by Piper Rayne
“I could say the same about you, Skars. Except he’s faster than you in one area which you don’t seem to be ‘ready’ for, and I am.”
* * *
He turned away from me. “I was saving you from me.”
Now I was stunned. “Why?”
* * *
“Because I will hurt you. Because I hurt people. I don’t love them. I can’t.”
* * *
“You did hurt me, Skar. Very badly. So badly, I don’t think I could ever recover. Once something gets out there on the internet, it’s there, whether it’s true or not.”
* * *
“I’m sorry, Lily. You were there at the right time…or for you, the wrong time. I needed someone to be a pawn. You were perfect. You said you would do anything. I even warned you against me, that you would regret it.”
* * *
People were beginning to walk around us. Some starting to stare. I looked around.
* * *
Skar took my wrist then and led me into the elevators going down to the parking garage where his car was parked. I knew they recognized me from the awful videos about Mrs. Repp.
* * *
I was furious. “That is what you did to me!”
* * *
Skar looked down, for once looking ashamed.
* * *
“I can’t even lift my head up and walk anywhere without people calling me a ‘slut’ and ‘whore’.”
* * *
Tears came to my eyes. I wanted to punch him. To slap him so badly I clenched my hands into fists instead trying to control them.
* * *
“I’m sorry,” Skar said. “I didn’t think it would be that bad. I was just thinking about my client.”
* * *
“Well think this instead, Mr. Skar Slade.” I lifted my phone and showed him what was onscreen. Antonio had the folder containing my personnel files from Slade PR, including the photo of me as a blonde when they hired me. “Antonio is a lawyer at the biggest entertainment law firm in the nation. He now has my personnel file showing I was employed by you during the time all those photos and videos of me with Mrs. Repp were taken. And…” I showed him photos of me taken with Skars at the lingerie store, the hotel lobby, and even in the elevators. “These were all taken from security cameras. There are more videos…you know what these are…evidence that you and I were together the entire time those videos of Mrs. Repp were taken so your case against Mrs. Repp? Blown! You falsified evidence, Skar. Antonio and his firm are prepared to file charges against you and Slade PR. After all your hard work, you could lose not only your client, Skar, but your entire agency. Now…who is the naïve, unaware one when it comes to thinking you are too arrogant and above it all? You!” I said, walking away.
* * *
“Lily!” Skar said. “I could release a statement.”
* * *
“Yes, you could,” I said. “You could clear up my reputation as a ‘slut’ or a ‘whore’, but you will need a million years to clear up the hate I have for you.”
* * *
With that his face fell. He had tears in his eyes. “Do you really hate me?”
* * *
“You’ve been a bully to me from the start. You only pretended to be nice to me to get what you want. Then you tricked me, lied to me, and even took my heart and trampled on it when you showed me how little you thought of ‘us’ and me as a person and a lover when you had Fiona go down on you. Could you love yourself if you had experienced this same treatment from you?”
* * *
“Lily,” Skar said. “No, I couldn’t love myself. I don’t. That’s why I couldn’t love anyone. I’m incapable of it. All I know is that my life has been a living hell since I let you go. Everywhere I go, I see you. Every single thought of my days and nights are of you. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. All I want to do is be with you.”
* * *
He took a step towards me, but I stepped back. I had a good look at him and saw the dark shadows under his eyes, the pale pallor of his skin. He didn’t look well.
* * *
“Lily,” he said, before falling to the ground. “I’m so sorry about everything I’ve done to you. Losing you was worst than losing a client. Now I know. I was so stupid. I know now I can’t lose you. You’re everything to me. What you saw with Fiona, it was because she said she would help me get the video of Mrs. Repp and you if she could be with me. It meant nothing to me, but I also did it so you would hate me so you could leave me. I really messed up, Lily.”
* * *
I walked up to him and held him. “What can you do to clear my reputation?” I asked. “You’re the best of the best in reputation management. What are you going to do?”
Skar smiled. “You’re giving me a chance?”
* * *
“I would if you could change things, fix everything…or else, I would do it my way, which you’ve already seen.”
* * *
“I’m giving a press conference to clear up the case. If I lose Ronny Repp as a client so I do. If I lose Slade PR, I would.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close so he could look into my eyes. “I can’t lose you. I’d rather die than lose you, Lily. Please give me a chance to make it up to you. I’m dying, Lily. Without you, I haven’t eaten for days. I haven’t slept. I can’t drive because I’m too tired and weak…”
* * *
I took his car keys and tried to lift him. “I’m taking you to the hospital right now.”
