Why does it not surprise me that Angelica was elected to do the talking? Funny considering she holds less stock than anyone else in the room. “Let’s not waste time with formalities. You know why you’re here. The board and I have serious questions about your ability to run this company given your recent…behavior…indiscretions.”
“My indiscretions.” I repeat.
“Yes. This company is founded on honesty, hard work, and a good solid reputation that’s capable of promoting businesses via new and innovative approaches that support them in achieving their goals and realizing excellence. Not only do we strive to increase their revenue, we are known for increasing their market share, extolling the excellence of their products, and helping them achieve a reputation of reliability and credibility while enhancing their stature within their industry. ”
“I’m well aware of what this company does, of its mission statement, goals and values. You may recall, that I helped fashion those.”
“Good, then you’ll understand that when your own behavior exposes compromised moral judgment that we’re concerned about our reputation and the subsequent loss of business from existing and new clients. They need to be able to trust that their business is in good and capable hands. Given your mental instability right now, I’m not sure that your position as CEO is in this company’s best interest.”
“Unbelievable,” I mutter.
Pamela, a partner and friend of my dad’s almost since the company began speaks up, “Ella, you have to understand that we are concerned. No well-respected business is going to trust our company with their future if they aren’t comfortable with the CEO that runs the corporation. That’s simply fact.”
Henry, a sweet man that used to sneak me candy when I would wait in my father’s office for him to finish up work sometimes speaks next, “We know you’ve been through a lot. Maybe it’s a good idea to take a leave of absence until you’re feeling better.”
“I’m feeling fine,” I say exasperated. “Anyone else? If not, then let me say a few things. Normally I would be angry that my personal life is under scrutiny. Normally, I would state that it isn’t anyone’s business. In fact, I’m sure that some of the conversation and discussion is violation of the law, and I’m sure HR would agree. However, given the situation, I will indulge you - for now. As you know, my marriage to Jeremy didn’t exactly go to plan.” I almost cringe at my description, but how else would I describe it? “Just before I was due to walk down the aisle, I was told by my stepsister and stepmother that Jeremy had been having an affair with my stepsister. I’m sure you remember that Angelica, you were there.”
“See what I mean?” She says to everyone. “That never happened.”
“However what you don’t know is that before I found out that little tidbit, I had already elected not to go through with the wedding. I wasn’t in love with Jeremy, I never was. I had the mental clarity to decide that marrying someone I didn’t really love was a mistake. There is no question that I could have handled that day differently, but I handled it as well as I think reasonable given the entire situation. Then, as you all know, I decided to take my earned, and might I add, well-deserved time away, the time that had been planned for my honeymoon, as my vacation. And yes, while I was in Cabo I met a man and we were married, in a non-binding, non-legal wedding ceremony, but the supposed stories of my behavior printed in the paper are simply not true. My time with Mr. Charming, was not a slip in judgment. I did nothing that would undermine the integrity or reputation of this company – or my own. And quite honestly, I’m not sure what I can do or say that can convince you of any of this. You see, at the end of the day I know it’s going to be her word against mine. What do you want me to say here? How can I convince you that none of the stories and rumors are true? That the fact that my wedding didn’t occur isn’t some tragedy that I’ve had to endure, that sent me over some figurative edge, but rather, was my choice. I would be happy to conduct an interview in the press stating the truth. I have not done so out of respect for all of you and this company. Would you like me to undergo a psychiatric evaluation? Fine. I’m appalled, infuriated, and simply amazed that you would so easily believe a rumor instead of me, someone you’ve known for years, someone who has been unwavering in her dedication, loyalty and passion about this company. And in truth, someone who has steered this company since my father’s death to yield more revenue that has benefited each and every one of you around this table. Yes, it astounds me that I am needing to stand here and defend myself. So tell me, what is it you would have me say or do? But let one thing be clear, I will not admit to something that is untrue to meet your needs and I will not apologize for something that is not my fault, or for which I have no control. As always, I’d prefer to let my history of work do my talking for me. And one more thing. I have learned, that while I may be young, time is precious. It is sacred. And I will not waste any more of mine or yours on this topic. We will resolve this now.”
Something comes over me and I realize I’m simply done playing their game. I don’t owe them a damn thing. “My father,” I say slowly looking around the room at all of them again, “he would be ashamed of every single one of you. He led you all to be so much better than this. And so have I.”
There are gasps in the room, but I barely hear them. Pushing my seat back from the table, I stand to leave. Before I can take a step, the door bursts open and my eyes swing to the doorway.
I’m frozen.
Time stands still.
The air in my lungs leaves my body and I blink rapidly trying to clear my vision. I’m almost convinced that what they all believe is true and I have lost my damn mind. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Barrie, I told him you were in a meeting and could not be disturbed.”
Asher is standing in my boardroom. He’s here. In New York. He’s in front of my entire board of directors. And oh god, he looks amazing. I don’t want my eyes to leave him in case he disappears, but movement behind him makes my eyes widen. Douchebag Hunter is standing behind Asher, a small smile on his face. Swinging my gaze back to Asher, I devour him with my eyes. He looks divine. Black dress pants and a blue shirt that makes his eyes blast blue from across the room adorn him and he looks as sexy as I’ve ever seen him. “Asher?” I say and it sounds choked as if I’m almost afraid to believe it.
