by Suzanne Hart
I sat down in the chair next to him. My uncle sat on the other side of the desk. It felt like there was a wall between us. He leaned back in the imposing, leather chair, one leg crossed over the other. His eyes were cold, that frigid stare practically nailing me to my seat. He set his jaw, the sun glinting off of his sharp nose. The dark, stone look on his face contrasted the linen white button down shirt and shorts he wore. But I could tell from the furrow in his brow that he intended to take care of some business, and that business had something to do with me.
“Right.” he said, uncrossing his legs and pulling himself up to the edge of the desk. “Let’s just get right to it.”
I sucked in a breath, listening to the way it mixed in with sound of the ticking grandfather clock on the wall behind him, of the birds singing just outside the window and of the seagulls on the beach.
“Actually, you know what James? Let me give you a moment to gather your thoughts and give you the chance to do the right thing here.”
I returned his cold stare with a blank one of my own, because I didn’t understand what was going on, or maybe part of me did, and I just didn’t want to face the reality of it.
“Do you have something to tell me?” He asked.
I gulped. Deny. Deny. Deny. “Not that I am aware of. What is this about, exactly?”
I could practically hear George smirking next to me.
My uncle ignored him and held a piece of paper up.
A cold sweat sprouted on my forehead, my heart racing. I could hear my pulse in my ears because I was staring at the contract with Nancy and my signatures at the bottom; obvious, incriminating.
“You care to explain this?” He asked.
I couldn’t breathe, move nor speak.
“You know what? I don’t need you to do that. You can save your breath, because it’s all right here.”
“How did you get that?” I turned my head, my eyes landing on George.
He shifted in his seat for the first time. “I hired a private detective. I just knew something was up.”
My uncle sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. The artisanal feather pen at the edge of his desk fluttered with the air. “I should have seen this coming. It was strange that you hid a serious relationship, let alone an engagement, from the family. But I wanted to believe you. You’re James… I could have expected this from a lot of people… but not you.”
My brow furrowed under the weight of his words. The feeling of shame like one wouldn’t believe took over me. Not once had I allowed myself to feel the lie in all of this. I gulped. “I just- …”
“No…” My uncle raised his hand. “I didn’t call you here to have a conversation. I had hoped that you’d be able to deny it, that there was some explanation for this but…” He looked down at the stack of papers again. “It’s all here.” He then shifted his gaze to George, then back to me. “I can imagine how finding out that the company was going to George would have made you feel. I was you once; ambitious, driven, desperate… but even so, I am deeply disappointed that you chose to handle it this way.”
The entire room was spinning. I couldn’t hear my own thoughts over the sound of my racing heart, let alone formulate a response that might save this situation.
“I was so happy to hear about your engagement, and I had high hopes for you. You are, by far, the best candidate to take over this company. But the fact of the matter is that I can’t look past this deceit, this disrespect for the family, and your willingness to lie to me. I think it goes without saying that I have changed my decision about the inheritance of Paris Inc.”
I ducked my head in disbelief. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening. My worst fear. Everything I had worked for, slipping right through my fingers.
“As for Nancy,”
I shot my gaze up at the sound of her name. “What about her?”
“I don’t know what your true relations with her are, but I don’t want a stranger on my private island. I have arranged for her belongings to be packed and for a boat to take her back to the mainland.” He stopped to glance down at his watch. “As we speak, she is being escorted onto the ferry, where she will be driven to the airport and put on a plane back to LAX.”
My eyes widened. My heart sunk at the thought of her being woken up by the staff, told to get out of the room with absolutely no explanation. I stood up and hurried to the door, determined to get to her as soon as possible. The need to catch her before she got back on that boat, to explain what was happening, to tell her that I was sorry; consumed me. I had taken her out of her comfort zone and isolated her here, and now, she was about to be thrown out like trash.
But my hand hovered over the doorknob. Something was holding me to that spot. It kept me there, in that office. It refused to let me leave this room, and my dreams of running the company behind. I had made my decisions, but I wasn’t going to let my parents’ vision slip through my fingers because of a stupid mistake. “Hold on,” I said, letting go of the doorknob. “I don’t think this is fair at all.”
“Excuse me?” My uncle was staring at me, a flicker of confusion in his brow.
“You heard me.” My heart was racing, my fingers shaking, but I couldn’t turn back from this. “If this was any other job, not something passed down between family favorites, then my personal life would never have had anything to do with it.”
“I was very clear as to the reasoning behind my decision.”
I shook my head. “But, with all due respect, your reasoning is flawed.”
My uncle cocked his head to the side. “And how is that?”
“You say that stability is the number one concern for the company. Then, in that case, you should give it to the most able person. Who cares if George has a wife if he can’t run a company to save his life?”
George gave an incredulous shake of his head, and then stood up, squaring up on me.
