by Claire Adams
I almost wished I hadn't.
There, splayed out across half the page, was a full-color photo of Brendan Savage arm in arm with Lilah. She, I have to say, was dressed in an absolutely stunning gown. The headline of the article the picture was attached to said something about the opening of a new restaurant in town owned by a celebrity chef from France.
I wasn't interested in the article itself, though. All I could see was the image of Lilah, arm in arm with my biggest rival who had the smuggest grin on his face I'd ever seen. He had probably timed it just so that he'd walk past a press photographer, knowing I’d see the photo.
I crumpled the newspaper into a ball and hurled it across the room, shouting with rage as I did. With anger-quivering hands, I picked up my phone, skimming through until I reached Lilah's number. My finger hovered just above the screen, ready to press the dial key. I felt like unleashing a tirade on her. How could she have done this to me? After everything I'd done for her, after everything we'd been through together, done together—she did this?
I was about to hit dial, but then a different part of my brain took over and held my finger back.
“Wait,” the voice said—a voice that sounded almost like Colonel Tanaka's. “There might be an explanation for this. As blatant as it seems, there may be something else going on.”
I set the phone down on the table and leaned back in the chair. My mindset wasn’t where it needed to be at the moment to talk rationally to Lilah, so the best thing to do would be to simply not speak to her. Not until I'd calmed down and maybe not until I had a better idea of what was really going on.
Maybe it was time to have Matt start following Lilah. I gave it some thought before I picked up my phone and dialed.
“Matt speaking,” he answered.
“Matt. It's Asher Sinclair.”
“You saw the paper. I can hear it in your voice.”
“Yeah, I saw it.”
“And now you want me to follow the girl, right?”
I paused and stayed silent for a few moments as I considered my options. Whichever path I chose, there would be no going back. My relationship with Lilah would not be the same after this. Even if she never found out about it, I would know about it. I would know what I'd done.
“Hello? So, you want me to investigate her or not?”
Matt needed an answer, and I gave him the only one I could, the one that came straight from my heart. “No. I don't want you to follow her. I don’t want you to tap her phone or investigate her.”
“Are you sure? Listen, Mr. Sinclair, it's my opinion, as a professional who's been in this business for decades, that—”
“I don't care. I don't want you to follow her, and that's the end of this discussion. Focus your attention on Brendan Savage and his lackeys, and them alone. Leave Lilah out of this.”
“Yes, sir, but don't say I didn't warn you. When it all hits the fan, don't say I didn't warn you.”
“Understood, Matt, loud and clear.”
“I'll update you if come up with any new dirt on Savage.”
“Do that. Enjoy your Saturday.”
“It's just another working day for me, Sinclair. But I appreciate the sentiment.”
“Just keep me posted,” I added.
“Will do.”
I put the phone down and stared at the wall in silence. Then I stared at the whiskey bottle for a good long while. I was seriously considering getting drunk, even at that hour in the morning. It seemed like the only effective escape from the horrible feelings plaguing me, the confusion I was wrestling with.
But then, clear as a bell, I heard Colonel Tanaka's voice in my head again.
“Drowning oneself in alcohol is the way of cowards, of the weak. The truly strong face their challenges and fears with a clear mind and a sword in hand.”
He was right. I was right, rather. I put the bottle to the side and called up my Muay Thai instructor.
“Mr. Sinclair?” he said as he answered his phone. “Is something wrong?”
“I want another sparring session,” I said.
“Before next week? What day?”
“Now,” I responded.
“Right now? But we just had one. You were exhausted.”
“Not exhausted enough. I want to get back in the ring.”
“Umm. All right. But don't you think you're pushing yourself a bit too hard?”
“Who ever achieved anything by not pushing themselves past their limits?”
“Good point. Luckily I stopped on the way home to grab a coffee, so I'm not far away. I'll turn around. Wrap your hands, get your gloves on, and warm yourself up. I'll see you in your gym in 15 minutes. I'm warning you, I'm not gonna go easy on you.”
“And, that's exactly how I want it. Exactly how I want it.”
***
Come Monday morning, I was at work an hour before everyone else. This was partly because there was a lot I needed to get done, but also because I wanted to be there when Lilah walked in. You see, I'd locked her office—I'd blame it on a mistake made by the cleaning lady, but she wouldn't be able to avoid me. She'd have to come to me to get the master key. Then she'd have to face me, after what she'd done behind my back.
I wanted to see if she would wear the guilt on her face like a scar or cover it up completely, hide it with a sweet smile, and pretend as if nothing had happened. Either way, I wanted to look her in the eye and see what was there for myself. No more of the games, hiding, or avoiding one another.
I waited patiently as the clock struck the hour, knowing she had to be in the building. Probably coming up in the elevator. I waited for her to discover that her door was locked and go to my secretary to ask about it. Then she’d be told that she'd have to come into my office and speak to me about getting the key.
Then, there it was: a knock on my door. My pulse quickened.
“Come in,” I called out.
She walked through the door. I locked a cool stare with her eyes and held it.
