Needing Her
Page 35
“Why don’t you bring him here? He’s certainly welcome and it would give your father and me a chance to get to know him.”
“Really? You wouldn’t mind if I brought him home for Thanksgiving?”
“Of course not. Honey, why would you even think that?”
“Because you always act like you don’t approve of him.”
“I never said that. I just wanted you to be careful and not get hurt. But I can tell how much you love him. You’ve been talking about him nonstop for months so it’s about time your father and I meet him.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll talk to Pearce and get back to you. I have to run to class. We’ll talk later.”
I’m so happy she reacted that way. And that she wants Pearce to come home with me. I can’t wait for them to meet him. I know they’ll love him as much as I do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
29
PEARCE
I got back to the office at 3:45 this morning and just finished the reports. It’s 5:50 and my father usually arrives promptly at six. I leave the reports in his office, then go back to my desk and call Royce. It’s time to do the plan we discussed. We never agreed on the timing but I can’t wait any longer. Now that my father’s met Rachel, he’ll do anything to keep us apart.
I just hope Royce doesn’t back out of the plan. He’s the only one I know who can help me with this. Jack doesn’t know about it, and even if he did, I know he wouldn’t help me. It’s too risky, and although he likes taking risks, I don’t think he’ll take one when it comes to this. There’s too much at stake.
But Royce? He loves taking risks. The bigger, the better. He’s reckless and always has been. He craves the excitement that comes with doing something he shouldn’t, so I know he’ll help me.
His phone rings repeatedly until he finally picks up.
“Hello?” He sounds groggy. I’m sure I woke him up. He doesn’t have a job so he can sleep as late as he wants.
“Royce, it’s Pearce.”
“Pearce?” I hear a loud noise, like he’s fumbling for his clock. “It’s not even six o’clock. Why the fuck are you calling me at this hour?”
“What are you doing today?”
“You called to ask what I’m doing today? Do I need to remind you what time it is?”
“I need your help. I’ll explain later, but for now I need to know if you can go into the city with me.”
He groans and then I hear him yawn. “Why? What’s this about?”
“I’ll tell you when I get to your place. Can you do it or not?”
He sighs. “Yeah. I’m going there anyway. I have to meet with my speech coach at two.”
Royce is already being trained for his future as a politician. That’s his “job” if you want to call it that. Part of his training includes being taught how to give speeches. He’s also being trained in how to perform in debates and answer questions from the press.
“That’s perfect. It will give us an excuse.”
“An excuse for what?” he asks, yawning loudly into the phone.
“An excuse for why I need to go into the city. I’m going to sit in on your speech practice. You wanted my opinion and that’s why I’m going with you.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Is this a dream? Am I even awake?”
“Listen to me. If my father calls you, tell him you asked me to go to Manhattan with you to critique your speech. Then tell him we’re going out for dinner and drinks.”
“Why would I—”
“Royce! Just do this for me. You said you’d help me.”
“This is for that girl, isn’t it?” He yawns as he talks.
“We’ll talk about it later. Now will you do it or not?”
“Yes, fine. Do you really think your dad will call me to check your story?”
“I know he will.”
He laughs. “The man treats you like a five-year-old. Is he ever going to let you grow up?”
“Get up and get dressed. I’ll be over there at eight.” I hang up before he asks me any more questions. I can’t talk about this here, especially since my father will be arriving any second.
“Pearce.”
I look up and there he is, standing at the door to my office. He’s going to yell at me about Rachel. I’m surprised he didn’t call me last night and do it.
“Good morning, Father. I left the reports on your desk.”
“Yes. I saw them. For once, you actually did a halfway decent job on them.”
I nod, acknowledging his compliment. To most people, it wouldn’t seem like a compliment, but for him it is. This is odd. Why is he complimenting me instead of yelling at me?
He motions to me. “Weren’t you wearing those clothes at dinner last night?”
And here it is. He’s going to accuse me of spending the night with Rachel and then he’ll order me to never see her again.
I glance down at my white shirt and gray striped tie. “I didn’t have a chance to go home and change. Those reports took me all night.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re finally putting in some effort. Doing some real work for a change.”
I ignore his insult and focus on the fact that he still hasn’t asked me about Rachel. It’s making me nervous. Why hasn’t he said anything about her?
“I talked to Jack last night,” he says.
Jack? Why would he call Jack? He hates Jack.
He continues. “He said that woman you were with is nothing more than a fling. A physical relationship because you were bored with the associates.”
I say nothing. I have no idea what else Jack told him so it’s best if I keep quiet.
“So was that just some game you were playing?” He sounds angry now. “Pretending you were actually with that woman simply to upset your mother and me?”
“I didn’t expect you to stop by. It took me by surprise and I didn’t know how to explain her to you.”
He watches my face, searching for any clues that I’m lying. “Well, I won’t stand for it again. You should have sent that woman home.”
I take a folder from the stack on my desk. “I need to finish some things so if you don’t mind, I—”
“I understand you want variety, Pearce. You’re young and the world is full of beautiful women. Even a man my age can’t help himself sometimes. But you need to use better judgment. Keep it hidden.”
