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“I bet Mr. Jefferson went for a bomb?” Lillian’s curiosity is plain.
“Yep. $20,000.”
“Whoa! I wasn’t expecting that number. Who bid on him?” Lillian asks.
“Some lady named Katherine Griswold.”
Lillian’s face goes sour and I decide to prod further.
“Are those two an item?” I ask, feigning innocence. “She was announced on stage as future Mrs. Max Jefferson.”
Lillian scoffs. “She doesn’t deserve him. Mr. Jefferson deserves someone much better than her.”
“She seemed okay. Why do you say so?”
“Oh, Carrie! You're new to the office so maybe you don’t know but it’s a long story,” she sighs.
“I’m all ears and we’ve still got a fifteen minute walk ahead of us.” I smile nervously, hoping she’ll spill.
“Well, tell me, who owns our Coyote magazine?” Lillian asks.
“Er. Max?”
“A part of it yes, but he’s just a partner. The magazine is owned by Griswold Media, which is a part of the massive business empire of the Griswold family.”
“The Griswold family?”
“Yep. That Griswold family. The magazine is just pocket change for them and guess who is the sole heiress of the Griswold empire?” Lillian raises an eyebrow.
“Katherine?”
“Yes.”
“But what does that have to do with her and Max? Are you saying that he is into her for her money?”
“Oh not at all,” Lillian laughs. “Mr. Jefferson would never do that. He’s far too noble than that. You see, early in life he lost his parents and when he was in college he was spotted by one of the Griswold brothers, Katherine’s father, who was impressed by Mr. Jefferson, as everyone is, and took the young boy under his wing.” Lillian pauses to take a sip of her coffee. “The Griswolds took Max in as one of their own, groomed him and the day he was done with his education, they had him working for their companies. Once Coyote magazine started failing, they sent in Max for the rescue and made him a partner.”
“But Katherine?” Come on, lady. I don’t want to know Max’s biography—just his relationship with that woman.
“They’ve known each other for years. Honestly, Mr. Jefferson doesn’t talk about his private life and Katherine rarely ever comes to our office, so I'm not sure what’s going on there. Besides she’s traveling around the world for her charity work and no one really knows what her deal is. But my theory is that Mr. Jefferson feels that he owes the Griswold family big time, which is why he entertains Katherine.”
So Max is appeasing Katherine because of his connection to her family? My mind is racing to solve this mystery. I knew he couldn’t have lied to me. I just knew it.
“Why doesn’t he just tell her off?” I ask.
“Would you? If you owed them everything you've achieved in life?”
“That’s a difficult situation. A bad place to be in.”
“Yes, it is. That’s why I feel so much for Mr. Jefferson. The poor man has to endure so much and that Katherine, ugh, she just makes me so angry.”
If I didn’t know better, I would think that Lillian is in love with Max. But it all makes sense. It was all as much of a surprise to Max as it was to me. But where does that leave me? Does my two months old romantic story with Max end here? Should I confront him?
As I walk toward the conference room for the daily eleven a.m. staff meeting, my heart is pounding hard. Max will be in there. When I open the door, I see Max is already in a quiet discussion with a feature editor. Once everyone streams in, the standard order of business resumes, with editors and writers laying out their plans for the day.
“Phil here,” Max nods at their staff photographer, “has quite a scoop for us today. Do any of you watch soccer?” A few hands went up.
“How many of you know David Adams?” All but two hands raise. One of them is mine.
