by Amy Baker
I cleared my throat again hoping that the whooshing in my head would ebb. I scanned the audience looking for a familiar face hoping it would help my confidence thereby speeding up the process. When my eyes landed on Hugh I found what I needed. He stared back at me with the most endearing expression looking handsome as ever. I instantly knew everything, come what may, would be fine.
The gushing sound subsided and my hearing returned. “Thank you,” I said in response to the clapping. “We are here tonight to announce a momentous event. Tonight we celebrate the union of two very successful companies into one Pharmaceutical conglomerate that will rival some of the largest in the industry.” Another round of applause erupted, this one I could see and hear. I nodded my approval and paused while I waited for the noise to quiet.
“I would like to make a toast!” I smiled at the crowd sprawled out in front of me and then looked toward Stacey. I could see that she was desperately struggling to contain her disdain. My smiling eyes morphed into a squinty glint that only she could see as I reached to take a flute from her hand. It looked like she was making a concerted effort to pry her fingers apart and release the glass. She stared into my eyes communicating her hatred as I took my champagne from her and turned back toward the audience. Ignoring the daggers hitting me in the side of the head from her piercing eyes, I raised my flute in front of me. “To Norstride and Jubilee. May your merger be seamless and your success imminent. Cheers!” I tipped my glass toward my mouth barely letting the bubbles tickle my lips before I lowered my glass and let Stacey introduce the Presidents of each of the companies.
Charles Dorn of the Norstride Corporation placed his warm palm on the side of my arm and then Stacey’s illustrating his appreciation. He stepped up to the podium bending to meet the microphone that he hadn’t bothered to adjust. “Thank you,” he said using his deep commanding voice. “Aren’t they wonderful?” He raised his arm showcasing me and Stacey as we stepped to the side. “I don’t know where we would be without them,” he continued as he began to clap. A smattering of people from the audience joined in.
I gave Charles a cursory thank you and smiled in the direction of the audience. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Stacey thank Charles but then noticed a strange smirk appear on her face. Then Charles continued his adoration but this time with news that brought the whooshing deafness back with a vengeance. “That is why we were so happy to receive Delilah’s request outlining her desire to join our in house team in Virginia,” he ended on a high note.
The entire audience erupted with clapping, whistling and I would have sworn by the looks on some faces sharp disturbing inhales of shock. Since my hearing had taken a hike again I wasn’t positive that I had heard him correctly but when I turned my head in confusion, I caught Stacey sporting the most ominous grin I had ever seen on her vindictive face. Charles reached out to put his arm around my shoulder corralling me back to the microphone. “Say something,” he encouraged, only this time his voice sounded like it was spoken inside of a soup can.
“I, uh,” I stammered. The sounds around me were starting to become more definitive. I swallowed hard and tried to keep my composure because what I wanted to do was shove my high-heeled shoes up Stacey’s non-existent ass in front of the 200 people attending the gala. “I, um, don’t know what to say,” I breathed as my ability to hear returned.
“Well, we are just thrilled, Delilah,” Charles reiterated.
“Thank you, Charles,” was all I could seem to come up with at that moment. I wasn’t sure what just went down. Or how it happened for that matter. All I knew for certain was that somehow Stacey had set me up.
As Charles turned the microphone over to George Waltaub, the CEO of Jubilee, I turned my attention toward the relentless bitch that was standing beside me. “You set me up,” I seethed so only she could hear.
“That’s riiiiiight,” she sang faking the best impersonation of a southern drawl I’d ever heard. “How do you like them lamb chops?” she asked with a devious grin.
The air in my lungs all but froze. “What did you just say?” I asked incapable of digesting her chosen words.
