The Platinum Reunion

by T V Hartwell

  “So where do we go from here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Kirby sighed with an air of disappointment. “So the truth is that you love me but still don’t want to be in a relationship with me.”

  “The truth is that I love you, Kirby, and I’m not sure what to do about it.”

  “Or maybe you’re just afraid.”

  “Maybe I am.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Amanda and Lucy hunkered down for another long day at the small office they shared in Midtown Manhattan.

  “Oh, yay! She’s coming,” Amanda said as she sat at her desk, poring through email.

  “Who?” Lucy looked up and asked, curious.

  “Lucia Visconti,” Amanda said, exaggerating the fancy-sounding name.

  “Oh, yeah, the Glamour Girl blogger. Cool. She’s hot right now. Her blog has well over a million followers.”

  “I haven’t met her before. Have you?”

  “It’s funny. I haven’t. I’ve met most of the major fashion bloggers, but not her for some reason. She’s sort of an enigma. You know she models, too, and has become kind of a celebrity in her own right. That must be why she’s coming.”

  “For the celebrities?”

  “Exactly. Our event’s becoming the hot ticket, so of course she’s going to come. As long as she stays away from Cass, we’re cool. I hear she has a penchant for stealing boyfriends…at least in the modeling world.”

  Amanda smirked. “Well, you know the modeling world is a total swingers scene, so no surprise there.”

  “Oh, did I tell you the CEO of Delaney’s is coming?”

  “Really? I expected someone high-level but not that high. I still can’t get over the fact that they’ve made such a large preorder with all these stipulations attached but aren’t willing to pay for any of the production. They’re one of the largest department stores in the country, for God’s sake.”

  “Well, you know why?”

  “Because we have trust funds,” Amanda said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

  “Mom has a big account with them. Her line sells fairly well at their stores. I think they feel they’re doing her a favor by allowing her daughter’s bag line to be rolled out when we don’t have a proven track record yet. And, yes, because our parents have money, they want us to pay for everything. That’s the trade-off—they give us high-profile placement in their stores because we’re linked to Alana Dupree, but we have to pay for it.”

  “I mean…I know it’s a big deal to get into Delaney’s as a new brand. I’m grateful and all for the exposure, but I’m concerned about being stuck with a bunch of inventory if most of the bags don’t sell. I don’t mean to talk this to death—it’s a done deal—but this this whole all-or-nothing approach they’re taking with us is just so impractical in my view.”

  “Look at the bright side. If our line does well at Delaney’s and gets good traction, every other major luxury retailer will want a piece of the action. Our deal with them could be a big boon to business.”

  “Or a big bust. It’s a risky strategy.”

  “Well, that’s why there’s such a thing as the markdown, if we come to that, and tax write-offs too.”

  “I guess,” Amanda said in a conceding way, not wanting to belabor a point she’d already made several times in prior conversations. “Hey, speaking of tax write-offs, I was thinking that I could write off the apartment I’m going to lease as a business expense.”

  “Can you do that?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s no different from expensing a hotel suite when I’m in town, right?”

  “Sounds good to me, but I’m no tax accountant. So are you going to take the apartment you told me about across from the park?”

  “I think so. I have to make a decision about it today because apparently somebody else wants it. I’m kind of on the fence about it all of a sudden, though.”

  “Why? You’ve been talking about getting a place here for over a year, when you and Jake were still together even. Just do it already.”

  Amanda hesitated for a moment, staring at Lucy and sizing up what her reaction might be to the recent news she’d received. A part of her wanted to keep it to herself. If she and Jake ended up speaking again, there could be advantages to staying quiet about it. She knew that her family and friends would strongly disapprove of her having any contact with him. She was curious nonetheless to see what Jake might attempt to do to win her back, even though she continued to believe reconciliation was out of the question. However, Amanda couldn’t keep quiet. She had to tell someone.

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you about this call I received from my mother while I was touring that apartment yesterday.”

  “About what?”

  “About…Jake.”

  Lucy stared back at Amanda with a perplexed expression on her face.

  “He wants to get back together with me, apparently.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Lucy said, hopping out of her seat and walking over to stand in front of Amanda.

  Amanda busted out laughing, covering her mouth with her hands.

  Lucy was beside herself. “You have got to be fucking kidding me right now. Are you serious?”

  Amanda laughed uncontrollably for a few moments before regaining her composure and ability to speak clearly. “I knew that’s how you’d react. You’re so funny.”

  “This is so out of left field.”

  “I know. He called and told my mom this, of all people.”

  “What? That’s so crazy. Why? Oh my God. What a loser.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes and shook her head. Lucy’s outrage was contagious and suddenly made her feel a little less sympathetic and more outraged too. “I know. It’s stupid.”

  “Why would he call Camilla? Why couldn’t he have just called you directly?”

  “I have no idea. And then he said something weird about doing what my parents wanted him to do when he broke up with me.”

  “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “God only knows. My mother was completely baffled. She thought he might’ve been high or something. She said he wasn’t making any sense or was speaking incoherently or something. I don’t know.”

