by Lindsey Gray
“You’re coming home?” The hope in his voice made her heart hurt.
No matter how much she loved Derek at one time, they’d never rekindle their relationship. One horrific attack and twelve years of threats scared her enough to stay away from a romantic relationship with him for good.
“I think so.”
“Good to know.”
The magazine selection at Harry’s office sucked. Emma read an old article about how she hooked up with a Hollywood heartthrob. She laughed at the possibility. The guy acted like the typical Alister and dropped one name after another on the two occasions they bumped into each other. Just another example of how the press got her life so wrong.
“Is he still on the call?” Emma asked Harry’s secretary, Jocelyn, for the tenth time.
“Yes. Don’t worry, he’s got this.” Jocelyn came out from behind her desk and sat down next to Emma. “I know those contracts as well as he does. He made sure you had an out. The competition clause is exactly what he needs. We got a copy of Aaron Russell’s offer just in case. Relax.”
“Thanks, Jocelyn. If I want to make this change, sooner is better than later.”
Jocelyn patted Emma’s shoulder. “A workaholic like your brother.”
“No MacLean ever walked away from a hard day’s work.”
“I believe you.”
Harry opened his office door and popped his head out. “Jocelyn, do you mind calling out for some lunch? I’ll be tied up with Emma for a couple of hours.”
“Sure. Pizza from Romano’s?”
“God, yes,” Emma moaned. “I need comfort food right now. A big slice would hit the spot.”
Harry smiled and held back a laugh. “Order two large Sicilian’s. We can divide up the leftovers.”
Emma’s mouth watered just thinking about the spicy sauce, gooey cheese, and authentic Italian meats finding a new home in her belly.
“Come on in. I’ll give you a brief rundown before the pizza gets here.”
Emma got up and walked into Harry’s office with Al and Ben following behind. She took a seat on his couch, and he took the chair beside her, several folders littered the coffee table in front of them.
“First of all, they are letting you out of your contract.”
Emma didn’t realize how much tension she held in her body until she let it go in that moment. “Did you give them a copy of Aaron’s offer?”
“Yes. Terrance insisted. He seemed pretty pissed.”
“What? Because the offer came from Aaron or because he lost?”
“A little of both, I think.” Harry stood when his fax machine beeped. He picked up and examined the first page. “I guess they expected this outcome. You need to fill all this out and sign them to make your resignation official. You get to keep the SUV, and there are some other provisions you’ll walk away with.”
“And the show? Did you speak with the network too?” The contract with the network gave her little wiggle room.
“Yes. That is what took me so long.” Harry sat in his chair and let the fax machine continue to spit out dozens of sheets of paper. “You are on the hook for the rest of the season, some promotional stuff, and the reunion special. After you fulfill those commitments, you’re done.”
Emma turned toward Al and Ben. “I do love you guys. This is so much harder than I expected.”
The guys smiled and continued to do their jobs.
“There is also this.” Harry opened a folder and handed her several pieces of paper clipped together at the top.
Emma scanned the papers, and all the air flew out of her lungs. “This is a joke.”
“No. The money is part of what they deem your bonus for this year and also your share of the last deal you completed.” Harry flipped the page to show her the details.
Emma worked hard at Hunt. Not for the money or any of the so-called perks, but because she loved how much her work made a difference. She never imagined herself making more than ten figures a year, but her bank account proved she did. The amount detailed in the paperwork stated upwards of eight figures.
“What am I going to do with all this?” She swayed in her seat at the thought of managing so much money.
“Get a life. Take a vacation.” Harry moved from his chair and sat next to her. “Since you want to do this thing with Russell, and the whole deal is time sensitive, you won’t get a real vacation anytime soon. Promise me you will schedule some time for yourself to relax. You can start having girl’s night with Annie and Nell again. They both miss you.”
“I miss them too. I’ll think about it.” She let her head rest on Harry’s shoulder. “I need to pack up my place in LA.”
“Take Dad with you. He needs a little breather. The trip would be good for both of you.”
“I think you’re right.”
“Emma,” Aaron answered with hope in his voice.
“I can start Wednesday of next week.” She bit down on her lower lip in an attempt to keep her nerves at bay.
“Excellent,” he sighed in apparent relief. “I’d like to keep you a surprise until the broadcast the following Monday in Boston. We can get together and sign the contracts on Wednesday.”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll email you a few change requests. I’m heading out to LA with my dad to pack up my apartment. I’ll be staying with him while I’m not traveling, at least for a while.” The whole conversation seemed so surreal to her. She never imagined her life turning out this way.
“Safe travels. We’ll meet at my office Wednesday morning. I will leave a pass with the front desk. I don’t think the press will suspect anything since you’ve come to my office before.”
“What about the wrestlers and the rest of the staff?” She hoped to come into as little discord as possible.
“I want them to be surprised too. We will be airing several segments on the show and online with the wrestlers and commentators speculating on whom they think should be the new GM. They all think you’ll be someone inside the company.” He released a hardy laugh. “Oh, think how surprised they will be.”