But I barely gave him a look. He wasn’t my concern. “I can do this. I am the best person for this. My parents, your brother, served that board relentlessly for a decade before they died.” My voice cracked at that. “And I won’t sit here and let you tell me that I don’t deserve this, because I have a true vision for this company… and that’s more than you can say for George and his wife.”
I huffed out my last bit of breath as I finished. My eyes widened in the silence that followed. I was stunned at myself for even daring to do this. This was it. If he didn’t end up giving me the company now, if I had screwed everything beyond repair, then that was the end of my dream. George and I watched, our breath held, as my uncle cast his gaze down. He looked at the fiddling fingers in his lap, and then stood up. He walked to the window, brushing away the sheer curtains so that he could get a clear view of the ocean beyond. “You know, I was like you when I was your age.”
“My brother was the George between the two of us, rigid, by the book.” He then turned back to the both of us, his gaze falling on George. “But utterly uninteresting.”
I narrowed my eyes. This was my father he was talking about.
A slight smile spread across his face before he dropped it. I saw his lips twitch, his eyes glazing over. But then, before the thing I was sure would happened actually happened, he turned back to the window, staring out into the ocean. “And then when he died, we all realized what a perfect board member he was.” His voice cracked. “He was...” He sucked in a breath and turned back around to us.
It was in that moment that I realized, after all of this time, that he mourned his brother like I mourned my father, that he missed his ideas and his vision, and that I was the next best thing.
“George, you will make a great member of the board. James, you have the company… Just as you are, not only because you had the guts to stand up to me, but because you are most capable.”
I blinked and sighed, my shoulders falling. Every muscle in my body had relaxed. Now that I finally got what I had wanted after all these years, I didn’t know what to do with myself.
&nb
sp; “But don’t think this is a complete victory. You will be on a very close watch for the next few years. You will report to me personally, with yearly progress reports that will determine your continued time as head of the company. I sincerely hope for your success, but I am far from being able to blindly trust you again anywhere in the near future.”
16
Nancy
After waking up that morning to a note from James saying he would be gone for a couple of hours, I decided to take the time to enjoy the moment to myself. There was no denying that the last couple of days had awakened something in me for James that I never thought I would ever have. I sat on the window ledge of the guest bedroom, gazing out on the beach. After an hour, I only saw two people, a couple, walking hand in hand right on the shore-line. I figured they would have been one of James’s older relatives, maybe another aunt and uncle.
Before I could stop myself, my mind started wandering and I imagined myself and James as that couple, walking hand in hand on the beach of this private island a couple of decades from now. That thought made my heart stop at the same time that it brought butterflies to my stomach. Jesus, he didn’t even know how I felt about him. It was in that moment, that I realized I couldn’t even keep that from him anymore. I had to tell him about all of these feelings before they made me explode.
Around nine in the morning, I got tired of sitting around. I figured a walk on the beach would be nice, and maybe some coffee while I was waiting for James. So, I got dressed, putting on an easy romper, and brushed my hair back into a ponytail. I was perched on the edge of my bed, just about to put on my sandals, when there was a knock on my door. I opened it and saw two guys standing on the other side of the threshold. Their all-white uniforms told me that they were either a part of the house crew or the boat crew. “Can I help you?”
One of them, a young blond boy with a tan that didn’t look real, folded his hands in front of him. It was then that I noticed how uncomfortable they both looked, their gaze cast down and their shoulders hunched.
“What’s going on?”
“We’ve been asked to escort you off the premises.”
My eyes narrowed. “What? This must be a mistake. I’m Nancy…? James’s fiancée…?”
They exchanged looks. “Yeah… we know. Mr. Paris has given us strict orders to get you off the island as soon as possible. You have to catch a flight to LA in two hours.”
I blinked, a chill shooting up my spine. I couldn’t fathom what had happened to make James arrange this. “Mr. Paris? James? … James Paris?”
They both shook their head. The other one, with brunette hair and a low buzz cut spoke. “No, Hector Paris.”
My eyes widened, my stomach rolling over. Suddenly, it was all so clear. I knew exactly what happened. Hector must have found out, but where was James? “W-Where’s James?” My voice sounded as thin as the breaths I struggled to get in my nose.
They just exchanged looks again. “We are not able to… he is in a meeting with his uncle.”
I sucked in a breath. Something was very wrong about this. I didn’t want to go, to leave him like this. But where was he? Why would he let this happen and not even be here to see me go? Why wasn’t he going with me? “No, you have to let me see James. I know he wouldn’t want…”
“He is aware of this, ma’am.”
I stepped back, my eyes watering, the room starting to spin. “So, what? He’s just gonna let me go?”
They just exchanged looks again. “Ma’am, it is really important that we get you on that plane. We have strict orders.”
