Two blue-uniformed paramedics, a guy and a woman, both wearing purple gloves, wheeled a gurney into the room.
“Give us some room,” the guy bellowed. As the onlookers parted, he pulled the gurney while the woman ushered it in from the back.
The paramedics removed a yellow backboard from the gurney and lowered it to the ground, crouching low.
The woman, whose shirt read, “Gonzales, FF EMT,” held Trisha’s head in place. “Can someone tell us what happened?”
“She hit her head against the wall,” Bryant said.
While trying to kill me. Effie unbuckled the straps around her legs and waist, then slid the harness to the ground.
The male paramedic, whose shirt read, “Jefferson, FF PM,” removed a blood pressure cuff from his kit, as well as a pulse oximeter. He placed the pulse-ox on her forefinger and slid the cuff over her forearm. Then, he positioned the tips of the stethoscope in his ears and inflated the cuff. After listening for a minute, he said, “Her BP is one-ninety over seventy. Pulse is forty. Skin is pale, warm, and moist. O2 is ninety-five.” He scribbled notes on his latex glove. Then, he moved to Trisha’s head and raised the hair from the blood spot. “Looks like the bleeding has stopped.” He lifted each of her eyelids and flashed a penlight in her eyes. “Is her husband here?” he said, raising his head to look around.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Bryant said, pushing through the crowd. “How does she look?”
“Her pupils aren’t responding the same. Systolic blood pressure is elevated, diastolic is low. She could have a concussion. We’re going to take her to Swedish General. You can ride with us or take your own vehicle.”
“I’ll drive,” Bryant said.
Effie stopped watching, focusing on getting her gear off. After she stepped free of her harness, Zander wrapped his arms around her.
“So proud of you. You did it, girl.”
“I did,” she said, squeezing him back. “But, I guess Trisha got the attention she craved. Too bad she had to hurt herself to get it. I hope she’s okay.”
She melted into Zander for a long moment. When Zander released her, she turned to see Trisha being wheeled from the room on the gurney.
Trisha opened her eyes. Her head had a “head-bed” strapping it to the backboard. A cervical collar had been placed around her neck.
She startled. “What happened? Where am I?”
Bryant leaned close to Trisha and whispered something to her.
She shrieked. “That bitch helped me down the wall?” She groaned, and said, “God, I hurt. Did I win?”
“Take it easy,” the male paramedic said. “We’ll need you to stay calm.” He pushed her through to the lobby, and they disappeared, swallowed into the outside world, away from Effie.
While Effie strolled toward the women’s room, with Zander by her side, people called out compliments on her climbing expertise and told her things like, “I knew you could do it.” She smiled, grimly, and nodded, eager to get away from all this attention.
A sense of claustrophobia pressed in on her as she forced her way to the ladies’ room.
Zander put his arm out, preventing people from getting too close. “Give her some room. She needs some space.”
She finally made it into the women’s room, and away from so many people. “Come in with me.”
Without hesitation, Zander followed her in.
“Whew. I need recovery time from so much attention. I don’t really like it. I hope this is the end of it.” She headed for the sink to wash her face and hands.
Zander’s phone buzzed, and he fished it out of his bag. He winced.
“What?” Her stomach seized in alarm.
“I’m afraid the attention will continue,” he said. “You’ve become this week’s trending story.”
Chapter 32
Zander
On Monday morning, the door to Zander’s office flew open. Zander looked up as Kent trudged ox-slow across the floor. He diverted his attention from his phone conversation with Effie, holding up one finger to Kent.
Effie continued talking.
“I hate this, Zander. All this attention. I hate it. All these hashtag mysterymaiden and hashtag bitchbanks comments sicken me.”
“I know, baby. But, it will all blow over.”
“I’m living this now, Zander, and I hate it.” She paused. “And you were right about Trisha. She’s nuts.”
You have no idea.
“We can talk about it later,” he said, eying Kent. “I’ll make it better. I promise. I need to go. Someone stepped into my office.”
