CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kutana Magazine was on the twenty-eighth floor of the Crest building in downtown Chicago. The elevator doors opened, and Liz Logan, with Tommy Gabrini by her side, entered the bowels of her busy office. It was a wide open, no frills newsroom, filled with rows and rows of desks and busy reporters typing or answering their constantly ringing phones or consulting in a corner over coffee and cakes. Her employees, Tommy noticed, were generally young, primarily African-American, and all with that go-getter look of determination that undoubtedly made them invaluable to Liz’s bottom line.
When her staff recognized that she had entered the building, many of them stopped what they were doing and applauded, with yells of welcome back, and glad to have you back, boss, and Rome is a tyrant, don’t leave him in charge ever again! As Liz walked toward her office in the back of the newsroom, with Tommy close behind her, she laughed with them and hugged them and thanked them all for their flowers and cards. Tommy could feel the respect and love the staff had for Liz, although it felt wafer thin to him. He could feel that line of demarcation. She was still their boss. Like most employees, if a bigger paycheck and a better boss came along, they were out of there. Tommy should know. His employees felt the same way about him.
When they entered her office, however, one employee whose voice he recognized looked up from behind the desk. “What are you doing here?” he asked her. “You just got out of the hospital, Liz!”
“I didn’t need to be there to begin with,” Liz said as she headed for her desk. “Get out of my office.”
Jerome Langley smiled. “And they call me a tyrant,” he said as he stood and began grabbing up his papers. He and Liz hugged each other warmly.
“Now go,” Liz said playfully as she replaced Jerome behind her desk. “Before you go, however,” she said, “I want you to meet---”
“Tommy Gabrini,” Jerome said with his hand outstretched. He and Tommy shook hands.
“And how would you automatically know his name?”
“I Googled him after you told me about him,” Jerome admitted. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t bringing some ax murderer into the mix. We’ve got you. That’s enough.”
Tommy laughed. Liz smiled. “Very funny,” she said. “Tommy, this is my unreliable, unnecessary, undeserving assistant Jerome Langley.”
“Nice to meet you, Jerome. Or do you prefer Rome?”
“Rome,” Jerome said. “And nice to meet you.”
“Bring us some coffee, will you, Rome?” Liz asked him.
“See,” Jerome said with an all-knowing look. “I’m her managing editor, a big deal in the publishing world. The second in command in fact. But she treats me like her secretary.”
“Make mine with cream,” Liz said. “What about yours, Tommy?”
“Black,” Tommy said.
Jerome glanced at Liz, smiled an all-knowing smile, and left.
“He seems like a good guy,” Tommy said as he walked up to the desk.
“He’s a good pain in the ass,” Liz said affectionately and sat down behind her desk. Tommy sat down in front of it. Then she exhaled.
“Feels good to be back to work?” he asked her.
Liz smiled. “Yeah, it does. It feels great.” Then she looked at him. “Thanks for not battling me about returning to work too soon.”
“After the workout you put on me this morning,” he said, “are you kidding?” She laughed. “I’m the one who needs a day off!” Then his look turned serious. “You’re physically fine,” he said.
“As I said all along.”
“And as you confirmed last night,” Tommy said, thinking about just how powerfully she confirmed it. A look passed between them that caused his dick to throb. He was ashamed to admit it, since they’d just had sex, but he wanted her again.
“And I also want to thank you for all your kindness and thoughtfulness, Tommy,” she said. “I really do appreciate it. I’ll contact my insurance carrier and appeal their decision, but that could take months, as I’m sure you know.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“So you don’t want me to bother to appeal it?” she asked, playing with him.
“I didn’t say that,” he said, and she laughed. “But I don’t want you worrying yourself about it.”
She understood. “I won’t. Thanks. And thanks for wanting to come by and see the magazine before you flew out of town. It means a lot to me that you would even care.”
“It’s my pleasure, Liz,” he said as he slouched in his seat. He was so comfortable around her that it surprised him. “I rarely get to meet such a special lady, to be honest with you,” he said. “It makes me want to linger.”
Liz was touched. But she didn’t quite know how to respond. Tommy was a ladies man. He knew exactly what words to say to get a female hooked. Although, given his sexual abilities, words weren’t necessary to achieve that goal. “So,” she said, “how do you like my empire? My very small, intimate empire?”
“I like it,” Tommy responded. He crossed his legs. “I see you hire a lot of African-American reporters.”
Liz nodded. “I do. Mainly because I know how tough it is for them to break into the foreign correspondence business. It’s a small island of reporters, and almost all of them are white and well-connected. They rarely ever get that chance. I was one of the lucky ones. I had a boss who wanted to push that envelope and he gave me that chance. Most bosses wouldn’t dare. So I knew if I didn’t hire them, who would? And besides, they’re great reporters.”
“Good that you had a pool to pull from.”
“Now that’s the truth,” Liz said, and then knocks were heard on her door. Before she could respond, the door flew open and Annie Kurtz, from her legal department, hurried in.
“Welcome back, Liz, we’ve got trouble,” Annie quickly said. Then she looked at Tommy. “I didn’t realize you had company.”