  “Jake needs to pull his head out of his ass and start paying attention. You’re with Adam now. Hellooo!”

  “Well, that’s the other thing. She thinks he’s just jealous of me and Adam being together. Now he realizes how good things were, how good we had it, and wants it all back.”

  Lucy smirked and rolled her eyes. “Please. He was cheating on you.”

  “That’s why I don’t understand why he feels misled.”

  “Misled? Misled about what? He was the one doing the misleading the whole time—being a closet case, sleeping with his best friend, and God knows who else. I don’t believe for a second that Kirby was the only one. I know you do, but that’s bullshit. I’m sorry.”

  Amanda looked at Lucy, a little annoyed. She believed that Kirby was the only one. With the passage of time, the more she’d thought about it, the more plausible it seemed to her. “You know, Jake and Kirby had been extremely close from the very start. Jake introduced me to Kirby around the same time he introduced me to his parents, right after we’d started dating. We were both home in LA for Christmas break our junior year at Stanford. I recall him telling me that he wanted to introduce me to the most important people in his life. He was so serious and deep about it. The only people he introduced me to were his family on Christmas Eve and Kirby a couple days later. That was it. We met Kirby for drinks, and I remember Jake and Kirby hugged each other and kind of held on. I had seen guys who were friends embrace before, so it didn’t shock me or anything, but I recall that when they did it there was, like…this affection…this bond between them. At the time I just thought it was really sweet that two guys felt so comfortable showing affection like that in public and then, after Jake introduced us, Kirby said to Jake, “So this is who I get to share you with?”
r />   Lucy balked and shook her head, incredulous. “And what did Jake say back?”

  “I don’t recall Jake saying anything, really. He just kind of laughed it off. Anyway, I thought, okay, so this is Jake’s best friend since prep school. Jake had many friends from prep school, but this is the only one he wanted me to meet. In fact, it was a while, months later, before I met any others. So I’m like, okay, he and Kirby are obviously very close, and I figured we’d spend a lot of time together. That’s what I took the, quote, ‘sharing’ to mean. Needless to say, I see Kirby’s comment in a completely different light now.”

  “Because they were sucking each other off the whole time,” Lucy smarted off under her breath and rolled her eyes.

  Amanda tried to ignore her and continued on. “The whole time we dated they always showed affection toward another—hugging and touching—but in a playful way. I just thought they were acting like typical bros and being silly half the time.”

  “So what’s your point? It’s okay that he cheated on you? That he lied to you? Deceived you? Were you guys even using protection?”

  Amanda huffed and gave Lucy the eye.

  “I’m sorry but, oh my God, he could’ve infected you with an STD or something.”

  “Lucy,” Amanda said in exasperation.

  “Mandi, I’m serious. I’m not trying to be cute or funny or anything. I know you think he was only with Kirby while you two were together, but what if he wasn’t? And then, how many guys and girls had Kirby been with while he swapping come with Jake? I mean, Kirby was with Antonio too, and we all know Antonio is a total whore.”

  “Lucy, Jake never gave me an STD, okay? I’ve never had an STD. Never. And yes, I did get tested after Jake told me everything. Okay? Satisfied?”

  “You did? Okay, good. You never told me that.”

  “It’s all moot at this point. All I’m trying to say is that I feel that it’s not so far-fetched to believe that the only guy Jake’s ever been with is Kirby. Knowing him and knowing how he was with me, and just knowing about his relationship with Kirby and their long history together, it seems that, at least for Jake, it’s possible. I can’t speak for Kirby, but for Jake, I can see how maybe he could’ve developed these feelings for Kirby, especially after they’d started experimenting in prep school, with the situation kind of evolving from there into a friends-with-benefits sort of thing. It’s not that unheard-of. We know and have heard of plenty of guys, especially in our industry, who’ve had these sorts of relationships or flings, particularly with married men.”

  “True, but I’m still not sure I get your point.”

  “I’m just acknowledging the fact that Jake is bi and apparently had sexual identity issues that I didn’t recognize the whole time we were together. That’s all.”

  “So what are you going to do if he calls you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know? It’s great that you seem so sympathetic and willing to forgive him for what he did, but at this point, why give him the time of day? You have a great life, and you’re with Adam now. He loves you to death. I mean, seriously, the guy worships the ground you walk on. Why go backward?”

  “I’m not saying that I’d get back with Jake, but if he wants to talk to me, I’d be willing to listen. He was my fiancé, for goodness’ sake. We dated for six years. I don’t hate him anymore. I’ve gotten over that. I feel more pity for him now than hate. He seems so lost and desperate, calling my mom like that out of the blue. That was just so random. It kind of makes me sad.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Hey, Jake!” Mike said as he popped into Jake’s office.

  “Good morning,” Jake said stoically.

  “So I hear you’re joining me and your dad for a drink later today.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “So you’re going to help us recruit players for the Justice Leo Parillo Golf Tournament?”

