by Lauren Wood
His face fell and I think he really thought that I was just going to go along with it. “I will tell you now as well if this is what you choose, then I will be forced to not give you a recommendation. Furthermore, I know all of the dentists in the city and I will make sure that none of them hire you. You will not find work here Cameron, not being a hygienist in this city at least. You will waste all of the time you put in at school and have to go back to waitressing or whatever it is that you do.”
He was going to ruin my career, or at least the beginning of the career that I thought I wanted. He was going to make it so I never worked in this town again, but I still wasn’t going to let him win. I refused to let a man like that get his way. He had most likely done it to others and would have done it to me eventually without me messing up. I just seemed to move it along a little faster.
I stood up and started towards the door before I said something out of line. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I nearly bit it off to keep from saying a word. I wasn’t going to sit here and listen to the devilish tongue anymore. My boss was a snake and I should have been grateful to find out now, instead of later when I actually needed the job.
“You do what you feel you have to and I will do the same Sir.”
I walked out with whatever dignity and pride I had left. It wasn’t much, but I managed to make it outside before I started to break down. What the hell was I going to do now? Everything that I had worked for was gone and I knew that I was going to have to find a way to pick up the pieces, somehow. I didn’t know how yet, but I knew that whatever I was going to have to do would have to be better than what he had suggested. I left with a bad taste in my mouth.
Chapter 13
Grey
“You had a couple of calls while you were gone Sir.”
“Really? Anything that is worth me actually calling them back about? I have had a long day and I don’t want to deal with anything else unless it is urgent.”
I was ready to get home. I had a bad loss today in court and all I wanted to do was get home and have a drink. I wasn’t going to let the loss get to me, but I wasn’t ready to concede yet either. There was always another way and I just had to figure out what it was that I needed to do. I wasn’t sure yet, but I would be soon enough. I needed a little liquid help to get me thinking clearly and my assistant was standing in the way of that.
“Well mostly just the same old, same old, but I did get a strange call from a dentist that says he wants to meet with you. He left his name and a number, said it was very important.”
I wasn’t too worried about what a dentist had to say, but my assistant wasn’t going to let it go. It seemed that she thought that it was important.
“I don’t know Sir. I really think you should at least call him back. He sounded strange on the phone and it was the way he sounded. I just got a feeling that it is about something you should take care of.”
I took the number, but I didn’t think anything of it until I was in the elevator on my way out. I looked at the name and it took a minute, but I remembered that it was the same name that was on the building that I went into the week before to see Cameron. Since I hadn’t seen her since then and she wouldn’t take my call, maybe I should take this one. I didn’t know the guy, but maybe it was Cameron and this was her way of getting in touch with me. I wasn’t sure, but I was sure that I wanted to see her again and I was hoping that this was the way. I just had to figure out what it was all about.
So when I got to the car, Leo opened the door for me and I had already dialed the number. I asked for the name on the message and a jovial voice greeted me.
“I can’t believe that it is really you Grey. You are a bit famous in the city and I am lucky that you took the time to call me back.”
It wasn’t Cameron, but it was her boss and now I was intrigued. What in the world would this guy want with me? When I realized that it wasn’t about Cameron at all, I almost hung up. I didn’t have anything to say to him and I still needed a strong drink to set me right.
“What can I do for you?”
It was her boss, so I was going to be as nice as I could. I remember her telling me how much she liked her job and I didn’t want to do anything to mess it up.
“Well I have some video and information that I would like you to see. I am not sure what I am going to do with it and I think that I should ask you if you have any suggestions. Can you meet me at Finnigan’s in half an hour?”
I knew the place, but I still was unaware of what this man wanted of me. I didn’t want to meet him or anyone else, unless there was a stiff drink involved and that didn’t seem to be the case. So I asked him what it was all about.
“I would rather not discuss it over the phone, but it has to do with one of my past employees that I think you know pretty well, Cameron.”
“Past employee?” What was I missing? I hadn’t seen her in a week, but from what she told me, she hadn’t been there long at all. Why was she a past employee and what did that have to do with me?
“Yes, like I said. This is a delicate matter and I don’t think that it is wise to have this conversation over the phone.”
There was something in his voice and now I knew what the assistant had heard. She was right to tell me. There was something off with all of this and I wanted to know what this delicate matter that he spoke of was. I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it. I actually almost knew that I wasn’t going to like it, but I had to hear it because it had to do with Cameron.
“Fine, I will be there in thirty minutes. This better not be a waste of my time.”
“I know that you are a busy man, but I think you will want to hear what I have to say.”
I hung up and saw that Leo was looking at me. He had a strange look on his face and he didn’t even have to ask. I wanted him to know what was going on, or at least where I was going. He was the driver after all.
“What is going on boss? Are you not going home?”
