Climax: The Publicist, Book Three

by Christina George

  . . . .

  Mac stepped into the Four Seasons, gave the clerk his credit card, and took they key.

  “Can you have the bellman take this up to my room? I have an errand to run.”

  The clerk smiled, “Of course, sir. Right away.”

  He turned and pulled his cellphone from his pocket. He did a quick search and then dialed a number.

  “Hello?”

  “Grace, it’s Mac. I need you to go and see Kate. She needs you.”

  “Is she hurt?” He could hear the panic in her voice. He didn’t like the girl, but she was a good friend to Kate and that’s what she needed most right now.

  “Yes…well, no. Not technically, but she’s hurt. I hurt her and she needs you.”

  Grace was silent. No doubt judging him, he thought.

  “I need to drop by my key. She’s at the apartment and she won’t let anyone up, I’m sure. She probably won’t even answer the doorman if he buzzes her, so I’ll call them to let you in and just go up.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Grace, I’ll just come by your apartment.”

  “If I have to see Kate. I need to leave anyway. Tell me where you are.”

  “Four Seasons on Fifty-seventh. I’ll leave the key at the bell desk.” Mac figured it was best; he didn’t want to see her any more than she did not want to see him. Besides, the last thing he needed was her condescending stare.

  “Grace? Did you hear what I said?”

  “I did. What the hell did you do to her?”

  Mac was silent for a moment. Part of him didn’t want to give her the satisfaction, but he knew within the hour she’d have it anyway.

  “I did what you always predicted, Grace. Congratulations, you were right. I hope that makes you happy.” Mac clicked the phone off. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Kate hated him, Carolyn was in Paris, and his life—as usual—was a mess.

  CHAPTER 77

  By the time Kate sat up, it was dark outside. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been on the floor crying—minutes, hours, days? She pushed herself up. The apartment was quiet. She looked over to the coffee table. The champagne bucket was dripping wet from the ice melting.

  Lovely celebration.

  Just then she heard a key in the door.

  Damn it, Mac!

  He had kept his spare key. She rushed to the door and yelled, “Don’t you dare come in here, you bastard.”

  The door pushed open and Grace walked inside.

  “Gracie?” Kate’s voice was hoarse and weak from crying and yelling.

  Her friend gave her a half smile.

  “A little bird told me you could use a friend right now.”

  Kate began to cry and Grace immediately wrapped her arms around her friend.

  “It’s over,” she cried. “Everything with Mac is over.”

  CHAPTER 78

  Nick and Stephanie stood near a cluster of other travelers at the Delta gate at JFK Airport. It was time to go home. His work in New York was over. As much as he hated leaving Viv behind, he needed to get back to his life in California. He made her promise to visit all the time, and of course, he’d be back and forth pretty often, too. Still, it wasn’t the same. It had been nice being with his sister and sharing an apartment and a life with her. They’d grown even closer and that had been nice.

  Really nice.

  The gate attendant called first class, and Stephanie perked up.

  “That’s us!”

  He was taking Stephanie with him, of course. However, he wasn’t really sure what would happen to them once they got back to Los Angeles. Because she’d been visiting him in New York, it made sense for her to stay with him. Then the “staying” had turned to living together, sort of. But in Los Angeles, they had their own residences and their own lives. Stephanie had intimated numerous times that she’d give up her apartment, but Nick wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

  Nick reached for his ticket.

  Kate.

  Her name ran through him mind, almost mocking him.

  A sudden jab through his heart.

  Kate.

  “Nick, Honey. We have to board.” Stephanie’s voice seemed distant. His heart pounded in his ears.

  Kate.

  He felt a sudden need to call her. Call her? Was he insane? Well, he was still thinking of her so likely, yes, he was.

  Then something slapped him upside his head. Reality, perhaps?

  What the hell was he doing? The question flashed like a bolt of lightning through his mind.

  Ridiculous. Let it go. Let it all go.

  He hit the End key before he finished dialing the number and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

  She was no longer his concern.

  Distance.

  Distance was his friend.

  If she was in trouble, she had someone else to help her.

  She had Mac.

  He grabbed Stephanie’s hand and threw her a forced smile.

  “Let’s go home,” he said as he stepped towards the plane.

  CHAPTER 79

  The story came out in fragmented, painful pieces.

  Mac had cheated.

  Of course he had. It was what Mac did.

  They were sitting on the couch; Kate had her knees curled up under her chin. A long silence stretched between them. Then Kate spoke.

  “You can say it,” she said finally. Kate could hardly speak. The words almost croaked out.

  Grace tipped her head, “Say what?” she asked.

  “You can say that you told me so.”

  Grace looked at Kate who sat, hair disheveled, eyes red and swollen.

  “I will never say that. I never ever wanted this for you.” She took her friend’s hand. “I wish you two had lived happily ever after. I really do.”

  “Mac can’t be happy. I realize that now.”

  Grace nodded and stroked her hair, all the while fighting the urge to go back to the Four Seasons and kill Mac with her bare hands.

  . . . .