He begins walking to me and I still can’t move. “I’m mad at you. No, scratch that, I’m furious with you.”
“You’re furious with me?”
“Yes. Do you have any idea how crazy I was when I got back to our room and found you were gone? All you left behind was a note.” He pulls it from his pocket and it looks worn, like it’s been opened and closed several times. “A note that tells me you love me. A note that tells me you’re leaving me. A note is all I had left of you.” He takes another step toward me. “I lost it when you were gone. I didn’t know what I had done or what had happened. I immediately felt lost, alone, and behaved abhorrently. I practically trashed our room. Hunter found me there, in the middle of self-destruction and fessed up and told me about your conversation and that he encouraged you to leave. That he believed all that shit that was being said…or certainly had believed it. I then turned on him and practically beat the hell out of my best friend.”
“It’s true,” Hunter pipes up with a smile, and I notice that he’s got a yellowing black eye.
He takes another step toward me. “I spent four of the best days of my life with you,” he says and I swear right then and there my heart stalls in my chest. “I fell in love with a you at first sight, Ella.” No, I’m wrong. Now my heart has stopped. “I don’t give a fuck what people say about love at first sight because I know it’s real. Do you know what I said to Hunter the first time I saw
you?” I shake my head no unnecessarily. Of course he knows I have no idea. “You were next to me and my friends at the pool. You and Katie were drinking and I heard your laugh, I saw your smile, I heard your hilariously inappropriate comment about your ass and I looked at Hunter and
I said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl’.”
“It’s true, he did,” Hunter says again.
“When I took you out the night I approached you on the beach and we went dancing and you were drinking, you didn’t notice that I had hardly drunk anything at all. We had fun together, you opened up to me about what that asshat Jeremy did to you and how your stepsister and stepmother were minions from hell.”
Glancing at Angelica, I see her face flush and she stands and crosses her arms, “I think we’ve heard enough. You can leave now,” she has the nerve to snap.
Asher looks from her to me, “Who is that?”
I almost grin at his clear annoyance that she’s interrupted him. Forget the fact that he is in my boardroom, interrupted a meeting, and is surrounded by my board members. “That would be the infamous stepmother, minion of hell.”
“Oh yeah? Well Ella excuse my interruption of us for a moment, because this seems to be the perfect time to mention this. Hunter?” Hunter takes a piece of paper from his messenger bag and hands it to Asher. “Imagine my surprise when this was sent to my assistant. It’s a written notarized statement given by the editor of the New York Times stating that your stepmother paid him off to put that story about your defunct wedding and her interview as well as your exes in the paper. She also paid an investigator to dig up any and all information she could find about our time in Mexico and she told him she would pay him extra to spin the stories in the manner that would serve her purpose.”
Henry stands and takes the paper from Asher and looks it over. “He’s telling the truth.”
“Hell yes I am. Now if you’ll excuse me, I was in the middle of something,” Asher says then turns back to me as if he hadn’t just dropped a huge bomb in the middle of the room. “Anyway, where was I?”
“You were telling her about the night you approached her on the beach,” Pamela says with…is that a helpful longing tone in her voice?
“Ah, yes. Anyway, that night, I wasn’t drinking much at all Ella. When I suggested we get married, I knew exactly what I was doing. When we woke up the next morning and you were so surprised, did you not notice that I didn’t share your shock or worry in the slightest? If you recall, I told you I remembered every minute of the night we were married. Now, I’ve since found out that our marriage was a civil ceremony and not legal and I’d like to rectify that even though it was real to me, but I’m getting ahead of myself.”
My god how many times can a woman stop breathing and not pass out? Or die?
He takes another step toward me. “I kept waiting all that week, searching for an inkling that maybe you felt the same way. That you’d want more than just one week with me. I almost told you I love you so many times, but I didn’t want to frighten you and scare you away. When our week was over I was going to either tell you, or ask you to keep seeing me. Either way I was never going to let you go. But then you left. And I had no way to get in touch with you other than your address. So, I flew home and I met with my directors and I did all the meetings that I had lined up and the whole time all I could think about was getting to you. I counted down the time until I could show up on your doorstep and declare my love for you. It’s been the longest two weeks of my life and if I wasn’t under contract to do those things or face severe repercussions I would have been here sooner, but I’ve died a little bit every day that we’ve been apart. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore. I love you, Ella. I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you.”
He’s standing in front of me now, and he takes my hand, and gets down on one knee. The sight makes tears immediately come to my eyes. Hunter hands him something and to my surprise it’s the pink flip-flop I couldn’t find when I was getting ready for an evening with Asher in Mexico. He must have found it when he packed, “You left this behind when you left. I actually found it under the bedside table. Anyway, when I found it, I thought it was fitting, because you’re my princess Ella, and I want to be your prince Charming. I know this shoe fits your foot so basically that means you have to say yes. So please, say that you’ll marry me, for real this time. I never want to be without you again.”