* * *
I texted Antonio telling him where I was going.
* * *
Antonio: I’m coming with you.
* * *
Me: You have a client to meet. It’s your first client. You should do well with on your first week on the job. I’ll be fine.
Skar looked at my texts and said, “I’m so sad, Lily.” He began crying. “I’ve already lost you to him. You love him instead of me.”
* * *
He began weeping. “It would take my entire lifetime and more to make up what I did to you. But as you can see, I’m broken. All I’ve had was in Slade PR. That’s what I thought. When I lost everyone I cared about, I poured all my grief into building my business. I didn’t think I could ever love anyone again. I didn’t want to. When I first saw you in the elevator, I felt my heart beating again. Your face, your eyes…the way you looked at me; I didn’t know what hit me, and I felt so naked, so vulnerable that the only way I could respond was to get angry at you. But you broke me, took me down several pegs until I could feel again. This sadness and defeat I’m feeling, it’s more that I’ve ever felt in years.”
* * *
We were close to the hospital’s emergency room now. I parked on the curb and rushed out to open the passenger door. “Help!” I yelled. “Help me get him out!”
* * *
An orderly ran over pushing a wheelchair. He helped me get Skar out and wheeled into the emergency room.
“Hurry,” I cried out. “He’s collapsed and is having trouble breathing.”
* * *
The intake clerk rush us through, and Skar was taken to see a doctor while I was asked to go back to the waiting area.
* * *
After waiting for hours, the doctor came out with a clipboard. He gestured to me and said, “We need to keep him at the hospital. His fluids are low, and he is exhausted. We need to pump food into him. Are you his wife? Relative?”
* * *
“I’m a close friend,” I said.
He looked at me and nodded. “He doesn’t seem to have any next of kin so I’ll tell you this. He is ill. He will pull through this, but the stress he was under was immense. He has to lighten his load or his heart couldn’t bear it.”
* * *
My heart fell. I’ve just added more stress to his heart. I wanted revenge but not if it would kill him.
* * *
“Do everything you can to help him, Doctor,” I said. “Can I talk to him?”
*
* *
“He’s resting. We gave him something so he could. He hasn’t slept for days and it was taking its toll. He should be waking up in a few hours.”
* * *
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours then,” I said, heading out.
11
Lily
There was no way Skar was faking his health. What he did to me was eating away at him and had affected him severely. If I was truly a cruel person with no heart, I would be celebrating. It was sweet revenge.
* * *
But he was remorseful. He was broken.
* * *
“Dammit,” I said. “Why do I care what happens to him? Why can’t I completely annihilate him and his agency?”
* * *
I drove Skar’s car back to Slade PR’s building. Parked the car and headed into the lobby. Where I texted Antonio.
Me: Are you still at the Century Building? I’m back in the lobby.
* * *
Antonio: Just finished my meeting with my client. Want to catch some lunch?
* * *
Me: Sure. Let’s go to Royal Thai Lotus on the lobby floor. I’ll get a table. Meet me there.
* * *
Antonio: See you there.
* * *
I walked over to Royal Thai Lotus and was seated in a cozy table for two by the window. When Antonio walked up to the restaurant, I waved at him from inside. Soon he was seated across from me and smiling. “You did it, Lily! You made Slade fold. He’s going to make a statement, isn’t he?”
“It went just as we planned, only he almost had a heart attack. No matter how much of a revenge I wanted, I didn’t want him to get physically hurt from it.”
* * *
“So, what do you want to do?” Antonio asked.
* * *
“He’ll lose everything if he go through with his announcement at the press conference,” I said. “I don’t want him to lose everything.”
* * *
Antonio frowned. “You still care for him, that’s why.”
* * *
I nodded. “I do. I’m sorry Antonio. I can’t help what I feel.”
* * *
Antonio drew in a deep breath and said, “I can’t help what I feel for you.”
* * *
“So you know what it feels like wanting not to hurt someone you care about,” I said.
* * *
Antonio covered my hands with his. “It’s hard to accept that the woman you’ve fallen for has feelings for someone else. I still want to be there for you. How can I help?”
* * *
“Antonio, do you know anyone from USC’s film school?”