“That’s right, Delilah. You heard me. Lamb,” she clucked her tongue and then proceeded, “chops. Hugh told me all about it. You. Darcy Strong. Ryan. Your little mishap at the wedding. And, oh boy, did we share a laugh about that one. Hugh was all too eager to outline what an ass you made out of yourself,” she chuckled with the memory but killed the laugh and the sinister glint in her eye as quickly as she had produced them. “How humiliating. The only thing better than hearing it from Hugh’s lips betraying you would have been watching the entire debacle unfold in person. But, whatever. Just knowing you got yours will have to do. Oh! I almost forgot,” she raised her pointer finger in the air. “Have fun in Virgin-I-A,” she used that finger to dot her ‘I’ and scribble her ‘A’ before she pivoted slowly on one foot and languidly swayed her way off the stage demonstrating her satisfaction.
My mouth was actually stuck in a lax position shocked by all she shared. “Oh my God,” I breathed unable to comprehend how my entire world just disintegrated.
As the devastation she created began to sink in I felt a large warm hand gently grip my shoulder.
“Delilah.” Hugh turned me pulling me in for a tight embrace. My mind was so compromised I couldn’t even process what was happening. “You asked to be transferred? I just can’t believe it. I never thought I’d see the day that you would return to Virginia.” He held me so tight I almost couldn’t breathe. Given what Stacey just shared, I found the gesture confusing. If what Stacey said was true, Hugh should be demonstrating signs of…satisfaction. He won. He got back at me after all these years. He threw me under the bus, tossed me to the wolves, fed me to the tigers. Yet his tone and his behavior reflected an entirely different emotion. He seemed disappointed, concerned, distressed.
There were a million other thoughts that should have been coursing through my mind at that very moment. But there was one question that I desperately needed the answer to before I could even begin to sort out what had just taken place.
“How could you?” I murmured inexplicably into the shoulder of his suit jacket. “I just can’t believe after all this time? I was a child, Hugh. I never meant to hurt you. I never told another soul about what happened that day. It was the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life.”
“What?” Hugh asked confused by my question. And he genuinely sounded confused. “What are you talking about?”
“You told her. You told Stacey about the wedding…the lamb chops.” Then, as the realization of his actions dawned on him, I felt his entire body stiffen with regret. His posture forced the question from my lips. “You did, didn’t you, Hugh?” I pressed, needing to hear his confession.
“Delilah,” he whispered as he pushed me to arms length and looked into my eyes. He shook his head. But it wasn’t in denial. I could tell that much. He was asking for forgiveness. “I thought you two were friends when I told her,” he hurried to explain. “She asked how we met. How long we’ve been friends. Why you left Virginia. It just didn’t occur to me that you never shared that with her. I thought you two were…close,” he breathed.
Was that actually how his sharing my embarrassment went down? Or was Hugh still so angry about what I’d done at his wedding so many years ago that he wanted to return the favor and ransack my life? He knew how devastated I was after the wedding. How could he have shared that event so carelessly? As I tried to discern if Hugh’s version of the story was true, the image of him and Stacey sitting across from each other at lunch assailed me. And all I could recall was the brilliant smile plastered on Hugh’s face and Stacey’s head thrown back bursting out in laughter at whatever he’d shared. What else could have possibly given Stacey so much satisfaction?
I had been set up.
He must have done it on purpose.
As the hard blanket of betrayal crushed me, I decided a good dose of honesty would do
our farce of a relationship a well of good. “I didn’t ask to join Norstride, Hugh. Or to move to Virginia, for that matter. Stacey set me up. I just can’t believe that you came all this way to help her do it.” I didn’t say anymore. I couldn’t. I was angry. Angry that Hugh sat at a table across from Stacey, enjoyed a meal with her at one of my favorite restaurants and then teamed up with her to destroy my life. As it turned out, my initial suspicions of Hugh’s true ulterior motives were correct. All along he had been out for revenge.
Unable to stare at him another moment, I stepped away, grabbed my little purse off of the table and headed toward the front door.
“Delilah, don’t,” Hugh called after me. “Please!” He called louder as the distance between us grew.
I passed Steven along the way to the exit. It was impossible to miss the proud-poppa smile he was wearing.
