by Linda Wright
“Just come on,” she said.
Jessica and Lisa Johne in a dark sedan a few miles away to what looked like a setup for some sort of press conference. Lisa looked around at all of the cameras and security, a bit overwhelmed.
“What’s going on?” she asked Jessica. Jess grinned and pointed up at the small podium as Neal stepped up to the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming out here today. I’ve come here today after a difficult month. You all watched publically as I gained and lost my fiancé, fought to display my innocents against a jealous ex-girlfriend, and now…”
“Wait, he did what to Heather?” I asked, turning to Jessica.
“She admitted that she tipped the photographer to take that photo, and that he was giving her a ride home because she played drunk. It took a lawyer, a law suit and several investigators digging into her past and showing that she’s blackmailed other ex’s to get her to come clean,” she said. Lisa turned back to Neal’s speech.
“… Today, I’m here for one reason, and one reason only. To beg the woman that I love to come back. But first, I have to come clean. I’m not going to start this relationship on lies,” he said. Lisa’s eyes widened.
“What is he doing?” she hissed. Jessica smirked, but didn’t answer.
“A story surfaced about me being thrown out of a brothel in Las Vegas a few months ago, as many of you remember. When I returned, my parents forced me to enter into a fake engagement, stating that it would undo the damage that my reputation had done to the company brand. That was when I approached Miss Lisa Reinhart, and she and I entered into the agreement to pretend to be engaged. Here’s the thing though: during the time that she and I were together, I actually fell in love with her,” Neal said, turning to where she stood in the crowd.
“Oh crap,” Lisa whispered.
“I’m here today to tell her the truth, and to ask her to come back to me. But this time, not because of an agreement. This time, I want to be with you because I love you. I know this is a bit much, a little over the top, but this is how I do things. If you can see yourself dealing with me and my parties, and business meetings…”
He didn’t get a chance to finish. Lisa leapt onto the stage and wrapped her arms around his neck with a grin.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said. Neal smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Come home,” he said softly. Lisa grinned and nodded, the crowd cheering as the two of them kissed in front of the world.
*****
THE END
bonus stories #4
Illegal Love
It’s so wrong but feels so good
By: Dagny Rand
Illegal Love
Just take a second and try to imagine life in my shoes is what would say to her friends and family. She doesn’t feel sorry for herself or expect sympathy from others. It just that it’s hard being a woman entrepreneur and trying to make a relationship work. Especially when you significant other is just as busy as you are working in the entertainment industry. The internet has become the breeding ground for a great many things in the past decade. Fortunately for Paige Fletcher it had proven a goldmine for her. Paige had begun blogging as a hobby some years back under the faint belief that she had interesting things to say. She had been told by quite a few people in her life that she should start a blog and so she did. Initially it had been little more than a space to get things off of her chest, which was especially significant because she was in a job that she hated. She also struggled with relationships. Paige knew that she was an attractive woman; 5’6”, petite, but with curves, tanned skinned, and well put together, but she continued to have bad luck with men. She often wrote about what it was like dating and dealing with nonsense from the different men she encountered. The blog had proven to be a great release for her.
The blogging world can be quite tedious so the first rule is to love what you are blogging about. It will take a very long time a blog to be hit. So many people have tried to replicate the success that Paige has had. They come up short every time. Paige started off blogging about interesting places she has visited. Before long, Let Paige Tell It, the blog site she established caught the eye of a few businesses who wanted to advertise and just like that she was off. Once she realized the potential for revenue, she formulated a plan and quickly enacted it. Six months later she was quitting her hateful job and blogging full-time. She had become a hit. Paige can still vividly remember that lazy afternoon in 2009 when she discovered WordPress. Back then, the platform was just a few years old and no one was really talking about it. She quickly went from testing the waters to falling in love with WordPress. Between writing for other outlets and bringing in other contributors to widen her base, she found herself at the helm of a great enterprise. As a fairly young woman, she was thrilled.
Along with a growing business, Paige had also stumbled into love. Paige sometimes describes her finding love as not but a reward for hard. “When you focus on yourself and improve every day, love will find you”. Leo Jefferson was an executive at a record label/management company that was one of the first companies to sign on as one of Paige’s sponsors. From their first business meeting there had been a spark and from there, Paige and Leo became nearly inseparable. It was like they were made for each other in every aspect of life. Paige would describe the situation by saying “They were finishing each other sentences”. Their relationship moved very quickly, but Leo said from the beginning that he was looking for a wife so he was ready to commit very soon in the relationship. Leo grew up in a very traditional home were his mother and father were together and made whatever situation work. Paige had been incredibly happy. In a world where men are no longer serious about relationships. Paige’s single friends have all complained about men just wanting to hook up. When they do decide to settle down, they go for the young vibrant girls leaving women in their late 20 and 30’s in the dust.