“I have missed you so much. These last two weeks have been agony. I never expected you, Asher Charming. I never saw you coming, and you have been the best surprise I’ve ever had in my life. Yes, Asher. I will marry you.”
He rises to his feet and takes me into his arms and I’m home. His lips land on mine and he kisses me so hard and with so much passion that I feel the days that we were apart fade between us. Pulling back, he pulls the shoe out and I look down. He cut a small slit into the bottom of the shoe and stuck inside it is a gorgeous engagement ring – princess cut of course. He slides it on, and smiles when he sees my wedding band is still in place. And I look at his hand and find he’s still wearing his too.
“I love you Asher. I love you so much.”
“It feels amazing to hear those words in person instead of in a letter.”
“I’m sorry. Please forgive me, I didn’t want any of this,” I gesture to everyone around us, not even caring that they’re there, “to hurt your career.”
“It can’t. The fact is, with my job, things will always be said in the press. People will sell their souls for a buck, and that’s just par for the course. Anyone with half a brain knows that’s how it is, and anyone who would believe the shit these people write need to get a life. They certainly aren’t the ones I would want in my life.”
As if on cue, Henry stands again and says, “I think we’ve seen and heard enough. Angelica, you can either leave or be escorted from the property, I can guarantee that the board will be convening about your role in all of this and likely buying out your share of this business. You are the one we cannot be associated with. Ella, I want to formally apologize on behalf of all of us for bringing you here today and putting you through this. I couldn’t be happier for you, and I wish you all the best. Until next time, my dear.” And with that he saunters out of the room, everyone else following behind.
Angelica shoots daggers at me as she is forcibly removed but this time it is Asher who returns her looks, clearly daring her to say or do something. When she’s gone, he turns back to me, “Promise me you will never run like that again. If something happens, you’ll talk to me, we’ll work it out, we’ll take care of it together.”
“I promise.” He kisses me again and when we break away I see that everyone has left the room. It’s just the two of us. “Ever made love on a boardroom table?”
His grin turns wicked, “Can’t say that I have.”
Walking to the door, I flip the lock, then turn back to the man I love, “Well, you’re about to.”
Running the box cutter along the sealed tape and pulling the top open with my other hand, I pull out the contents one by one. Smiling as I unwrap each photo, I set them aside, not yet sure where they will be hung. Realizing what I’m unpacking, a smiling Asher comes up and stands next to me reaching into the box to assist me. “I think we should hang one in every room. I want to be reminded of falling in love with you everywhere I look.”
Whenever I think it isn’t possible to love him more, he proves me wrong.
Looking around our new home, I take a mental picture, wanting to remember this moment forever. Asher’s choice to live in New York is a big deal. A huge deal. Knowing how I feel about Katie, my roots and the company and our clients, he wanted us to establish our residence here. So he said it would be no big deal for him to travel. And since the Board has agreed that I can work remotely from anywhere, I have freedom to travel with Asher as well. It was the perfect solution. We were lucky and easily found a quaint little apartment on the Upper East Side. The movie that he started filming after Cabo, was being shot here in New York, a fact that he never had a chance to tell me. It’s been wonderful having him here and over the last month that he’s been filming I’ve visited him on set a few times. It’s truly a remarkable experience and I love watching Asher in his element.
Katie was sad to
lose me as a roommate, but the good news is that Vanessa’s roommate relocated, so they had a perfect solution. She moved into our old place and I didn’t feel so bad about leaving her after that. Of course we talk every day and get together all the time. She constantly asks Asher to hook her up with a hot friend or hot costar.
Knee deep in wedding plans, I am counting down the days until I get to begin my official marriage to the man I love. He’s involved in all the wedding planning and never once seems bored or says, “whatever you want”. He’s gotten laid for that multiple times so far – maybe that’s why he never says it. He’s caught on.
Katie and I went shopping last weekend and I found the perfect dress. It was unexpected, just like everything else has been on this journey. Therefore, it was perfect. A very light shade of blue, it was the perfect reminder of that princess in blue I love so much. After Asher’s proposal it made perfect sense – I knew it was the one. And when I tried it on and looked at myself in the mirror, I could see the look. The one I had searched for before. The one Cinderella wore the day she married her Prince Charming. It was there in my eyes, I could see it. And I knew it always would be.
“I’m going to unpack that last box in our bedroom really quick,” Asher says. “The pizza will be here any second. Do you mind getting the door?”
“Of course not.”
He kisses me on the cheek and starts to walk away, but I grab him by the arm and pull him back. Giving him a much more thorough kiss, I sigh from happiness when I pull away, confident I’m wearing a silly grin. “I love you, Asher Charming.”
“I love you too, soon to be Ella Charming.”
Smiling he dashes away to tend to his task and seconds later there’s a knock at the door. Grabbing the cash out of my purse to pay for the food, I open the door and to my surprise, it isn’t the pizza. “Ella Barrie?”
“Yes?”
“Delivery for you, ma’am.”
He hands me a large light blue box, “Thank you,” I say taking it from his arms and closing the door behind me.
Charming: A Modern Day Sexy Cinderella Story Page 21
