Hard Deal

by Stefanie London

  But making a mess of things with Imogen had solidified something: he was done shortchanging himself. And that meant the old way of doing things—the false persona, the denial and living without committing to anything or anyone—was over. He was pissed off at how things had gone with Imogen, but mostly at himself. That would have to be dealt with later. For now, going out on his own was priority number one.

  “And where are you going to work, huh?” Gerald cocked his head, but the scoffing tone had vanished. It struck Caleb, then, that him continuing to work for the family company had given Gerald the control he craved. It kept him in the position of power. And now, Caleb was taking that from him.

  “I’ve got an interview with one of the banks and with a consulting firm.” He paused. “So far.”

  “You’re not bluffing?”

  “No.” Caleb shook his head. “I’ve got a resignation letter typed up but I wanted to do you the courtesy of telling you in person. Regardless of what issues we have, I do want to salvage our relationship and I think it’ll be better for everyone if I leave the company for a while.”

  The muscles in his father’s jaw tightened. “For a while?”

  “Until I’m the best marketing executive Australia has ever seen.” A smirk twitched on his lips. “I may come back then...if you can afford me.”

  His father laughed, and the sound was loud, foreign and unanticipated. It eased the pressure in the room enough that Caleb could breathe easier.

  “I know I’m hard on you.” Gerald swallowed. “It pains me to see you skate through life when you could be so much more.”

  That was a first. Normally his dad would have stopped at the “you skate through life” bit, instead of adding an acknowledgement of potential. The thing was, he didn’t need to hear it anymore. Caleb knew he had it in him to do something productive with his life, and that was what mattered. Not everyone else’s opinion.

  “Your brother was always easy, you know.” Gerald turned and let his gaze drift to the enormous window gleaming with the early-evening view of the city. “Slept well, ate whatever we put in front of him. Never had trouble in school.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.” He rolled his eyes.

  “And you came out kicking and screaming like you were already fighting a battle. Every night you’d yell and yell until I seriously thought the house was going to come apart at the seams. Your mother was exhausted from taking care of you and your brother, and I wasn’t ready to do it again.” He squared his shoulders and looked Caleb dead in the eye. “I had wanted her to terminate the pregnancy.”

  “I know that.” Caleb nodded. “She told me once.”

  “I put a lot of pressure on her and I regret that every day. But I wasn’t ready for you, for how...all-encompassing you would be.” He sighed. “For how much like me you were.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Caleb raised a brow. “Everybody knows Jason is your carbon copy.”

  “On the outside, maybe. But you’re me through and through, Caleb. You fight, you’re proud and stubborn and hot-headed like me.” He came around the desk and Caleb stood rooted to the spot. They’d never spoken like this. Not with such honesty and vulnerability. “I was certain you were my punishment for the hell I put your grandparents through. And unfortunately, I did about as good a job with you as they did with me.”

  Caleb’s grandparents had passed away over ten years ago, but they’d always had a strained relationship with the family. His grandfather had been a formidable man who’d run the company with an iron fist, much like Gerald.

  “I wanted Jason to take over the company because it’s time they had a leader with a different approach. He’s going to be an amazing CEO, and I stand by my decision.”

  “Like I said, it’s not about that. I know Jase will be great and I’m still leaving regardless of anything you have to say.” He sucked in a breath and finally released the chair that he’d been gripping like it was his only tether to earth. “But I do want to know why you didn’t tell me you were sick. Do you think that I care so little that I could brush that off?”

  “It crossed my mind.” He hung his head for a second, before the stoic expression was back in place. “The doctor tells me the survival rate is high. Your mother is making sure we see the best oncologist in the country. She’s taking good care of me.”

  “Then you should take good care of her, and I don’t mean with money.”

  Gerald nodded. “I’m looking at things...differently now. I know what it’s like to be in her position.”

  He never talked much about his first wife, but Caleb’s mother had told him once that the woman had experienced a very drawn out and painful passing. And it was obviously playing on Gerald’s mind now.

  “Mum really loves you.”

  His father cleared his throat, the rough noise sparking something deep in Caleb’s chest. It stirred memories, not all of them good. But this was a step forward. The right step forward.

  “I can put a good word out for you,” his father said. “I have some contacts—”

  “I’d prefer if you didn’t.”

  Gerald nodded. “I accept your resignation, then.”

  “Good, because you don’t have a choice.” Caleb stuck his hand out and his father took it. For a moment, he wondered if the older man might pull him into a hug. But instead they stood stiffly. Awkward. Like always.

  Baby steps.

  * * *

  “You what?”

  Imogen cringed at the eardrum-shattering pitch of her sister’s voice. It took a lot to rattle Penny. The woman wrangled a classroom of six-year-olds on a daily basis, so she knew how to deal with drama. She hadn’t even gotten annoyed that one time Imogen borrowed her fanciest dress without telling her and then proceeded to spill red wine all over it.

  But this...this was something else.

  “Pen, if your head starts to spin around I’m going to call a time-out, okay?” She tried to laugh but the sound came out like more of a croak. “I’m sorry. I messed up and I see that now. It’s why I’m coming clean.”

