Amanda
There comes a time in your life when you need to trust in the systems you’ve set in place. I considered it equal to when parents raised their children and set them free into the world, trusting they had instilled the right values.
Or something like that.
James was exactly what I needed him to be. The right paperwork had been signed and if James fought me on it again, I could do the same thing. With James in my pocket and Charlie wrapped around my finger, everything was going according to plan.
James had woken up. After years of being mentally absent from the company, he had finally caught up and realized what was going on. But it was too late, now.
“I want you to make sure this never happens again,” I said to Derek when he sat in my office. “The only reason none of this came out was that James is involved, Caleb is too loyal and that woman has her mind set on two guys rather than what we’re doing here.”
Derek nodded. “I’m sorry this happened,” he said.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Derek.”
I was stuck with him because he knew what was going on, too. But that was okay. Everything was under control. He knew that if this happened again – if he slipped up and misplaced documents another time – life would be a lot more complicated for him. He had a wife and kids. There were so many things that could go wrong. Like his standard job disappearing and he was left with only me and the income he got from me.
I wasn’t one to threaten but I would do what I needed to survive.
James knocked on the door and popped in his head before I could tell him I was busy. He looked at Derek and his face hardened. He was aware that Derek was taking care of the paperwork for me where it was needed. He had drawn the short straw – we’d gotten rid of Caleb but Derek Burgess was still with us.
“I need to talk to you,” James said.
“We were just finishing up,” I said. Derek nodded and put away his things. He got up and walked past James. He cleared his throat and disappeared.
“What is it?” I asked, irritated.
James sat down. I didn’t like it when he parked himself in my office. He did it more lately. I preferred going to his to talk and keeping my space personal.
“I want out,” he said.
“What?”
“From the business. I want to dissolve the partnership.”
I shook my head, frowning. “Why?”
James looked at me like it was stupid that I didn’t know. Of course, I knew. I was stalling for time to work out what I was going to say. I hadn’t thought James would have the backbone to walk away from the only thing he had to show the world that he was remotely as important as Charlie.
“I don’t want a part in this anymore. We can agree to disagree and break it up equally. You take half, I take half. With the expansion, we have four different areas – we can split it down the middle.”
I blinked at him. “You want to break up one of the biggest companies into two smaller companies?”
James nodded. “I think it’s fair if we do it that way.”
“And then? You’ll open your mouth about what I did?”
James shook his head. “I don’t care what you do with your half. It’s none of my business and I’m not out to get back at you or anything. I just want out.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to agree to that. You know that, right? It’s ridiculous. It’s bad for business to divide the assets and it’s stupid of you to assume I’ll let that happen when we can make so much more money keeping it all together.”
James sighed. “What is it going to take? Will you buy me out, then? Take the whole thing for yourself?”
I blinked at him. He’d really thought about this. Was he willing to give it all up?
“What about Charlie?”
“What about Charlie?” James asked. “He doesn’t have a say in this.”
I shook my head. Charlie was the one person that James tried to impress. Without a company, he had nothing. If I bought James out my business would be one big empire. But I would have to part with a lot of money for that and then James’s funds wouldn’t be available for it anymore. James had a lot of money to push into the company – he had funded most of it so far.
“I’m not going to do that,” I said, making up my mind. I don’t want to buy you out.”
James nodded like he knew I would say that. I wasn’t sure why he’d still tried, then.
“I don’t want to keep working together like this,” James said. “Not when I know what you’ve been doing. Not when you’ve been taking me for a ride.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry you feel that way, James. I’m doing what I can to keep this company at the top of the corporate food chain. We’re doing well. Everything we’ve put into this is paying off.”
James didn’t respond. He just looked at me. I was getting frustrated with him still being here. I wanted him to leave so I could carry on with my life, my plans.
“Is there anything else?” I asked.
James shook his head and got up. “This isn’t the end of it, Amanda,” he said.
“I know.”
I watched him leave the office, closing my door behind him. I got up from behind my desk and walked to the window. I looked out over the city. I knew James wasn’t going to let it go. He would look around until he found some way to get himself out of this. I had to admit he’d surprised me. I hadn’t thought he had it in him to suggest giving up the company altogether.
Still, that wasn’t going to happen. I needed his money and I needed the company to remain as one entity. And that was how it was going to stay.
I had won. Everything had gone the way I’d needed it to. Maybe not exactly as I’d planned – I would have preferred if James had stayed oblivious, uninvolved, drunk. But I had managed to do damage control anyway. The company was still safe. Fischer was gone – which was a big deal, I disliked her a lot – and Caleb couldn’t say anything anymore. I could threaten James with all sorts of things if I was necessary to keep him in place…
I had played the game right and won.
