Annihilate Me

by Christina Ross

  “A true artist would.”

  “Do you think?”

  “I know. I’ve witnessed you in action. I’ve seen what you can do.”

  “Mon dieu. C'est mon destin.”

  “Say moan what?” I asked.

  “It’s my destiny, Jennifer. You really need to study French. That’s twice tonight that you didn’t understand the simplest of words. And you’re wearing Dior, for God’s sake, who happens to have been French. God!”

  I flashed my eyes at Bernie. “J'aime mes cheveux,” I said, patting my hair. “Vous êtes un artiste. Un génie. Merci pour tout ce que vous avez fait.”

  I turned to Blackwell, whose mouth was agape. “It’s nearly eight,” I said lightly. “I should go. Alex will be waiting. Are we ready?”

  “You’re a trickster, Jennifer Kent.”

  “First I’m wicked. Now I’m a trickster.”

  “I mean it.”

  “Très bien. Allons.”

  * * *

  At the elevator, Blackwell gave me her usual advice before sending me off. It was something I’d grown accustomed to, and I appreciated it because she always tended to leave me with something to think about.

  Once again, she didn’t disappoint.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Excited.”

  “To be with Alex? Or to do business?”

  “Both. But to be honest? It’s more about being thrown into the possibilities of what might happen tonight. The idea of nailing down two deals if we’re lucky, is exciting to me.”

  “First and foremost, it’s all about Henri. If you’re given the chance, charm him. He loves a beautiful woman, but he loves a smart woman even more. For some unknown reason I can’t fathom, you happen to be both. I think you could be the key Alex needs to get his attention. If Alex is able to get Dufort on his own, just stand there and look pretty. But if Dufort engages you, be engaging.”

  “Noted.”

  “And I don’t mean only with your cleavage, Jennifer. He’ll notice the twins, but what he’ll really notice is your intelligence. He is nothing if not focused on taking his empire to the next level. That’s what matters to him most. That’s what he wants to hear. Wenn can offer that. Alex has an idea for it.”

  “So do I.”

  “Have you shared that with Alex?”

  “I haven’t seen Alex since we landed. So, no, I haven’t.”

  “You might want to.”

  “Don’t worry. If and when I offer up my own idea, I will have tested the waters first.”

  “You’re going to be the end of me.”

  “But I need you.”

  “I know you do. It’s what keeps me going, even if you did conceal from me that you obviously know French. That was just cruel of you.”

  “Cruel?”

  “Yes, cruel. At your level, I know that one day you’ll be called upon to speak French to one of Alex’s international contacts, so naturally I was concerned that you’d fail. But you wouldn’t, would you? You led me down a dark road of despair with your presumed lack of knowledge in the Romance languages, and then you pulled that awful surprise that you knew French all along. Terrible.”

  “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  She studied me for a moment, and then smiled. “I suppose I wouldn’t.”

  “Wish me well tonight?”

  “Of course. And just remember, Jennifer. Be kind to him. Whatever is happening in his life right now, he’s working it out on his own. Don’t be slighted by such a minor detail. Enjoy your time with him. Enjoy the moments. I’m here to tell you that they don’t come often. I once thought I had it all with Charles. Then... divorce. If you don’t tend to the farm, it can all go wrong so quickly. But if you’re good to one another, and if you respect each other’s space, you can enjoy this time in your life, no matter how long it lasts, which might just be forever. Who knows?”

  “I think the Romance languages have gotten the best of you, Ms. Blackwell.”

  She raised her eyebrows at me as the elevator doors slid open. Any trace of humor that had been there before left her face. She became stone-cold serious. “What you don’t know about me, Jennifer, is that despite everything I’ve been through these past few months, I’m still hopeful. I’m not finished yet. It’s too soon now, but I’d like to find someone else again. Even though, at my age, the cards are against me. But I’m not giving up quite yet. In fact, I’m not giving up at all. We all deserve love in our lives. Everyone uses that awful cliché that love hurts, but that's not true. Real love doesn’t hurt. Real love is wonderful. It’s loneliness that hurts. And rejection. And losing someone close to you hurts. Everyone confuses these things with love, but in reality, love is the only thing in this world that covers up all the pain and makes us feel wonderful again.”

  I stared nakedly at her, stunned by the depth of what she’d just said.

  “Now, shake off whatever happened between you and Alex, and go spend some time with the man who might be the one for you.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The elevator dropped to the forty-seventh floor, almost too quickly for me to collect myself. When the doors slid open, Alex was there waiting for me, just as he always was. But his hands weren’t in his pockets as they usually were, and he wasn’t standing so disarmingly. In fact, he looked tense to see me.

  “I’m glad that you came,” he said.

  “It’s my job.”

  “I hope it’s more than that.”

  I remembered all the things that Blackwell had said to me, and I softened. I felt a deep affection for him, and I knew it was wrong to hide it. I stepped out and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course it is.”

  “You look lovely.”

  “You already know how I feel about you in a tux. Tell me why you’re so interested in Henri Dufort. I have an idea, but he’s into everything. Let’s see if we’re on the same page.”