“Lilah,” I said nonchalantly, “I hope you had a good weekend.”
She looked away, unable to hold my gaze. Guilt practically tattooed across her face.
“I . . . It wasn’t too bad,” she answered softly.
“Oh, really? Did you go anywhere? Meet up with anyone? Try out any new places?”
“Can I just get the spare key, please?”
“You don't want to tell me about your weekend?”
She looked down at the floor in silence for a few moments. Eventually, she looked up, and her face now wore a strange expression.
“You saw the picture in The Times, didn't you?”
“I did.”
She nodded. “I thought so. And yet you didn't message me even once over the weekend.”
“Message you? Whatever for? I mean, I saw with my own eyes who you're choosing to spend your time with these days. What would have been the point in messaging you? You’ve been avoiding me for days.”
Anger heated my blood. I hadn't wanted to argue, but it appeared that’s where the conversation was heading. Like an avalanche crashing down a mountainside: if it began, there would be no stopping it. I could almost feel Lilah's temper heating up from across the room, as well. I knew things could get explosive but despite realizing that, I couldn't stop myself.
“If you actually cared, you would have called me up. You would have messaged me and asked me about it. But you didn't, you waited to ambush me this morning. And that silence told me more than your words and this ambush ever could.”
“What?! How . . . How dare you? You go out on the town with my biggest rival—whom, I might add, is the prime suspect behind the break-in at this company—and don't say a word about it to me, leaving it for me, and everyone else in this city, to discover by opening up Saturday's issue of The Times. Now you're trying to turn it around and make it all about how I'm the bad guy here?! Like I'm the one who was at fault? I can't believe this! I can't believe you'd have the audacity to even try to pull that sort of bulls
hit on me!”
She stared at the ground again in silence.
“You're right,” she said softly.
I was shocked. I'd been expecting a vengeful, angry response yelled at me at full volume. Not that. I didn't know what to say.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you that Brendan was after me. And when I say that, yes, I mean romantically and professionally, as well. I had no right to keep it from you. It's just that . . .” her voice trailed off as if she was trying to maintain her composure, trying not to cry.
“Just what, Lilah?” I asked, my tone calm.
“It’s just that I've been so confused, so uncertain about everything . . . about this job, about my career, about you and me . . .” Her eyes met mine, and I just wanted to jump across the desk and hold her. Tell her it would be okay. But, I wasn’t so sure it would be.
She exhaled hard before she began again. “And now this. This . . . It's all so . . . It's just been too much to handle, too much to process, all right?
“Jesus, couldn't you just cut me a little slack? I've been thrown into the deep end from the start, and it's just gotten deeper and deeper! And now I'm at the point where I just don't know what's going on anymore.”
“I'm sorry,” I murmured. “I don't know what to say.”
“I don't, either,” she replied softly. “I don't, either.”
And with that, she turned on her heels, walked out, and closed the door behind her. Without the key.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lilah
As I walked out of Asher's office, my throat began tightening up. The sting of tears threatened the corners of my eyes. I rarely cried, but after this, after everything that had happened, it just felt as if things had reached a tipping point and everything had just come crashing down. Facing Asher had been much harder than I'd imagined it would be. I just needed to be alone and my office was locked.
I walked as fast as I could, without drawing attention to myself from other people on the floor, and headed straight to the women's bathroom. Thankfully, it was unoccupied, so I went into one of the stalls and locked the door.
I gave myself a minute or two to let the tears and emotions out, and boy, did they come out. I sobbed and sniffed, and the tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my blouse and skirt. Thankfully, I’d worn a dark outfit, so the tearstains weren’t noticeable. It was one my favorite “power suits” and I’d chosen it specifically because I'd suspected that a confrontation with Asher was in the cards.
After I had finished crying, I stood and dried my eyes and cheeks. I was about to exit the stall when my phone buzzed in my bag. I took it out to see who the message was from. I was from Meg.
Hey, Lilah! Happy Monday! How has the start of your week been? You still need to tell me all about Friday night!
I typed out a quick reply.
Hi, Meg. It's not going well at all. Have a minute to talk?
Almost as soon as the message had been read, my phone started to ring.
“Hey, Meg.”
“Hey! What's wrong, Lilipop. Are you all right?”
“Not really. It's been a hell of a Monday morning already.”
“Wow! You’ve been at work 15 minutes. What happened?”
“Asher confronted me about Friday night,” I explained.
“Umm, how did he know?”
“I figured you might have seen it, but there was a huge glowing picture of me and Brendan on the social page of The Times Saturday.”
“Ohhhhhh,” she let out.
“Yeah. So, we got into it and I kind of told him that Brendan was interested in me not just professionally, but also romantically.”
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed. “You have not one but two billionaires lusting after both your body and your genius brain?! Wait. Sorry. I know on the surface it would seem like every girl's dream, but I can totally see how this can be pretty overwhelming to deal with. So, what happened on Friday night after the restaurant? Brendan wanted to take you back to his mansion, didn't he?”