“Not yet. Take me to Finnigan’s. It looks like I have someone that I have to meet.”
He waited for more, but since I was already under the impression that he knew too much, I didn’t volunteer any more information. I didn’t want him to know that it was about Cameron; because I didn’t want to hear his comments about her again. I was already irritated and I had a feeling that it was only going to get worse once I met with her boss or her former boss rather.
***
I told Leo to wait for me. I wasn’t going to be here long, but there was the fact that I would at least be able to get something to drink. I ordered a drink at the bar when I got in there; I had a feeling that I was going to need it one way or another. The man that I talked to on the phone came up behind me and then sat down next to me to introduce his self.
“I am a big fan of yours.”
“Really? How so?”
“You had what I couldn’t get and from the looks of the tape that I have in my possession, you did a damn good job with her.”
“What are you talking about? Are you Cameron’s boss?”
He nodded that he was and I was starting to get a really bad feeling about it and what he called the tape in his possession.
“Yes I am. Well she was let go last week once certain information came to light and since she didn’t take me up on my offer, I was about to download the video to the internet, see if I could get some revenue off of it, when I realized that the man in the video was you. I had to crosscheck your name in the patient file to make sure. Once I realized you were the face of one of the biggest firms in the city, I thought that you might be a better way to get the money that I seek.”
The pit of my stomach was in knots. “You fired her?”
“Yes, having sex with a client in one of the rooms is not okay in my line of work. Maybe it is acceptable in yours, but not in mine. So now that we know what we are talking about, I will give you a chance to keep it off of the internet. Something like this could really mess with your reputation and considering some of yo
ur clients, I thought that you might want to keep this hush. So for the right price, I will give you this tape and you can do what you want with it. If I were you, I would take this offer. I will not ask for more than you will lose if this gets out.”
The man was a weasel and I wondered what he had tried to get from Cameron for the tape and to keep her job. I know that he hadn’t asked her for money, which told me that he had asked for something else. I didn’t like him and I certainly didn’t like getting blackmailed, but I knew that he was right. I had some very high-profile clients that I would lose if this got out. It wasn’t like it would be the first time that my dalliances had gotten out into the media, but this would be one that could cost me, as well as smear Cameron and I didn’t want that to happen. The press alone would eat her alive, this much I knew for sure because I had been dealing with them for years.
“How much?”
“Make me an offer.”
“I would offer not to throat punch you, but that doesn’t seem to be what you are getting at. Tell me what you want because as you say, I am a busy man.”
He gave me a price and then he gave me a bank account to wire it to. I knew that the greedy man would have a big price and it was high, but saving Cameron from the media was worth it. If it wasn’t her, I doubt I would have paid it, but I didn’t want her to have to deal with it. It wasn’t right. She had already lost her job because of me. It was the least I could do.
“Fine, I will send the money, but if I ever see you or hear from you again, this will end a lot differently. I know a lot of people that would make short work of a guy like you and I don’t mind paying a little extra to silence you. Guys like you make me sick and I deal with a lot of scum.”
His face turned red and I didn’t know if it was from fear or anger, but I didn’t really care.
“And stay the hell away from Cameron.”
Chapter 14
Cameron
Life had changed a lot in the last few months. My old boss at the dentist’s office was right when he said he would make sure that I was unable to find another job. I knew that he wasn’t joking, but I figured that his reach wasn’t as wide as he thought it was. Turned out that it was and I was unable to get anything else. Everyone seemed to know who I was and though I wasn’t sure what they knew, after about a week of looking, I was so frustrated that I finally gave up. It was no use.
I wanted to stay in the city, but I learned that it just wasn’t going to happen. I finally had to give up my new life in the city and go back to the small town I came from. I had sold my parent’s house, so now I was living in an apartment that was even smaller than the one I had rented with Anne. It wasn’t what I wanted, but there were more reasons than one to be there.
Not too long after I moved back home, I realized some things. One main thing that I realized was that I was pregnant. It was a disaster and I kicked myself many times over it. I can’t believe that I was so stupid and I couldn’t believe that I had let myself get pregnant in the first place. I knew that I should have used a condom, but with Grey, everything had moved so fast. Instead of trying to figure it out, for a couple of months I just ignored all of the signs and symptoms. I finally came to term with it though, no matter how hard it was to face.
Then there was the question of what I was going to do and if I was going to tell him about it. I knew that he most likely wouldn’t even want to know, nor would he actually remember me. A man like that, there was no way that he was going to remember a one-off moment with me in a dentist’s office.
It left me in this weird limbo that I wasn’t sure about. I got a job at the local dentist office in town, the only one actually and I started to prepare for the baby that was coming. No matter what happened or didn’t happen with Grey, I had to be ready. The work and the extra job to save up money is what kept me busy and the more I thought about it, the more I knew that I was going to have to say something. The shame of it all was that I didn’t really know how to get ahold of him. I had long since lost the card that he gave me so long ago, but I did still have the number for Leo for some reason.