“It won’t be easy without you, Dee. But I will find it in my heart to be happy for you even if I am going to miss you when you’re gone. Stacey said that you’ve been looking to move back to Virginia for a long time now. I’m glad they accepted your request and you got what you wanted. Congratulations.”
I couldn’t look at Steven. I barely heard his praise or endorsement as I walked by him expressionless. All I could focus on was one thing.
I got totally played.
But not just by Stacey. By Hugh, as well.
Chapter 10
I heard the intercom buzz to life. It had been doing that a lot. I glanced at the clock.
Huh.
I hadn’t even realized that it had been hollering intermittently for over an hour. But since I had no intention of answering it, whoever was looking for me was in for a long night.
Hours earlier I had dazedly dragged myself through my front door. I was welcomed home by a voicemail message from the guy who I sublet the apartment from. Apparently he was in Amsterdam. He had received my email that I was moving to Virginia. “Congratulations, Girlfriend. Heard you’re Virginia bound. Way to go,” he slurred enthusiastically. He sounded genuinely happy for me, which I found irritating. To be perfectly honest, he sounded stoned and happy for me. He certainly didn’t sound the least bit concerned about my news of vacating his apartment on such short notice. But then again why would he? His message stated that he already had someone who was taking over the lease and if he came to look at the apartment it was okay for me to let him in. Some guy named William Krakow.
Fabulous.
Will was in on the action, too. Was there anyone in my life that wasn’t on a mission to fuck me over? I just couldn’t believe it.
I looked around my apartment wondering how long I had before I was out on the street. He hadn’t mentioned when Will would be moving in. And of course not being privy to the email that Stacey sent, I had no idea what she had told him. Needless to say, I totally underestimated how evil Stacey could be. She had decimated my entire life with the help of the man that I had spent the better part of my life pining over.
It wouldn’t be long before I was out of my rent stabilized apartment, out of the job that I had spent six years dedicating every waking hour to, and out of the city that had become my home.
The buzzing of the intercom resumed, cutting through the murky thoughts that were swamping my brain. I turned to look at the speaker and told it to shut up as if it would understand and immediately comply. And oddly it did.
“Had I known that would work I would have tried it sooner,” I confessed to my intercom out loud.
I pushed myself out of my comfy club chair clutching the handmade throw that Grandma Bertha made me to my chest. As I made my way languidly to the kitchen to deposit the martini glass that I had made quick work of emptying twice, a loud banging on my front door had me jumping out of my skin. My jerky response forcefully launched my last olive across the room.
Damn.
I always saved my olives, which were the best part, for last.
“Delilah!” the angry voice boomed. “Open this door right now.”
I froze solid, practically mid step, trying to control my breathing so I could pretend that I wasn’t home.
But my heart was racing so wildly I feared that he could hear it pounding from the other side of my front door. And that was with the effects of two very strong martinis. Imagine if I wasn’t under the influence of the most commonly imbibed depressant known as alcohol.
As I did my best to remain stone silent, I heard the bell on the elevator ding indicating its arrival on my floor. Hoping Hugh had given up and decided to call it a night, I tiptoed toward my front door to look through the peephole.
I couldn’t prevent the squeal that burst from my lungs as a key smoothly slid into the lock and the door handle began to twist open. I retreated as quickly as I could to put as much distance as possible between me and the front door. I found myself half sitting (one butt cheek only) on my trusty, all-purpose ice cream table. All the effects of my pocket book threatening to lodge up my ass.
The door swung open so quickly it bounced back after rebounding off of the rubber stopper that was strategically placed to prevent any wall damage.
“There. Happy now?” Davis said impatiently holding a hand out in my direction. “She’s alive and well.” Then he looked back at me reassessing my appearance. “Well maybe ‘well’ is too strong a word. But she is certainly alive and that was the only reason I let you in here. So, now you can turn yourself around and leave with a clear conscience.”
