Hard As Stone

by K. M. Scott

  My sister’s reference to Diana made my chest painfully constrict like it always did when I thought of her, but I couldn’t help but focus on what she said after that. I knew how much it bothered Tressa that our father had some paternal fantasy about his only son taking over the business when he had a perfectly wonderful child who could do wonders with Stone Worldwide. Not that he didn’t think Tressa wasn’t a terrific person to run the company, but he never mentioned her doing that without including me in his future plans, unfortunately.

  “Planning on organizing a hostile takeover, sis?” I asked, only half-joking. Tressa Stone had ice water in her veins, and I could easily imagine her doing something pretty fucking awful to get me out of her hair here at Stone Worldwide.

  My sister rolled her eyes. “You’re always so melodramatic, Ethan. It must be the artistic temperament in you. No, I don’t plan to do anything terrible to you, my dear brother. I’m here to propose a plan. You want out of here, and I want you out. So get back to your photography and try not making it a cover for sleeping with anything with legs. You prove to Daddy that you belong in that world, and I will make sure I support your choices with him one hundred percent. Deal?”

  For a moment there, I’d had a real hope she’d get me thrown out of the building or something. Clearly in her desire to get rid of me, she hadn’t thought this plan through very well.

  “It wouldn’t matter if I won an IPA or the National Geographic Photo Contest. He still wouldn’t think I should spend the rest of my life doing what I love. You’re going to have to think harder, Tress.”

  Frustrated, she stopped in front of my desk and grimaced. “You know, you had a good thing going there and you blew it. All you had to do was keep it in your pants, and you’d still be globetrotting today. At the very least, you should have kept things on the down low.”

  I couldn’t help but straighten her out on the facts. I did not blow it. What happened wasn’t all my fault.

  “There were two people involved, you know. In fact, I’d say she had more to do with what happened than me. Some might say I was wrongly punished.”

  Tressa rolled her eyes at my statement. “Some would be morons then. You slept with that girl and she fell in love with you. Then you broke it off with her because you’re a fool, which unfortunately is par for the course for your sex. That she chose not to cover your ass with her boss after you broke her heart isn’t her fault. It’s yours.”

  I didn’t want to hear any more of this. I didn’t actually believe it was Summer’s fault I was stuck in this office and working for my family’s business. I just didn’t think it was all my fault.

  “Do you hate all men, Tressa? Is that why you’re still so very single?” I asked, feeling the desire to needle my sister for her unhelpful comments. She’d made a bad day worse.

  My questions had the opposite effect, though, and she threw her head back in peals of laughter. “Don’t be ridiculous. God, you artistic types are so emotional. I don’t hate all men, Ethan. I love Daddy and I love you. As for my being single, I know how to keep my personal affairs just that. Personal. You could learn a thing or two from me. You don’t see anyone plastering the details of my sex life all over Page Six or any of those ridiculous gossip sites, and you can be sure I do just fine in that area.”

  My mind flashed the vision of my sister biting the head off some guy she’d just had sex with like some human version of a praying mantis. That would explain why there was never any gossip about her sex life.

  Shuddering from the mere thought, I forced my brain to return to her initial reason for coming to see me. “Well, none of this means anything to me ever getting sprung from this prison. When Tristan Stone wants you to do something, you do it. You’ve lived as long as I have with him as your father. You should know that by now.”

  That truth seemed to deflate my sister a little. Scowling, she nodded. “True. Our father is a man who makes his wishes become reality, but I like to think I take after him in that regard, and I think you working here is one of the very few bad decisions he’s made. Therefore, I’m going to rectify that. You need to do your part, though, so get that camera of yours out and start doing what you do best.”

  “And how do you know I won’t tell him all about this plan of yours in the hopes that I might get in his good graces?” I asked as she headed toward the door.

  Tressa stopped and slowly turned around. Smiling, she shook her head. “You know beauty, Ethan. You see things through the lens that most people will never see. I, on the other hand, know people. I know human nature, and I know there’s no way you would tell him, and even if you did, you’d only upset him. Tristan Stone prides himself on a few things—the love he has for our mother, the three of us, and Stone Worldwide. You’d be a fool to underestimate how much he loves this company. So no, I don’t believe you would tell him what we’ve spoken about today. Contrary to common opinion, you’re quite smart, Ethan. So get taking pictures.”

  I watched her walk out and couldn’t help but wish her plan would work. I hadn’t taken a single picture since the day I got the news that I’d been fired from Belle for fraternizing. As much as I wanted to think I could just pick up my camera and take great shots again, as I sat there in that office that felt like a jail cell, I wasn’t sure anymore.

  Chapter Ten

  Summer

  I heard the music from half a block away, and instantly, my stomach clenched in disgust. My two roommates were at it again. Didn’t those two ever sleep?

  As I slowly made my way back to the apartment, I wondered what the group would look like tonight. For the past week, Amber and Elise had entertained a variety of guys who were a terrible mixture of hipster douchebags and beer connoisseurs. Or at least they thought they were. Each time they came to the apartment, they brought along a different brew and their endless knowledge of the drink. My roommates listened to them as if they were lecturing on the way to make a million dollars in a day, hanging on every word like it was gold. Then afterward, they drank all the beer and proceeded to spend the rest of their time offending everyone in the neighborhood.

