“When was this?”
“Yesterday,” Alexa said. “Just as she was packing to leave, he called her up and said that it was over. That they should enjoy their summer apart, and see other people—which pretty much is the kiss of death. We talked about it on the flight here. She said she was over it, but she isn’t.”
“I’m sorry, Daniella,” Blackwell said.
“I don’t want some damned pity party,” she said. “Screw him. I’m fine.”
“Are you?”
And for once, Daniella didn’t answer.
“Why don’t you come over here and give your mother a hug?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because you’ll give me rabies?”
Blackwell smiled at that, and then held out her arms, which Daniella reluctantly slipped into. And when she did, she gradually relaxed.
“I don’t mean to be a bitch, but I can’t help it,” she said. “That bastard has hauled it out of me. He’s been playing me for the past four months. I’m sick of men, mother. I’m about to become a lesbo like my sister.”
“I’m not a lesbian. And stop saying ‘lesbo’—it’s offensive.”
“Whatevs.”
“Whatevs, nothing. Stop saying it.”
“Fine.”
“Who was this boy?” Blackwell asked. “You didn’t tell me about him.”
“Later,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about it now. I’m more worried about how sick Jennifer looks. I’m thinking—mahogany coffin.”
“Oh, thank you,” I said.
She turned to me and winked. “I’m just joking. Kind of. But you know I love you. I’m just worried because you don’t look like yourself.”
“Maybe there’s a reason,” I said.
“What reason?”
“Your mother will fill you in when it’s appropriate.”
“Are you and Alex getting a divorce?”
“Hardly.”
“Then what is it?”
“As she said, we’ll talk about it later,” Blackwell said. “But please, cut Jennifer some slack, OK? She hasn’t had the best week.”
“Now I totes need to know.”
“Look,” Alexa said from the window. “Do any of you see what’s happening to our world? Since we’ve been here, the smog has only grown thicker with everyone rushing to work. If we keep allowing greenhouse gasses to press down upon the Earth, then eventually we’ll be toast. Or underwater. Extinct. Zip-zap. Do any of you see what I’m seeing? Am I the only one who is sensitive to this?”
“Her birthday is coming up, Mom,” Daniella said. “Might I suggest that you buy her a redwood? I suggest one that’s been hollowed out so that she can sleep in it.”
“You think it’s funny now,” Alexa said, “but just wait until you’re as old as Jennifer.”
“As old as me?” I said. “I believe I’m only six years older than you, Alexa.”
“Exactly,” she said. “The end of the Earth is coming that soon.”
At that moment, my cell dinged in my handbag. Thinking it was Alex, I took it out, but instead saw that it was a text from Lisa asking if we were still on for lunch at noon. I’d totally forgotten about it.
“Was that Alex?” Blackwell asked.
“No, it was a text from Lisa, asking if we were still on for lunch. After everything that’s happened, I’m going to have to decline.”
Daniella pulled away from her mother. “What’s happened?”
“I’ll tell you about it in a moment,” Blackwell said. “But it isn’t good. There’s a reason Jennifer isn’t herself.”
“What? Did somebody die or something?”
“Yes, Daniella. Somebody did die.”
“Oh, my God. Who?”
“It doesn’t matter now.” She looked at me. “I think you need that lunch, Jennifer.”
“Now isn’t the time.”
“I disagree. In fact, now is the time to be with your best friend.”
“I can’t just leave Alex. What I haven’t had a chance to tell you is that something is happening in Singapore. I don’t know what it is, but I need to find out.”
“Our phone is manufactured in Singapore…”
“That’s right.”
“Then go and find out what he knows. If it’s something significant, then stay here and help Alex. But if it’s nothing that he can’t handle on his own, have your lunch—you need it. I’m urging you to go and be with Lisa,” she said. “See your friend. Be with her. You need her now.”
I stood up to leave, but not before giving Alexa and Daniella a hug. “Be good to your mother, OK?” I said to them.
“Something’s wrong,” Alexa said.
“Your mother will tell you everything.” I moved toward the door. “I’m sorry to cut this short. I hope you understand that right now I need to see my husband.”
“Jennifer,” Daniella said. I turned to her. “I didn’t know something was wrong. I was only joking earlier. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“That’s just it,” she said. “I think that I did, and now because of this weird energy in the room, I regret it. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to be sorry. You just went through a break-up, and you’re upset. I’ll see all of you soon. I promise. We’ll have martinis—remember the last time we had one of those? I thought you would. But do me a favor in the meantime, OK? Sit down and spend time with your mother. Really talk with her. Anything can happen to us at any point in our lives. You’ll soon find that out. Your mother should never be taken for granted. No one ever should.”
And with that, I left them behind and moved down the hallway toward the bank of elevators that would bring me to Alex.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
When I arrived at the forty-seventh floor and saw that Alex’s office door was closed, I went immediately to Ann.
“Is it all right to go in?” I asked.
“He’s still on the phone with his contacts in Singapore. He asked not to let anyone disturb him.”
“How long has he been on the line?”
“Since he arrived.”