  “I guess,” Jake answered vaguely. That’s what Mike thought the meeting was about, but when Tom had called Jake the day before while he was with Kirby, he told him that they would use the meeting as an opportunity to confront Mike about his involvement in the scheme to stop Jake from marrying Amanda.

  “It’s all for a good cause. As you know, Justice Parillo is an emeritus member of the firm and has mediated a lot of cases for us since his retirement from the bench. So it’s good for us to have a presence at the tournament. Tom and I have been co-chairs of the fundraising committee for the last eight or ten years or so.”

  “Well, I’ll be there. I actually know a couple of guys who received the Leo Parillo Scholarship while I was in law school. Hopefully those dudes are giving back. In fact, I should hop on the phone and call them right now to see if they’re purchasing tickets to play in the tourney too.”

  “Now you’re talking. Good man. Want to join the fundraising committee?” Mike asked with a grin.

  “Uh…I think I’ll pass,” Jake said with a forced smile.

  “All right. Well, think about it. We could use some new blood. Anyway, I’ve got to run off to a meeting, but I’ll see you later. By the way, thanks for taking on that SEC investigation matter. That’s a good one for you. If we can get the situation resolved fast and avoid a court action or administrative proceeding, the client should be happy.”

  “Oh…hey, Mike!” Jake called as Mike had already stepped out of his office.

  Mike reappeared seconds later. “Yeah?”

  “I forgot to mention, I heard you guys had a conference call with Rick Climent on Monday about drawing up plans for an ESOP at one of his companies.”

  “Yes, we did,” Mike said in a matter-of-fact way.

  Jake struggled for the right choice of words as he looked at Mike. Mike looked back at him, slightly puzzled.

  After a brief stare-down, Jake capitulated. “I just thought…. It’s nothing. I’m sorry. Never mind.”

  “If you’re wondering why I didn’t include you on the call, I thought it would be obvious. I can’t risk our business relationship with Rick by getting you involved in his deals. You have a personal conflict with him. Especially given what you told me about your intention to get in touch with Amanda, which you know he’s emphatically against. I have no control over what you do in your personal life, but when it comes to business, I have to do what’s in the best interest of the firm and our client. Our relationship with Rick might already be in jeopardy as it is. So moving forward, we have to do our best to keep our business relationship with the Climent family as separate as possible from your personal relationship with them. That means from now on, you won’t be working on any client matters pertaining to Climent Partners or the Climent family anymore.”

  “I completely understand. I know how important that relationship is to the firm and to you personally, and I don’t want to get in the way any more than I already have. Besides, there’s plenty of work for me to do with other clients.”

  “Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page. Is there anything else?” Mike said as he took a quick look at his watch.

  “Has Rick spoken to you about me lately?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Well, you should know that I’ve attempted to contact him a couple times to inform him of my decision to reach out to Amanda.”

  Mike locked his jaw tight, and his mood became tense. “In light of what we’ve just talked about, do you really feel that’s necessary?”

  “I do, because I didn’t want him to be caught by surprise and hear after the fact that I was communicating with Amanda again. Plus, I didn’t know if you’d spoken with him or not about my change of heart about everything.”

  “I did speak to him about that, and he does know.”

  “Okay. I didn’t know that. I guess that explains why he’s not taking my calls.”

  “I had to tell him, Jake. I would’ve been derelict in my duty as his lawyer had I not made him aware that you no longer planned to abide by the agreement you’d made with him
, even though it was more of a meeting of the minds than an actual written agreement.”

  “I understand. I just wish I’d known. I ended up calling and speaking to Camilla instead Monday evening.”

  “Why’d you call her?”

  “Because Rick wasn’t taking my calls, and I wanted to make sure they knew what I was planning to do beforehand out of respect. I didn’t expect them to approve or anything, but I thought they should know nevertheless. It was interesting. When I spoke to Camilla, she didn’t seem to know what I was talking about in terms of the agreement. She didn’t even acknowledge that I’d broken up with Amanda because that’s what she and Rick wanted me to do.”

  Mike frowned. “That’s odd.”

  “I guess it’s all just part of the façade,” Jake said, glaring at Mike.

  “What façade?”

  “Mike, don’t you think it’s at all strange that Amanda is dating again and is in a very public relationship with a well-known celebrity-slash-producer? You didn’t seem terribly surprised the last time I brought this up with you.”

  “Well, like I told you before, Rick said that Amanda wasn’t having psychotic episodes like before, but that they would take whatever steps necessary to intervene if her symptoms returned. You know, maybe she had a lot of anxiety around marriage in general and about marrying you in particular. Perhaps that’s what triggered the psychotic episodes in the first place, and this alternate personality, Maggie, was like a coping mechanism or an inner voice, kind of like a devil’s advocate—”

  “Mike, do you really know for a fact that Amanda was having psychotic episodes and was suffering from split personality or from some form of schizophrenia?”

  “All I know is what Rick communicated to me.”

  “So you never spoke to her doctors?”

  “No.”

  “And Rick never showed you any medical records?”

  “No. I took Rick at his word. What reason would I have not to?”

  “Interesting,” Jake said, his tone dripping with skepticism.