by Melinda Minx
“Thank you all for coming,” she says, eyeing each of the board members. “Thanks to almost all of you, that is. There’s one of you I cannot thank. I can’t even look him in the eyes.”
Everyone looks over at me. I laugh. They think Nadine is still pissed off at me?
“No,” Nadine says. “Not Hunter. Hunter is no longer co-CEO--we’ve divorced--but I won’t let personal disagreements stand in the way of business. Hunter is back on as a consultant. He’s still here to help save this company, so please follow my lead and do anything you can to help him get his job done. Understood?”
Everyone mutters a bit, but they all nod. No one can deny how much I’d been turning this place around. Everyone looks fucking relieved that I’m back, as they should.
The board members all start to look amongst each other. They are wondering who Nadine can’t look in the eye. If it’s not me, then who is it?
Elise, Hugo, and I stand up.
“I was kidnapped,” Elise says. “Two days ago. Just after work.”
Everyone gasps. Gideon starts looking nervously toward the exit.
I move toward the door. I’m not letting him get away.
“While my daughter was held hostage,” Nadine says, “someone called me and demanded that I roll back all the changes Hunter had made, and that I do my best to bring Sencorp down. To make it fail.”
The board members are all shouting back and forth at each other now, sticking accusing fingers…mostly toward me.
Hugo hits a button, and the projector turns on. “We’ve done a lot of work,” he says, “to see who is benefitting most from Sencorp’s decline.”
He brings up a slide full of charts. “We see a lot of money just...disappearing. There’s always an excuse or vaguely plausible reason for it to be gone, but it’s always linked to someone who is fired, as if that will solve the problem. The thing is, we think one person is controlling all of these people. He brings someone in to take the fall for him, and he is never held accountable himself. Probably half of you already have suspected him, but we haven’t had anything to implicate him. Until now.”
I see Gideon gripping the table, his knuckles are white. He’s always operated unseen, behind the scenes, but now everyone is about to look right at him.
Hugo hits a button on the remote.
The recording of my conversation starts to play.
I hear my own voice, still audible over the background chatter from the restaurant. “How much did Gideon Fleischmann pay you, Dash?”
Then Dash’s voice. “Gideon caught me snooping on him! Alright? He told me if I had dirt on you, he’d pay me double what you were paying me, every year! It’s nothing personal, but I couldn’t turn down that kind of cash!”
Everyone is whispering and pointing at Gideon.
Gideon stands up and slams his fist down on the table. “This is outrageous! Who is this man in the recording? This is all a set-up!”
Elise steps forward. “The man Hunter is talking to on that recording approached me on the sidewalk, stuck a needle into my neck to knock me out, and then kidnapped me.”
“I won’t stand here and listen to these lies,” Gideon says, moving toward the doors. Toward me.
“The police,” Nadine says, “have already been given all of this information. I’ve ordered security to hold Mr. Fleischmann here until--”
Gideon ties to shove past me, but I stand unwavering in front of the doors.
“You’re lucky I don’t knock your teeth out,” I hiss at him, grabbing him by the collar.
“I should have fucking slit her throat,” he hisses at me.
“I’d hit you,” I say, “but a spineless fuck like you will take plenty of beatings in prison.”
“Spineless?” Gideon says, reaching into his jacket.
I see metal gleaming in his hand, and my instincts take over.
I shove my forearm toward him as he moves forward to stab me. My forearm slams against his, and the knife stops just short of my chest.
I grab his arm with my free hand, and I bend it backward--in the direction arms aren’t meant to bend.
I hear his arm snap, and the knife clatters to the ground. I shove him face first into the wall. Everyone is shouting and pointing, chairs are tipping over, and confusion ensues.
I look back at the shocked faces of the board members, as Gideon squirms and wails against my rock-hard grip. “Anyone still need fucking convincing?”
I hold Gideon down, until the cops bust into the boardroom within a few minutes. They cuff him in front of the entire board and haul him out.
“Alright,” I say, grinning. “Now that we’ve sorted that out, I’m ready to save this company. Who wants to help me?”
18
Elise
Three Years Later
I see Mom standing in the lobby, and I wave.
“Hey!”
“Oh,” she says. “Hi, Celia.”
“Sorry I’m late,” I say.
“I wasn’t waiting long. Where’s Hunt?”
“Let’s just get a table,” I say.
We sit down, and a few minutes later I see Hunter looking around for us.
I stand up and wave to him.
He comes over to where we are, kisses me and sits down to join us.
“Hey, Nadine, how’s Sencorp doing?”
“It’s doing great,” she says, “but I’m sure you already know that. Elise must be keeping you up to date.”
He shrugs. “Sure, but it’s polite to ask. I saw the feature about you in The Economist, they made you sound pretty badass.”
She laughs.
“Mom is badass,” Elise says.
“Don’t kiss my ass, Elise,” Nadine says, glaring.
“See?” Elise says, pointing at her. “Badass.”
Nadine rolls her eyes. “I presume you both have something to tell me?”
