by Avery James
“If they’d been looking in the right places, they’d have found the story,” Nolan said. “It’s not my fault they were blind to what was right before their eyes.”
“Then show them,” Abby said. “Give them a real story. Tell them what you know and help them win a damn Pulitzer or something, but don’t do this. It’s beneath you.”
Nolan looked into her eyes for a moment and then looked off. He stayed quiet, like he was lost in thought. “Ok,” he finally said. He reached for the paper, jotted down his statement, and signed. “We’ll do it your way.”
Five minutes later, they were in the back of an SUV heading to Nolan’s hotel. It was only a few blocks away, but it had a garage, and they could come and go without being seen. Abby pulled up the article on her phone and looked over at Nolan. “Billionaire Brawl,” she said. “Was that your idea?”
“What? No? Is that really what they went with?”
Abby stared down at the picture from earlier in the night. Two security guards pushing the crowd apart, a woman in a ball gown with her hands over her face, and Nolan smiling as another guy Abby didn’t know tackled him to the ground. “There’s a photo, too. It has nice composition, actually,” she said. She turned the phone and showed him the picture.
“Beats the alternative,” he said as the car pulled up to the hotel. The ride had lasted for all of three minutes. If it weren’t for the cameras, it would have been a short walk. “Come on, let’s go.”
“I’m going home,” Abby told him. “I don’t know what about tonight made you think I want to spend the night with you? If we had a house together, you’d be sleeping on the couch.”
“So what if I sleep on your couch?”
“Nice try,” she said.
“I’ll even make you an ‘I’m sorry for almost ruining your career’ breakfast in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Nolan,” she said. She wanted to take him up on his offer. She wanted everything to go back to the way it had been. But that was impossible, and she didn’t want to give him the impression that everything was ok. Yes, she still loved him, that was why it all hurt so much. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but he had. “Thank you for not going out in front of the cameras,” she said.
“Well, I can’t guarantee that everyone else will be happy, but I’ll do whatever I can to keep that story from coming out. I think you gave me an idea.”
“Sleep on it,” she said.
“If I told you there was a way to make all of this go away, if I could remove every obstacle that stood between us, would you let me do it? Forget about the story, forget about Ruth Heck and Erin and all of it. If you had that opportunity, wouldn’t you take it? Because I know I would every time.”
Of course she would take that opportunity. She’d do whatever it took to be with him, to make things work. But now, it all sounded like a fantasy. “We’ll talk about it in the morning,” she said.
“I don’t know if I can wait until the morning,” he replied. “Come up. We’ll talk things through.”
“Nolan, I’m tired, and I just need this night to be over.”
“Right,” he replied. “I’ll see you in the morning. I love you, Abby.”
“Goodnight.” She wanted to say, I love you, but she couldn’t get the words to come out.
Nolan kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight, Abby,” he said as he got out of the SUV. Then he closed the door, and she was alone in the back seat.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
This time she knew better than to say what she really wanted. “Back to reality,” she said, then she gave her address.
Chapter 30
Abby hadn’t bothered trying to figure out what Nolan had planned for the next morning. Instead, when she got home, she climbed into bed fully dressed and fell asleep. She woke to the sound of her phone buzzing on her night stand. She picked it up and groggily answered, expecting Nolan on the other end. “Yeah?” she said. She bolted upright when she heard who’d actually called.
“How soon can you be ready?” Amy asked. She had that excitement in her voice that meant something big was about to happen. Maybe a new case was the distraction Abby needed.
“Ready for what?” Abby replied. She was on her feet and running to the closet for clothes. She cradled the phone against her shoulder as she searched the rack for something to wear.
“I assumed you knew,” Amy replied. “He said he got the idea from you. And there is a certain level of Abby to the whole thing.”
“Amy, who are you talking about?”
“Nolan Ross,” Amy said.
“If this is about what happened last night…” she replied.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. This is about what’s happening in the next hour. Nolan called a press conference for nine, and he asked us to help with a few of the details.
“A press conference?” Abby replied. So he was still hell bent on burying the story about her company under an avalanche of gossip about himself. She knew how much he hated the image of him as a careless playboy, and yet he was playing right into it. She had to get there to keep him from doing any more damage to himself. Whatever the cost was to her professional life, it would be worth it. She had to let him know that he meant more to her than some dumb article in the Post. She was a crisis manager. She could handle her own crisis. “If he’s in touch with you, just tell him to hold off until I get there. What’s the address?”
Abby held two dresses up to the light and tried to decide which to wear. One was a floral print, relatively informal. The other was black, simple, and worked for everything from a cocktail party to a funeral. Which one will this be? she wondered.
As Amy gave her the address. Abby slipped into the dress and looked at herself in the mirror. “What else did he say?” she asked. And why didn’t he say it to me?
“He just said he wanted us to handle the aftermath. Also, he made a proposal.”
“A proposal?” Abby asked.