As someone who has sex with his secretaries here in the office, he’s the last person who should be giving me advice on that. But I play along.
“Yes, Father. I’ll try to be more discreet.”
He checks behind him to make sure nobody’s around. “There’s a vote coming up at the end-of-the-year meeting.”
He’s referring to the organization. At the end of the year, we always have a weeklong meeting where things are discussed and voted on.
“A vote about what?”
“The rule we’ve proposed that says our members can only be involved with women on the approved list. I’m not referring to sexual flings like you had with that woman, although that too is frowned upon. What I was referring to is an actual relationship with a woman. The proposed rule will only allow for relationships with women who have been approved.”
My pulse races, but I fight back any kind of response, my face expressionless.
“That doesn’t seem necessary,” I say. “No member has ever shown interest in a woman who didn’t fit the criteria.”
“Actually, Randolph’s son, Ezra, was seeing a waitress last summer and his father didn’t find out until months later.”
“And what happened?”
“Ezra had already called it off with the woman by the time his father found out. Of course his father still punished him.”
“Why was he punished? There’s no rule against what he did.”
Shit. Why did I say that? I know why he was punished. Dammit! I try to backpedal my way out of this. “What I mean is that maybe Ezra wasn’t aware of the rule since it’s not official.”
I nod, struggling to hide the anxiety building inside me. Now I definitely have to go through with my plan. If I don’t, I’ll lose Rachel forever. But what’s going to happen when they find out what I’ve done? My parents will probably disown me. Take away my inheritance. But what concerns me even more is what the other members might do to me. If they’ll punish me, and if so, what that punishment will be.
“Go home and change, Pearce. You’re a mess.”
“I will. I just need to finish up a few things first.”
“You need to go now. Our employees will be here soon and I don’t want them seeing you in a wrinkled shirt.”
“Fine.” I stand up. “But I won’t be coming back today. Royce called me last night and asked if I would sit in on his coaching session. He wants an outside opinion of his public speaking skills and I told him I’d do it.”
My father crosses his arms, his eyes narrowed. “You should’ve asked me first.”
“I didn’t think I needed to. We both know Royce plays a critical role in their future plans. Therefore I assumed you would approve of this, and perhaps even encourage me to help him.”
My father considers it. He values the organization as much as he values our company and he’ll do most anything to help them achieve their goals. Getting Royce elected to the Senate in a few years is one of their goals so I know my father will go along with this. But since he didn’t suggest it, he has to ponder it and act like he’s doing me a favor by agreeing to it.
“So you’re going into the city?” His question is his answer. He’s letting me go, but he won’t come out and say it.
“Yes. We’re spending the day there, and after his coaching session we’re going out for dinner and drinks.”
“Very good. I’m pleased that you’re renewing your friendship with Royce. He has a very bright future in politics and it would be good if you were associated with him.”
I knew Royce was the right person to help me with this. In fact, he’s perfect. My father sees Royce as someone who will help boost the Kensington name, which is of utmost importance to him. When I was an undergrad at Yale, my father forced me to be friends with Royce because even back then, the organization was eyeing him as a possible political candidate. My father always wanted me to go into politics but since I wasn’t chosen, he wanted me to be friends with someone who was headed down that path. Because politicians have power and prestige—two things my father already has, but always wants more of.
I grab my coat, then stand at the door in front of my father. “I’ll check in with you later to see if you have any questions regarding those reports.”
“Tell Royce I said hello.”
“I will. Goodbye, Father.” I walk past him into the hall and hurry out to my car.
As I’m driving away from the office, I feel a sense of exhilaration. I just lied to my father and he believed me. He can always tell when I’m lying but today he couldn’t. I guess all those sessions with the body language coach are finally paying off. If I can fool my father, I can fool anyone.
Jack lied to him too. I’m surprised he did it. I hadn’t even considered that my father would call him. But my father knows Jack keeps a close eye on everyone around him, including fellow members. I’m sure my father assumed Jack was spying on me. Or maybe my father asked him to. That sounds like something he would do. Luckily, Jack didn’t tell him the truth. I wonder if Jack’s spying on me right now. I check behind me but nobody appears to be following me. If Jack knew what I was doing, I’m sure he’d try to stop me, and since he’s not, he must not be watching me.
So now my plan begins. I don’t know if it’s going to work. I have no idea if Rachel will agree to it. But I’m going to try. I’m going to do more than try. I’m going to convince her to do it. Because if I don’t, we’ll never have another chance to do this again. They’re voting in a few weeks, or maybe even sooner if my father gets his way. And if they vote yes, I won’t be allowed to be with Rachel. There will be an official rule against it and I don’t want to even know the punishment for breaking that rule. But as of today, there is no rule, at least not an official one. So this is my only chance. We have to do this. And we have to do it soon.
