Power Play: A Novel

by Steel, Danielle

  “Mourn what?” he said sadly. He thought she meant him.

  “I left him. Finally. Long overdue.”

  “You left him?” He sounded even more astonished than Bonnie, but he didn’t want to let on how happy he was. She sounded so sad.

  “I didn’t leave him for you,” she made clear to him. “I didn’t want to do that. That’s why I didn’t want to see you or talk to you. I didn’t want you in my head. I left him for me.”

  “That’s the right way to do it,” he said, and admired her for it. “How do you feel now?”

  “Like shit,” she said honestly, and then laughed. “I guess I will for a while.”

  “Maybe not as long as you think. I admire you for what you did. Have you talked to your shrink about it?”

  “Every day.” She was the only person she had talked to, other than her kids. “I know it was right, it just hurts a lot.” She still loved Marshall, no matter how bad he was, or how wrong for her, and she knew she would for a long time. But she’d left anyway, which was very brave.

  “Can I see you?” he asked hopefully.

  “Not yet. I’m not ready. Maybe soon.” She was vague about it and asked him how the show was going. He was very excited about it, and loved writing the scripts. And he didn’t press her about seeing him. He knew she needed time.

  “You know where I am if you need me, Ash. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Me neither,” she said, and promised to call soon, and then hung up.

  Bonnie came over that night with a pizza, and they had dinner with the kids. Ashley didn’t want to talk about Marshall, so they didn’t. And the girls asked for him a couple of times. Ashley told them he was working. And they accepted that for now, but she knew they wouldn’t forever.

  And little by little, she returned to the land of the living, day by day. Marshall had never called her after she had gone to his office, and she knew he wouldn’t. She wondered if he was back with Liz, but there was no one she could ask, and she didn’t want to know. Whatever he did was his business now, and no longer hers.

  When Jillian came back from Italy that week, she called Fiona, and they made a date to play tennis on Saturday. She said she’d had a fabulous trip.

  “What about playing doubles this time?” Fiona asked her, and Jillian sounded suspicious immediately.

  “Why would we do that? I can beat you all by myself. I don’t need help,” she said and laughed.

  “You wish,” her younger sister called her on it. “I just thought it might be fun,” she said innocently.

  “I smell a rat. Are you trying to fix me up with someone? Some boring corporate creep that no one else would want?”

  “No, I was. And he’s not a creep. I met someone I thought you’d like.”

  “Let me tell you, after the Italians I went out with, one in Venice, and two in Positano, and one in Rome, you’re going to have to come up with Brad Pitt to impress me.” She had the busiest love life of any fifty-five-year-old woman Fiona had ever known. “We wound up traveling all over Italy.” She sounded happy and relaxed.

  “Well, you missed out here. You stayed away too long,” Fiona told her.

  “How’s that? He met someone else?” Jillian sounded intrigued.

  “Kind of. Actually, I’ve sort of gone out with him a few times. I know that sounds crazy, but he’s nice.”

  “It doesn’t sound crazy to me at all.” Jillian was delighted for her. “Welcome to the human race, I can’t wait to meet the guy who seduced the virgin queen.”

  “Don’t get too excited. I haven’t slept with him yet.”

  “That’s too bad,” Jillian said, sounding disappointed. “I don’t know how one of us wound up so virtuous and the other one a middle-aged slut.” But she was having a good time and Fiona laughed. “Any chance you’ll get laid in this century, or this lifetime? I should have lit candles for you in Rome.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We’re having a nice time. I’m taking it slow, no need to rush.”

  “Of course. Getting laid once every five years is enough for anyone. Fiona, dead people have sex more often than you do. You should drink more or something. So who is this guy?” She was curious about him.

  “I told you. Logan Smith, the reporter. Remember? He called me trying to get information, and we wound up making friends instead. He took me to a baseball game. So can he play tennis with us on Saturday?”

  “Of course. I want to meet him. Do I have to let him win?” She sounded worried.