“We’ll talk about it when you get here,” Amy said. “Also, I think it’s time we talk about your future. See you soon.”
“My future?” Abby asked. She was just hoping to survive the present. “Can you elaborate?”
But it was too late. Amy had already hung up. This was not how Abby had seen her day going.
She looked down at her phone and then took one last glance in the mirror. She grabbed a pair of heels and headed for the door. Some people faced uncertainty by turning to faith or superstition. Abby had always relied on the little black dress.
On her ride to the address Amy had given her, Abby barely had time to apply makeup. Here’s hoping it’s not a photo-op. Even though Nolan was famous, Abby couldn’t help but wonder how many people were going to show up to a press conference with an hour’s notice. She had her answer as soon as her car pulled up to the curb. There was a steady stream of journalists heading into the building. Abby followed them inside. On the elevator ride up, they talked to each other about what a pain in the ass it was to come to a press conference for a competitor, and they wondered what kind of stunt Nolan had in store. One even asked if anyone else had seen the headline from the night before. Apparently everyone had.
Abby stepped back in the elevator and hoped that no one would recognize her as Nolan’s girlfriend. Luckily, the doors opened a moment later, and she emerged unnoticed. The scene inside the office was even more hectic than the one outside. Nearly a hundred people crammed into rows of seats that were separated by a center aisle. At the head of the aisle, there was a microphone stand. There was a general air of confusion as the reporters took their seats and camera crews set up for their shots. It seemed that Abby wasn’t the only one in the dark about what was going on.
What the hell are you planning? Abby asked herself. It was then that she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around and found herself face to face with Nolan. He raised a finger to his lips and motioned to a small office. She followed him inside and shut the door.
“You ca
me,” he said. “I was worried you might decide not to show up. I’m sorry about last night. It was a dumb plan, but I just wanted to do whatever I could to protect you.”
Abby took his hands in hers. “I know. I know you meant well. I didn’t exactly react well either, but there’s something I need to tell you.”
Nolan moved half a step closer and looked into her eyes.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said. “Whatever it is you think you have to do for me, you don’t have to go through with it. We’ll figure out another way.”
Nolan smiled. He looked tired. “Did you sleep?”
“I can sleep later,” he said. “I just need you to know that I’m doing what I have to do for us.” He paused and bit his lower lip. “I love you, Abby. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I know this isn’t how we planned on things happening, but that’s life, isn’t it? I wouldn’t trade a second of what we’ve had for anything.”
“Even last night?”
He laughed. “Ok, maybe I’d change a few things. But I just want you to know that I love you. And you’ll understand what I’m doing soon enough.”
“Why not tell me?”
“This one has to be me,” he said. “I can’t involve you.”
Abby didn’t like those words. They were the kind of words someone used when they were thinking about sacrificing themselves for someone else. She wanted to tell him that none of it mattered, that they could just pick up and start over again, that he didn’t have to prove anything to her.
“Please,” she said. “I don’t need you to save me, Nolan.”
He reached out and placed a hand on her hip. “Just know that this is what I want, and it means everything to me that you’re here.” He gave a quick wink. “Thanks for the fling.” Then leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
Abby wanted to turn and meet his lips, but as soon as he kissed her, he pulled back. “Just forgive me for what I’m about to do,” he said.
“Forgive you?”
“You’ll know as soon as I start,” he said. He leaned again, and this time his lips met hers in a long, slow kiss, the kind of kiss that made her knees weak and flooded her chest with longing. It was the kind of kiss that felt like a goodbye.
She almost reached out for him as he turned towards the door, but she knew she had to let him go. She watched him opened the door and step into the main space. He was standing tall, confident. And he marched out like a man meeting his fate. For Abby, the next few seconds were torture. She just wanted to run up to him and tell him not to go through with it, but she knew she couldn’t. Whatever he had planned, she had to let him go through with it. She stepped into the doorway and watched.
Nolan walked up to the front of the room and smiled at the crowd of reporters and staff. Even though the room was small enough for everyone to hear him, there was a microphone stand in front of the rows of chairs. There was a buzz in the room, and the reporters were talking to each other as everyone tried to figure out what was going on. Nolan walked right past them to the microphone. He flashed a smile and looked over to Abby, then took the microphone in his hand and started to speak.
“Sex.”
The room fell silent. The bastard stole my line, Abby thought. She had to stifle a laugh, and she raised her hand over her mouth in surprise. Where the hell is he going with this?
Everyone in the room was waiting on Nolan’s next word.
“See, that’s what I’m fighting against,” he said. There was a laugh from the audience, and Nolan waited for it to die down before he continued. “For years, I made my money off of sex appeal. The latest news and gossip about the best looking people on the planet, because that’s what people are interested in. You say sex in a crowded room, and everything stops. It’s a great business model, really. Give the people what they want, and, let’s be honest,” he said with a shrug, “we all know what they want.”