They said their goodbyes and disconnected.
“What’s up?” Zander said. “Why the long face? And where did you escape to from the party Saturday night? You and Charlie disappeared.”
“Yeah.” Kent dragged his palm over his face. “We broke up. We had a big fucking fight at the party which I dragged her into Bryant’s study to finish, so we didn’t end up all over social media.” He dropped into the chair next to Zander’s desk. “She wanted more than what I gave her. Like the fantastic sex wasn’t enough.” He scoffed. “Women.”
Zander’s eyebrows lifted, but he said nothing. “So, you missed the whole climbing event?”
“Nah, I caught the tail end of it. I got there in time to see your sugar baby win and Trisha pull one of her gloriously stupid moves. Then, I left. Do you know if Trisha’s okay?” He stretched out his legs.
“I heard she’ll be out of action for a couple of weeks but no permanent injury. She sustained a mild concussion.” Zander swiveled his chair to face Kent.
“Well, that’s good, I guess.” Kent stared out the window as if distracted. “It’s better for you if she’s out of the way and can maintain your agreement.”
It made Zander ill to be glad she was in the hospital. But, at least she couldn’t touch him or Effie. For a while, at least. “You okay?” Zander asked.
“What? Me? Yeah. Bummed about Charlie, is all. Whatever. I’m over it.” He sat up taller, his lip curled in derision. “You ready for this board meeting? I’ve got news to share. Just got word of ArcTix One’s next move.”
Zander glanced at his watch. “Shit. I didn’t realize the time. Care to share it now?”
“We don’t have time,” Kent said.
Pushing away from the desk, Zander said, “Let’s go.”
He and Kent exited his office and strode down the hall to the conference room. He made his way to the front of the room, claiming his seat at the polished mahogany conference table.
A huge monitor occupied the wall behind him. Floor to ceiling windows flanked the left side of the room, revealing a blue-sky Seattle day.
Kent took his usual seat to Zander’s right.
Mia sat to his left.
“Hey, boss,” Mia said, smiling.
“Good morning, Mia.” He drummed his fingers against the table while waiting for the rest of the board to arrive. The hard plastic made hollow tippity-taps against the wood.
Within a few minutes, the board members shuffled in, assuming their seats around the table.
“Good morning, everyone,” Zander said.
A round of greetings ensued.
Zander turned to his right. “I think Kent wants to lead today. You have news to share, right, Kent?”
“Right.” Kent rose, straightened his pants, and leaned across the table to pick up the remote in the middle. He pressed a button, and a high-tech projector emerged from the middle of the table. Doing an about face, he flicked a button on the remote, displaying an architect schematic design on the monitor. Kent pointed the remote at the monitor, and a red dot appeared over one of the buildings in the schematic. “We just got news that ArcTix One has bought out this area at the new North Seattle mall. It’s the one we were looking at to expand our retail outlet into.”
“Bastards,” Zander said.
“That’s just the beginning. ArcTix One expanded their lines at other retailers, edging out our retail space.” Kent glan
ced at Zander.
A wave of murmurs spread around the table.
“Shit,” Zander said, pounding the table once with his fist.
“Which means edging out our profits,” Joseph Ward, one of Zander’s top financial executives, said.
“It’s got to be Bryant’s doing. His ego took a beating at the fundraiser Saturday night,” Mia said.
“I heard about that,” Tom Elliot, a graying Realtor, said. He had one of the neatest beards Zander had ever seen, like he measured every hair daily. “Care to elaborate?”
Kent gave Zander a side-eyed glare. “Zander’s current girl pissed off Trisha Banks, as well as stole the thunder out from under Bryant and Trisha all night. Then, Bryant suggested a competitive climb at Rock Nirvana, which Zander’s girl of the moment won against Trisha.”
“Ouch,” said Joseph. “That had to hurt Bryant.”
“Yeah, it gets worse,” Kent said. “Trisha made a stupid move on the wall, knocking herself out. And Zander’s girl helped her down the wall.”