  “No, just don’t hit him with your racket if you lose. It might make a bad impression, and I’ve been telling him how fabulous you are.”

  “I’ll be on my best behavior,” she promised, chuckling.

  “I’ll see if Alyssa wants to be our fourth,” Fiona said, and sent her an e-mail, and Alyssa said she’d be happy to. The four of them were planning to have lunch afterward. Fiona told Logan about it when he called her that night. He was calling every night now.

  “Something tells me I should be scared of your sister,” he said, laughing about it.

  “Honestly, she’s terrific. She’s just very outspoken, has an insatiable appetite for men, and is a jock.”

  “Ohmigod, now I’m scared shitless. And you wanted to set me up with her?” He pretended to be terrified.

  “It’s not too late,” Fiona offered.

  “Yes, it is,” he said in a serious tone. He was crazy about her, and things were going well. “So when are we having dinner this week?” He never pushed her, but they were both organized, which worked well for them. They agreed on Thursday and Saturday night, tennis on Saturday, and Sunday at her pool, if they were both in the mood. It sounded perfect to them both.

  And Jillian didn’t let Fiona down on Saturday when they played doubles with Logan and Alyssa. Jillian beat him, but she didn’t humiliate him totally on the court, and she was extremely funny over lunch when she told them about some of the men she’d gone out with on her trip. And she and Logan eventually got on the subject of her latest book, and her theories about men in power, versus women, and the different ways it affected both, and how the opposite sex perceived them.

  “Take my sister, the vestal virgin here,” she said about Fiona, who looked like she was ready to hit her. “She’s a classic example of what happens to female CEOs. They take their jobs too seriously, become major workaholics, and no one wants to go out with them, until …,” she said, as though she expected a drum roll, “… a handsome prince comes along … or investigative reporter. He kisses the CEO, and she turns into a normal woman again, presto magic, and everyone is happy. As opposed to her counterpart, the male CEO, who is so taken with himself that he runs around like a sex maniac, overworking his libido and screwing every woman he can lay hands on. He spends his life apologizing to people on TV, and makes a total ass of himself, and everyone realizes he’s a complete jerk, and in some cases, his wife sues him for a lot of alimony, or his girlfriend,” she said, and they all laughed. But they all knew there was a certain truth to it, and Alyssa thought her description sounded like Marshall Weston.

  After that, Logan and Jillian got into a serious discussion about their theories, and made a lunch date the following week to go over some of her research. And they were talking about writing an article on the subject together. She wasn’t his cup of tea as a woman, she was too outspoken and aggressive and too much of a jock, but he liked her a lot as a friend.

  “Now that’s the kind of woman I can be friends with,” he said to Fiona at dinner that night. He had taken her to a very good restaurant in Palo Alto and insisted he didn’t mind driving home to the city that night. She felt bad expecting him to do that, but she wasn’t ready to sleep with him yet, and he didn’t push. He said he’d rather wait and have it be right.

  “I have a proposition to make to you,” he said, smiling at her at the end of dinner. They’d had a lovely evening and a very good meal. They hadn’t had a bad time together yet. “I have to go to New York next weekend. I
have to do an interview on Friday afternoon, but it won’t take very long. I could do it on the phone, but I get more spark out of it if I do it in person, and he’s an important subject. I thought I’d go to the theater on Friday night, stay at a terrific hotel, take in a Yankees game on Saturday, a good dinner Saturday night, and come home on Sunday. Would you like to go with me?” He looked hopeful as he asked her, and she looked touched, but hesitated. And she felt she knew him well enough to ask the fateful question.

  “One room or two?” He laughed at how simply she put it.

  “Your call, princess. Whichever you like. The offer stands either way.” It sounded like a mini-honeymoon to Fiona, and she appreciated that he wanted to make it so much fun for her. They’d been out a number of times now and it was clear that they were crazy about each other.

  “I’d like that a lot,” she said, smiling warmly, and then she surprised him. “One room, please. I think I can handle that.”