  “Why don’t you begin?”

  “All right. Dufort owns Streamed, which essentially is Netflix for the global market. They’re expanding as rapidly as they can, but the global market is the global market, and there are dozens of closed doors. My research shows that Dufort is having difficulty breaking into some of the countries where Wenn Entertainment is already a known player. Sometimes Dufort gets lucky, but then other obstacles arise, likely because he doesn’t have the relationships Wenn has with these people. In this world, relationships are everything. Dufort knows that. Wenn could partner with him in an effort to get beyond the bureaucratic bullshit. And this would make Wenn Entertainment a fortune if you struck a deal with Dufort that allowed him into the countries he wants to dominate before it’s too late before other capitalize on the idea. Am I right?”

  He didn’t answer at once. Instead, he just stared at me.

  “Well?”

  “That’s not what I had in mind at all.”

  I felt defeated. “Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to read him. He wasn’t saying anything, but I was sure that I had disappointed him. My mind raced to the other options I’d considered before talking to him tonight. One was a good possibility, so I readied myself for it. “I’m sorry. That seemed to me to be the most logical choice. I have other ideas.”

  “You already have the best idea. What I had in mind was solid and potentially lucrative, but it pales next to what you’re proposing. Which countries is Streamed being shut out of?”

  “India. China. Brazil. Mexico. There are a host of others, some of which Netflix—Streamed’s largest competitor—is just beginning to build a presence. Those markets are the largest and most coveted, and Netflix is just starting to hit them hard. But there’s still time. Before it’s too late and Netflix gets a stronghold, Streamed could compete if it joined forces with Wenn soon because Wenn Entertainment already has relationships in those countries, and in many other countries where Netflix isn’t yet a player. I was thinking that with your contacts, you could work out a partnership with Dufort that would ease his way in. I’d imagine h
e’d appreciate that. I’d imagine that he’d pay handsomely for it by giving Wenn a significant stake in Streamed.”

  “How did you come up with this?”

  I shrugged. “I spent the afternoon doing research. Dufort has much larger holdings than Streamed, but streaming video is where the money is right now, and where it’s really going to be going forward. It’s eventually how much of the world will view movies and television shows. It’s like e-books—they’re taking over because that’s how most people will read one day. Same with music. When did you last buy a CD? You didn’t. You downloaded it. The stats don’t lie. Streamed seemed like a natural choice to me, whereas some of Dufort’s other holdings were too obvious. Streamed needs and wants to grow—worldwide, it has the potential to make billions. But it’s having a difficult time doing so, so that’s what I went with.”

  “You came up with a potential winner.”

  “What were you thinking?”

  “Something the board proposed. Something more obvious. It doesn’t matter now. We go with this.”

  “But the board is expecting something else from you.”

  “And I’ll offer Henri both if I feel that it’s the right thing to do. If I don’t, I won’t mention what I had in mind and will press forward with your idea. What you need to understand about the board is that as sophisticated as it is, it’s not exactly on the cutting edge when it comes to emerging technologies. It’s comprised of an older group of men and women who don’t necessarily understand the importance of digital. They get it to a point, especially when it comes to music and maybe a bit when it comes to the importance of e-books if only because of Wenn Publishing. But they’re not entirely there yet, which is understandable. Wenn Entertainment is just a small part of Wenn—it’s not our most lucrative arm. The board’s attention is elsewhere. As a consultant, you were brought in to give me your best advice, which you have. It’s my choice as CEO to decide what happens tonight. Netflix is a force in North America, but it’s relatively new to the worldwide market. Here, it’s silly to challenge it. But globally? It makes sense because Netflix itself is just starting to make inroads abroad. Their brand is known here, but not so much in other markets. It’s still new enough for Dufort and us to take it on and challenge it.”

  “I don’t want to piss off the board,” I said.

  “Who cares if you do? You work for me. This is my decision.”

  “We should probably go.”

  “Not before I do this.”

  He came forward, put his hand low along my waist, and kissed me lightly on the lips. When I responded, he became more passionate. I closed my eyes and kissed him back to the point that I started to lose myself in him. He kissed me again, but then I broke away and just held him tightly, my head on his shoulder.

  “I need you, Jennifer,” he said in my ear.

  “I owe you an apology,” I said. “I’m sorry I was distant today. In Maine, suddenly there were guards everywhere. You kept talking to them during our final night together. I was so worried for you, Alex, that it made me sick. You wouldn’t talk to me about it. When that happened, for whatever reason, my instinct was to pull back. I’m sorry for the way I acted.”

  “Don’t be. There are things that happen in my life that can sound frightening, but only if you don’t know how routine they are. I decided to protect you from that.”

  “What things?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me.”

  “Let’s just say that what happened over the past two days happens to me often. Right now, everything is under control. I just need you to trust me if I need to handle certain events on my own. I’m not trying to keep you out. I’m trying to keep you from worrying about things that can and are being dealt with. These are things you don’t need to concern yourself with.”

  “Will you ever fully let me in?”

  “Yes, of course. One day, I’ll have no choice but to tell you everything.”

  “When is that?”