By then, they had forced their way into my room. I swiped the angry tears off of my face and gathered my things as quickly as possible. My mind was a jumbled mess as I stuffed as much of my belongings as I could get a hold of in my bag. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. My head went blank the entire time I followed them down the hall and out to the beach. I couldn’t formulate any real thoughts as I watched them load my bags into the boat, as we raced across the small sliver of ocean that separated the private island from Puerto Vallarta. It wasn’t until I was in the back of the black Lincoln town car that the reality of what had happened came crashing down on me.
I collapsed into my hands, hot tears running down my face. The agreement had been broken. I probably wouldn’t get the studio that I had gone through all of this for. Again, my dream was being ripped away from me and I was helpless to stop it from happening. And what about James? My stomach churned with the thought that he didn’t take issue with me being escorted off the island like that. My hands shook with the fact that he didn’t even try to see me before I went. He couldn’t even tell me what was going on himself, or that it was going to be okay. He didn’t know how I felt about him, and he wouldn’t tell me how he did. Not before I had been whisked away, at least. Instead, he stayed on that island, with his uncle, with his family. I guess I didn’t mean that much to him. I was just a means to get his company.
Whatever there was between us, it couldn’t withstand this.
When I got to the terminal, I sat down, my legs resting on my carry-on. By then, I was practically jumping to get back to LA, to get back to my life. My dream had turned into a nightmare and I wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.
While in that waiting area, my mind wandered, all on its own, to the moment that I had given away my virginity. That sunny early afternoon brought a surprising smile to my lips. My heart ached for that moment. I couldn’t help but mourn the end of it all.
Out of instinct, I checked my phone again, but the lock-screen came up empty, not even a text from him. Why wouldn’t he at least say goodbye? Those same angry tears burned at my eyes again as I started fiddling with my phone, perusing through the different apps. One small, stupid part of me thought that if I just kept staring at my phone, he would magically decide to send me a text. At that point, I decided to open my email, out of habit, maybe just to browse the promo emails from Forever 21 and buy something for myself.
But when I clicked on my inbox, the first thing I noticed was a bold subject line from the New York Dance Company. My eyes went wide as I clicked on the email. I skimmed through the whole thing, my racing heart making it impossible to catch every word. But when I read it, I knew. I had gotten into the company. They’d seen the videos we’d been making and they wanted me to join them. I was going to New York to start as a choreographer.
I sat back, my head falling to the back of the chair. My mind was wrapping its head around this new reality, my new life. Finally, I had walked through the in-between to the other side. I had a job, a real job, doing the only thing I ever really wanted to do since I was a kid.
But my first thought after all of that was James. A small, instinctive, visceral part of me wanted to tell him what happened. The email said that the classes started in two weeks, which meant I needed to leave the next week. I wasn’t sure what I’d do for housing. All of that had to be figured out. But if I was leaving so soon, shouldn’t I tell him? Yet, my stomach churned at the thought of contacting him. After he had let me go the island without so much of a call, after failing to stand up for me, to stop me, I was firmly resolved in the belief that I owed him absolutely nothing.
17
James
I got back to my apartment at the end of that weekend in a daze. I had the company, but Nancy? Even the thought of her made me feel ashamed. I knew I shouldn’t have just let her go; I should have been there for her. But if I had, I wouldn’t have changed my uncle’s mind. God, why was it so hard for everything to work out at once?
The next week was full of meetings with my uncle and the board, in addition to my regular work schedule, so I was pretty busy. Yet, I tried calling Nancy at every point that I could. Every spare moment was spent thinking about her, but she wouldn’t even answer her phone. I thought that we had really started something, that this was the beginning of the rest of our lives. I mean Jesus, I was going to propose. But how could I b
e sure that she had felt even remotely close to my feelings if she couldn’t even be bothered to talk to me. I had royally fucked up and I would give anything to make it up to her, but it was clear that she might not even want me to.
By the end of the week, I was in desperate need of advice, so I met up with Neil for drinks by my office building. I only had an hour before I had to go back and finish up some paperwork I had left in the midst of everything going on with Paris Inc. Now that I was leaving the firm, I also had to close down and transfer all of my contacts, which was just adding on to my normal work-load. I settled with a pint of Heineken and left the hard liquor to Neil, who was coming off of his first official week working in his new job.
“I mean, I gotta be honest with you bro, I didn’t see this coming. You actually bought a ring?”
I made a face, my eyes widening and my lips pursed. “Why the hell not? I was sure I wanted to spend my life with her.”
“And now?”
I frowned. “And now, what? She doesn’t want to talk to me, let alone marry me.”
Neil sighed, taking another sip of his drink. “I mean. I should tell you…”
I didn’t like the way that he was looking down at his drink. “Tell me what?”
“That I told her… before all this started, to watch out for you.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “What the hell man!”
Neil shrugged, taking a healthy swig of his Jack and coke. “I mean, this is my sister we’re talking about. And I can’t take any chances with her. You know how you used to be.”