Elise smiles. “What makes you say that?”
“I can just tell.”
“Yeah,” Hunter says. “We’ve got something to tell you.”
“I’ve known, you know?”
Hunter raises an eyebrow at me.
“Known what?” Elise asks.
“I know you two are getting married,” Nadine says. “Hunt asked you two years ago.”
I bite my lip. “How...how did you--?”
“I saw the indentation on your finger, Celia. You took the ring off when visiting me. Can I at least see the ring now?”
I laugh. “You are such a bitch, Mom! If you knew all that time, why not just tell me. You know how much effort it was to keep it a secret? For two years, and you knew anyway?”
Mom smiles. “Why would I tell you if you weren’t going to tell me? Didn’t you two learn your lessons about keeping secrets?”
Hunter shrugs. “Elise didn’t want you to know. She was afraid you’d be dismissive, or--”
“Like either of you would let my feelings stop you. I’m surprised you let the engagement drag on so long, to be honest.”
Hunter stiffens, and I grab his arm. “Hunter said I had to finish school first. But I think he was also afraid of pissing you off.”
He holds his hands up. “The formula gets more and more favorable as the years go on.”
“The formula?” Mom asks.
I laugh. “When we first met, we talked about the formula for finding out if someone is too old for you. I told him it’s bullshit.”
“By the time we get married,” Hunter says, “I’ll be just barely too old for you.”
“You were never too old for me, Hunter,” I say, smiling.
“Celia was just too young for you,” Mom says, crossing her arms.
“Mom,” I say. “Come on.”
“No,” she says. “I’m good. I accept it. I’m happy for both of you, and I’m really glad you didn’t rush into marriage. When is the wedding?”
“A month after graduation,” I say, beaming. “It’s going to be so exciting, we’re going to do it out by Montauk, on the sh
ore! I don’t want it to be too big, but I want to make sure all my friends and family are there, so--”
“I’m sure it will be great,” Mom says. “I’ll see if I can get time off work.”
I nearly jump out of my chair. “You are fucking kidding me! You abandoned me as a child for work, and now you might miss my wedding!”
She laughs. “I’m kidding, Celia, sit down. Of course I’ll get off work. And please stop saying I abandoned you.”
I sit down, my cheeks flushed. “Don’t joke like that,” I say, letting out a big lungful of air. “It’s not funny at all.”
I look up to see Hunter smirking. I jab a finger at him. “Don’t laugh at her tasteless jokes!”
“Sorry,” he says, forcing a neutral expression.
The wedding is in the spring. Right on the shore. There’s a big white runner extending from the boardwalk out into the sand, so that I won’t get sand on my beautiful dress.
The Montauk Point Light is visible in the distance, a big white lighthouse with a red stripe, it’s on a rocky cliff overlooking the beach.
I walk down the aisle on my dad’s arm. He’s been totally amazing, even forcing himself to get along with Mom for my sake. He was never completely sold on the idea of me being with Hunter, but after meeting him a few times, he warmed right up to him. Who wouldn’t?
The white runner leads to a white awning held up by wooden posts. The minister is standing there, his Bible in hand. He smiles as I slowly approach. Hunter turns to face me. He looks incredible in his sharp black tux. I see him in a suit regularly, but he looks even more dashing and handsome in a full tuxedo. His jaw nearly drops when he sees me. I know I look good in my wedding dress, but I didn’t think I was quite worthy of a jaw drop. It’s not like he’s never seen me before.
But inside, I feel so fucking amazing. Of course I want to look good at my wedding, and I want Hunter above all to think I look good.
But now, it isn’t Hunter who’s looking at me--all eyes are on me. All my friends and family are seated in white chairs set out in the sand. I even see Stav and Hu dressed up in suits. I try to smile back at a few of them, but I feel too excited and totally nervous to keep my eyes off the path I’m walking down. My shoes and the dress are unwieldy enough, and walking on sand greatly increases my risk of tripping. I will not trip and fall face first on my wedding day.
I watch the ocean as I walk the last few steps toward Hunter. The waves are peaking and foaming white, and I can smell the salt as the wind carries the clean scent of the ocean toward me.
I stop in front of the minister. Beside Hunter.
He smiles at me. “You look incredible. I can hardly breathe looking at you.”
I feel my face burning red, and I look up at him through my lashes, heavy with makeup. “You look great too.”
We stand and wait for the music to end.
The minister goes through his spiel, and I say my vows. They are fairly standard, but I really mean every word.
Hunter’s vows are up next.
The minister steps back, and Hunter steps forward. “I’ve asked to speak the vows I wrote myself, not to just agree to them after they are read out for me.”
Everyone smiles up at him, and I feel a nervous thrill in my chest.
“Is that okay, Elise?”
I nod.
“Okay,” he says.
He takes my hand and kneels down on one knee. He looks right up into my eyes.