  Stopping in front of my building, I stared up at the apartment window. The loud music and laughter told me the beer lecture tonight had concluded early, and now they had moved on to the partying portion of the night. My cell phone would soon be ringing with calls from the rest of the residents of our building since somewhere along the way, I’d turned into the designated roommate.

  Even if I wanted to try to forget how awful it felt after losing my job and my apartment and being forced to move in with Amber and Elise, each night made the misery fresh again. I tried to stay away from my temporary home as long as possible, but after a full day of job searching, a girl got worn-out and wanted to crawl into bed. Thankfully, I was dead tired all the time or I’d never get to sleep with the noise my roommates and their boyfriends du jour created.

  I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I can do this. This is only temporary. I’ll get a job and then I’ll be able to move somewhere else. This isn’t that bad.

  From the apartment, I heard Elise yelp, “Brent, that’s so wrong! I love it!”

  I shuddered as my mind conjured up ideas about what I’d be walking into just a few minutes after my climb up the stairs to the third floor. To myself, I mumbled, “Please don’t let it be anything sexual. Please, God, don’t let it be that tonight.”

  On the second floor, I tried to avoid making eye contact with Angela Radisson, our neighbor directly beneath us, but it was no use. She’d had to deal with them for God only knew how long today, and she’d already had enough.

  “Summer, I know they aren’t your responsibility, but I just wanted to give you a head’s up. The rest of the building has spoken to the landlord about eviction. I spoke up in your defense, but you know how people are. I’m sorry.”

  Her big blue eyes filled with sadness for me, which made all of this a tiny bit better. At least no one thought I was the problem.

  I nodd
ed and just shrugged. “Thanks. I guess I better get looking for a new place. If I can get them to tone it down tonight, I will, okay?” I said sheepishly as I began walking up toward the third floor.

  “Cheer up, hon. Things can only get better,” she said in a voice filled with forced optimism.

  I didn’t answer her. I had no idea if that was true. God, I hoped it was because if things got any worse, I didn’t know if I’d be able to take it.

  As I suspected, I walked into an apartment that stunk like beer and cheap cologne. The guys for the night looked like every other male they’d brought home—bad haircuts, douchebag beards that made them look like Amish wannabees, and cut-rate clothes. I didn’t focus on their faces as I walked through the living room. I wouldn’t likely see them again, so what was the point?

  “Angela from the floor below says that the rest of the building is working to get us evicted,” I said without a hint of emotion as I strolled past the foursome sitting on the couch.

  “Why?” Amber asked in a high-pitched voice. “We pay our rent on time every month. What’s the problem?”

  The guy whose lap she sat on echoed her question before Elise said, “That takes months. I know about this kind of stuff. They won’t be able to get rid of us as long as we pay our rent on time and don’t cause problems, which we don’t. So fuck ’em!”

  Elise’s guy liked her attitude about the whole thing and raised his can of beer in the air. “That’s the way to be. Fuck them all!”

  I didn’t bother joining in their resistance efforts and continued on my way to my room. “Whatever. Night.”

  Closing the door behind me, I took a deep breath and fell onto the bed with my bag still slung across my body. Here, in my eight by nine foot bedroom, nothing could touch me. At least I tried to convince myself of that as the music in the living room down the hall grew louder.

  Before everything happened at Belle, I had a great apartment in a much better section of the city. I lived alone and my neighbors loved me. They baked me my favorite blueberry muffins for my birthday and put little candles in the center of them like they were cupcakes. I loved my home, and then I lost it because Julia fired me when she found out about Ethan.

  I could have lied when she asked me about the rumors she’d heard. Who wouldn’t believe my denials? In a world of gorgeous models, how likely did it seem that someone like me would be dating Ethan Stone?

  But I told the truth. What a damn fool I could be!

  I answered her honestly and professionally, and she fired me. Right there on the spot. Boom. Gone. I didn’t have time to even get a word in edgewise while she berated me for breaking Belle magazine company policies, and then before I knew it, security was unceremoniously walking me out of the building like some unwanted garbage they had to get rid of at the curb.

  Looking down my body, I saw my hands clenched in tight fists and then the sharp pain of my fingernails digging into my palms hit me. I released my fingers and stretched them out as I told myself it was all for the best.

  I had no idea if that was true.

  The next day, I heard Ethan got fired from Belle or they tore up his contract or something. That time in my life was all a blur. Whatever happened to him, I knew he’d be fine. He had the Stone family money. He was probably jet setting around the world at that very moment with two or three gorgeous models hanging off him as I lay there listening to my roommates and their boyfriends for the night partying it up.

  Like always, I winced at the thought of Ethan relaxing on a beach with gorgeous women with incredible bodies wearing nothing more than string bikinis. The thought of him with anyone bothered me, even though I knew it was ridiculous for me to even care. He disappeared a month after we started dating, just like he probably had always planned to. I was only supposed to fool his family into thinking he’d settled down. I’d never been a long term plan for him.

