“I thought he handled most of the things via email? That’s how all of us have been handling documents these days.”
"I know, honey, but these are confidential and need to be signed in person." She handed me a stack of thick manila folders. "He'll know what it's about."
They felt heavy in my hands, dread in my stomach. So much for being able to avoid him before I left.
But maybe I could make it into something positive. Clear the air between us, leave with no regrets and nothing unsaid. After all the recent talk with Minna, closure was on my mind. And in the newfound spirit of not running away or shying from the ugly… I’d deliver them to him.
Tomorrow I’d work my last day.
And the day after I’d leave New York behind.
24
Ada
I heard the doorbell ring on the other side. My heart beat so loudly I could hear it, audibly, as I waited for him to open the door. Hello. Here are your documents. Thanks for these months. Also, you’re an ass. Bye. See you never.
Perfect. Adult, classy, and just a bit petulant.
I shook my head and tried to get my emotions under control as footsteps approached on the other side. The door swung open.
"Hello." Grant's expression registered surprise but swiftly shifted into something guarded. His shirt was rolled up to his elbows, lazily tucked into a pair of grey suit pants. He was too attractive for his own good.
“Linda send me over with documents for you to sign.” I held them up in front of me as if they were a shield.
“Great. Come in.”
The dining room table had been transformed into a copy of his office, an open laptop humming, and papers strewn about. A large cup of coffee sat atop a stack of books.
“You’re bugging everyone in the office with all your emails, you know,” I pointed out.
He looked up from the documents I’d brought. “Huh? Yeah. But they need to know what to do.”
“We do,” I said. “Both you and Adam are making sure of that.”
“Have you heard that Ben Harris has been caught on tape confessing to setting me up?” He snorted. “I always knew he was too pompous for his own good. It’ll only be a matter of time until the lawyers can get the whole thing dismissed. And then we’ll sue him for slander.”
“Yeah, I heard something about that.” I wrapped my arms around myself. His hair was disheveled, and the stupid urge to run my fingers through it and see the frown on his face relax returned.
He paused at the table. “I understood that no one in the executive branch believed the rumors.”
“Of course not.”
“Thank you for trusting me, Ada.”
“Everyone at the firm did. The idea that you’d embezzle is absurd.”
There was the faint sound of his fingers against the table. “I’ll admit that it came as a surprise.”
He’d worked for this company for seven years. I’d seen employees linger around corners to try to time when he arrived at work, just so they could later claim they’d said hi to the maverick boss who singlehandedly brought Hathaway’s into the 21st century. And he thought no one cared? Sadness and anger chased one other inside me.
“It’s nice to be believed,” I said softly. “When you’re deserving of it.”
“About that…. I’m sorry, Ada. I’ve thought a lot about what happened the night after Harry’s retirement party. I was wrong.”
"You were," I said, wrapping my arms tighter around myself as if I could somehow smother the emotions rising up inside. This would not do. I was leaving in two days, damn it.
“And I have to admit that you’ve done a good job at Hathaway’s, regardless of what your initial motivation was.”
My heart beat with an aching, staccato rhythm. Damn him for doing this now. I’d made the decision not to let him in. It hurt too much when he’d leave again, retreat back into his shell. There was no way I could handle that again.
“And you’ve turned out to be a fairly decent boss, despite what I initially feared.”
His lip curled slightly at that. “Tomorrow’s your last day. Are the others taking you out?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t want to.”
“Got plans with your friends?” He looked back down at the table, his tone turning dismissive.
“No. And the people you saw me with aren’t actually my friends.”
“I thought they were great people?”
“Not really. They’re people I used to spend time with once. I thought I’d give it another try, for old times sake, but…” I shrugged.
Grant’s gaze caught mine, face still impassive but eyes intense. “Glad to hear it. You deserve better.”
My mouth went dry. Why did he say things like this? He was the one who had gone on a date not a week after we’d argued.
"I might say the same about you," I said coolly. "The woman you were out with looked like a stock photo, Grant," I said it as an insult, sneering, tapping into the teen I'd once pretended to be on occasion. Only then did it strike me that it might be exactly what Grant would want in a woman - stiff, beautiful perfection, all trim edges and neat seams.
He gave a humorless laugh. “It was an interview with a reporter. Not a date.”
I bit my lip. His eyes were locked on mine as if daring me to object. It made sense, even if it was an odd place to choose to conduct such a meeting.
“Doesn’t change anything,” I murmured. “I was never using you. Can you believe that? Not just think it - actually believe it, Grant.”
He rose abruptly and moved to the window. His hands were in his pockets, and I thought it looked like they were knotted so tightly that his knuckles must have been white. For a long moment, I didn’t think he would answer.
“I don’t do relationships, Ada. I can’t.”
A hard knot settled in my stomach. “What you’re saying is that you don’t want to try to have something real.”
Grant shook his head. “It’s not giving up when there’s no chance at all. It was a bad idea for us both to get involved. Come on, you knew that from the start, too.”
