by Nella Tyler
Something peculiar caught my eye as we made our way to take our seats at the end of the bar. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lindsay and her friend chatting.
Lindsay saw me too. She tried to avert her eyes and pretend like she didn’t, but when I stopped right beside her, she didn’t have a choice but to take note of my presence. Even though I had avoided her all day, I couldn’t resist the urge to play with her just a little bit.
“You’re headed back to work, right?” I questioned with a cocky smirk.
“Oh, yeah,” Ina said with a laugh. Lindsay attempted to laugh too, but it came off far more uncomfortable than sincere. I had her right where I wanted her for the time being—distant.
“Okay,” I said simply and continued on my way.
Sarah and I took a seat at the last two barstools at the end of the bar. And I knew that if I was going to lock this down for my father, I had to get into game mode. And I knew just the trick to get Sarah right where I wanted her the same way I knew exactly how to get Lindsay where I wanted her.
Every girl was different. Each had their own traits and flaws. Each had their own personalities, so each girl required different treatment to get what I wanted out of them.
Chapter Sixteen
Lindsay
There was definitely something wrong with me. I found myself in the office bathroom sitting on the toilet with the lid down, all while trying to keep myself from crying. There were two other women in the bathroom and I was sure they saw me walk in. They stood at the mirror fixing their hair, like who the hell cares what they look like at work?
I pinched my fingers over the bridge of my own and let out a gentle sniffle before reaffirming to myself that I was a strong woman, and I needed to stop crying over a man who wasn’t even mine.
By the time Ina and I left the Burger Bar, Caleb and his beautiful model friend were laughing like hyenas, and generally having a great, drunk time together. There were at least twelve empty beer bottles, and I presume there were many more that followed after I left. It felt like a violation of sorts, like somehow Caleb knew where I was and brought his blonde bimbo friend to torture me. Fucking men.
I don’t know what it said about me that the sight of the two of them together almost made me sick, and I hated myself for opening my legs for him. What in the actual fuck was I thinking? So fucking stupid.
After the two women left the bathroom, I excited the stalls. Holding myself up with one hand on each side of the sink, I forced myself to take a good look at myself and then pointed squarely at my reflection in the mirror.
“You are a grown-ass woman, and you need to start making better decisions.”
And then I smiled, as if I was responding to myself. Eh, maybe I was going crazy. That would explain the hysterics lately. I nodded my head gently and took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom and heading towards my desk.
On my way to my desk, I marched past the break room and was caught by the aromas of fresh coffee, and I couldn’t resist. So, I stepped into the small room and grabbed a Styrofoam cup. My nerves and emotions were already too shot to be able to hand a punch to the adrenaline, so decaffeinated it was.
I stirred in two packets of sugar, and just when I was about to head out, I noticed Fred and Tara talking right outside the door. The natural thing to do was to stuff my body against the corner and eavesdrop on the conversation.
“So, tell me more about this call,” Tara prodded Fred, which was a funny turn of events because she was always too busy prodding Lance, if you catch my drift.
“I don’t know if I should be talking about it,” Fred said, but leaned in close to her. “The IRS is trying to get a hold of Caleb.”
“Shit,” Tara scoffed. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“About what?”
I craned my head slightly around the corner to get a good peek at them. I understood in doing so that I was taking a little bit of a risk, but I didn’t mind. It was nice listening in on other people’s problems, instead of battling the problems inside my own head.
Fred cocked his head one way to make sure nobody was listening, and then the other. I dodged back around the corner and prayed that he didn’t see me. When he started to speak again, I took a sigh of relief and listened intently.
“Apparently, they’ve already sent letters to his personal address and are about to file suit against him for tax evasion.”
“Shut up,” Tara said in the most grating voice I’ve ever heard, the type of tone that would come out of a preteen girl’s mouth. “This is crazy.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, to be honest.”
“Well…” she began, but took a brief pause, “how does something like this even happen?”
“I don’t know, but for right now, I want to keep it on the down low.”
“Yeah, that’s probably the smartest thing to do right now.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure. Anything,” Tara said.
“Okay, here’s what I want you to do,” he said, and by this time I was peeking around the corner at the two of them again, hoping again they wouldn’t notice me. “I want you to go pull all the records, and don’t tell say anything to anyone until I can validate the issue. There’s no fucking way I’m going in there,” he points towards Caleb’s office, “if this is one of those phone scams. We’ll make sure everything is fine first, which I think it should be, and then talk to Caleb.”
“Right,” Tara said in agreement. “I think that’s the best possible plan. You don’t want to poke that beast if it’s over nothing.”
“Exactly.” He shook his head and glanced down at the silver watch on his wrist. “I have a meeting in five minutes, so I need to get out of here.”
“Okay, and don’t worry about any of this. I’m going to go pull the records now.”
“Good. Thank you.” He braced one arm on the wall and twisted on his feet to leave. As he was walking away, he craned his head over one shoulder and placed one finger against his lips.