  He beamed at her, and took her hand in his own, and kissed it. “Yeah. I think I can too. And I’d like to try. You’re on.”

  Chapter 24

  Fiona took Friday off, something she almost never did, so that she could fly with Logan, and he had insisted on treating her to the tickets, and had bought seats for them in first class, which really touched her. He told her how much he appreciated her coming with him. And they talked almost all the way, then watched a movie, and she slept for the last hour before they landed, and he dropped her off at the hotel, and left immediately to do his interview, so he could get it behind him. He was interviewing one of her male counterparts, a well-known CEO, who had been involved in a recent scandal about insider information, and the interview was a big deal. He promised to be back by dinnertime, and they had decided not to go to the theater, in case the interview went longer than planned.

  They were staying at the Four Seasons on Fifty-seventh Street, where Fiona got a big discount because she always stayed there, so after some arguing about it on the plane, he let her take care of the hotel. She said it was only fair since he had paid their airfare and was paying for everything else. It seemed like an equitable arrangement to both of them, and Fiona was pleased to see they had given them a big suite on the forty-eighth floor, and she had already changed for dinner by the time Logan got back to the hotel at eight-thirty. Their dinner reservations were for nine. He was taking her to 21, and she was wearing a black cocktail dress that looked very elegant but was short enough to show off her legs. She looked sexier than he’d ever seen her, and he rushed off to take a shower and get dressed himself, while she watched CNN in the living room of the suite.

  He showered, shaved, and changed quickly, and came back wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and dark blue tie at five to nine.

  “Wow!” she said, looking at him. “You look fabulous!” He looked better than she’d ever seen him, and they were already having a good time.

  “We look very grown up, don’t we?” Fiona said as they sat down at their table at 21. It was one of her favorite restaurants in New York, and his too, they’d discovered, so they had decided to have dinner there the first night. And he was planning to surprise her on the second with dinner at La Grenouille, which was about as elegant as it got in New York. But this was a special trip, and he didn’t plan to take her slumming, and he could afford it. He’d never been as excited about a trip, and she was the most terrific woman he’d ever been out with. He was proud to be at her side. “So how did the interview go?” she asked, and he told her all about it, and knew he could trust her with some of the information that he had learned, without violating confidentiality. Much about the subject and his situation was already public. He had narrowly escaped going to prison and might still wind up there. And it had been Logan’s hot story from the first. “Sounds like it’s going to be a good one.” She was impressed by what he did, and how well he did it, as much as he was with what she did. So far their relationship had been based on mutual respect and admiration.

  They walked up Fifth Avenue after dinner, and went to the Sherry Netherland for a nightcap, and then they walked the three blocks back to their hotel. And as they walked into their suite, it suddenly hit her. She was spending the night with a man, and he could see the panic in her eyes.

  “Take it easy, Fiona,” he whispered to her as he kissed her. “Nothing bad or scary is going to happen. We don’t have to do anything tonight.” He felt like he really was on a honeymoon with a virgin bride.

  “Why not?” she whispered, and he laughed. He was dying to rip her clothes off in response, but he forced himself to go slow, and no further than she wanted. They sat in the living room of the suite for a long time, kissing, and looking at the view from their windows in the dark. It was a very romantic scene, and he couldn’t keep his hands off her as they lay making out on the couch. Fiona felt about sixteen, and he eighteen, and then finally he unzipped her dress and unhooked her bra, and she was taking his clothes off, and the next thing he knew they were both naked on the couch. He could see in the moonlight that she had a beautiful body. All the swimming she did, and the careful diet had paid off. She had the body of a young girl. And he looked just as athletic, as she ran her hands over his body, and suddenly she wasn’t frightened or shy anymore, she was as comfortable with him as she was with him now everywhere else. She took him by the hand and led him into the bedroom, and his desire for her was plainly obvious as they fell onto the bed. And a moment later, they were making love as though they had known each other forever. It was perfect and just what each of them had hoped for, but he hadn’t dared expect. He had been afraid that it would be awkward and she would be painfully shy. Instead, she turned out to be a lustful woman and not hesitant with him at all. They came together, and afterward, he lay panting and out of breath next to her with a broad grin.