  “Coming clean does not immediately absolve you.” Her sister’s face pixelated on the screen for a moment as the internet stalled. Spilling the beans via FaceTime wasn’t exactly ideal, but Daniel had whisked her away for a surprise getaway since it was school holidays. Imogen hadn’t been able to hold on to the guilt any longer. “I can’t believe you did that. Actually I can, you’re like...like...Bridesmaid-zilla!”

  “I know it’s not an excuse, but I wanted to protect you. And I totally went about it the wrong way.”

  “No sugar, Sherlock.” Penny sighed. “I asked you at the beginning if being involved in the wedding would tear open all those old wounds, and you said you’d be fine.”

  “I know.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “I guess it was more difficult than I thought it would be... I didn’t want you to go through what I did.”

  “All because you saw Daniel have a drink with someone?”

  She wasn’t going to tell Penny that she thought they’d been flirting, because in hindsight she wasn’t as sure as she’d been at the time. Was it her past overlaying this lens of distrust like Caleb had said? Perhaps. Maybe he had been flirting and it was nothing but harmless fun? In any case, it was none of her business. Penny and Daniel didn’t need her intruding on their relationship. She knew that now.

  “And then when he didn’t invite you to the ball...I was suspicious.”

  “His father was going to be there. You know how difficult he’s been.” Penny frowned. “Daniel and I discussed it and we decided it would be best if I didn’t go. I wasn’t up to dealing with it, but I didn’t want to discuss Daniel’s family problems behind his back.”

  “I guess I should strike ‘jumping to conclusions’ off my extracurricular activities list, huh?”

  “Don’t be cute while I’m tryin
g to be angry at you.” A smile tugged at her sister’s lip. “And you owe Daniel the apology, rather than me.”

  “I do.”

  Penny’s eyes darted to something offscreen. “I don’t want to do it while we’re here, though. He’s worked so hard lately and he needs the time to relax.”

  “When you get back, we can do dinner and I’ll talk to him. I want to make it right.”

  “I know, Immie. You’re a good person.” Penny laughed. “When you get a bee in your bonnet about something, though...you’re like a bulldog.”

  “Does that mean you forgive me?”

  “Always.” Penny narrowed her eyes. “And why are you calling me from the car? I thought you had another month left on your lease. You’re not living out of the Corolla, are you?”

  Ever since Lainey had moved out to pursue her dream career—and to nurse a broken heart in London—Imogen was more alone than ever. She missed Lainey’s ceaseless chatter and the way she always had the music turned up loud. But the silence had given her a lot of time to think and reflect. Being left alone with her thoughts had given her the space to see how bad she’d messed up with Caleb.

  You’re getting too good at that. There’s no gold star for being a screw-up.

  “I needed to get some air.” She pulled the keys out of the ignition and pushed the car door open, trying to hold her phone steady with her free hand. “Figured if you were getting to sun it up all week, then so should I.”

  “It’s good for the soul,” Penny agreed.

  The St. Kilda boardwalk was Imogen’s happy place. There was something about the combination of sand and gentle waves rolling in, the warm planks of wood beneath her feet and the insistent squawk of seagulls that made all her problems seem less formidable. The breeze brushed against her legs, blowing sand particles around.

  “I made a mistake, Pen,” she said with a sigh as she squinted out into the distance. The sun was low, but still bright like a ball of fire on the horizon. It bathed everything in amber light, making the water twinkle as it moved.

  “Another one?” Penny made a tsk-ing sound. “Work related?”

  “Love related. Well...” She swallowed. “Maybe not love, yet. But something that’s heading in that direction.”

  Love was a hell of a word, and Imogen wasn’t sure she was ready for that. What she did know, however, was that the second she’d found out about Caleb’s resignation her whole world flipped upside down. Rumours were rife about his father firing him, but when she’d asked Gerald outright—ready to defend Caleb to her own undoing—her boss had denied it and seemed genuine.

  There was a parcel sitting on the passenger seat of her car, wrapped in blue-and-yellow paper. A going-away gift. She’d bought it on her lunch break earlier that day with every intention of going to Caleb’s office after her work day wrapped up. But the second she’d made it to his door, doubt had kicked her butt and she’d turned tail like a coward.

  “A man. Wow.” Her sister let out a low whistle. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

  “I’m not... I wasn’t.” She found an empty spot along the boardwalk and dropped down, letting her feet go over the edge so she could bury her toes in the sand. “I don’t know what to call it.”

  “Ah, so it’s friends with benefits, then?” her sister teased.

  “No.” Imogen shook her head.

  It wasn’t like that. Sure there were plenty of benefits, if that was what Penny wanted to call them, but what she shared with Caleb was so much more. Around him, she could be free of her own restrictions. Free of the boundaries she’d set up so tight around herself they felt like a cage. And those feelings might have come about through sex, but they weren’t because of it.

  “We never labelled it.” She wriggled her toes back and forth, watching the sand rise and fall. “I kept giving myself reasons why it wouldn’t work. He’s, uhh...got a bit of a reputation.”

