by Brenda Ford
She grabs my hand and then leans over the sofa next to me.
“Emily, you get all wound up over things all the time.”
I lift my head up, “What do you mean?”
“Well, like designing you call all crazy and obsessive and shit. The same thing. I hate to say it; you’ve been doing with Marvin. It’s been all about Marvin this, Marvin that. Before that, it was all about the designs. You get all emotional about things, which is great. But I think that we both know that Marvin didn’t do anything wrong, but I get why you’re mad at him. Just try not to be mad forever.”
I mumble, “I’ll try. But it’s going to be hard.”
She shakes her head, “It’s going to be fucking hard because you’re as stubborn as hell. Maybe just take some time out and work on the business again and then after that see how you feel about Marvin.”
“I’ll try, but it’s going to be hard.”
“As I said, girlfriend, you’re as stubborn as hell!”
I drop her hand and then hit her as my tears turn to a laugh. I know that she’s right, but Marvin kept it from me for a reason. He was aware that he owned the main competitor, the one company that I hate at the moment. All the time that we were together, he never told me, and that fucking hurts. Cuts me from inside like a fucking knife. Mainly because I never realized until that moment that I'd fallen head over heels in love with this man.
Chapter Sixteen
Marvin
Dammit!
Dinner had been great, had been amazing in fact, and I'd had a long night planned for us. If only it didn’t get ruined by the last person I expected to meet.
I may not like Brenda at the moment, but business is still important. I’m not going to go after Emily right away. Especially after the way, the evening ended so badly. She needs time to calm down and see things. Well, at least be ready to hear my side of the story. I may own the company, but the day-to-day business is down to Brenda. She’s a family friend, and I was asked to invest in a viable business.
Emily had turned me down time and time again. I don’t believe in putting all my eggs in one basket, so I invested in The Silk Box. I’m a silent owner who has the final votes on the main decisions. Anything else is down to Brenda. I won’t apologize for that, then again what do I have to apologize for?
I have work to catch on, and besides, I’ve been so distracted with Emily lately, that I’ve as good as forgotten about it. Well, not entirely, but I haven’t been paying as much attention to it all as I’ve done in the past.
“Roger, what’s this email about?” I shout out as I read the lines of my email.
He rushes in as if there’s a fire, probably not used to my tone. I never use it with him, because I never have to. He’s so damn efficient at the worst of times.
“There’s a shipment that came in from Europe. You’ve been a little difficult to reach recently, so I haven’t had the chance to let you know, yet.”
Goddammit!
This isn’t working; I need to go home. I’m going to be shouting at Roger for the rest of the day, and I’ve got a fucking headache.
“Sorry, Roger. I’m going to get out of here.”
He nods knowing that my bad mood has nothing to do with him. I just haven’t been paying attention. I wonder for a second if I should take my Mac with me. I decide against it as I pick up my phone and head out of the door.
“Have a good night.”
“You too Roger and sorry about before.”
He smiles, “I know that you’ve been stressful lately. Don’t worry about it. Just make sure that you get some rest.”
I’m about to say something, but then I decide against it as I’m about to walk out. I was going to ask him if he wanted a beer. I could do with a bit of company and see as the only real friend I have is Ben. He’s the last one that I’ll be calling for a beer.
I head down the hall to the elevator. Press the button and then all the time the elevator’s going down, there’s only one person on my mind.
Emily!
Fuck it!
I start to dial Emily’s number as I get out of the elevator. The first time she doesn’t answer. The second time it goes to voicemail, and the third time she’s switched her phone off. She’s angry, and I should give her time. But it’s so damn hard!
Things have been good between us, even better than our Vegas weekend. But now, Emily’s not taking my calls and this is going to be so damn hard.
This could mean that there’s only one option. Going to talk to Ben. Something that I didn’t want to do. Not yet. This isn’t how I imagined breaking the news of our relationship with him, but I call and ask him to meet me, anyway. He sounds exhausted on the phone, but this is something I've decided to do, and I intend to carry it out.
We meet the next day in a garden restaurant for lunch, out in the open and away from anyone that works for me. They tend to go to lunch near work or stay in the building.
“Marvin, it's been a while.”
I pat him on the back in silence, and then I motion for him to sit down.
“A lot has happened in the time since,” I say, and he nods. I imagine he has his stories to tell.
“Yeah, Sharon’s been great, and Emily’s been quiet lately. Have you heard from her?”
“Me. Why would I hear from her? What about her friends, Michelle and Katie. I’m sure that they would have heard from her.”
“Wow, I’ve never known you to be all defensive,” he laughs nervously, and I can sense that I’m not the only one that has something to ask, he does too.
“Fuck it; I need a drink!”
“To tell me about you and Emily?”
He raises an eyebrow. I can’t believe that he knew all along.
“How did you know?”