“I’m excited to meet everyone. People are so different when the cameras turn off. You understand the cameras will follow me until the end of next month?”
“Not a problem. By the way, you need to start thinking about your entrance music.”
“Entrance music?” Aaron and all the wrestlers entered to specific music, but not Curtis Sharp.
“Yes, you deserve a little flair whenever you appear.”
The perfect song came to her instantly. “What about the Nerdy Girl Nation theme song? I’m sure we can get permission to use it.” Garrett wrote the song specifically for his show, but she was sure he would be honored for her to use the song to make her entrances.
“Brilliant. You think Garrett Green will keep his trap shut until your big reveal?”
“Yes, he’s actually a fantastic guy.”
“If you say so. With you in my corner, he might lay off me.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
“I love the sound of that.”
“Get used to it.” A wide smile spread across her face. She made the right decision.
The ding of Rob’s cell phone alerted him to a new email as he rode the elevator up to Aaron Russell’s office. He pulled the phone from his pocket and searched through his email. One email from an unknown address caught his eye. He opened what he thought might be a fan letter. Oh, how wrong he was.
Rob walked out of the elevator in a slight haze. Aaron’s assistant waved him over to the seating area to wait. He took a seat in one of the plush leather chairs before he read the email from the Nerdy Girl herself, Emma MacLean.
“Holy shit,” he whispered but still got the attention of Aaron’s assistant. “Sorry.”
He didn’t believe what was happening. Emma would be back in Boston and wanted to catch up. She might not mean catching up the way he’d dreamed about, but the possibility existed now.
“Rob,” Aaron called from his office doorway.<
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Rob got up to his feet and walked over to Aaron to shake his hand. “How are you today? Good mood, I hope.”
“Excellent and one of the reasons I want to talk to you. Come on in.” Aaron moved, and Rob entered the office. “Hold all my calls,” he directed his assistant.
Rob settled on the couch while Aaron sat in the armchair to the right.
“This is a bit unusual for the two of us to meet one on one, but there are a few things I would like to discuss with you that cannot leave this room.” Aaron loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.
“This sounds serious.” Rob flexed his fingers and tilted his head to the side. Something big was about to happen, but from the impression he got from Aaron’s relaxed demeanor, he didn’t think it was a bad thing.
“You’re aware of all the problems Curtis Sharp caused?” Rob nodded. “I offered the position to someone outside of the company with an intimate knowledge of the IWA and our history.”
“What?” Aaron all but promised Rob the position. The entire nation of IWA fans wanted Rob in the role.
“Yes. With all the fans chanting for you to take the position of GM, I thought you should be the first person I needed to consult on my plan.”
The fans envisioned Rob as a leader, never afraid to stand up to Curtis Sharp. Their encouragement made Rob want the job too.
“What do you need from me?” Rob uttered through clenched teeth.
“I believe this person will get a tremendous reception, we’ve got to keep some conflict going. I would like to pit the two of you against each other and find out where things go.”
“Am I going to fight this guy?” Whoever the guy was, Rob wanted to make sure if they got into the ring that the guy grasped at least a basic knowledge of what a real fight was. He’d lay the guy out flat if the same current of adrenaline ran through his veins.
“Did I say the job went to a man?”
That gave Rob reason to pause. “A woman?”
“I think she is exactly what this company needs to flip us upside down and give you all a chance to earn those checks I keep signing.”
Rob wasn’t sure how to respond, so he said what he thought Aaron expected of him. “How do you plan to pit us against each other?”
“I want you to keep up the hype. You believe the GM job should be yours. Even go so far as you announcing some plans for when you would ultimately take over the position. If all goes well, I will make the announcement during our event here in Boston. We will be doing promos the entire week before, building anticipation. The PR department is working on the campaign. We want an ad featuring you with several different shadows to leave everyone guessing.”
Rob nodded. The new direction could make the next few weeks interesting. “When do we get started?”
“Tomorrow. I think Gwen wants you in a tux for some of the shots.”
The IWA lead photographer, Gwen Stanton, always made Rob look like a million bucks but never requested a tux before.
“I think I can handle a tuxedo.”
“I want to thank you for being such a good sport about this. You’ll be rewarded.”
“Is that right?”
“Absolutely,” Aaron echoed with authority. “Now, you said there was something else you wanted to discuss.”
With everything Aaron threw at him, he almost forgot his reason for coming.
“I wanted to ask a favor.”
Aaron nodded. “I guess I owe you one.”
“You’re friends with Emma MacLean, right?”
Aaron froze in his seat. His reaction confused Rob, but Aaron slowly answered the question.
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“We met several years ago and we’ve been following each other’s careers over the years. You heard her mother passed away?”
“Yes, a tragedy.”
Rob ran his hand through his hair before he swallowed the small lump in his throat. “I sent my condolences to Emma recently and I was wondering if you might … I mean it might be a little awkward for me …”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this flustered,” Aaron laughed. “I spoke to Emma myself this week. She will be at the event here in Boston. I would be happy to arrange some time for you to chat.”