“I did,” I said. “I guess somewhere along the line I just decided you were worth it.”
I saw his shoulders tremble slightly at that. Anger rose up in me. He’d accused me of faking everything with him, potentially dated someone else, and then he had the audacity to say we’d been doomed from the start. Like that was the reason what we had couldn’t continue.
“But these are all flimsy excuses. I think you’re scared. And do you know why I think that? Because I am too. What I feel for you terrifies me. It terrifies me, Grant. And yet I tried, and I’m saying it now, because I want to be honest with you about that. And you have the nerve to shut me out?”
Grant shook his head. “No, Ada, it’s not that simple.”
“Of course it is. It’s only complicated if you make it.” I stifled the sob rising up in my chest. “It’s either that, or you don’t care about me at all. I can handle both. But don’t try to lie to me.”
“There is no future for us.”
I nodded and looked back down at the papers on his desk. They were far easier to face than his gaze. “Can you sign the documents now please, so I can take them to the office tomorrow?”
He bent and finished off each page, writing his name in bold, sharp strokes of black ink. There was a jerkiness to his movements I wasn’t used to seeing, none of the normal grace or self-composure.
“Ada,” he murmured when the last one was finished. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“Well, you did.” I took the stack of papers from him and slid them back into the manila envelope. “Goodbye, Grant. I’m sure you’ll be back as acting CEO in no time - the lawyers say it’s just a formality now.”
I moved to leave, swinging my bag across my shoulder.
“Congratulations on your last day,” he said abruptly. “I’ll be happy to write you a recommendation letter if you want. For whatever you’re heading off to do
next.”
I couldn’t help it - I laughed. Of course that would be what he said now. I moved to the door. “Great. I appreciate that.”
“Friends, Ada?”
I turned back, a sad smile on my face. "Were we ever, really?"
The door closed behind me with finality.
* * *
There is no future for us. Which, of course, was code for I don’t want you in my future.
The words hurt because of the truth in them. He wasn’t an impulsive person; he was someone who planned and plotted his life. And if he genuinely couldn’t see a way to work me into it, it was because he didn’t want me there. And that hurt more than I had ever expected it to.
Well, that was that. At least we’d had it out on last time. I’d tried, and been burned, and now we could both move on. Gosh, I knew I didn’t need any more distractions. Where I was heading tomorrow would be challenging enough.
Sarah dropped a small, silvery bag on my desk after lunch, an expectant smile on her face.
“Go on,” she said. “Open it.”
Adam peered around the corner, and I saw Linda smiling from her desk. “It’s from all of us. A little farewell present,” she called.
“You guys. You shouldn’t!”
“We had to. You’re the best executive intern we’ve ever had!”
I gave Sarah a measured look. “I’m also the first.”
“Yes, well, that doesn’t matter. Come on, look inside.”
I laughed and opened the bag. Inside lay a small silver box wrapped with gold ribbon and a packet of chocolate truffles. I fished out the silver box and opened it carefully. Inside lay a small replica of the statue of Artemis from Burch’s collection, the one we successfully sold to a museum in Milan.
“You shouldn’t have.”
“We had to,” Linda said, grinning.
“The crowning achievement of your internship,” Adam said.
“Thank you. It’s been a pleasure working with all of you,” I said, mortified to feel tears threatening to well up. “It’s been one of the best experiences of my life.”
“The same for us, dear,” Linda said softly. “It’s just a shame the CEO himself can’t be here and see you off.”
I looked down at the small silver box. “Yes. Such a shame.”
The receptionist gave me a wide smile when I turned in my security card and password generator at the end of the day. The sun was still out for another hour, and the frosty spring air had started to give way to the warmth of approaching summer.
“Thanks for this time, Miss. Hathaway,” she told me. “Have a good one.”
“You too, Darlene. You too.”
At home, my bag was already packed by virtue of my sleepless nights. The place felt empty, this little apartment that Dad had bought for me directly after graduation. A place neither my mother or Max had ever been in, a place only for me and mine. That had saddened me for so long. But maybe I could make it into a proper home when I returned.
I wiped down all the surfaces, pulled out electric appliances from the outlets, made sure there was no perishable food in the fridge. The car would be downstairs soon to drive me to JFK. Outside my living room windows, the skyline of New York glittered on, as endless and beautiful as a night sky.
“See you later,” I whispered.
25
Grant
The lawyers managed to get the case dismissed in record time, allowing me to return to the firm the following week. After board meetings and talking with the staff, it became clear that no one had believed in the embezzlement rumors.
“They were like a smoke screen,” one of the board members told me. “We are all aware of the feud with Jack and Thorns. It was always clear they were involved, one way or another.”
Arthur had been outraged, calling me daily in an unusual outpour of support. Not one had put forth a motion to dismiss me from my position as a CEO. As far as I could tell, it hadn't even been discussed.