“That sounds noble,” Tom said.
Zander said, “Effie was courageous. Not only did she defend herself from Trisha’s vicious insults, but she won the climb, and helped Trisha survive the fall and not do further damage.” His chest filled with pride.
“Who is this girl? Can I have dibs once you’re done with her?” Joseph said, smiling.
“Who says I’m going to be done with her?” Zander snapped.
“I only meant…I figured you…Kent made it sound like it was no big deal. I’m sorry, boss,” Joseph said, his fair complexion turning the color of beets. He cast his gaze at his notepad.
Kent interrupted.
“What he means is…Zander knows his priorities. He knows the business comes first. He won’t make the same mistakes as before.” He skewered Zander with a biting gaze.
Zander glared back. Stay the fuck out of my business, Kent. “Move on, Manning. What else?”
“What’s our next move going to be?” Tom said. “I can check in some other retail outlets. There’s a new mall being built in Bellevue. Prime real estate.”
Zander stood and began pacing the perimeter of the table. He clasped his hands behind his back.
Everyone waited while he gathered his thoughts. Finally, he spoke. “I have an idea…but, what you’re suggesting is a possibility. Go ahead and check into it, Tom. And Joseph, you and Kent watch the stocks. They might take a hit, but we can bounce back quickly if we pursue an idea I had. Kent and I have been looking into creating subscription boxes and other revenue streams Bryant isn’t aware of.”
Mia looked up from her note-taking. “What kind of subscription boxes?”
“You know…purchasing regular boxes of things like clothing and such. I thought we could do seasonal outdoor attire or…” He waved his hand in front of him. “I don’t know, chic-chic outdoor products people don’t usually think to buy but make a difference in your sport, or…things like that. It’s currently trending right now, and the revenues are solid.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Gresh, from creative, said. “We can hash out some ideas, then my team will show you some concepts.”
Zander’s phone buzzed. Maybe it’s Effie. He pulled it from his pants pocket and read the screen. My sister is Skyping me?
“One sec, I’ve got to take this. Kent, you can follow up.” He slid the connect button on and stepped from the conference room. “Hey, sis,” he said to her smiling face as he strode toward his office.
“Zander! You’ve been dating someone, and you haven’t filled me in? What kind of brother are you?” She grinned. Behind her stood a huge stainless-steel prep table, pots, pans, and a twelve-burner professional stove.
A guy and a woman in chef’s attire were busy chopping greens. The faint tap, tap, tap, of their knives rat-a-tatted through the phone.
A brother who’s keeping his sugar baby deal a secret, that’s who. And his paranoia over his ex. “Sorry, Chloe. We’ve only been dating a couple of months, and…”
“A couple of months?” Her eyebrows rose high. “And you never thought to tell me?”
“Look, I’ve been busy,” he said.
“I’ll say,” Chloe said, smirking. She held her phone in front of her face. “Hashtag Bitchbank TKOed by hashtag MysteryMaiden in hashtag ClimbingCompetition. Then, there’s a link which takes me to an article in Social MagRag and shows pictures of your new girl steadying Trisha down the wall, pictures of your new girl all glammed out at a party, and pictures of you and her macking on one another in the parking lot of Rock Nirvana.”
“Shit.” Zander pressed his fist to his forehead. He didn’t want to explain her sudden departure from his life in a few short weeks.
“Not shit, brother, it’s fantastic. You know I despised Trisha. She’s a user.” She looked away from the screen and said, “What?”
Some guy said, “Your pastry order from Andronico’s is here. We got caught in traffic.”
“You should have called me. You’re four hours late. We’re knee deep in dinner prep.” Chloe swished her hand behind her, in the direction of her prep team.
“Okay, okay, I’ll bring it in,” the man said.
She turned back to Zander. “I’ve got to run. But, the reason I called is this—Mom and Dad are going to be at the beach house next weekend. I’m going, too. I need a break. Why not bring your girl down and let us meet her?”