I felt good about myself. I was relieved. For the first time in a month, I was calm about everything that was happening, and that was saying something.
Maybe it would be a good idea to celebrate. I considered this a victory. I wanted to go out and relish in my ability to save myself by myself without any help. Well, maybe a little bit of help.
From Charlie.
Charlie… we had been sleeping together. At least, we had been having sex. It had been on his desk every time. It had been harsh and to the point and for a purpose. But it had been good. Something about Charlie got me when I went there. The way he didn’t care about anyone but himself – I understood that. But he was also charming and handsome and funny. He knew how to get what he wanted and I liked ambition in a man.
He had started off as a means to an end – someone that would be able to help me with what I needed. Now though…
I picked up the phone.
“Can I see you just now?” I asked.
“Sure, I’ll be in my office.”
Charlie was always short and to the point. I hung up the phone. I walked to the ladies’ room and looked in the mirror. I fished in my handbag for my travel brush and ran it through my hair. I set it again with a small can of hairspray. I reapplied my lipstick and put on perfume.
When I was ready, feeling ready for the kill, I left my office and made my way to Charlie’s. His secretary showed me through and I knocked on his door.
“Come in,” Charlie called and I opened the door, closing and locking it behind me.
He raised his eyebrows but said nothing. We had developed a sort of code. We had fallen into a rhythm and I liked what we had. It meant nothing, but in a way, it was still something.
I walked toward Charlie who had stood up and walked around his desk to sit on the edge of it, facing me. I stood in front of him. He didn’t make a move to greet me in any way.
“What can I do for you?” Charlie asked.
“I am going out tonight to celebrate a victory,” I said. “Join me.”
Charlie blinked at me. “You want me to go out with you?”
I nodded. He looked at me with a face I couldn’t read and my confidence faltered slightly. I reached for my blouse and unbuttoned it slowly. My shirt peeled open and I went along, showing off the lace bra I wore underneath. I took off the blouse and dropped it on the floor. My skirt was next. I unzipped it, let it fall to my feet and stepped out of it. I stood in front of Charlie in my underwear, on display, offering myself to him.
“Why are you doing this?” Charlie asked. My confidence was starting to fade now. His eyes slid over my body and he swallowed. I knew he liked what he saw. A bit of confidence returned.
“Come out with me. You know I can show you a good time.”
Charlie sighed. “This is not a business transaction?”
I shook my head. I felt silly that he referred to our sex like that.
“We don’t do casual sex, Amanda. I’m not going to sleep with you.”
I frowned. “What?”
“Get dressed. You’re not here to get anything from me. I won’t take anything from you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
Charlie sighed like I was a child that was slow on the uptake. “Look, Amanda. You’re beautiful, you know that. But our sexual relations were purely business. I’m not going to socialize with you and we’re not going to sleep together for no reason at all.”
“I thought…” I started but my sentence trailed off when I realized how wrong I had been from the start.
“You thought what?” Charlie asked. “That there was something between us? It was purely business, you knew that. I’d made it clear.”
I swallowed. He had said that, the first time. I guess I’d hoped things would change, that I would mean something – anything – to him.
“Your partner is my younger brother. I have a reputation in our social circle that I needed to uphold. Surely, you understand that?”
I nodded and started getting dressed. I felt like he’d punched me in the gut. I was mortified. It was hard to breathe. When I was dressed, I looked at Charlie again.
“James knows,” he said.
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He knows what we’ve been doing.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t believe this. “You told him?”
Charlie shrugged.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked. I felt the urge to cry and I didn’t like it. I was the one that was supposed to be in charge, the one that was in control.
“Because you should understand how little this means to me. You’re getting involved when we agreed it wouldn’t happen.”
I nodded. “Right,” I said. It turned around and walked to the door, unlocking it. “I won’t be back,” I said over my shoulder.
“I imagine so,” Charlie said. I closed the door behind me and shuddered.
This was James had lived with? This was what he fought, every day of his life? I was starting to understand why approval was so important to him. I felt insignificant and discarded, now.
I shook my head, getting rid of the emotions that churned inside me. I wasn’t going to care. Like Charlie had said, it had been purely transactional. I had gotten what I wanted. That was all that mattered.
I swallowed hard. This meant nothing. It was irrelevant. The only thing that mattered was my company and what I had achieved.