Somewhat able to grasp why Davis might be committing a felony like breaking and entering, I turned to Hugh to clarify what he thought he was going to accomplish standing in my apartment. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“We’ve been calling you for over an hour.” It was clear that he was angry. His tone sounded impatient and his movements appeared jerky and abrasive. But what he had to be angry about was a total and complete mystery.
“So?” I countered.
“So?” he countered in a way that mocked my question.
“Yeah. So,” I reiterated.
It would seem that Hugh was losing his patience because his next response was a veritable roar. “So, why didn’t you answer the call!?!”
“None of your damn business!” I responded with comparable hostility through squinty eyes.
Sensing the conversation was not moving toward a resolution, Davis took it upon himself to diffuse the situation. “Alright,” he began as he moved toward Hugh with the intention of escorting him out of my apartment.
Recognizing the gesture, Hugh held up his hand to ward off Davis’ advancement. “Davis,” he warned, “I am going to say this one time and one time only. Try to remove me from this apartment and I am going to shove that ridiculous hat so far up your ass that it just might come out of your mouth.”
I looked at Davis. Davis’ hat was definitely ridiculous. But it was part of his uniform. No one in their right mind would deliberately choose that hat to accessorize their wardrobe. Unhappy with Hugh’s mockery of my faithful doorman’s uniform, I jumped down his throat in defense. “Don’t you talk to Davis that way! You have no right to be here, you back stabbing son-of-a-bitch.” I peeled myself off of my little round table and took a dominant step forward deriving strength from Grandma Bert’s afghan. “Go back to the gala,” I instigated. “Maybe Stacey is still there. The two of you can figure out some other way to bury me. You already got me transferred.”
I saw Davis’ head snap in my direction. “You were transferred?” he interjected.
Ignoring Davis’ question, I continued on my tear. “I’m sure there’s more damage the two of you can drum up.” But as my tirade began to ebb so did my footing. My body swayed ever so slightly giving into the effects of the alcohol that was quickly flooding my bloodstream. I saw both Davis and Hugh reflexively jerk forward with a hand extended as if they could intercept my fall. So maybe my disorientation was a little more obvious than it felt. But I was on a roll and I had a lot more to say so I ignored my dizziness and carr
ied on. “Ya know, Hugh? I didn’t mean to hurt you when I revealed that Darcy was pregnant with Ryan’s baby.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Davis’ head snap over to Hugh but he didn’t interrupt. However his jaw did go lax as the soap opera I was describing began to unfold.
“It was totally unintentional,” I continued. “I just can’t believe that you were so vengeful that you would tell Stacey about my fake breasts, get me kicked out of my apartment and shuffled back to Virginia all at one time,” I finished in one breath.
Davis’ head snapped back to me. “Those are fake? They look so real,” he used his extended arm swaying it side to side to gesture from one breast to the other.
“No.” I moaned petulantly.
Davis took a step forward as though he was going to cop a feel for authenticity.
“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Hugh growled.
“I wasn’t going to touch her breasts,” he barked at Hugh then turned back to me. “I was going to give you a hug. I just can’t believe you’re leaving. Like…for good?” Davis breathed. Once we cleared up the breast misunderstanding he was clearly upset about my departure.
My head slowly turned to him and I nodded dejectedly.
Davis turned to Hugh with fire in his eyes. In all the years I had known him I had never seen such hatred in his expression. “You did this? You got her kicked out of this apartment? And transferred?” His voice rose. “You are a son-of-a-bitch,” he confirmed.
“I didn’t get her thrown out of the apartment,” Hugh defended pointing a finger at my hardwood floor. “When Charles announced that you had asked for a transfer I was totally surprised,” he continued heatedly. “I’m not looking for revenge, Delilah. There’s only one thing I have been looking for.” He pushed open his tuxedo jacket and rested his hands low on his hips. After he shook his head what looked like in disbelief, he took a deep breath. “Where is the note I left downstairs with your doorman? I told you in that note that I was in town for a meeting.”