“How could you realize anything the way you flew in here?” Liz asked.
“I didn’t mean to just barge in---”
“Then barge right back out,” Liz ordered, “and try again.”
Annie gave Liz that how dare you look, but she exited back out of the office, closing the door behind her.
“Good for you,” Tommy said. “Demand respect.”
“I shouldn’t have to demand it,” Liz said, “but I do. And I do,” she added as knocks were heard on her office door.
But before Liz could say anything again, the door flew open and Jerome, this time, barged in with two cups of coffee. He was looking back at Annie. “What are you just standing out here for?” he asked.
Liz looked at Tommy, shook her head, and they both laughed.
“It wasn’t me that time,” Annie said.
“Just come on in and close the door,” Liz said.
Annie did as she was told while Jerome handed first Liz and then Tommy their coffee. Liz took a sip and then sat her cup on the desk. “Okay, what kind of trouble are we in?”
“Trouble?” Jerome asked.
Annie looked at Tommy. “Perhaps your guest can wait outside?”
“He’s fine,” Liz responded. “What’s the trouble, Annie?”
Annie exhaled. She was a middle-aged, thin redhead, with big, pop eyes and a pair of glasses swinging from her hand. “Jeffrey Haggard is suing you.”
“That bastard,” Jerome said.
“For what?” Liz asked.
“Sexual harassment,” Annie replied.
Liz smiled, and then laughed.
“This isn’t funny, Liz,” Annie said. “He has a cause of action.”
“Like hell he does!”
“Let’s review the facts,” Annie said. “Shall we?”
But Liz wasn’t convinced. “There’s no facts to review.”
“He was one of your reporters,” Annie said. “Is that correct?”
“You know Jeff used to work for me, Ann, yes.”
“Because he was one of your reporters he was your subordinate. You an
d he entered into a sexual relationship. Correct?”
Liz wanted to glance at Tommy, but she didn’t. She could already feel his eyes staring at her. “Yes,” she said. “If you want to call it that.”
“You used your position of authority over him, he claims, to coerce him into having sex with you and to ultimately fire him when he began to refuse your advances.”
“Oh please!” Liz said. “I tasted it once, didn’t like it, and that was the end of that. And the reason I fired him was because he lied on a story. It had nothing to do with any past encounter I had with him months and months earlier.”
“It’s a mess, Liz,” Annie said, “no matter how you try to minimize it. I cannot sugarcoat this for you. This is bad. He and his attorney are threatening to go public if we aren’t willing to settle.”
“I’m not willing,” Liz said. “That liar won’t get a penny from me! I didn’t coerce his ass into anything!”
“I know that’s right!” Jerome echoed her.
“He begged and he begged,” Liz said. “I was the harassed one! I gave in to him that one time, and yes, that was my mistake. That was a bad move. But I’m not paying for it by paying that little liar. And I mean that.”
Tommy stood up and placed his coffee cup on the desk. “Let me see the particulars,” he said to Annie.
Annie gave him a sidelong look as he began pulling out his reading glasses. “Excuse me?” she asked him. When he didn’t respond, she looked at Liz.
Liz was already considering the request. She was already processing it. Then she nodded. “Let him see it,” she ordered.
Annie was stunned that she would allow some outside, random guy to even hear about this lawsuit, let alone read the particulars. But she did as she was ordered and gave the paperwork to Tommy.
Although Annie might have thought Tommy was simply being nosy and wanted to know the facts about the sexual aspect, Tommy wasn’t reviewing the document for facts, sexual or otherwise. He was reviewing it for an address.
“I really don’t want us to drop the ball on this, Liz,” Annie said as Tommy reviewed the document. “We have to mount a vigorous defense because Jeffrey’s people certainly will.”
“I don’t care what kind of defense you mount,” Liz said, “but at the end of the day it better not require me to admit to something I didn’t do, or to pay a dime to that worm. Anything else is on the table. Those two things are not.”
Annie looked at Jerome for help. “Don’t look at me,” Jerome said. “I agree with her a thousand percent. Jeffrey Haggard used to chase her tail like she had a million dollars stuffed in there. She didn’t have to coerce that fool into doing anything. I’m with Boss on this one. And I’ll be the star witness if I have to be.”
Liz laughed. “The star witness, hun Rome?”
“Nothing but the best seat in the house for me baby,” Jerome responded. “Ask my wife, she’ll tell you.” Liz laughed.
Tommy closed the document and handed it back to Annie.
“So what do you think?” Annie asked. “Since Liz has such faith in you.”
“I think I’d better get going,” Tommy said.
Annie couldn’t believe it. That was it?
Liz stood up. “Still think you can make that afternoon board meeting?” she asked him with a smile.
“I’m going to try,” he said.
“I’ll walk you out.”
And she did. She left Annie and Jerome still hanging out in her office, and escorted Tommy downstairs, to his waiting car and driver. They stood at the open door of the passenger seat. And Liz couldn’t help herself. She hugged him. Tommy was so touched by her show of affection, since he knew it took a lot for her to go there, that he returned her hug even more vigorously. Then he kissed her on the lips as they moved out of their embrace.
Liz was pleased with that response. “Have a safe flight,” she said to him.