  “Fiona, you’re fantastic! I think you’re going to kill me. What do you mean, you’re shy?”

  “I haven’t done this in a long time,” she whispered, and then kissed him again.

  “Mercy! Mercy!” he teased her, and she laughed, and then as they fooled around with each other, they wound up making love again, and it was even better. “Ohmigod,” he said afterward, “when we go home, I’m never going to let you out of bed. Maybe we should both retire.” They laughed and talked late into the night, and finally fell asleep with him cuddled up behind her holding her in his arms. And when he woke up the next morning, she was a vision standing next to the bed, naked, with her long lean body, smiling down at him, and pleased by what she saw. He opened one eye, saw her, and was instantly overwhelmed with desire, and pulled her back into bed, made love to her again, and then they went back to sleep for another hour. And the next time, he woke her up. He had promised her she could go shopping for at least an hour or two before the Yankees game. She wanted to go to Bergdorf’s, and he ordered room service while she showered and dressed.

  She came out wearing a white cotton dress and flat shoes. She looked young and pretty and fresh. It was a whole different look from her business suits, and hair in a bun. She was wearing her hair down the way he loved it, and lipstick and blush.

  “My God, how did I get so lucky?” he said, looking at her. “You’re beautiful, Fiona.” He leaned over to kiss her, and then he rushed off to dress himself before he gave in to his desire for her again. He could hardly keep his hands off her.

  They walked to Bergdorf’s, and he kept her company while she shopped. She bought two pairs of sexy shoes, a silk shirt for work, and a soft pink cashmere shawl, which was all they had time for, and then they walked back to the hotel to get their car and go to the game. The Yankees lost, but they had a great time anyway, and he bought her another hat, as a souvenir.

  “I think I’m starting a collection,” she said, looking happy, eating a hot dog, in her pretty white dress. It took twelve innings for the Yankees to lose, and they had a terrific time. And they kissed in the car on the way back.

  “I’m going to have to straighten out your sister,
” he commented, as they watched the skyline of New York slide past the limousine. “She called you a vestal virgin, and is she wrong on that one.” He looked at Fiona like a besotted young man.

  “I’m just not a slut like she is.” Fiona laughed. “She always got all the boys when we were kids, but she’s older than I am, so she had more experience. And she’s been working on it ever since.” She had just slept with half of Italy, but she seemed to make friends wherever she went, men loved her, and she stayed friends with them forever. Fiona had always admired that about her. She had always been much more reserved.

  “I definitely got the right sister,” Logan told her, “but I’d love to work on that book with her. I think we’ll try an article first.”

  “She’s great to work with, very methodical and organized and always on time. I’ve written a couple of articles with her myself. They always turn out well.” He could see that might be true.

  They lay down on the bed when they got back to the hotel, and watched the news on TV. Fiona started to doze off after their long day and night, and he woke her in time to dress for dinner. And this time she stunned him with a sexy red dress that was even shorter, and black stiletto heels, and he was even more impressed by how she looked than the night before.

  “Why don’t you wear stuff like that more often?” he asked as they left the suite to go to the restaurant.

  “Where?” She laughed at him. “To work? Or our favorite bar in Palo Alto? AT&T Park? Where am I going to wear something like this in San Francisco? I’ve been saving it for two years.” And it was perfect for that night. Every man in the room looked at her when she walked into La Grenouille and not because they recognized her as the CEO of NTA. They had no idea who she was, she just looked elegant and sexy, and Logan whispered to her as they started dinner, “You look hot. I’m going to bring you to New York a lot if this is the way you dress here.”

  They had a fabulous meal at La Grenouille, and went back to the hotel and made love. They watched a movie on TV that they had both wanted to see but hadn’t had time for, and then they made love again and finally fell asleep.