Leo spoke often about his commitment to Paige, yet there was very little movement in their relationship. They did not live together, she met very few of his friends, and none of his family, who he claimed to live out of state, and aside from a promise ring, he did not seem in any rush to marry her. But Paige loved him, so she decided to be patient. You can imagine how nerve racking it is to be in love with someone and they are slow when it comes to moving forward with long term commitment. “Men become so complacent sometimes” is what Paige would say to her friends when complaining.
As her blog grew into a larger media company, Paige decided to upgrade the website and design an app for it. This level of success is extremely rare in the blogging world. And Paige is a young impendent woman who is at the forefront of it all. Her best friend Deanna told her about one of her brother’s friends who was a web designer and did freelance work. Paige had her set up a meeting between the two of them to discuss working with him. It was a welcome distraction from her growing doubts in her relationship with Leo.
On a Tuesday afternoon, Paige and the guy were to meet up for lunch. Paige came in from her new office to meet with the guy, who was named Jeremy. That was the only name she had been given. She hoped that he was legit and not just some guy trying to hustle and pretending like he knew what he was doing.
Paige got to the restaurant first, so she chose a table on the patio and sat down to wait. She was really hungry so she considered ordering her food, but decided not to be rude. Technically she was a bit early so she hoped that Jeremy would be on time. As she sat there looking over the menu she heard a deep voice saying, “Excuse me, Paige? I’m Jeremy.” Paige looked up to see a tall, gorgeous, tall man. He had the most incredibly soulful light blue eyes, full lips, and chiseled features. She looked him over, down to his light blue collared shirt, his exquisitely pressed pants, and his shiny light blue casual shoes. She was completely caught off guard and felt like her mouth had probably dropped open.
She tried to collect herself and got up from her chair to shake his hand and greet him properly. She put on a
dazzling smile and answered, “Yes, I am Paige. Hello, Jeremy. It is very nice to meet you.” He took her hand, shook it lightly and moved around to the other chair at the table. He took a seat and said, “Pleased to meet you as well.”
Paige didn’t know what she had expected, but she was certainly surprised at what she saw. She definitely was not expecting such a fine young man. It took a while for Paige to gather thoughts, mainly because she has never heard of Jeremy. “How could it be that they move around in the same circles and they never crossed paths” she thought . She tried to think why she had never seen Jeremy before. She and Deanna had been best friends for years, more like family, and she was very close with her brother Martin. Yet she had never met this friend of his. She was positive that she would have remembered. Perhaps he was a new friend. She wished that she had met him sooner. She could not believe she just thought of that. That feeling of wanting to have met Jeremey sooner is not right when you are in a relationship” she thought.
Her brain is now racing back and forth from business to un-pure thoughts. What made this situation even worst for Paige is that she is always in control. Only this one time things are kind of falling apart in her mind. Paige immediately began to feel guilty. She was in a committed relationship and yet she was thinking some very un-pure thoughts about this man. She dropped her eyes back down to the menu and tried to redirect her thoughts. This was a business meeting, not a date. She loved Leo. Besides, she still had to determine whether Jeremy was legitimate. She decided to take on her business demeanor and make sure that this man was not here to play her.
After straightening into a proper upright position and clearing her face of all emotion, she decided to begin the meeting. She ignored the dull growling of her stomach, cleared her throat and began, “So Jeremy. Is that the name you typically use?” Jeremy brought his eyes up to meet hers and she felt a chill run down her spine. It felt like he was staring deep into her soul and could see everything she was thinking. She cleared her mind immediately. There was something unnerving about that stare.
Jeremy, in a very serious, business tone replied, “Actually yes, Jeremy is the name that I use. It is the name that I use all of the time.”
“That’s your name?”
“It is what I prefer to be called.”
“And your last name?”
“Wilson”
“Okay, Mr. Wilson, how long have you been in web design?”
“I have been working in web design for six years now. I started a few years into college with internships and after changing my major to it began designing websites fulltime. I graduated college and immediately began work for a web design firm. After that apps started taking off, so I began developing those as well. I eventually moved into private contract work, which I still do now.”
“So you no longer work for a firm?”
“No. I do freelance and independent contracting. I prefer this kind of work because I want flexibility in my life. At a big organization, I become just another employee with a number attached to them. My friends complain all the time about the politics and bureaucracy that exist in big corporations. I realized early on in my career that it was not for me”
“I see. How much did Deanna tell you about what I needed done?”
“She told me that you need an upgraded website and an app.”
“That is very true. I run a blog site and a media company.”
“She told me that as well. I took a look over the site yesterday.”
“And?”
“It seems to be well designed, but I noted a few things that could use work. I think the site could use some optimization to run more smoothly and quickly, as well as a better interface for better site navigation. My key area of focus is on the user interface. You can have a great pJohnuct , but you lose out on sales because your site is not user friendly. ”
“Now before we get into that, how much do you typically charge to design web sites?”