Tara nodded and went the opposite direction, towards the elevator.
When they were both gone, I stood against the corner of the wall and tried to take it all in. It didn’t exactly seem right that they were keeping this from Caleb. After all, it seemed to be a personal matter and not a business matter, but I wasn’t the most knowledgeable about taxes and everything that goes with them. Still, I knew that he had the right to know what was going on, and maybe he just missed the letters sent in the mail, or they were never actually delivered. Maybe, like Fred insisted, it could have been one of those popular scams that were going around.
All I knew is that I wasn’t okay with what Fred and Tara were doing to Caleb. And yeah, I’m capable of admitting that I wanted to inform Caleb what was going on, on some level, just because it was Tara who was keeping the secret. And while I didn’t hate Tara, I definitely wasn’t fond of her.
I might not have liked what Caleb was doing to me, but did like my job a lot—for the most part, though there were days when I wanted nothing more than to call in sick permanently. On top of liking my job, I also really respected and admired Nathan, Caleb’s partner. If there was something going on, then it was only right that Nathan also knew.
I marched towards Caleb’s office with bated breath and clammy palms. This was my opportunity to spill everything that had been on my mind, from the potential tax evasion lawsuit talks to the fact that the numbers hadn’t been run yet for our mutual project. Depending on how those conversations went, then perhaps I could even tell him everything else that’d been on my mind, though I knew he’d probably prefer if I didn’t. He seemed to be the type of guy who sucked at communication, sometimes on purpose.
I passed his secretary without so much as giving her a nod. I was too determined to have that hussy inform me that I would have to make an appointment. Fat chance of that happening. I was carrying integral information on multiple fronts and what I needed to say could
n’t wait.
His door was open, so I just rushed right in and slammed the door behind me before Laura could protest.
Sitting in his chair, he rolled his eyes in my direction and groaned. “What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
“Yikes.” He grimaced and pushed himself to his feet. He circled the desk to stand in front of me. “I’m not really in a talking mood.”
“I’m being serious.” I wetted my lips. “This can’t wait, Caleb.”
“Sure it can.” He latched one strong hand around my arm and guided me to the door. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Unless you’re playing with your dick, then I don’t happen to think you’re busy at all.”
“Interesting.” He ripped the door open and nudged me slightly until I was standing outside. “Then what reason would I have to not talk to you?”
“I don’t know,” I scoffed as I began to lose focus about why I was really here. “Why don’t you tell me.”
“I did,” he said through a cocky grin. “Remember?”
“You’re not busy,” I scolded him. “And even if you were, then you really need to hear what I have to say.”
“I’m busy.” He closed the door on my face and I heard the lock turn. From behind the closed door, he continued. “Period.”
I stood there wide-eyed and partially in denial. I knew he could be an asshole, but this was a new low and it confirmed what I had known all along—that he was avoiding me since our tryst in the board room.
Well, fuck you too, I thought to myself, though I’d never say those words aloud. After all, I did love my job and saying those words to the CEO would most certainly stamp a one-way ticket to the unemployment line.
Chapter Seventeen
Caleb
One Week Later
I took the day off to just enjoy the peace and quiet, which was an abnormality for me. Sure, my reputation was that I played hard, but I also worked hard. Extremely hard. I was still young but was already looking forward to the day when I could take a mini-retirement, perhaps for six months to a year. Unfortunately, I got called into my office for a last minute meeting so I was already a little annoyed.
I was busy going through an extensively large stack of mail that I had brought from home. I had neglected for the past few weeks. Most of it was bullshit, but there was one letter I couldn’t ignore, addressed to me from the IRS. Just when I was about to cut the letter open, I got lost in my thoughts…
It had been a stressful week dodging Lindsay at seemingly every corner. She even showed up at the same bar I went to with Sarah. Although, technically she was there first, so I didn’t know what was up there. Thankfully, after I closed the door on her face, she left me alone. I was grateful that she wasn’t bothering me anymore and that Sarah had returned back home to the East Coast after her brief visit.
She ended up signing the contract with my father, so in the end, I did what I was supposed to do. I successfully wooed her and conned her into doing business with my Dad. She said she wanted me to come visit soon, but still hadn’t decided if I was going to do that. I was definitely leaning towards not going.
When my father asked how I persuaded her to sign the contact, I answered with a sly wink and left the details to his imagination. I’m sure that my sexual prowess played a huge factor. After we left the burger bar, I ate her out for a good hour. Immediately after, we fucked, but it was mediocre at best on her end, thus the part where I’m not exactly sure I want to see her again. And besides, it made me feel like a whore myself and not the good kind of whore I prided myself on being in college. I felt dirty, and that was a new first for me.
