Chapter 13

RIVER

Going to work on the day of the press conference was the last thing that River wanted to do. He wanted to be at Public Waves with Mariah and Elizabeth and preparing for how they were going to handle the release of information. But Mariah had insisted that River continue with life as usual; she didn’t want there to be any sign of something unusual going on.

“You look tense,” Edward said as he joined River in his office. “Everything go alright with that girl?”

Edward and River had been best friends for years; it was impossible to hide things from him. Yet River had successfully hidden his past with Kimberly for the last ten years. Of course, Edward knew that River volunteered with the technology club and had been assigned a partner kid, but Edward had no idea that the kid was really River’s son.

It had been difficult at first not to tell Edward, but as the years dragged on, the secret became part of his life, and River didn’t feel the need to tell anyone. He wanted to protect Jackson and that meant keeping the secret from everyone.

“I am tense, but nothing too big. What’s going on with the new family product plan we are rolling out? Any news from Wholesome Foods?”

“Nope, things are going well. The lawyers are looking over contracts, and we should have some movement by next week. I’d like to get the major markets released by late next month if that’s possible.”

“Sure, whatever you think,” River said as he stared at the television on the opposite wall of his office.

The press conference was getting ready to start, and the local news station kept going back and forth to their reporters. River wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for, but somehow he thought there would be a person he knew standing around just waiting to release his secret to everyone there.

“You sure seem interested in the governor’s press conference; you getting into politics now?”

River ignored Edward as he watched Governor Emerald take the stage with a group of people. Kimberly stood next to her husband, and several other state employees were there as well. The intensity of the moment had River sitting on the edge of his seat and even forced Edward to sit down and watch as well.

“Hello everyone, I’m Lana Stewart, press secretary to Governor Emerald. We are so happy to see all your lovely faces here today. Before I introduce the governor, I’d like to take a moment and thank all the people who have been iatrical in this announcement…”

“What announcement?” Edward asked.

“Shhh, I think the governor is going to announce he is running for president.”

“Really? Emerald doesn’t seem like the type of guy who would want to be in the White House.”

“Really Edward … what type of guy would want to be in the White House?” River asked annoyingly to his friend.

“I’m not sure. I was thinking of someone not as nice. Maybe someone like you.”

Both River and Edward busted into laughter at the thought of River running for president. River wasn’t exactly sure why Edward found it so funny, but River couldn’t even imagine all the secrets of his life that would come out if he ran for such a well-known office.

“I think I’ll stay here; I’m bad at being politically correct.” River turned back toward the screen to watch as the governor finally took the podium.

“Mistakes, we have all made them, and we all live with them. I’ve made some throughout my tenure as governor, and I won’t hide from those mistakes. But it’s a new day and a day of taking responsibility for our actions, and I’m ready to move forward and guide the country into this new era. Today I, Millard Emerald, announce that I will be running for the office of President.”

River instantly picked up his phone and started to dial Mariah’s number when he saw a call coming in from her office.

“Mariah?” he answered.

“Yes, and Elizabeth is here too.”

“What was that speech? It seemed so odd. Do you think he knows? Was he preparing the public for the news?”

River felt a bit of relief since no news had actually talked about the secret, but there was something odd about the governor’s speech. Something that instantly set off bells in River’s head and had him wondering what was going on.

“Maybe he got threatening phone calls too?” Mariah asked.

“That’s possible. But I need to talk to Kimberly right away,” River said as he sent a text message to her.

“Kimberly seemed surprised by his speech; did you see her face?” Elizabeth asked.

“No, I was too busy watching the governor,” River replied.

“Would someone like to let me know what the heck is going on,” Edward chimed in.

River didn’t want to have to tell Edward, but on the same token, he didn’t want his friend and colleague to get blindsided by the news. River couldn’t risk losing the alliance he had with Edward, and that meant that he was going to have to tell Edward everything. It was necessary to prevent some bad sound bite from going out if the press were to contact Edward before the story came out.

“It’s my vice president,” River said as he took control of the conversation. “We need to deal with things here; you two figure out what the governor knows. I’ll let you know if I hear from Kimberly. Goodbye,” River abruptly ended the call.

Edward looked on as River fidgeted in his desk. It was obvious that Edward didn’t know something, and he wasn’t at all happy with River. The look he gave was cold as ice, and River tried to calm his voice before he began to talk. There was no reason to worry Edward; it might have just been an idle threat, and nothing was going to be done about it.

“River, this is a billion dollar deal; if this has anything to do with our new product roll out, you better tell me right now.”

“It doesn’t have something specific to do with the roll out, but it could affect it.”

River knew he couldn’t lie to Edward anymore. The deal they were working on was huge, and it wasn’t worth River trying to deceive his friend any longer. He knew that Edward finally had to know the secret.

“You know how I volunteer with the technology group,” River started as he watched Edward’s face for a reaction. “Well, my partner Jackson is more than just my partner in that group.”

Edward stared at River as he tried to put together the pieces and figure out just what River was trying to get at. He looked bewildered as he processed the information that River was sharing with him.

“He’s my son,” River blurted out.

“Your what? You don’t have a son.”

“Actually, I do, and his name is Jackson. I got partnered up with him so I could see him without taking away from his time with his family.”