When I arrive at Royce’s townhouse, he tells me my father has already called to check my story. It infuriates me the way he keeps tabs on me like that. But I let it go, refusing to let it put me in a bad mood. I knew he’d call Royce. It’s not like it was a surprise.
I sit down with Royce and explain why the plan we discussed must be done now and not later. Then we go over the details.
“They’re still going to punish you,” he says, as he puts on his tie. When I arrived, he’d showered but was still in his bathrobe. He takes forever to get ready. He’s always been like that. I don’t know what the hell takes him so long.
“They can’t punish me,” I tell him. “That’s why I need to hurry and do this. As of right now, there’s no rule forbidding it.”
“And when has that stopped them?” He adjusts his tie in front of the large framed mirror that hangs above the bar. “If they want to punish you, they will.”
“Then I’ll take the punishment. They can do whatever they want to me. I don’t care. All I care about is being with Rachel.”
He takes his suit jacket from the back of the couch and slips it on. “They could fuck with your company. Your father would kill you if that happened.”
“Royce, I’m not going to worry about what-if scenarios. We’re doing this. And whatever happens after that, we’ll figure out later.”
He stands in front of me. “And what about me? I have a lot at stake here.”
“You’re the one who wanted to take the risk. Are you changing your mind? Afraid of them now?”
He straightens up. “No. Of course not. I’m not afraid of anyone, especially them.”
It’s a lie. He tries to pretend he doesn’t care, but I know he fears them. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be getting a rush out of doing this. His fear of what they might do if they found out the truth makes this all the more exciting to him.
“I’ll do all I can to minimize any damage that might come your way when this is over,” I say. “But if we stick to the plan, they’ll have no reason to suspect you had any part in this. For all you knew, it was just a guy’s weekend in Vegas. You do that all the time. They’ll think nothing of it.”
“I suppose you’re right.” He smiles. “And I do get a trip to Vegas out of it. Maybe I’ll stay there and skip out on Thanksgiving. I’m supposed to go to Victoria’s house for dinner. Bond with the future in-laws. All that shit.” He shakes his head.
“Are you tired of Victoria already?”
He shrugs. “It could be worse. She’ll make an adequate wife. I’ve made it clear I won’t be faithful to her and she accepts that. I will have to have children with her to fit the role of the family man politician, but I’d planned to have children anyway. I didn’t really care who the mother was.”
I pat him on the back. “You’re so sentimental, Royce.”
He goes to the bar to get a drink. “Some of us are smart enough to know better than to actually fall in love with a woman.”
“Believe me. I didn’t plan on this.”
It’s only eight in the morning but he’s pouring himself some scotch. “So what’s it like?”
“What?”
“Being in love.” He chuckles. “Because I guarantee it’s not going to happen to me. I’ll make sure of it.”
I smile as an image of Rachel pops in my head. “I can’t quite put it into words. All I can say is that she makes me happier than I’ve ever felt. And she’s so damn beautiful. No
t just on the outside. She’s also a beautiful person. Sweet, kind, caring. I’ve never met anyone like her and I’m certain I never will again. Whenever I’m around her I’m—”
He interrupts me, coughing on his drink and putting his hand up. “Enough. I can’t listen to this. Do you hear yourself? And you should see your face. You look like one of those lovesick idiots you always see in movies. Only it’s worse because you’re not acting. This is real. I’ve never seen you like this, Pearce. You sound like a damn woman.” He swigs the rest of his drink. “We need to get out of here before you start crying or get your period.”
I laugh. “You need to fall in love, Royce. It’d be good for you.”
He takes his coat from the rack by the door. “If I ever fall in love, just kill me. My life will be over.”
I meet him at the door, preparing to tell him he’s wrong. That being in love makes you feel like your life is just beginning. But then I change my mind. He wouldn’t understand. He has no interest in falling in love or being in love. He likes being with a different woman every night. I used to like it too, back when I was younger. But then it got tiring. I wanted more than just sex. But I accepted that as my life and never thought it’d be any different. I didn’t even think real love existed. Until I met Rachel. The woman who taught me how to love. The woman who fills my thoughts. Fills my heart. Makes me want to do better. Be a better man. And hopefully, the woman who will soon be my wife.
When we get to the city, we go to Royce’s apartment, which is on the upper west side of Manhattan. He shares the place with his brother, William. They use it whenever they’re in the city. But since William’s in school at Harvard, he doesn’t get down here much so Royce has basically made the place his own, changing the decor to fit his taste.
After I leave Royce, I head down to the diamond district. I want to get Rachel the perfect ring and that could take all day. I’ll know the perfect ring when I see it. Rachel and I have never talked about engagement rings, but I know what she’d like. Or I at least think I do. Actually, I’m not getting what I know she’d pick out because I know she’d choose too small of a diamond. And the wife of Pearce Kensington cannot have a small diamond. It wouldn’t look right and people would talk. Plus, I want her to have a beautiful ring with a large diamond that shimmers and sparkles as much as she does. She brings so much light into my life that I feel like it radiates off me whenever she’s around. And I want that radiance to be proudly displayed on her finger when she’s my wife.