“Have a safe life,” he said to her.
Liz’s hopefulness dropped when he uttered those words. It sounded like a definite goodbye. But what could she do about it? He was kind to her, and unbelievably thoughtful, but he never denied being nothing more than a passing fancy. “You too,” she said, and stepped back.
He got into the car, and the driver closed the door. Then the driver got in and drove off. As the car drove away, Liz could see that Tommy was already talking on his cell phone and moving on with his life. As if his time with her was as bygone as the distance that now separated them. She moved on too.
Oh well, she thought, as she turned to head back into the tall office building. His loss.
Jeffrey Haggard opened the door of his tiny apartment as if he knew Tommy well, when, in truth, he didn’t know him at all. But he looked like a respectable businessman. Super respectable in fact. And he said he was there about the lawsuit. Jeffrey opened his door.
Tommy walked in as if he was indeed there on business. And he was. Only not the kind Jeffrey had in mind.
Once Jeffrey closed the door, he smiled. “So you work for Liz?”
Tommy didn’t respond to that. He was too busy sizing Jeffrey up. Tall, well groomed. Younger than Liz by about five, six years. Handsome, well built. Liz’s type no doubt about it. Tommy was also sizing up the apartment, and whether or not the younger man was home alone.
“I heard about her accident in Iraq,” Jeffrey went on to say. “I know you won’t believe it, and I’m certain she won’t believe me, but I’m glad she wasn’t seriously injured. I really am.”
“I’m here about the lawsuit,” Tommy said. He needed to hear his fake concern like he needed a hole in the head.
“What about the lawsuit?” Jeffrey asked.
“It needs to end,” Tommy replied.
Jeffrey smiled. “I’m sure Liz wants this matter to be over with like yesterday, but not so fast. Besides, I think protocol states that you should go through my lawyer if you guys want to settle this case out of court, and not through me.”
“Would you prefer I go through your lawyer?” Tommy asked him.
“I would very much prefer that, yes,” Jeffrey replied.
“I don’t give a shit what you prefer,” Tommy said.
Jeffrey didn’t expect such vitriol. Where did that come from? This guy looked like he could run a Fortune 500 company. Why was he suddenly so nasty? “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“Okay, now see, yeah.” Jeffrey began moving toward the door. “I think you should leave.”
Tommy grabbed him by the arm and began twisting it.
“You’re hurting me!” Jeffrey cried. “What are you doing? You’re hurting me!”
Tommy twisted his arm until he could see the joint poking out beneath the skin, and then he could hear the crack and then the break. Jeffrey screeched in pain.
Tommy placed his mouth to Jeffrey’s ear. He was still twisting that broken arm. “You listen very carefully, Mr. Haggard,” he said to Jeff.
“Please. Please don’t hurt me! I can’t this pain!”
“I don’t have time to go into details,” Tommy said. “But understand this very clearly. Drop the lawsuit. You have a broken arm today. If you don’t drop that lawsuit, everything breaks tomorrow.”
Tommy released his arm. Jeffrey dropped to his knees in tears and agony. Tommy let out a harsh exhale. Damnable business. “What are you going to do, Mr. Haggard?” he asked.
But Jeffrey was in too much pain to answer. Until Tommy took his expensive shoe and pressed it on that arm.
Jeffrey screamed out again.
“What are you going to do, Mr. Haggard?” Tommy pressed on that arm again.
Jeffrey screamed like a woman this time. “Drop it!” he cried. “I’m going to drop the lawsuit! I’m going to drop it right now! I’ll never sue another human being for as long as I live! I never heard the word before! Help me! I can’t take this pain!”
“Will the police be notified about our little moments together?”
Jeffrey was now on the floor,
coddling his arm, crying in agony.
Tommy pressed that arm again.
“No!” Jeffrey screamed. “I won’t go to any police. What police? What’s a police?”
“Find your pot of gold somewhere else,” Tommy warned him. “Liz Logan is off limits. Okay?”
Jeffrey looked up at the maniac. “Okay,” he said softly, since his screams didn’t work. He just wanted the mad man to leave.
Tommy stared at the hapless reporter one more time. He hated the thought of him being intimate with Liz. But it was done now. Never to be repeated.
He looked at him a moment longer, and then he left. Jeffrey’s high-note screams recommenced, as soon as Tommy closed the door.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The nightclub was jumping and Liz and her friends were having fun. Marilyn was there, and Kenisha, along with Jerome and his wife Amanda. They were sitting in the VIP section, enjoying the music, and rewinding after another long week of work. It was Sunday night. They had to get back into the grind mill on Monday. They were having a ball.
Although none of them were on the dance floor, Liz and Kenisha were attempting to out-dance each other at their seats, as they moved to the groove of yet another Nicki Minaj beat. Liz’s phone began to buzz as she and Kenisha were laughing at their own foolishness, and then her phone beeped. Liz pulled out the phone and looked at the text message. When she read it, she smiled. “I’ll be damn,” she said.
“What is it?” Jerome asked.
“Tommy’s in town.” Liz said this and then looked up at Jerome. “He’s at the airport. He wants to know where I am.”
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