  “When I marry you,” he said.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  In the limousine, we sat close to each other, my hand holding his deep in his lap and my head still spinning from what he’d said to me a moment ago. He was considering marriage? Since when? Shouldn’t we date for a few months before we even got to that point?

  I really need to speak to Lisa.

  “Things have changed since the last time we were out together in public,” I said. “Now, I’m your hired consultant, not your hired companion. How do we play this? What are we tonight? Because it’ll look a bit odd if your consultant is holding your hand. I just need to know what you expect from me.”

  “You’re my girlfriend and my consultant. As far as I’m concerned, nothing’s changed. I know you’re not ready for the word ‘girlfriend,’ and I know I probably freaked you out a moment ago with talk of marriage, but that’s how I feel about you and our relationship, and I don’t take those words lightly.” He smiled at me. “And I’m convinced that, sooner or later, neither will you.”

  “You sound awfully confident.”

  “That’s because I am. I didn’t expect for this to happen to me again in my life, but it has. I’m grateful. And I’ll do what it takes to make you see that I’m right.”

  He bent over to kiss me on the lips, then he kissed my neck, and then his head dipped lower to my breasts.

  “Alex...”

  “Just a kiss.”

  “But you can’t do that to me now. I’ll be a wreck if you start.”

  He took one of my breasts in his hands, and massaged the tip of my nipple while he gently kissed my ear. The stubble again. It’s truly going to be the end of me.

  “Please—,” I begged.

  “Will you join me later tonight? My place?”

  “You know I will. But not here. I can’t have my head in the ether, and you’re driving it there now.”

  He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “That’s for later,” he said, handing it to me. “Put it in your clutch for now. Whenever you doubt how I feel for you, read it. Steinbeck says it best. I copied a passage from his book of letters for you. All of it’s in there. Everything I feel about you and about us. Read it when you’re ready.”

  I wanted to read it right then, but he was back to nuzzling my neck. I could smell the woody scent of his cologne, and it seemed as if it was a part me of now. Sometimes, when I wasn’t with him, his scent was one of the things I remembered most, and right now, it was within me.

  “We’re getting close,” I said.

  “You’re getting close?”

  I laughed. “No! Well, maybe. If you keep this up I will be. But we’re almost there. Oh, that feels good. OK. Stop. I need to focus. I can’t fall out of this car when we arrive, and if you don’t pull it together, that’s going to happen.”

  “You think I’m able to focus right now?” he asked. He took my hand and pressed it between his legs, where I could feel his hardness. He was teasing me, but I could tease back. All right, I thought. Let’s do this and see how quickly he can compose himself. I started to stroke him in his pants, and when his head dipped back, I grabbed him in my hand, squeezing until it gave him the same kind of pleasure he gave me.

  “Stop,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I get it.”

  “You don’t want to fall out of the car?”

  “I’m not sure I can leave the car like this.”

  “You started it.”

  “So I did. Can you blame me?”

  “What I hope is that you can hide that when you get out of the car,” I said, releasing him. “It’s going to look like a tent.”

  “Same goes for your nipples.”

  “You’re terrible.” I reached for my clutch, saw the note on top of it, tucked it inside, and wondered again what it said. Later. I removed my compact, and turned on the light above me. “Oh, Bernie,” I said. “He’d be having none of this.” I patt
ed my face with powder, and then reapplied my lipstick. I looked at Alex, who was adjusting himself in his pants.

  “Tight fit?”

  “You don’t even know.”

  “Actually, I have a fairly good idea.”

  He grinned at me.

  “We’re supposed to be adults,” I said, smiling.

  “Oh, right. That. Well, that can go to hell if it means we can’t do this.”

  “Do you want to neck later?”

  “Very funny. And by the way, I want to do a lot more than that.”

  “Looks like we’re here,” I said as the limousine slowed and pulled left to the curb. “Are you ready for this?”

  “I’m still hard.”

  “Good luck with that,” I said.

  “You’re supposed to help me.”

  “Seriously? That thing has a mind of its own. You should be proud of it. Get out there and show the damned thing off.”

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Look who’s talking.”

  The driver opened the door, and flashes of lights began to pop from the crowd of reporters and paparazzi standing along the sidelines. I held out my hand to the driver and tried to step onto the sidewalk as elegantly as possible despite the length of my dress and how turned on I was. Eventually, Alex emerged from the car, and while he acknowledged the crowd with a wave, he stood close behind me for what I could only imagine was a very good reason.

  “Are you able to walk?” I asked over my shoulder.

  “Barely.”

  “Wenn’s stock would skyrocket if you revealed to the world what you’re packing in your pants.”

  “Hilarious. And by the way, it’s your nipples that are going to be on Page Six tomorrow, love.”

  “Let them be. I earned them on the drive over here.”

  On impulse, I turned to him and kissed him full on the lips as our bodies were sheathed in an unimaginable display of light. Men and women called out to us. They didn’t know me yet, but they absolutely knew Alex, and they egged him on to turn this way and that. To my surprise, he held me at his side. We posed for photographs, and then he returned my kiss in such a way that I knew that one or many of these photographs would go viral by morning.