  After Grace forced Kate to eat something, she’d encouraged her to get some sleep.

  “I’ll stay with you,” she promised. True to her word, Grace spent the night with Kate, curled around her friend who cried herself to sleep.

  CHAPTER 80

  Kate woke up the following morning and felt like she was walking through a fog. She couldn’t quite climb to the surface.

  Her thoughts swam through the heavy murk that used to be her mind.

  Mac.

  His name was an unwelcome intrusion. She pushed it aside. Her mouth felt dry and she was impossibly thirsty. Her eyes were heavy and her body ached from grief. Something she read just the day before pushed its way into her mind. It was the earthquake analogy:

  When the big one does hit, people often swear they didn’t see it coming. But the truth is, in almost 99% of the cases, the shifts were there. We just weren’t paying attention.

  Clearly, she wasn’t paying attention. The tremors had been there, but she hadn’t seen them or felt them. The time spent with the ex-wife…tremor, the trips out West…more tremors, and the final, biggest one had been the trip to Paris.

  They had danced.

  The thought cut through her, as did the visual. After years apart, Mac and his first love, Carolyn, had found their way back to each other.

  It was like a Lifetime movie, except in the movie they wouldn’t show the damage this did or the casualties left in the wake of Mac’s happy ending. It would just cue to two figures dancing along the Seine River, and you knew what would happen next.

  Sex.

  Her insides felt twisted, almost painfully so. Kate opened her eyes fully and looked around her bedroom.

  Kate could hear a faint noise coming from the other room and knew Grace was still around, but Kate did not feel like getting up and greeting her. A million thoughts scrambled through Kate’s mind, all of them centering on her former fiancé.

  Then she recalled that she’d fired Mac.

&
nbsp; “I want your resignation on my desk in the morning.”

  Had she been too harsh? The idea crept in slowly. It was one of those thoughts that women always have the morning after—the twinge of regret for having such a kneejerk reaction. Certainly Mac’s leaving was the best for her, but was it the best for her publishing house? There were a million other considerations other than her own selfish needs. People worked with their exes all the time.

  Although arguably not for long.

  Kate was deep in thought when Grace walked in carrying a tray.

  “Good morning, Sunshine. How are you?”

  Kate slowly pushed herself up and pushed a smile onto her face.

  “Thank you for staying with me.” Her voice was still hoarse. Of course it was. She’d screamed and cried and then cried some more.

  No wonder she felt completely exhausted, even after many hours of sleep.

  Grace set the tray down on the bed. Kate could smell the coffee; it smelled good in a comforting sort of a way. Grace had also made toast and eggs. Kate looked at it, but the thought of eating made her stomach turn.

  Grace sat down next to the tray. “Of course, now you’re not going to want to eat, but you will. I will stay with you until you do.” She handed her friend a steaming cup of coffee and bottle of water.

  “You’re probably thirsty.” She offered a comforting smile, “Crying dehydrates.”

  Kate nodded and took the coffee and the bottle. She unscrewed the cap and drank half of the spring water. It felt impossibly good.

  “Good things happen slowly,” she said, almost to herself. “Bad things happen fast. I could never, in a million years, have predicted this would happen—that he’d go back to her.”

  Grace nodded and handed Kate a plate. Kate shook her head and Grace nudged the plate forward.

  “I will be relentless. You know that. Take it and eat it.” It was clearly a direct order.

  Reluctantly, Kate set down her coffee and water on the nightstand and took the plate.

  “Now,” Grace began, satisfied with her victory, “I think you should call in sick today. You need a day to recover from all of this and figure out what you’ll do next.”

  Kate bit into her toast and shook her head. “I have too much going on. I can’t afford to take a day off.”

  “You look like hell. If you go in, the entire office will know something’s up.”

  “I’ll work from home,” Kate said, feeling her determination slowly return.

  Grace sipped her tea. “What will you do about Mac?”

  Kate stopped mid-sip of her coffee. “What do you mean? It’s over.”

  “I get that, but you have some decisions to make. Namely, will you keep him on as an editor. I vote No, in case you were wondering.”

  Kate inhaled a long, deep breath. “I fired him last night.”

  Grace almost did a fist pump in the air. “Excellent!” she exuded.

  Kate took another bite of toast. She was actually hungrier than she’d realized. When had she last eaten? She honestly couldn’t recall. Everything prior to Mac dropping the infidelity bomb in the middle of their living room was a complete blur.

  “I’m rethinking that.”

  Grace arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “Because, Gracie, it was a decision made in complete haste. He’s a good editor, a great one, in fact. Lavigne House needs him.”

  “Lavigne House doesn’t need him, Kate, nor do you. There are plenty of fabulous editors out there looking for work, especially after the free fall the industry has done. I’m happy to help you find one; maybe I could help you find a book or two.”

  Kate smiled at her friend. “I appreciate that, but you only read Russian novels. There’s not much call for that these days.”

  “You can’t bring Mac back.”

  Kate sat up straighter. “Grace, listen. It’s not that easy. He has projects in the works. I can’t just fire him if I don’t have a replacement or a plan.”

