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“Don’t leave me,” he said. I think he meant it.
“I have to,” I replied.
I walked out of the room. If I’d stayed a minute longer, I would have told him never to contact me again, that I didn’t want to see him after all this was over.
After all, that was the way I felt.
Chapter 20
Jake
Iwasdamned.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.
If I didn’t sell the company, Tom would reveal the truth. The revelation that I’d gotten one of my employees pregnant would surely devalue our stock price, and then I’d be forced to resign anyway.
There was another option. I could keep my shares, but step down as director of the company. That way, Tom and his cronies would be able to do whatever they wanted, and I’d effectively be asking him to manage my shares. There was no way I’d do that.
Or there was a crazy, stupid, tiny chance, that Jim Jennings and I could get to Tom before the meet. That we could reveal we knew what he’d been up to, and threaten to go to the police unless he backed down. That was the only way I’d save my career and my business.
And possibly, the only way Alicia would forgive me.
I’d had plenty of opportunities to tell her the truth, and I kept lying. I couldn’t reveal to her what had really happened. And I blamed myself for putting Alicia in danger.
After she left, I went down to my office. Almost everyone had cleared out by now. I’d asked people to work from home over the next few days, mostly because I needed time to think.
In my office, I looked at a map of CAA HQ in L.A. I was looking for a place to meet Tom. Somewhere ideal for surveillance, somewhere I could get some kind of evidence without being too obvious.
I tried to read the blueprints, but I was too distracted by my thoughts of Alicia. Had she gone home? Had she really left me? The thought was devastating.
I’d let her into my life. I’d shared so much with her. How could she say the things she said?
No. I chastised myself for being so victimized. It had been my choice to keep things from her, to shut her out. When I finally solved the problem and could explain it all to her—then, then she’d come around.
I was so distracted thinking of her and the crazy, final goodbye we’d just said to each other, that I almost didn’t notice my new cellphone was ringing. I looked at it. A withheld number.
I answered. “Good morning. I’m glad you finally called.”
“Morning, Jake.” The voice on the other end of the phone was distorted. “Miss me?”
“Of course,” I said. “After all, I’ve been getting your messages. The one written on my Maserati was pretty clear.”
“What can I say? I like to make an impression.”
“Of course you do. You’ve always been an attention seeker. So, why are you calling?”
“Tom McLaughlin says hi. He can’t talk right now.”
“I’ll bet. Would you tell Tom something for me?”
“As long as it’s nice. You know I don’t like it when you aren’t nice.”
“Tell Tom I’d like to discuss the terms of my surrender. We’ll meet in the Graves Room, on the fifth floor of CAA headquarters. How about 3 p.m.? Then we can be done in time for the shareholders’ meeting.”
“That does sound nice. I’ll let you go now, but I’m sure he’s excited to see you.”
“Great. I know I’ll see you then. And I know something else, too.”