And though I had been ignoring her, I couldn’t help but think about Lindsay. Both while I was sitting alone in my penthouse and when I was with Sarah. And then when I got called into the office. She had a way of getting into my mind and not leaving, and it fucking drove me easy. I think my ignoring of her was starting to weigh heavily on her as she hadn’t been her positive upbeat self lately. Fuck, I thought to myself, I should probably check up on her.
But I couldn’t do it myself, so I phoned up Nathan and waited for him to answer.
“What’s up?”
“I know this is probably a weird request,” I said.
“Good God. I can hardly imagine.” He groaned. “What is it, Caleb?”
“It’s about Lindsay—” I began, but stopped when Nathan stepped through the office door.
He had a mischievous grin plastered across his face and moved to speak into the phone, but I hung up. He followed suit and slid his phone into his pocket. “Seriously, dude. What’s up?”
“Typical bullshit.”
“Typical Lindsay bullshit?”
I cocked a brow at him. “How did you know?”
“You must be really flustered, Caleb.” He approached my desk. “You just said her name on the phone.”
“Oh…” I drummed my fingers along the surface of the desk. “Right.”
“So, what is this about?” He clapped his hands together and grinned. “Are you dragging me into this mess because you know I was right when I said it was a bad idea in the first place?”
I cocked my head sideways and pretended as if we never had that conversation. Pretended that I definitely didn’t remember those words coming out of his mouth. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“I know you don’t,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “So, tell me how I can help you with your Lindsay problem that I warned you that you would have.”
“That’s somewhat of a tongue twister.”
“Spill, Caleb,” he said, growing slightly annoyed at my delaying the topic at hand.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “I just need you to check up on her, you know. See how she’s doing.”
“Seriously?” He frowned. “Why can’t you just do that yourself?”
“Because I’ve been ignoring her all week.”
“You really are a piece of work.”
I smiled a shit-eating grin. “A rich piece of work.”
“What do I get out of this?”
I scratched at the top of my head, trying to think of something I could use to persuade him into doing what I needed him to do, but came up empty. “I’ll take all your meetings next Friday so you can have a three-day weekend.”
“Nope.” He shook his head and crossed his arms. “I’m going to need Monday off too.”
“Seriously?” I arched my brow at him, growing a little annoyed myself. It wasn’t like I was asking him the world’s biggest favor. “Fine,” I grumbled and relented when I saw that he wasn’t going to budge on this.
“Okay, I’m going to go check on her now.” He chuckled. “It’s not like I have anything to do for the next hour anyway.”
“You’re an asshole,” I said playfully, realizing he had played me. “When you check on her, can you do it in a around about kind of way? The last thing I need is for her to know that I sent you.”
He shrugged and stepped to the office door before pulling it open. “I guess we’ll see,” he said and shut the door behind him on his way out.
“Fucking bastard,” I grumbled under my breath and reached for the letter from the IRS to cut it open. What the fuck did it say about me that I was more concerned with my thoughts about Lindsay than I was about a letter from the worst fucking people you could ever get a letter from.
I ripped it open with my fingers and unfolded the letter. Jesus Christ, I thought to myself as my eyes skimmed the letter, resting upon a few choice statements overall. The most troubling parts of the letter:
Final Warning…
We have been trying to reach you at your residence and office…
You assets will be placed on lien until the matter of accused tax evasion is cleared up…
Multiple mailings, calls…
The fuck is going on, I thought to myself. At first I was consumed with confusion, but confusion quickly gave way to anger. �
��Where the fuck is Fred?” I questioned to myself before pushing myself to my feet. I threw my office chair backward and it landed with a loud thud against the back wall.
I ripped the office door open and began searching with my eyes for Fred. Laura recoiled slightly when I passed her. There’s no way she couldn’t sense the anger bleeding from my pores. I was going to get answers one way or the other, and I was not about to take the fall for this when I had done nothing wrong.
I had hired people I trusted to do their damn jobs, and someone was going to fix this shit before it escalated any further. My entire way of life was at jeopardy with my assets being placed on lien, not to mention my freedom. No way was I going to prison for this shit.
My trusted accountants were responsible for compiling my taxes and tax bill. Whatever they showed me, that’s exactly what I paid. And I paid a lot, so this entire thing had to be a misunderstanding.
If there was any blame to be passed around, then it landed solely in Fred’s hands. Surely the bastard would have said something to me. Surely he must’ve known what was going on. He was the head of accounting, for fuck’s sake.
It had been an entire week since I’d forwarded the phone call over to Fred. Even if he didn’t take the call, he would have gotten a voicemail about it. My mind was racing, my heart was pumping. I was out for blood and answers. What the fuck was going on?”
I finally spotted Fred hanging around what we called “The Lion’s Den.” It was where most of the entry-level employees were housed, far enough away from the offices to not distract the upper management.
“You,” I said and pointed a finger squarely at him. “We need to talk.”
“Right now?” he questioned, his eyes searching either side of him like he was trying to figure out if I was talking to him. Of course I was fucking talking to him.