Zander froze. He shook his head, heart hammering. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s too soon.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Zan. It’s clear you’re in love. I can see it in your eyes when you talk about her. You never were the player type, so from the pictures and hearing you talk about her, she must be something special. Let us meet her.” She glanced to her right again. “What?”
“I need someone to sign for this.”
Chloe extended her arm offscreen to presumably sign the order sheet. Then, she turned toward Zander again. “I’ve really got to go. Say you’ll come this weekend.”
“Chloe, I…” Zander felt torn in half. He didn’t want to face his family with the fact he was falling in love with Effie. He’d fought against admitting it, what with his sugar baby contract. And, the heartbreak that would follow at the end of their term would wreck him.
Still, it would be good to get as far away as Trisha and Bryant as he could. And, it would be great to share Effie with my parents. Maybe I’m not such a loser in relationship choices after all.
“Okay,” he said, sighing.
“I promise we won’t bite. Gotta run.” She kissed her fingers and held them against the screen.
He did the same in their typical goodbye. He disconnected from Chloe and quickly typed a text to Effie. Want to come to Florida with me this weekend? Then, he deleted it.
This would have to be in person.
Chapter 33
Effie
“One kiss is all it takes,” a loud female voice sang outside of Effie’s dorm room.
Sitting at her desk, Effie ground her teeth at the intrusion, as she attempted to study for her classes. Especially when the lyrics being sung reminded her of Zander. And thinking of Zander made her insides scramble with confusion.
He seemed genuinely scared of Trisha Banks, and now she knew why.
She tried to kill me.
And then there was all that shit about him not being able to trust himself to have a healthy relationship so that he made her sign a no-contact agreement. This made her heart ache. Just because you screwed up and chose the wrong partner once, didn’t mean you’d do it again. So, why is he so fearful? What on earth did the BitchBanks do?
People had been looking at her differently. Staring at her when she walked across the campus. Tittering about her in class. She hated it. But, she sure didn’t hate Zander. Even though their relationship was in its own class of complicated all by itself, he still managed to make her wet with desire and dream of possibilities that would never exist.
And
when her body hummed with desire, she longed to get her vibrator out of her panty drawer and release the ache between her legs—either that or call Zander at work…which would lead to phone sex. Which, while not a bad idea, didn’t help her study for her biomedical science test, at all. She had to admit it—HMM or no HMM, contract or not, Zander made her crazy with desire. He eased the FML reality her mother had always complained about—not that Mom used the word “Fuck.”
Instead, Mom tended to fret to Effie’s father about how hard life was and, “Will we ever catch a break?”
“One kiss is all it takes,” the same female sang again, followed by giggles from several other young women.
Effie slammed her book shut, removed her reading glasses and rubbed her eyes. I need to get to the library for work, anyway. I can study there. She shoved her books, water bottle, energy bars, and wallet into her backpack and prepared to head out the door. Before she left, she glanced at herself in the mirror inside her closet door. She looked…pretty. She cocked her head from side to side. She’d been taking better care of her appearance since meeting Zander. Like, instead of throwing on her Star Trek sweatshirt to go to work, today she wore a long, flowing, blue sleeveless dress with a slit up to her thigh and light blue ballerina flats. Something she never, ever, in a million years thought to wear, ever. But, I also never, ever had unlimited funds to buy clothes…not that I’ll keep them, or anything.
She stepped toward the door, opened it, and clicked the door lock, before exiting.
In the hall outside of the next room over, the female singer and her friends quieted, eying her.
“Hey,” the singer said. She and her friends filled the hall space, making it impossible to pass.
“Hey,” Effie said. “I, uh…I need to get past you.” She gestured with her hand.
They stepped aside.
As Effie strode down the hall, a woman murmured, “Is she still dating that billionaire, Zander?”
“Haven’t you seen Twitter lately?” the singer said. “She’s the Mystery Maiden.”
“No way! Her? What does he see in her?” the first woman said.
Sugar Love Page 25