“So what? I don’t get it. So you have a son. There are a lot of guys who have kids out there. Are you paying child support? Helping to financially care for him? That’s all you can do if his mother won’t let you be involved.”

River smiled at how Edward instantly stood up for River in the situation. It was clear that Edward was his friend and wasn’t about to let some story tarnish the reputation of his longtime friend.

“There’s a bit more to the story than just that. Jackson’s mother had an affair with me. She’s married. I haven’t been involved in Jackson’s life because she pretended the child was hers with her husband, and I didn’t want to ruin their family.”

Edward contemplated the news that he had received and tried to come to terms with the lie that River had told him for so many years. It was clear that Jackson meant a whole lot to River, and Edward didn’t mind that River had kept the secret, but why the hell was River so freaked out about the governor’s speech.

River saw the look in Edward’s eyes as he started to figure out what was going on. He darted his eyes back and forth from the television to River as the events of the morning started to sink in.

“The governor’s wife? River!” Edward exclaimed as he stood up. “You fucked the governor’s wife. Oh, Jesus.”

As Edward collapsed back in his chair and let his head rest in his hands, River couldn’t help smiling at how serious Edward was. It certainly was a serious situation, and River wasn’t denying that, but Edward seemed to take the news very personally.

“I’m sorry; I know I’ve lied to you. But to protect Jackson and Kimberly, and I didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“Why tell me now? What’s going on now? Is it about to come out?” River didn’t even get a chance to answer Edward before he started shaking his head. “Oh, no, no, no, no. Goddamn it, River, we are working with the top Christian food company in the world for this product release. Oh, we are so fucked.”

River knew the feelings that were going through Edward’s mind very well; he’d had similar thoughts about himself over the previous weeks. But what was done was done, and they needed to move forward.

“I’m sorry. It was over ten years ago; I can’t take it back. But there is someone threatening to break the news. They said it would come out after the governor announced his candidacy.”

“Is it a rival of Emerald’s?” Edward asked.

River paused and didn’t answer him, but instead dialed Mariah’s phone. That was someone they hadn’t even considered looking for before. Maybe the person didn’t have anything to do with River at all; maybe the caller was a political enemy of the governor.

“The governor’s enemies; we need to find out who they are and see if any of them have a connection to me. Hire a private investigator if you have to; I’ll pay whatever it takes. We need to find this caller.”

“Sure thing; I’ll get right on it and call you when we know anything more,” Mariah said.

“Thanks, by the way, I just told my vice president.”

“Good, I think that’s a wise business decision. I’ll call you later.”

River hung up and turned back to his conversation with Edward. He knew that Edward probably had tons of questions and concerns about what had happened and how it would affect their business deal with Wholesome Foods.

“Do you want me to cancel the contract negotiations?” Edward asked.

“No, but we need to make sure there isn’t a clause about my behavior anywhere in their contract verbiage. I don’t want to get sued for not living up to their ideals.”

River knew Wholesome Foods well, and they often put a ‘bad behavior’ clause into their contracts to give them a way out of business dealings if their partner company did something that was against the strict Christian beliefs of Wholesome Foods. As an example, Wholesome Foods terminated their contract with a large hospital organization when it learned the hospital would start doing abortions for women. It was a simple clause that could ruin everything for River and his company if his secret came out.

“I’m not sure we can get it removed. But perhaps we could get it based on business decisions and not your personal life. Do you think that will work?”

“Yes, do what you can. We need the contracts signed before any of this news is released. I have no idea what exactly is going to be said, but I know Wholesome Foods won’t like it.”

“River, for whatever it’s worth, I think you’d make a great dad,” Edward said as he stood up to leave.

“Thanks.”

River had never actually considered himself a dad. He didn’t get to parent Jackson at all; Kimberly and her husband did all of that. River didn’t let his feelings of love for Jackson come out when they were hanging out in their technology club. Instead, River took the opportunity to be a friend to Jackson and help him learn new technology skills.

Suddenly, River worried about what would happen to Jackson when he found out the truth. His gut was in knots at the idea of how hurt Jackson would be that his mother and River had lied to him for so many years. River thought for sure Jackson would hate him, and he felt sick to his stomach at the thought.

Nothing that River had done in the last ten years had been done in a vacuum. He always wanted to build up his company and one day offer Jackson a job to work with him. River had been alright with just being Jackson’s friend, but the idea that someone was going to let the news out was slightly exciting. To be able to hug Jackson and call him his son wasn’t something that River had even imagined before. But the thought was overwhelming to him. River did want to be a father to Jackson but not at the cost that this mysterious caller had put on the news.

River wanted Jackson to hug him and tell him all about his girl troubles when he got older. To have Jackson call him for advice or just come visit him at the office. Up until that very moment, River had never imagined a life where he and Jackson were actually having a father and son relationship. The idea made him extremely happy but at what cost to Jackson?

Jackson wouldn’t be able to handle the news at only ten years of age. It would devastate him to know that his mother had lied for so long. Jackson would hate River and probably his own mother. The only person that Jackson wouldn’t hate would be the governor, the man who had raised him since he was a child.

Things were certainly starting to get complicated, and River couldn’t stay at his office another minute. He gathered his things and made his way over to Mariah’s office. He couldn’t just sit on the sidelines when his entire life was at stake.