He looked to Abby again before continuing. “The truth is, I wanted Politicker to be something more than that. I wanted to move past sensationalized stories and on to something more important. The natural assumption was that I was going to try my best to fit politics into the same mold as my other websites, that it would be sensationalized gossip. And that’s probably what people want. After all, sex sells, but I didn’t launch this site to make money. In fact, it’s been a labor of love.
“And love isn’t about profit. It’s about what you can give. A little over ten years ago, I lost my brother. He was a solider, and he gave his life for his country, for this country, too. He gave his life for something he believed in, and yet, every day since then, I’ve looked at the world, and I’ve seen a complete lack of respect for the sacrifices made by people like my brother. I’ve looked at the corruption and the graft, and the unaccountability, and I’ve said someone should do something about this, until I realized that that someone was me.
“When I first thought up the plan for Politicker, I knew that it could be something pure, something true. And in the few weeks we’ve been online, I think we’ve managed to do that. Already, we’ve broken stories that will have a profound impact on the country, including our ongoing investigation into Senator Ruth Heck and the Attorney General. I believe that good journalism holds people in power accountable. And I’m excited to continue doing just that.”
Nolan paused and locked his eyes on Abby as he took a deep breath. “But you didn’t come here to hear me sing my own praises. I have two announcements to make, and I’ll keep them brief. First, I’m excited to announce that from this point forward, Politicker will be a joint venture between my company and the fine folks at the Post. In light of the stories we’ve uncovered, and the importance of the work we’re doing, I’ve realized that I’d be doing a disservice to everyone if I didn’t bring in more help. I look forward to this partnership and the ways in which our companies can help each other move into a new age in media.
“Now for the second announcement. In order to protect the journalistic integrity of this team, I’ve decided to step aside. While I will retain majority ownership of Politicker, I’m turning day to day management over to the Post. The team will stay intact, and we’re going to grow at an accelerated pace compared to the original plan, but it will do so without my direct involvement. My full financial backing will remain behind this endeavor, but I’ve seen that the best way to make a difference is to let my reporters work and get the hell out of their way. I set out to make a difference, and I believe this is the best way to do so.”
“Are there any questions?” Nolan asked. Every reporter shot a hand up in the air. “Yes, you,” Nolan said, pointing to a young woman who looked vaguely familiar to Abby. When she started to speak, Abby realized why. It was one of the twins. Both Liz and Sam were sitting next to each other in the sea of reporters. What the hell were they doing?
“Mr. Ross, do you have any comment on what happened last night? Is it true you got in a fight over the proper way to drink Scotch?”
Nolan grinned. “One unfortunate picture aside, there isn’t much to say about last night. I mean, in my defense, who orders Scotch with lime?”
“And the article that ran in the Post?”
“I was just helping my new business partners sell a few papers,” he said. “But I can assure you, it was all just a misunderstanding, and we’ve sorted it all out.” Nolan answered a few more questions about the joint venture with the Post, then he added, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to hand the mic over to a member of my team for the rest of the questions. I have a pressing matter to attend to. Thank you for your time.” Nolan placed the microphone back in its stand and walked to the back of the room as one of the Politicker reporters took the microphone and started to introduce the members of the team.
“Hey,” Nolan said as he approached Abby. “Sorry, I stole your line.”
“Did you just sell your company to bury a story about me?”
“No,” he said. “I realized that I had stumbled onto something that
was much bigger than me, and I wanted to give that thing every chance to succeed. In order to do that, I had to make a few hard choices. And I might have made a few mistakes along the way, but they only made me realize what truly mattered.”
“Are you talking about Politicker or about us?”
“What do you think?” he asked. His coy grin told her exactly what to think. “I love you, Abby. I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting you, and the idea that I could have caused you pain in any way, it made me sick to my stomach, but I didn’t do this for you. I did it for myself. I could never be the man you deserved if I was always in competition with you.”
“I love you, too, but we could have figured something else out,” she said.
“It’s for the best,” Nolan said. “Besides, I have a new venture I’m starting up. It’s still in the earliest possible stages, but I think it’s quite promising.”
“And that new venture, would it happen to be here in D.C.?”
Nolan shook his head. “I was thinking London or Edinburgh, but we can talk about it later. I think your boss just got here.”
“She can wait,” Abby said. London. Edinburgh. London was a six hour flight, and Edinburgh was at least another hour further away. A fourteen hour round trip was brutal, but it that was what it took to be with Nolan, Abby was willing to make it work. “No matter where you end up, we can make it work. You might have to cover the airfare, but we’ll find a way.”
“No,” Nolan said. “I didn’t finish. I want you to move with me.”
“Nolan,” Abby said, shaking her head, “I can’t do that. I have a job here, a life here.”
“That’s definitely your boss,” he said. “You should go talk to her.”
“Right now?”
“I’m pretty sure you’ll want to hear what she has to say. Come on.” Nolan took Abby’s hand and led her to the elevator where Amy Haven was waiting.
“Quite the announcement,” Amy said. “I see our new associates handled their role well.”