Rob chose his words carefully. “Thanks. We haven’t seen each other in person in years. I’m …”
“Were the two of you together?”
“No, no.” Rob shook his head. “She was dating someone at the time.”
“Not now, though?” Aaron asked.
“No. I’d like the chance to get to know her again.”
Aaron smiled one of his brightest smiles. “I would be happy to facilitate in any way I can.”
“I’m Rob and I’m an alcoholic.”
“Hello, Rob,” the room of strangers answered back.
Rob surveyed the basement room of the Methodist church twenty miles from his apartment. Out of his list of meetings, the church only came up twice in his rotation so far.
“Nine years sober.” The small group gave him a round of applause. “I thought stopping wouldn’t be a problem. Not for me. My friends drank as much as I did, maybe more, but none of them wanted to stop. I slipped a little further every day, details of my life got lost. After one scary blackout and I checked myself into rehab. I realized if I wanted to achieve the life I dreamed of, I needed to take drastic measures.
“That brings me to today. I work hard. I sacrifice. Today, I found out the promotion I worked so hard for went to someone else. These are the moments I struggle the most. I gave up drinking to be able to do this job and find out I’m still not good enough. Days like this make that one beer or shot of vodka pretty tempting.”
“We all have those days, Rob.” The meeting leader, Joe, stood and addressed the room. “The twenty years of sobriety I struggled for brought me more downs than ups. We need to remember how much that one beer or shot would not only affect our lives but the lives of those around us. In your situation, the promotion you want might come up again down the line. But if you choose to take a drink, you could put it in jeopardy.”
Joe wrapped up the meeting and followed Rob as he got a cup of coffee.
“You got a good sponsor?” Joe asked and poured himself a cup.
“On speed dial.” Rob laughed then took a sip. “Days like this happen every once in a while. I’m glad I can find a meeting and pull my sorry ass back up.”
“I know this is only your second or third meeting here, but this is a good group of people. You’ll be safe here. No leaks, I promise.” Joe lifted his brow.
Rob understood. Joe recognized who he was. He read the story a so-called friend from Rob’s AA group in Baltimore leaked to the press.
“Thanks, Joe.” Rob shook Joe’s hand.
Joe pulled a card from his pocket. “Here’s my number, just in case you can’t get ahold of your sponsor. Please, come back anytime.”
Rob took the card and smiled. He recognized the sincerity in Joe’s eyes. Joe was a man he could trust.
“Ah, the nerd cave. Saving the best for last?” Mick joked when he walked into Emma’s private office. The walls were covered with framed posters while the shelves held hundreds of books and collectibles.
“I didn’t want the cameras in here. This room is the only one I kept private.” Emma brought in several boxes and set them next to a large roll of bubble wrap.
Emma and Mick packed up most of her apartment in LA over two days. They finally came to the last room. Surrounded by her most prized possessions, her home office was the only place Emma ever felt like herself.
She began with her figurine collection. From her first edition Lando Calrissian to her newest Thor collectible, they were all precious in her eyes. Small boxes held all her character Lego Minifigures. Emma sighed at the sight of each one in their separate plastic prisons, wondering when she would be able to display them again.
“Added a few more over the years,” Mick spoke in awe while he th
umbed through a pile of plastic sleeved comic books.
“This is my nirvana, Dad. This room is the real me.” She wrapped Lando and placed him in his box.
“Your mother and I always worried about what you were going to be when you grew up.”
“What do you mean?” Emma asked while her father sat on the floor beside her.
“With Harry, he showed us earlier on he would follow in your mother’s footsteps. The law was in his blood. You? Something new and different every day.” He laughed as if flipping through years of memories in his mind. “One day you couldn’t get enough of astronomy. The next, sculpting. There were all the comic books and science journals. We were sure you’d never be able to narrow your choices down.” He took her hand in his. The conversation turned down a more serious road. “After your attack, you changed. Obviously you would after the ordeal you went through, but we never thought you would pack most of yourself away.” He motioned to the room packed with Emma’s real personality.
Emma couldn’t stop the tears at the thought of the vicious attack. She didn’t remember the attack itself in her conscious mind, but the memories seeped into her nightmares constantly over the years. Therapy and hypnosis attempted to bring the memories forward, but the evilness lived in her dreams. She would wake to remember flashes, but never enough to know who hurt her with such vicious cruelty.
“I never asked you directly, but was the attack the reason you broke things off with Derek?”
“Sort of.” Derek was wonderful and supportive, but she could never be honest with him about that night. A week after graduation, she tried to break up with him. Derek wouldn’t give her up completely, and they created a few special moments over the next few years.
“We were going to different schools and I was so skittish about everything. Derek needed someone stronger.” She tried to concentrate on wrapping all her Iron Man action figures.
“I hope this new job isn’t going to hold you back, Princess. I would love to catch you sculpting in the workshop again. The cameras won’t be on you all the time. Why don’t you let your hair down, relax, and start dating again.”
“Dad, please. Let’s not get into my love life.”
“I’m saying, don’t hold yourself back anymore. People will love the real you.”