“But that was an hour ago.”
A troubled look came over her face. “Don’t concern yourself with that just yet,” she said. “There’s something I need to show you first. I put it in your office, so Alex wouldn’t see it.”
See what?
Ann stood, and I followed her into my office, where a bouquet of a dozen black roses sat on my desk.
“Who sent them?” I asked as we walked over to my desk.
“I didn’t look at the card.”
I plucked the small envelope from the bouquet, opened it, and removed the card that was tucked inside. Three words summed it up: “Fuck you, bitch.”
Stephen Rowe, I thought. Who else?
I turned to Ann, who looked at me with concern. “How about if this remains just between us?”
“Of course.”
“Would you mind tossing the flowers somewhere where Alex won’t see them?”
“I’d be happy to. Are you all right?”
“Actually, I’m rather amused. There’s nothing to be concerned about here. It’s just a reaction. A grown man trying to pull my pigtails.”
I showed her the card.
“That’s some reaction.”
“Let’s just say that a certain person obviously believes that I deserve it. And if I were in his shoes, I’d probably feel the same way after the way I crushed him last night. But that’s enough of that.” I handed her the card, which she immediately ripped up, and then I bent down to smell the dyed roses. “Pity,” I said. “They do smell lovely.”
“I’m sorry about what happened last night, Jennifer. About all of it. Especially with how the Post played it this morning. I was furious when I saw the front page. I wanted to kill them when I read the story.”
“Then you handled it better than I did. What did I do? I threw up—classy of
me, don’t you think?”
“You’ve been under a lot of stress lately. I’m worried about both of you.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “Wenn is going to be fine. You’ll see. This is temporary. Before long, things will get back on track again. I haven’t had a chance to check. Do you happen to know where our stock is now?”
“It’s not as grave as it seemed earlier—now we’re down seventeen points.”
“You see,” I said. “Things will right themselves. Alex gave at least a dozen one-on-one interviews to key members of the press. People are starting to digest what he had to say. They know that Wenn is much more than what it cost in R&D to make our phone. And then they’ve seen the brisk sales of that phone. I’m telling you, it’s temporary. I’m convinced it is.”
She looked relieved when I said that. I put my hand on her shoulder. “But thank you, Ann. You make things a hell of a lot easier for both Alex and me. We’d be lost without you.”
“Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Good, because I’d chase after you if you did.”
When we left my office, Ann went to her desk, found a plastic bag in one of her drawers, and stuffed the roses into it. Then she shoved the lot of them deep into the silver trashcan that was behind her desk.
“That should do it. He’ll never see them there.”
“No, he won’t. And that’s good, because he has enough on his plate.” I looked over at Alex’s door and wondered if it was possible to interrupt him, even for a moment. I decided it was. “I’m supposed to have lunch with Lisa in two hours, and I need to get back to her about whether I’m going, which I’m not. Alex needs me here. Let me just stick my head inside for a moment and let him know. I’ll be back in a minute.”
When I cracked open the door to Alex’s office and peeked in, I could hear him talking. But when he saw my face, he waved me inside.
“No, Mr. Wei Jei, I’m afraid that’s not good enough. Certainly, you have other companies at your disposal to help you meet our contractual demands to properly manufacture our phones without holding up stock, such as companies that manufacture and supply the memory chips you claim you lack. Why don’t I put you on hold for a moment so we each can take a short break to think about the consequences. When I come back, I’m certain that you will have come up with at least half a dozen companies right in Singapore that have in stock the exact sort of memory chip we need to outfit the SlimPhone. If it happens to be at an extra cost to you, that’s also in our contract. I’d hate to get lawyers involved because I know that we can work this out over the phone. We’ve always had a good business relationship. So, let’s take five minutes, take a breath, and privately consider our options.”
And with that, Alex pressed the ‘hold’ button on his phone, put the receiver down on his desk, and leaned back in his chair.
“Come over here,” he said.
I walked over to him, and he swept me into his lap and kissed me hard on the lips.
“Is everything all right?” I asked.
“They’re claiming it isn’t, but it will be. Apparently, they’re ‘dangerously short on memory chips,’ which could hold up production of our phone. Obviously, with demand as high as it’s been, that can’t happen. Wenn doesn’t need any more negative press, especially surrounding our phone. It’ll get worked out. Wei Jei is just going to have to cough up the money to buy the chips elsewhere. He’s balking now as only Tan Wei Jei can, but I just mentioned the dirtiest word of all—lawyers. He’ll get in line. So, what’s up? How are you feeling? After this morning, you haven’t left my thoughts. I hated that you got sick earlier.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “And I didn’t mean to interrupt. Ann told me that you wanted to be left alone, so this isn’t on her—it’s on me.”
He ran his fingers through my hair and smiled up at me. “I’m happy for the interruption, not that I consider it one.”
“I know you need to get back on the phone—”
“Let him wait.”
“—but I wanted to let you know that I’ll be staying here today. I can have lunch with Lisa another time. She’ll understand.”
“Why?”