“Depending on the type of website I typically charge between 3000 and 5000 dollars. Possibly less for more basic sites, possibly more for more advanced. For apps, I usually charge around 5000. I don’t see myself charging you more than $10,000 for both. Along with all this, I also run a few focus groups to test the sites capabilities with every users. ”
“You don’t even know what I want yet”
“You’re Deanna’s friend”
“How do you know, Martin, by the way?”
“He went to college with my cousin RJ”
“Oh, you’re RJ’s cousin?”
“Yes”
“Oh okay. Well, Mr. Wilson, everything sounds alright so far. I will need to look over your work to be sure, of course. In the meantime, I brought over some of the ideas I had.”
Paige reached into her bag and pulled out a folder, handing it across the table to Jeremy. The whole time he did not break eye contact with her. Again, she felt that swooping feeling. There was something about this guy that seemed a bit…off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She made a mental note of it. At the same time it had taken everything she had not to become entranced by that deep smooth voice. He spoke very slowly and carefully, as if he measured every word before uttering it. She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. Either way she tried to keep her mind on business.
Meanwhile her stomach growled once again. Without looking up from the documents she had just given him, Jeremy asked, “Would you like to order?” She wondered if he had heard her stomach. She shook off the thought and replied, “Yes, actually I would. I’m very hungry.” Paige felt slightly that the business aspect was over, yet she also felt like it would be better if she kept her guard up. She could not get a good read on Jeremy and thought it better that she not be vulnerable.
She flipped through the menu and chose what she thought she might like. When she looked back up, Jeremy was still going over the documents. She hesitated then asked, “Do you know what you would like?” Again, without looking up he replied, “Yeah, I’ve been here before.” In a way she felt relieved that he was no longer staring her in her eyes. In another she was slightly disconcerted that he wasn’t looking at her. She flagged down a waiter.
As soon as the waiter approached Jeremy looked up. They each gave the waiter their food and drink orders and once again they were left alone. Jeremy reached down into his bag and pulled out a tablet. Looking Paige in the eyes once again, he handed her the tablet across the table and said, “You said you wanted to see some of my work. Well here are some of the web pages and apps that I have done.” Jeremy got up and walked to Paige’s side of the table and stood behind her. Crouching low and looking at the tablet over her shoulder, he reached over and clicked on the different apps explaining the different functions that he had installed. He then clicked in the browser and went through some of his websites.
He was not really touching Paige, yet he was close enough for her to feel his body heat. She was looking at his hands. He had big, strong, yet soft looking hands. His nails were clipped and clean. He seemed very well put together. His mustache was clipped to perfection. His hairline was exact and his hair was well put together, yet in place. She began to wonder if he was a vain, pretty boy. Yet he didn’t seem to give off that aura. He did, however, smell amazing. What she saw of his work was very impressive. He did indeed know what he was doing and seemed more than worth the money. She hoped it wouldn’t be awkward to work with him though.
Once he had shown her everything he went back around and sat down. Just then the waiter returned with their food and drinks. For a few moments they ate in silence. Having quelled her hunger a bit, Paige said, “Well, Mr. Wilson, I am very impressed with your work and I think you are the man for the job. I am ready to begin whenever you are.” Jeremy took a bit of time finishing his bite before returning, “Thank you. I will need to come into your office so that we can discuss terms of service and we can go from there.”
“Sounds good. By the way, not to get personal, but why haven’t I se
en you at any of RJ’s parties.”
“It’s not my scene.”
“Oh, I guess you’re not a party animal like he is.”
“No. He’s very different.”
Paige was beginning to realize that Jeremy only ever said what was absolutely necessary. He did not make any spare remarks or small talk. He spoke deliberately and scantily. She thought it was very strange. She hoped he wasn’t a weirdo. But she supposed being so incredibly good-looking could affect how you communicate with people. He was downright beautiful. Again, she sought to keep herself in check. She called over the waiter to pay the check.
When the waiter put the check on the table, both she and Jeremy reached for it. She was surprised. It was typical of business meetings that the company representative pays the check. Yet here he was grabbing for it. Without withdrawing her hand she said, “I can pay for it. It is a meeting that I called, so it’s fine.” Jeremy did not withdraw his hand either and replied, “I’ll pay.” Something about the way he said it made her pull back and let it go. There was a wild energy coming from him that told her not to challenge him. She was just ready to go and call her boyfriend.
Once he had paid they both got up from the table and walked together out of the restaurant. He had parked further down the street so after seeing her to her car, they shook hands, planned to meet at the office the following day and parted ways. Paige watched him drive away. She still wasn’t quite sure what to make of him. No sooner than she had sat in the car her best friend Deanna was calling. Paige answered, “Yes Mo.”