“I vow to always protect you, Elise, above all else you will be safe and secure with me. I’ll never let you go, and I’ll never let anyone hurt you…”
I feel a tear sting my eye, and I bite my lip to try to hold it back. I don’t want my makeup to run, but the tears come anyway.
“And I vow to support you in anything you do. To help you succeed. I know I’m older than you...and I’m further along in my, uh, career, than most guys my age.” He looks out toward the crowd. “I retired when I was thirty-two, in case you didn’t know.”
Everyone laughs.
He looks back to me. “You have a lot ahead of you, and I vow to be there with you. I vow to push you forward and keep you standing even when it’s difficult, even when you think there’s no way to go on. If you fall, I vow to be there to catch you. And finally, I vow to love you...with everything I have to give, I will always love you, in sickness and in health.”
He stands up, then looks out to the audience. “And now the good minister is going to ask all of you if anyone objects to Elise and me being married. If anyone objects, just ask the guys who kidnapped Elise a few years ago what happens when you stand between us, and strongly reconsider your objections…”
There is a nervous silence. Dead silence.
“It was a joke,” Hunter says, grinning.
Everyone laughs nervously.
Hunter shrugs, and smiles at me.
I wipe the tears from my face.
The minister clears his throat. “Does...anyone object?”
Now everyone laughs for real.
“Good,” he says. “Then Celia Elise Haze, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” I say.
“And Hunter Wyatt Thorn, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”
Hunter grabs me with a fierce intensity, and he pulls me tight against him. His lips crush into mine, and his tongue slides into my mouth.
I try to match him, squeezing him hard through his jacket and pressing my tongue back against his. He dips me down so far that I’m worried I’ll fall to the ground and into the sand, but he holds me tight and kisses me for all I’m worth.
I hear loud applause, and my heart surges with happiness.
He finally brings me back straight up and pulls away. He smiles at me and says, “You’re my wife now.”
I’ve waited so long to hear those words that it hardly even feels real. I pinch my finger as hard as I can, but I don’t wake up. It really is real.
19
Epilogue Part 1
Hunter
I head to the florist and buy a nice bouquet of red and white roses, then I hit the nice specialty shop a couple shops down to get some hand-made, artesian chocolates.
I carry the flowers and chocolates with me as I head to the school.
I wait outside, and when the bell rings, I see all the kids running outside, the teachers trying their best to get them to walk.
I spot Claire and smile wide.
“Daddy!” She runs toward me with her arms out.
I hug her tight, still holding the bouquet in my hands.
“You got me flowers?” she asks.
Shit, I should have realized she’d want something.
“Yeah,” I say, pulling a single rose out of the bouquet. The thorns have all been trimmed off the stems, so it’s safe to give one to Claire.
“I only get one?” she asks, pouting.
“The rest are for Mommy,” I say.
“Is it her birthday?”
Claire looks worried. She’s too young to really be able to remember anyone’s birthday other than her own.
“No,” I say, ruffling her hair. “She just got a promotion, so we’re going to celebrate.”
“What’s a promotion?”
“It means that Mommy gets paid more, and does more work.”
Claire looks up at me confused. “Miss Pierson said you are rich. She was whispering, but I heard her say it. So why does Mommy have to do more work?”
I stop walking with her and kneel down to meet her face to face. “How much do you think these flowers cost?”
“I don’t know,” Claire says. “One thousand dollars?”
“Okay, and do you remember the nice coloring you did last night? The three elves?”
Claire nods.
“How much will you sell me the drawing for?”
She bites her lip.
“Two thousand dollars?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
“Why not?”
“Because,” she says, “I want it in my room. It’s pretty.”
I smile. “So you’re proud of your work, right? You worked hard, and you don’t care about the money. That’s why we are happy for Mommy’s promotion. You understand?”
She nods.
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go. I want to catch her outside.”
“Are we gonna’ surprise her?”
“Yeah,” I say, smiling.
20
Epilogue Part 2
Elise
“Elise,” Marcus says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Go home.”
I point to my screen. “I’m in the middle of this.”
“You already received a promotion,” he says. “You don’t have to prove you earned it by staying all night.”
I bite my lip.
“Go home to your husband and daughter,” he says. “Come on, go. I saw how early you were here.”
“Alright,” I say, standing up. “Thanks, Marcus.”
I get along well with my mom now, finally, but I don’t want to do to Claire what Mom did to me. Not even a little bit. I made it clear when I started working here that I would work hard during normal hours, but that I would be there for my daughter after regular work hours. The promotion has proven that I can put in good work without staying late all the time.
I’m most excited about going home and telling Hunter. He’s going to be so surprised. Okay, maybe he won’t be surprised, since he believes in me and knows how hard I work, but he’s going to be happy for sure. And super proud of me.
I wipe the dumb grin off my face and start to pack up all of my stuff into my purse.
I thought about calling him as soon as I heard, but knowing Hunter, he’d go all out and get flowers and chocolates or something, and I didn’t want him to have to drop everything and do that. If I tell him when I get home, it will be more low-key—but still exciting. And this way, I’ll get to surprise him for once.