“Because now isn’t the time to have lunch with my girlfriend. I’m going to write a personal note to Henri, and you can either sign it or write a note of your own. Whatever you want. I’ll take care of the flowers now, and have them sent to him. So, if you need me, I’ll be just beyond that wall.”
“Why isn’t it a good time to have lunch with Lisa? Look, Jennifer, you’ve been under a lot of stress. Go and have lunch with Lisa. You haven’t seen her in a good week.”
“And during that week, you’ve been under far more stress than I have.”
“I believe you took some of that off me last night when you had your dance with Rowe.…”
“Still.”
“Come on—do your husband a favor. Go and have lunch with Lisa. This conversation isn’t ending any time soon, I can tell you that. We’ll be duking it out for the next few hours, so don’t hurry.”
“But there are things to do.”
“And those things can wait.” He kissed me on the neck, and then again on the lips. “So. Lunch? With Lisa? Will you do that for me?”
I moved to speak, but he put a finger to my lips. “If you would, it would make me feel better. I’ll tell you everything about the phone call after lunch, assuming I’m off the phone at that point. Don’t count on it. But I’ll share it all with you at least by this evening. How’s that?”
“I don’t know, Alex. After what happened to Audric last night, the press this morning, and the entire week in general, I think if I went to lunch with Lisa, I’d be nothing but a downer.”
“Another reason to see her. She’s your best friend. She’ll lift your spirits. Am I wrong about that?”
“No.”
“Then will you just do this for me?”
“All right. But I should be here. With all that you’re handling now, I need to be working, not having lunch.”
He ignored that and picked up the receiver. “My five minutes are up,” he said to me. “Now, give me a kiss. That’s right. I’ll see you after lunch. And just so you know, I love you.”
Before I could respond to that, he pressed the ‘hold’ button and launched back into his conversation with Wei Jei as I got off his lap, and left the room.
* * *
“Apparently, I’m going to lunch,” I said to Ann when I left Alex’s office.
“Good for you. Jennifer, you need it. Are you going with Lisa?”
“She’s the one.”
“Try your best to enjoy yourself. Where are you going?”
“We were planning to go to Per Se, but not after this week—it’s too public. I’m going to ask Lisa if she’d meet me at La Masseria instead. No one will recognize either of us there, so we can just be ourselves.”
“Sounds perfect. Is there anything you need me to do before you leave?”
“I’m good. If you need me, I’ll have my cell.” I started to leave for my office to order the flowers for Henri and to write my note to him, but then I stopped and nodded toward her trashcan, where the black roses were buried. “Thanks for ditching those, Ann.”
She lifted her chin at me and smiled. “It was my pleasure.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
After confirming lunch with Lisa at La Masseria, I called Tank to ask him if he’d drive me across town. A part of me wanted to just take a cab in an effort to step out of my current life and leave it behind, but given the press, which could be anywhere at any point, I knew that it was best to be safe and to rely on the one man few would dare to cross.
I rode the elevator to the lobby and when the doors slid open, Tank was waiting for me.
When I saw him, I immediately hooked my arm through his. Tank was a beast and he dwarfed me by a good foot, but for so many at Wenn, he was exactly the kind of giant you wanted at your side—he was nothing if not a gentleman, but he
could be ferocious towards those who threatened his charges.
Looking at him now, I thought he looked terrific in his fitted black suit, white shirt, and gold tie, which Lisa and I had picked out for him two weeks before. I looked down at his shoes, and was happy to see that he was even wearing the Prada men’s Oxfords we’d picked up for him at Barneys. They were as masculine as he was.
“You look handsome,” I said.
He smiled down at me. “Is that a fact?”
“It is.”
“I believe you had a hand in all this?”
“Guilty as charged. Do you like the shoes?”
“They’re kind of stiff, but I’ll break them in.”
“But do you like the style?”
“Yeah, I like them. They’ve got some good traction, which I need. I’m just used to something a little more basic, that’s all.”
“You’re beyond basic. And by the way, I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“You know what.”
“So, I assume that my information on Rowe helped?”
“Let’s just say that’s one bastard who has his guard up.”
“Good. He should have his guard up. How did you handle it?”
As we strolled across the lobby, I told him about everything that had transpired on the dance floor.
“He’s likely wondering if you’re bluffing, you know?”
“He’s an egotist. Of course he’s wondering. And why not? It’s not as if I offered him solid proof. Still, thanks to you, I nailed everything else—from the name of his mistress straight down to where they have their little trysts. Oh, and also the apartment he bought for her.”
“Do you think that’s enough?”
“I don’t know yet. We’ll need to wait and see how he behaves before we can know for sure.”
“Hmmm,” he said.
“Hmmm, what?”
“Hmmm, as in I’m thinking. If I can get anything more concrete, I’ll let you know. I have friends in security all over this city. Many of them owe me favors. Let me put out some feelers today. It’s unlikely that Rowe will see his woman so soon after you called him out on it, but men are men. He’ll be with her again. Give me some time to see what I can lock down.”
Annihilate Me 2: Omnibus (Complete Vols. 1-3, Annihilate Me 2) Page 15