  He’s got Daddy’s money, so poor Ethan will be just fine. I, on the other hand, am stuck living with two nymphomaniacs who never discriminate not the least little bit.

  As I did each night while I lay there in my tiny room, I thought about how I couldn’t afford to live in that apartment much longer since my savings were all but used up after two months of trying to find a job. Julia Carmon had made it a point to tell anyone who would listen that I wasn’t a good employee, and that nasty woman’s opinion seemed to reach up and down the island of Manhattan.

  I don’t want to turn to my mother and father. At least not yet. I don’t want to admit defeat quite yet.

  It didn’t help to do any of this every night, so I grabbed my phone to scan my email for anything that might be a job offer. Even a rejection would be better than nothing. Well, probably not a rejection. I didn’t think I could take much more of that.

  Nothing. No emails at all. Julia had done her job of ruining my chances quite thoroughly.

  As much as I tried to think of anything else, Ethan crept back into my mind. Even though I didn’t want to know about him with someone new, I couldn’t help myself and before I knew it, I was staring at my screen looking for news about him.

  Nothing on the half dozen sites I checked far too often. Nothing on Page Six.

  I sighed, not realizing until that moment that I was holding my breath the entire time I scanned through the gossip page. No new woman. Good. Not that I should care. Because I shouldn’t. Even though I did. My eyes slowly moved down the page to see a link with his name and his father’s name. Pressing my fingertip to the screen, the words came up and I found out he’d started working for Stone Worldwide as their artistic director in the advertising division.

  Must be nice to have a father who will just give you a cushy corner office after you lose your job.

  Then, even though I didn’t want to, I couldn’t help but feel bad for Ethan. The last thing a guy like him wanted was to be stuck in an office job for the rest of his life, especially a job where he was constantly compared to his super successful father. I’d only spent a month with him, but I knew from even that short time that the shadow of Tristan Stone loomed large over Ethan.

  Don’t, Summer. This is the same guy who disappeared on you a month into a relationship after lying about there being another woman. He’d been in a relationship with her—a real relationship—while he was just using you to lie to his parents, just like he told you he was. He didn’t lie about that. He lied about the girl.

  My mind drifted back to that night when I confronted him about that bizarre text. The proof was right there on my phone, yet he refused to tell me who she was or what their relationship was. All he did was shake his head and tell me I was wrong about the text. How could I be wrong? For the entire time he’d known me, he’d probably been texting her messages that clearly showed how much he loved her.

  How could I possibly believe him when he wouldn’t tell me who he’d meant to text when he messaged me instead?

  She was probably a model he kept hidden. Did I know her? Had I ever worked with her? They were probably open about sleeping with other people since they both knew none of it mattered because they had a love no one could top.

  As my mind began to run away with me, along with my emotions, I tossed my phone aside on the bed and fell back onto the pillow. Whatever I had with Ethan Stone, it was no more. I had bigger problems to deal with, like finding a paying job and roommates who never seemed to want to go anywhere with their boyfriends but the living room.

  Chapter Eleven

  Summer

  I woke up to my phone ringing and grabbed it quickly to see who might be calling. I didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. Desperate job seekers didn’t screen calls.

  “Hello?”

  “Summer, it’s Tressa Stone. How are you?”

  Tressa Stone? What could she want? Ethan had told me his sister didn’t believe we were a real couple, so why would she be calling me?

  “Hi, Tressa.”

  I wanted to say more, but the words got stuck in my head. We hadn’t r
eally gotten to know one another enough much in the month I was with her brother, so anything I could say felt strange.

  “How are you?” she asked in a stiff voice.

  “I’m fine,” I lied.

  I had no idea why she’d called me, but I didn’t want to let her think my life had fallen apart since her brother and I broke up. I had a little pride left.

  “Good. I’d thought about calling you before, to be honest.”

  But nothing about how she said those words sounded the least bit honest, so why was she calling?

  “I have to say I’m surprised to hear from you,” I said, now fully awake and intensely curious about why she’d called me.

  The phone fell silent for a moment and then she said, “I like you, Summer. I’m not sure how my brother found someone like you, but that’s neither here nor there. What I like best about you is that I’m pretty sure whatever shenanigans he was up to, you’re a straight shooter, so I’m going to do the same. I’d like to meet for coffee and talk. What do you say?”

  The first thought that jumped into my brain wasn’t that I should be suspicious or even curious about what she would have to say when we met. No, the first thought was that I had the chance to get out of the apartment and away from the orgy taking place in the living room to meet with a normal human being. I didn’t get that much anymore since losing my job.

  So I said yes. “Okay. When?” I asked, probably a little too eagerly. She likely thought I was hoping to talk about her brother, so I quickly added, “I just want you to know that I’m fine with what happened. With Ethan, I mean. So no worries there.”

  Tressa didn’t jump on the topic, and instead, she simply answered my question. “What about tonight at nine? If you can meet me at the Stone Worldwide building, we can take the car from there.”