He laughs, “When you went to Vegas. Katie called because Emily wasn’t picking up her phone. She called Michelle, and you know what women are like. Anyway, it seems that they were worried because Emily’s been so stress lately with the business.”
“Two G&T’s,” I signal to the waiter, but I’m still shocked about Ben knowing all this time.
“And you never said anything?”
He shakes his head, “We’ve been friends a long time, and I know that you’re not the type of guy to take advantage of her. And you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
I nod my head, thinking that my oldest friend make’s perfect sense. I feel a fool forever been nervous about the whole thing.
“No. I knew that when you and Emily were ready to tell the world, we would be the first on your list. Besides I’m not the kind of guy to interfere in my daughter’s love life. Anyway, things aren’t great for me at the moment. I don’t want to think of anything else but good things at the moment to keep me going.”
“Tell me, what’s going on?”
He shakes his head, and we both know that I’m not going to be fobbed off with a simple head shake. There’s something bugging him, and I want to know the reason that he seems so nervous.
“I’ve decided to close up shop. I’m folding the business.”
“What the..”
“Marvin I know that I could turn to you, but how many times can you bail me out. This has been a long time coming. You want to hear the funniest thing about it all?”
I shake my head wondering why he never came to me?
Feeling like a fool for mopping around and all the time ignoring the one friend that I’ve known since college, needed help.
“What?”
He sighs as he finishes his drink and signals to the waiter for another one.
“I feel fucking free. I don’t have to worry about my marriage being on the rocks for staying out late. I don’t have to think about anything twenty-four-seven. I didn’t realize until now, that I’ve been running a business that hasn’t made any profit for years and I’ve been trying to keep it above water for all the wrong reasons.”
“What do you mean?”
“The only reason I’m even doing
all this is for sentimental reasons. I should have shut up shop a long time ago.”
“Don’t say that,” I shake my head trying to get rid of the guilt and trying to make some sense of it all.
“I’ve sold it. Someone else can deal with the shit, and it’s enough to pay off the loan. Barely. And that’s the most important thing. Not having to move. So, it’s not all bad.”
“I suppose,” I whisper as I start to knock back my drink and get rid of the pain. The ache of missing Emily and not helping my friend when he was in need, even if he says that he’s happy the shock of it all hasn’t hit him. I’m sure that in few days, he’ll be regretting his decision. That part I’m certain off for sure.
“Now, are you going to tell me your side of the story?”
“Ben, what do you mean?”
He laughs, “I know that you called me for a reason. It wasn’t to tell me that Emily and you were over. It was for another reason. I already know that something’s up. Emily's been on the phone.”
“You’re one step ahead of me. Aren’t you?”
He laughs, “For once in my life I’m ahead of you. Not the other way around. Now, are you going to tell me what happened? Or am I going to have to listen to Emily’s side of the story?”
I shake my head, but as I start to tell him, he comes out with something that I could kiss him for right now.
He’s going to help, just as I’d hoped he would and it’ll just involve Emily listening which is something that she’s not doing at the moment. I know that it’s a glimmer of hope, but that’s all I have right now.
Hope that she’ll at least listen and I know that at least if she does that then maybe, just maybe she’ll see that I’m not evil.
I was just a man after her heart.
Chapter Seventeen
Emily
The last few days have been crazy, I’ve been trying to focus, and it has been so hard to do it without thinking of him. My parents have summoned me to the house this weekend. Dad sounds a lot happier, but I don’t want to tell him about my problems with Marvin or the fact that my business has gone from being on in the slumps to a little empire at the moment. The new Marketing Manager is taking things in the right direction. Contracts that were canceled have been replaced with new ones, more profitable ones.
I ring the bell and think about the fact that I’ve gone from being so low to being so high lately.
“There she is!” mom smiles as she opens the door.
Wow, the way she’s acting, it’s as if she hasn’t seen me in years. When she only met me last week for lunch. She didn’t stop talking, and it’s funny seeing her now with her blonde highlights and her new haircut. Maybe selling the company wasn’t only the best thing for dad, but her too.
“Hi, mom. Sorry, I’m late.”
She waves her hand, “If you ever turned up on time anywhere. Now that would be a surprise.”
“I suppose,” I mumble as I hand her the bottle of wine that I got from the store on the way here.
“You didn’t need to do that.”
I nod, knowing that I didn’t need to, but it makes a nice change from buying a bottle for myself and using it to help me sleep. Which has been a bad habit lately, one that I need to break before it gets out of hand?
“I know, but I thought that you might like it.”
She kisses me on the cheek, “I do.”
I walk around the house and notice that it’s empty. I thought that dad was going to be here and we were going to have dinner together.
“Oh, dad’s not there. They’re at the back..”
They?
“Who’s they?”
She doesn’t answer me as I follow her to the back. I’m not sure how I never noticed the smoke before but as I see both dad and Marvin sharing a beer. I have the answer to my question.