* * *
Antonio smiled. “I actually do. A good friend of mine, Mimi DeLane is in the film school’s graduate program. Why?”
* * *
“After we eat, let’s meet up with her,” I said. “I have a plan.”
* * *
Antonio texted her and said, “She can meet us. Where?” I gave him an address, and he texted it to her.
Thirty minutes later, we were sitting at a donut shop having coffee with Mimi, who was a pretty and petite brunette with a pixie haircut. I laid out my plans with her, and she bought in it. “I’m excited to be a part of this,” she said. She looked across the street from the donut shop and said, “I’ll get started right away.”
* * *
I walked up to her a few moments later, along with Antonio. I took out my phone and started filming. Antonio took out his phone and filmed the cars slowly circling the streets…and the johns in them.
* * *
An hour later, Mimi said, “I’ve got enough material to work with what you have. Send everything over to me, and I’ll have something for you tonight.”
* * *
“Thank you, Mimi!” I hugged her. “I think you just saved a company, and my reputation!”
* * *
“Not to mention bringing awareness to an issue we have been ignoring in our very neighborhood,” Mimi said. “Thank you for including me in this project. I think it’ll do a lot of good.”
* * *
Antonio was staring at her with admiration. “I never knew you were so accomplished, Mimi,” he said. “Winning one award after another. You never told me. Maybe we can catch up some time after this project is over?”
* * *
Mimi laughed. “I love this new confidence you have, Antonio. Comes from passing that bar, doesn’t it?”
* * *
Antonio looked over at me and said, “Maybe.”
* * *
I smiled at Mimi and Antonio. Somehow, standing next to each other and with the same coloring, they looked like a cute couple. I stood aside to let them catch up a bit, but then started walking with Antonio to his car.
* * *
“What was that?” I asked.
* * *
Antonio blushed. “I always thought she was cool, but didn’t really feel anything but friendship with her. I think being with you helped me get out of my shell. I mean, I still want to be with you, Lily. But, I realized I have to move on. You feel only friendship for me. No matter how much I tried to get you to feel the same way I feel for you.”
* * *
“Antonio,” I said. “You are so special. So wonderful. Any woman would considered herself lucky to have a man like you. You treat women with respect and is a kind and caring person. Your mother brought you up well, and it shows. But mostly, Antonio, you are your own person and you don’t blame anyone for how life has treated you or your mother. I really admire you for how you pulled yourself up to become the amazing man you are today.”
* * *
Antonio’s mouth was quivering as his eyes swept over my face. “I want to kiss you so bad right now, Lily,” he said. “You know, if you figure out you want something better than a life with Skar, let me know. I want to wait for you, still, but unfortunately, it couldn’t be forever…not when you have a Mama like mine, waiting for grandchildren.” He looked embarrassed.
I laughed. “Yes, your Mama couldn’t wait forever.”
* * *
With that, Antonio drove us back to Slade PR where I had parked Skar’s car. I told him I’ll send him something tonight which he could look over. He kissed me on my forehead and said, “Anything for you,” before he headed off to his law firm.
* * *
I got into Skar’s car and headed to my place, a new apartment close to Slade PR. It was small, but affordable and in an area that was modern and chic. It was nice staying with Antonio for a few days, but I didn’t want to send him the wrong message, and I didn’t want to worry about being mugged or being stalked by unsavory characters in his neighborhood. My new place was well-lit, close to a police station, and in a trendy area that was busy all hours of the night.
* * *
I wrote a short script and gathered the videos I filmed, along with other materials and sent it over to Mimi, who was already editing away.
* * *
When she was done, it was close to dinner. I made some chicken soup with noodles and had a bowl of it myself before ladling the rest into a large thermos. Placing my laptop into a chic tote bag, I walked to Skar’s car.
* * *
By the time I arrived at the hospital, Skar was sitting up. A tray of hospital food was in front of him, which was untouched.
* * *
“Hi,” I said walking in. “I see you’ve gotten some rest. You’re looking better already.”
* * *
“Lily,” he said, looking genuinely happy to see me. “I thought I’d never see you again, but you’re here.”
* * *
I sat down in the chair next to his bed. “I want to show you something, Skar.”
* * *
He looked worried at first, but I placed my hand over his. “Don’t get stressed out over it. It isn’t bad. Not for you and not for me. It’s actually very positive. I even had Mrs. Repp sign off on it.”
* * *
>
His mouth dropped. “What?”
* * *