“He did.”
“Oh my God, and did you let him?!”
“No!”
“Thank God. Did you let him kiss you goodnight?”
“Nope. I didn't even let him give me a peck on the cheek. Even that would have felt like I was cheating on Asher. Not that Asher and I are together. Although, it feels like we are. Ugh! You know what I mean! Anyway, I told you already, my interest in Brendan was strictly professional.”
“But, you knew from the start that his interest wasn't strictly professional, didn’t ya?”
“Yeah, and I feel bad about that. But I really wanted to see what kind of job offer he would make me.”
“And, what kind of offer did he make?”
“A very tempting one, I'll say that much. He's offered me a higher salary than Asher pays me, a corner office with a killer view, bonuses, and shares in his company, and a company car—a luxury vehicle from his friend's dealership.”
“Wow. That does sound tempting.”
“It is. But the truth is, I really love working here. That has nothing to do with my personal feelings for Asher. I mean that on a strictly professional level. The camaraderie here is fantastic, the team is inspiring and passionate, there’s no backstabbing, and Asher is a brilliant leader. I feel like I could really grow and develop here and build a stellar career for myself.”
“Well, here's what I think you should do. Go and talk to Asher. Tell him exactly what Brendan has offered you. Leave out the romantic interest bit, obviously, keep it professional. But tell him that this is what's waiting for you. See if he makes a counter-offer to keep you in his company.
“I mean, yes, you love the environment there, and you're working with a great team, but it sounds like Savage would be bumping you a few rungs up the ladder. More than you could achieve even after a few years at Sinclair.
“Just keep it as professional as you can. Don't let your feelings for Asher—or his feelings for you—get in the way.”
“You're right. You're exactly right. That's exactly what I'm going to do. Thanks, Megs. I'm so glad I can always count on you. You rock.”
“Yes, yes I do!” she chided. “Anything for my best friend. Now, go! You walk right in there and let Asher know what's what.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks again! Bye.”
“And, call me later. Bye.”
I put my phone away, exited the stall, and went straight to the mirror to clean up my face and touch-up my makeup.
“All right, Lilah,” I said to my reflection in the mirror, “you can do this. You can do this!”
I marched out of the restroom and headed straight to Asher's office. I knocked on the door and stood tapping my foot impatiently outside.
“Come in,” his voice echoed through the door.
I flung open the door and strode in with confidence.
“Lilah,” he stated, sounding and looking surprised and a little nervous. “Did you come back for the key?”
I closed the door behind me, marched straight up to his desk, sat down, and explained in clear terms everything Brendan Savage had offered me. I also told him that I loved working at Sinclair, but that, as any reasonable person could understand, Savage's offer was beyond tempting. I informed him that he'd need to make some concessions to keep me at Sinclair.
He sat in silence for a while after I'd explained everything to him, simply nodding with his hands clasped together on his desk. I could see that he was contemplating everything I'd just told him. Eventually, he spoke.
“Very well,” he said. “I'll match Savage's offer, term for term, to keep you here. With exception of the corner office, as that would mean displacing someone who has been here far longer than you. I hope you understand that I can't and won’t do that. Talent is important, but so is seniority. I'm not going to sell someone out who has been loyal to this company for years just to appease the demands of someone who has just arrived.”
I nodded. “I can understand that and I
wouldn’t want you to. I'll stay then.”
“Good. We need you here.”
“I know you do.”
He chuckled. “Don't get too big for your boots now, Lilah. You're extremely talented, but it's still early. A lot of people get burned out in this line of work. Your streak of genius might not last forever.”
“Well, it's burning brightly now, and I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible.”
“I hope you do. Well, now that we've cleared everything up, is there anything else you'd like?”
“Yes, there is one more thing.”
“Name it.”
“The relationship between you and I . . . I know we’ve had this talk before, but it’s just too much to navigate while trying to balance with work. We're going to have to keep things strictly professional. And before you ask, no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Savage. I have no romantic interest in that man whatsoever. But I'm here for the sake of my career, and my career is always going to come first. Always. Can you understand?”
I recognized a flicker of pain concealed beneath his calm expression. It was the same pain I felt twisting my insides like the blade of a rusty knife. This was how it had to be, though.
“I understand. Strictly professional,” he said in a wounded, soft voice.
“All right then. If you’d be so kind as to give me the key, I’ll return it at the meeting later.”
Asher handed over the key, I turned on my heels and left, with my mouth dry and my heart pounding.
It was done.
***
The rest of my day had been nonstop meetings and conference calls with Paris. I was glad to be home and looking forward to unwinding. I had just stepped out of the shower when my phone buzzed. I figured it would be Meg since I had promised I’d call her to fill her in on how everything had gone. I wrapped a towel around myself and picked it up. On cue, it was her. I opened the message and read it.
You guys at Sinclair are in hot water, Lilah. Do you know anything about this??
Attached to the message was a link to a blog post which I opened immediately. The title hit me like an uppercut to the chin.