And they were just as hungry for revenge as I was.
“How likely do you think it’ll be to get him with the tape?” I asked Roger.
“I’d say it’s 50-50. It didn’t take a lot of digging to discover the accusations were false, so I believe it was rather an attempt to bury us in paperwork and litigation. It would put you out of the office, sir, and our stockholders in a tizzy.”
"And in the meanwhile, they could keep poaching our clients."
He nodded. “While we’d like to use the tape to prove slander and fraudulent behavior, the way it was obtained means it would be inadmissible in court.”
“That’s a shame. I never heard the story of how, exactly, you got it?”
Roger smiled. “The youngest Hathaway. Why, she called him, suspecting that he wouldn’t be able to resist bragging and made sure a colleague taped the whole conversation.”
“Ada? She was the one who gave you the tape?”
"Yes. Not a day after the accusation against you was first made."
My hands tightened along the edge of my desk. I’d assumed it had been leaked from within his own firm. How had she managed that? She must have tricked Ben, figured out immediately that he was behind this.
Hell, she had gotten to that conclusion faster than the lawyers.
“Can I hear it? The tape?”
“Yes. I’ll leave a copy of it behind here. But just to remind you - this cannot leave the ongoing investigation.
“It won’t.”
He stood to leave, putting a silver USB on the desk. “I’ll keep you updated.”
I spun the USB around in my hand, thinking. “Hey. We might not be able to use this in a court. But how about we make sure that the board of Jack and Thorn’s get it?”
Roger gave smiled. “They would fire him as CEO. Fraud is not something they could ever condone.”
“Exactly. Say what you will about Ben Harris, but his firm is not entirely rotten.”
“We’ll have it done tomorrow, sir.”
I leaned back and watched him go, the USB a small but palpable weight in my hand. Ada had made the call, had made sure we got the proof needed to clear my name.
I plugged it into the computer and hit play. Even through the poor quality of the recording, the anger in Ada’s voice was palpable. She’d called to defend me - furious even before she got his admission.
She’d never once believed I was guilty.
And I had believed she was playing me right away, as soon as her father told me about the trust fund. I leaned forward and put my head in my hands. I had managed to push her away, and somehow she had retained her belief in me. Not her respect, though - that much had been clear after she dropped by my house. How did anyone try to be good enough to live up to that?
She was a genuinely good person, through and through, kind in ways I’d rarely encountered before. Sharp as a blade.
There was no way I could hear this tape and not make sure that she knew I was aware of her help.
I stopped at her building after work to thank her.
“Mr. Wood,” Billy greeted me with a grin. “Come to visit Miss. Hathaway?”
“Yes. Could you call up, please?”
“I’m afraid she’s not in, sir.”
“Alright. I’ll just leave a message with reception for when she does.”
“Certainly. But between you and me, sir, that might take a while. She left last weekend with some real luggage.”
“Left? As in, for traveling?”
“That’s Miss Hathaway’s personal business, sir. All I’m saying is that perhaps calling might be the faster option, if you’ve got something urgent to convey.”
“Okay. Well, thank you.”
She’d left? Immediately after finishing her internship?
Maybe she left because of me, because of the argument and the things I'd said. We have no future. It was still true - I knew I’d disappoint her. Hell, I already had, and we weren’t even in a relationship.
But I knew I was being self-centered.
She’d probably left with friends, finally free of the internship. Eager to get away.
Even so, she needed to know that I was grateful, that I knew I had her to thank for getting the embezzlement charges dropped and my name cleared. Without her quick thinking… the board might have swung in an entirely different direction.
I owed her everything.
Her name on my phone shone with bright, abrasive light. I typed a quick thank-you, careful to keep it professional.
Grant: I heard you were the one who made sure we got Ben Harris confession on tape. Smart thinking. Thank you, Ada.
The answer was immediate.
Ada: No worries. Knew you weren’t an embezzler.
And that was that. I slid the phone into the running pocket of my track pants and headed out, back into the darkness of Central Park and the steady oblivion of burning lungs and aching legs. No need to think about where she was, what she was doing. With whom.
She was gone. I would be more productive. The sun still shone.
Everything was great.
* * *
Except, of course, that it wasn’t.
It’s an odd thing, when a storm has passed, leaving the weather once again calm. But it’s wrecked everything in its path. Moved things around, rearranged trees and rocks and fences until the landscape is the same but the features forever altered.
I didn’t know how to adapt in the world she’d left behind.
Linda made veiled hints about Ada being in Europe for the spring, disappearing just after the internship ended. It had been nearly two weeks and no one had heard from her in the office. It was as if she had disappeared, fallen off the earth, returned to where she had come from.
Was she with that group of people I’d seen her with at the hotel? She’d denied they were friends, but if she was with them, I couldn’t imagine them being up to anything good.
There was one easy answer. Arthur.
Look But Don't Touch: Enemies to Lovers Page 17