  Grace looked even more determined. “You have a plan, Kate. It is a good plan. You fire Mac. You move on. If he’s at your publishing house, you’ll continue to be tied to him. He’ll be around and you’ll never fully heal.”

  She has a point, Kate thought. And Mac being Mac, he might find a way to charm his way back into her good graces.

  Kate grabbed a forkful of eggs and set her half-empty plate on the tray.

  “I get it. I do. I need to clear my head. I’m going to take a shower and then get to work. Wanna stick around?”

  Grace shook her head. “I’ve got to go check in with some of the stores that sell my stuff, but I can come back later. Dinner?”

  Kate nodded and flung the comforter off of her. She swung her legs onto the floor and stood up. It felt almost painful to stand. Her entire body ached, proof positive that grief could age you.

  She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She stepped under the spray. The water felt welcoming on her skin. She let the pulse of the shower run over her and tried to decide what to do with the rest of her life.

  CHAPTER 81

  After her shower, Kate sat in her home office, emailed Lulu, and told her she was coming down with something and would be working from home. Lulu, assuming that she and Mac were actually celebrating her return, responded with an email and several smiley emoticons.

  “Have fun!” Her email was enthusiastic and happy.

  Everyone was probably relieved that Mac was back; his absence had left a burden on everyone else. Although he tried to do what he could from afar, there was a lot he could not do without having access to the office.

  Kate tried to focus on her email, but her mind kept drifting to Mac and what would happen next. She decided to head on over to Publishers’ Marketplace, which was a popular site for publishers, editors, and agents. They had a new deal page for books, contact information, and job postings. She thumbed through some of the openings. Most of the better editor positions were never posted. The contacts were made over lunch or drinks. But Kate decided to check anyway. After bringing Rebecca in she had not considered hiring anyone else, at least not for a while.

  My, how quickly things change.

  Her email pinged and a message arrived from Mac. One said, “Letter of Resignation,” in the subject line. The second one just said, “I’m sorry.”

  Kate looked at the emails for a long time before she opened up the resignation note.

  “It is with heavy heart…” the email started, and continued through the expected format to, “leaving my position as Senior Editor of Lavigne House.”

  Kate could swear she felt another piece of her heart fall off just reading the email. A flash of memories erupted in her mind…The first time she met Mac, working with him, loving him, and making plans for a future they’d never have.

  Kate felt exhausted. The other email from him sat unopened in her inbox. Finally, she clicked it:

  My dearest Katie,

  I can’t describe in words how I feel right now, having betrayed you like this. You must hate me. In fact, you should. I hope though, that you’ll give me a chance to explain to you what happened.

  I love you,

  Mac

  “Not a chance,” she said and deleted the email without responding. Then she picked up her phone and dialed the condo office.

  “Jimmy, it’s Kate Mitchell in 1214. I need some boxes. Do you happen to have any?”

  “Hey, Kate. I do. I’ll bring them right up.”

  “Thanks, Jimmy. Bring as many as you have.”

  Then Kate opened an email and sent a quick note to a realtor she knew, “I’m in the market to buy a new place, preferably in the Village. Let me know what comes up.”

  After the Superintendent arrived and dropped off the boxes, Kate took a bunch to the bedroom and started tossing Mac’s stuff in them.

  It was, in a way, wildly cathartic.

  CHAPTER 82

  Nick drove through the streets of downtown San Marino where he lived. He was h
ome at last, and it felt good. The top was down on his Jeep, and it was a blissful seventy-five degrees on a sunny, perfect day.

  He and Stephanie had arrived three days prior. Much to her chagrin, he’d dropped her off at her apartment with a promise that they’d spend as much time together as they could. If he was completely honest with himself, a part of him did miss having her around. But moreover, he missed his sister and her vibrant energy. He picked up the phone and hit the memory button.

  “Can’t live without me, can you?” was how she answered.

  “No. I was just calling to see if you’d burned down the apartment yet.” There was a smile in his voice.

  “Well, I don’t miss you,” she joked. “The apartment is huge and yes, flammable, but I haven’t tested that yet. I’ve moved into your old bedroom and I have parties every night.”

  “No you’re not. You hate parties, but I’m glad you’re doing so well. You sound good.”

  “Jeez, Nicky. You’ve only been gone three days. It’s not like you’ve been back in California for months.”

  “I know,” Nick said quietly, but he did, in fact, miss her a ton.

  . . . .

  Stephanie checked her phone and found a text from BFF Tracey.

  I’d love to see you!

  Stephanie wrote back, setting up a plan to meet later that day.

  Pick you up at Nick’s? Text me the address.

  I’m not living there, Stephanie typed in response, and within minutes her phone rang.

  “What the hell, Steph? I thought we talked about this.”

  Stephanie took a deep breath. Her friend was relentless. They had talked about it, but Nick just wasn’t ready. There wasn’t anything she could do about that, and forcing herself on him wasn’t going to work. Knowing Nick, who hated being pushed, he’d just cut her off.