Holy crap! The last thing I need is to see him. I feel like taking the wine that she’s holding in her hand and going back out where I just came from. I want to scream that it’s a problem. A big fucking problem and I don’t want to be anywhere near that man.
My eyes dart to mom as she smiles, “Marvin said that he'd join us.”
I stop at the porch doors, “It’s not a problem is it, Emily?”
I want to do the one thing that I’m good at…run!
I don’t want to be anywhere near him, and the idea of pretending is too much for me to bear. Mom smiles and I wonder if he’s told them. Did he tell them that he used me to get to Vegas? Made me fall for him knowing that he was the main reason that my company was in trouble.
Did he tell them that?
No, I bet he didn’t because he’s the type of man that loves to act like a snake. That’s the part of him that I missed out on the whole trip.
‘Just listen to him!’
Katie’s been begging me to do the for the last couple of weeks.
‘Maybe there’s a good reason for what he did,’ Michelle tried to explain to me. It makes no difference what they think about him because it’s as clear as night and day that he owns The Silk Box and he knew that it’s the thorn in my business side.
Mom winks at me, “Just give him a chance.”
“I did, and he used me…”
Mom shakes her head and then takes my arm and drags me to the kitchen. Away from them. Away from him.
“You were innocent in all of this too. You could have told him no and just gone to the bank and if that didn’t work just sold up as your dad did. He gave your business the life that it needed to run again. I’m not saying that what he did was right.”
She’s probably trying to make sense of it. Thank goodness I wasn’t around when she heard about what happened, I would hate to have seen their faces knowing that their daughter had offered herself for the sake of her business.
“All I know is that Marvin’s a good man. He’s been friends with your dad for years. He may not be perfect, but then no man is. He’s loved you for so long. Even I knew that.”
“You did? But why did you never say anything?”
“Because the only thing that your dad wanted to talk about was the business. And the only thing you could see was your designs. I’ve been ignored in this family for so many years that if he hadn’t sold it. I would have walked out.”
“What?”
“Emily, it doesn’t matter. All I know is that Marvin’s been trying to help you for years. Correct?”
I nod and then she continues to talk.
“He’s told you that he’s interested in investing in that type of a business for a while and you were never interested. Correct?”
“No, I was never interested in giving him my body for…’
“That’s not what I asked you. You could have come up with a contract or something. Told him that you would listen to him. Take his investment under his terms. But you never did, correct?”
God! I hate listening to home truths. I move to the other side of the kitchen. Get the bottle opener seeing as mom’s going to walk around all evening with the bottle of wine in her hand.
As she hands me the glasses and I pop open the bottle. I start to pour the wine and mumble, “Okay mom. You have a point.”
She knocks her glass next to mine and smiles, “You are too stubborn just like your father.”
She takes a sip and says, “Marvin saw a business opportunity and took it. There’s nothing wrong with that in his world. Why he kept it from you, do you have to ask? He was worried that you'd take it the wrong way. Look I do not agree with what either of you did, but I do know one thing. You’ve been miserable and by the look of him too. He’s been feeling the same. Don’t make the whole thing go to waste. At least give your love a try.”
I giggle as I sip a bit too much wine quickly, “I was shocked seeing him unshaven and in those shorts.”
She nods her head, “And as for the Hawaiian shirt. What’s up with that?”
She takes my hand and leads me outside to dad and Marvin. As soon as Marvin seems me, he’s no longer smiling but
looking at me.
“Dad,” I kiss him on the cheek, and he hugs me, making me nearly spill my wine.
“Dad! Why did you do that?”
I say as I pull back, thinking that maybe after today I’ll stop drinking. I’m getting a bit too attached to it.
“Because I thought that you would run through the door.”
I turn and face Marvin, “Marvin.”
“Emily.”
Dad blurts out, “Okay can you kiss and make-up already. I want to have a nice dinner tonight with the people that I care the most about.”
Marvin takes off his shades and says, “At least we’re speaking now.”
I nod my head, “Yes, but one step at a time.”
“I just want you to hear what I have to say.”
“Mom already explained some of it to me. But you can do it too…”
“But not tonight. As I said tonight's about celebrating. You guys can have your discussions later. Right now, I’ve got a big steak to cook and too much beer to get through. Now, Marvin come help me behind here and stop making sad eyes at my daughter!”
I laugh with that final comment. I decide that I’ll listen to what Marvin has to say, what mom said made a lot of sense. I feel like a fool acting as if I’m the wounded soldier, I’ve never been in a relationship before ever been in love. I didn’t know how to react to it all. Now, I’m starting to realize that I have been a fool in love.
Chapter Eighteen
Marvin
I’m sitting in my office, waiting impatiently. I check my time on my phone screen and almost growl, wanting it to move faster.
This is happening.
When I got the call from Emily that she was going to take my new offer, to say I was overjoyed would be an understatement.
I press the button on my intercom and speak to my secretary. “When Emily and her team arrive, please let them all in. They should be arriving soon.”