  Penny nodded. “And you thought history would repeat itself?”

  “Something like that. I try not to get involved in all the gossip at work, but you hear things. He’s charming and funny and I thought he’d eat me alive.”

  “Did he?” Penny shifted and Imogen caught a glimpse of the hotel’s view—a strip of blue water, greenery and palm trees. “Or did you pull the pin because you were scared?”

  “The latter,” she admitted. “I heard that he’d cheated on one of his previous girlfriends and I confronted him about it.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That it was complicated. He overheard her telling someone that she was only after him for his connections. He dumped her via text and she claims she never got the message.”

  “Let me guess, he then went out, got drunk and decided to screw his way through his problems.”

  “Got it in one.”

  Penny laughed. “Sounds like both parties were to blame. Although, if it’s true what he overheard then I question how much of a relationship they had to begin with. Daniel dated a woman like that, before me. I think it hurts them a lot more than they let on. He didn’t tell me about it until we’d been together for over a year.”

  She suspected Caleb held a lot of his pain in—pain about the way his father treated him, pain about being second to his brother. Maybe there was even more beneath the surface.

  Imogen ran her fingertips over the smooth wooden planks, her fingers catching on the imperfections. “It would be easier if everything was black and white.”

  Penny laughed. “Tell me about it. But then I guess we’d all be bored if we knew exactly how everything would turn out. Thing is, you might get hurt again one day. There’s no way to prevent it unless you never have another relationship.”

  The finality of her sister’s statement echoed through her. It made her feel heavy and...sad. She’d put herself out into the dating world because she missed having someone in her life. She wanted the companionship and fun and affection that Caleb had shown her.

  She wanted him.

  And in a perfect world he’d sign a contract to say he’d never do anything wrong. But that wasn’t life.

  “I guess if no one ever did anything wrong then we’d never learn how to trust,” Imogen mused.

  “That’s deep, baby sis.” Penny chuckled. “Who knew Little Miss Practicality could get all philosophical like that.”

  “Shut up,” she mumbled. “It’s the sunset. It makes me all mushy.”

  She was only half joking. Red, gold and yellow streaked the horizon like a painter had dragged their brush along the water’s edge. Two children stood where the bay lapped at the sand, kites sailing above them, one yellow and one purple. Both had rainbow streamers flickering in the breeze.

  This place was so...colourful. Imogen looked down at her work clothes. Grey pencil skirt, black-and-white blouse, white pearls. Silver watch. Monochrome. Like always.

  Perhaps along with losing her ability to trust—both others and herself—she’d also forgotten what it was like to live with colour. Going to the masquerade ball and putting on that sexy dress, the pink and rose gold mask, and the dark, vampy lipstick had been thrilling. It had been like unlocking the old Imogen and letting her out to play. The old version of her who liked to take risks, and be daring, and make decisions without overthinking everything.

  She missed that Imogen.

  “Immie?” Penny waved from the screen. “I have to go. Daniel’s back from golf and we’re going to grab a drink. It’s tiki night!”

  She waved at her sister. “Have fun. I want to talk more when you get back, and I’ll apologise to Daniel like I promised.”

  “Pinkie swear?” Penny held up her little finger and Imogen copied the gesture.

  “Pinkie swear.”

  She ended the call, pushed up from the boardwalk and headed back to the car. The blue-and-yellow parcel was still sitting on the seat, with Caleb’
s name in her neat handwriting printed across a gift tag. What would the old Imogen do in this situation?

  She slid into the driver’s seat, her hands wrapping around the steering wheel as her brain whirred. The old Imogen wouldn’t sit around worrying about what to do next, that was for smurfing sure. She’d act.

  Imogen glanced at the parcel again. It was time to pay Caleb a visit. But first, she had to make a quick detour.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CALEB STOOD OVER his bed and looked at the clothing he’d picked out for his interview tomorrow. Charcoal suit, white shirt, red-and-blue-striped tie, black socks. It was a bit more conservative than what he normally favoured—okay, a lot more conservative—but he wanted to make a good impression. The Wentworth Group was a predominantly retail company and a household name across Australia. Their department stores were in every major city and a lot of minor ones, too. The role would allow him to mix creativity with business, and they were keen.

  Tomorrow was an important moment. He was meeting with Parker Wentworth, the CEO, and his siblings, who sat on the board. The three-person panel would likely be the most intense interview of Caleb’s career, and in the last week he’d had a few. Jase had helped him prep—firing questions and scenarios at him like bullets. And Gerald had mercifully stayed silent. No critiques, no advice, no criticisms. Perhaps it was sad that the best thing his father could do was to keep his distance from the whole thing, but Caleb knew it was a small step in the right direction. He’d gone over for dinner even more than usual lately and while he and Gerald hadn’t said much to one another yet, the animosity had eased. Even his mother had commented on it.

  Caleb picked up the tie and flipped it over in his hands. It wasn’t his—he’d borrowed it from his brother for a formal event where Gerald had determined Caleb’s usual wardrobe to be too outlandish. It seemed right for an interview, but God it was boring. Sighing, he threw it back down onto the bed and headed into the living room.