
Pressure built between his temples. He appreciated her efforts, but no matter how diplomatic she worded it, he was being manipulated because a very powerful, very insecure man decided to snoop through his emails. It was insult to injury and frankly, he was pissed. “Fine. Whatever you need.”
“I’ll just need a name for it so I can get it registered and start moving on this,” she said quietly.
“Give me a few hours.”
“Okay.”
The silence seemed to drag for an eternity.
“Finn—”
“I have to go,” he said stiffly, and he hung up.
****
A couple of hours later, Emanuela stood in Philip’s office, too wired after her tense conversation with Finn and too annoyed with her boss to even bother to sit down. He was reviewing the rough draft of her plan, which looked even more promising, she had to admit, with the program mockup Lydia designed.
“Is it satisfactory?” Emanuela asked when Philip finally looked up.
“It is.” When she didn’t immediately turn on her heel to leave, he spoke again. “Em—”
“You knew it wasn’t harassment, didn’t you?”
He sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Yes.”
She nodded. “I’m tendering my resignation.”
“Emanuela…”
She couldn’t even meet his eyes. Instead, she looked somewhere to the side of him, speaking robotically. “Two weeks from this event, I’ll no longer be working for Hurst Capital. I’ve compiled a shortlist of qualified replacements whom I’m confident will meet your expectations.”
Philip searched her eyes. “Your mind is made up then.”
She nodded once and, without another word, left his office. Her legs were a wobbly mess, her stomach twisted itself into a pretzel, and the beginnings of a migraine throbbed in her head, but she swore she heard him quietly sobbing before his assistant closed his office door.