When I finally got my nerve up, I called his driver and hoped that I would get some information on where to find him. It was an awkward conversation, but it was one that I had to have with him, no matter how painful it was going to be. I think I knew how he was going to react, but it would be wrong of me not to at least try, right?
“Hey Leo.”
“Hello… Who is this?”
For a moment I didn’t know what to say. He had a strange sound to his voice and imagined him trying to figure out who I was from the other end. It had been months since I had talked to him and now I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. What was I supposed to say, hey, remember me from a few months ago? Now I am knocked up and I need to get ahold of your boss?
Even in my own mind that sounded silly and I hung up before I could say anything else. What the hell was I thinking? This was all just a mistake and it was one that I wasn’t or shouldn’t make. I was just going to have to do this myself and see what happened. Women did it all of the time, right?
When the phone rang in my hand, I was so startled that I almost dropped it where I stood. It was Leo when I saw the number come across the nameplate, but I didn’t want to talk to him. It was a mistake to call and I turned my phone off so I wouldn’t be tempted to answer. It was the last thing that I needed and I was just going to have to figure something out. I still had almost five months to do so and even though right now I didn’t have an answer, I was sure that I would have one soon enough.
***
The next day at work, there was a call that came in and when I went to answer it; there was no one on the other line.
“Are you sure that they asked for me?”
Dante nodded his head and told me that they ask for me specifically, first and last name.
“I don’t know who it was Cameron, but they sounded very official.”
“Is there any way that I could get the number?”
He told me that he could and after a minute he wrote down a number and handed it to me. It was the same area code for the city that I had just left and it made me nervous. Who was trying to get ahold of me?
My first thought was my old boss. He had come on pretty strong and there was something about him that I found bothersome. I didn’t want to talk to him, but he was the only one that I could think of that would try to get ahold of me. There was no telling what they wanted, but I wasn’t going to ask Dante to lie for me. I didn’t want to mess up this job as I had the last one. I seemed to be good at ruining this kind of thing for myself, so I knew that I was going to have to keep it together.
“Well if they call back, can you just tell them that I am busy and get their number?”
“Sure. You can always call them back now.”
I could, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t have anything to say to anyone that was in the city. I had left with my tail between my legs and I didn’t want to admit it, but I had left in defeat. That was the gist of it. I had nothing left there. Period.
The call did have me feeling a little strange though. If someone from the city was calling me, I don’t think it was a good thing to answer. It could have been anyone, but my mind kept going to my old boss. He had made it clear that he was ready to cause trouble for me, but it didn’t mean that he was done. Maybe he was angry that I hadn’t gone along with his plans. Men like him didn’t like to be told no. I was sure that I was the first by the way he had responded.
I also still remembered his threats that he was going to make sure that the video was put on the internet and I still waited for the time that I would be recognized or run across the video. I didn’t know where to look, but I knew that it was out there somewhere, floating around, just waiting to bite me in the ass. Now that I was pregnant, I was afraid that it would come out when my child was older and there would be nothing that I could do about it. That is what scared me the most.
At the end of my shift, I w
as tired and I headed out for home after locking up the office. It had been the longest day and I blamed my tiredness on the fact that I was pregnant. I was just going to get home and lay down, sure that I would feel better after the strange day I had had. I still didn’t know who called from the city, but it didn’t matter. I kept telling myself that, even though I had a nagging feeling that it did matter. I just didn’t know why.
By the time I got back to the apartment, I felt like I was being followed. There was a black car behind me that took every turn that I took and in a small town like Muskegon, there weren’t a lot of vehicles that I didn’t know. I had lived here a long time and even though I was gone for a little while, nothing changed here. It was always the same old thing and now I was sure that I was being paranoid. Did pregnancy and the mix of hormones make me a little crazy as well as tired all of the time?
The car stopped and parked a couple of houses down on the side of the street and I didn’t look towards it again. I kept telling myself that it was all in my head, but I wasn’t so sure. I knew that there was a reason that I was feeling this way. It was the blast from the past and the call that had me on edge. Ignoring the feelings that I couldn’t shake, I didn’t look towards the car again. I just pulled my keys out and moved to the apartment door quickly. Whatever or whoever had me on edge didn’t matter. I was home now and I could push all of this away.
Shutting the door behind me, I leaned on the wooden frame and tried to catch my breath, still telling myself that it was all in my head. My heart was beating a little too fast. I don’t know if it was all made up or not, but either way, I was letting it all get to me. It was a shame because the more I tried to push it away, the more the feelings of it made me sure that I was right. Was someone really following me?
