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“Essentially, let his actions and words come back to haunt him,” Aillard hums in approval. He flicks his brow up at me. “What do you think,Thorin? Is this an acceptable plan to go off of?”
“As long as no one’s business but his is affected,” I say. I know my friends well enough to see they’re going to do something about this man whether I’m on board with the plan or not. At least this plan doesn’t involve dragging too many other people into it or inserting their businesses. No, it focuses on twisting Donner’s words back on himself in the media and portraying him for the predator he clearly is behind his expensive suits.
“Can I still throw things at him?” Bex asks me, startling a chuckle out of me. I can tell by the twinkle in her eyes she’s just fucking with me, and I’m glad for it.
“No,” I tell her. “And tell Noel not to either.”
“If you think I can convince Nana Noel to do anything she doesn’t want to do, then you’ve clearly not been around her long enough,” Bex snorts. “The woman is a law unto herself.”
“I want to be her when I grow up,” Whitney says, finally taking part in the conversation. She gives me a small smile. “This sucks, I know it does. They just want to help you,” she says, referring to her boyfriend and King. “It’s how they show their love.”
Sighing, I offer her a tight nod in understanding. Yes, I know how King and Aillard show their love through actions rather than voicing their opinions on matters. I’m probably the only one of the three of us who prefer to talk out what’s wrong versus doing something about it. Years spent in therapy have drilled that into me.
“What about me?” Bex pipes up. “Can I say something to the media?”
King blinks several times at her, in clear surprise. “You want to speak to the media?”
Bex frowns at him. “Why not?”
“You don’t do interviews,” King reminds her.
“True, but this isn’t about charity work. This is about my relationship with Thorin,” Bex says. “I’ll do an interview in support of him. Plus I really want to shove all those nasty things Jessica said about me back in her face.” She lifts her shoulders in a nonchalant manner. “Payback’s a bitch.”
Amusement at her words helps ease the anxiety in my stomach until I don’t feel as though the world is weighing me down quite as much. I doubt I’ll go back to being as carefree as I once was or looking at the world through a slightly more pessimistic lens anytime soon, though. “You don’t need to do that,” I inform her.
She waves my comment off. “Trust me, this is partly for you and partly for my enjoyment.”
Aillard frowns at her. “Giving an interview is part of your enjoyment?”
“No,” Bex snorts, lifting her phone and typing out a quick message. “My assistant, he plans everything for me because I’m hopeless. He’s going to shit a brick if I tell him that I want to do an interview about my relationship.” Her eyes meet mine, crinkling with laughter. “Detrick is going to freak and I need his level of craziness to cope with everything going on.”
“Then tell him,” I encourage her. Do I want her feeling obligated to do something she otherwise wouldn’t do just to help my image recover? No. I want her to feel safe and secure in our relationship. However, I know Bex well enough to know she won’t back down once her mind is made up. And this isn’t really about my image, it’s about telling Jessica to kindlyfuck offin a way that can’t be misconstrued.
King’s phone beeps again, channeling all of our attention.
“Well?” Aillard asks, the nosy bastard, when King continues to silently read whatever he was sent.
“The name of Grabriel Donner’s former assistant is Colette Stephens, she implicated Oscar DeFleur,” King announces.
I recognize Oscar’s name. He’s a friend of a friend of a shareholder for Ravenscroft Hotels, so I try to keep him involved to appease his recluse friend instead. Apparently I never should have bothered.
“Oscar has a penchant for brunette’s with a coke habit,” King continues. “His favorite escort is named Roxanne. I have no confirmation if that’s her legal name or not, but the police have picked her up for questioning.” He turns so I can see a photograph of her and Oscar, confirming that she’s one of the women in the photo with me unconscious. “I’m sure she’ll bring in her friend as well.”
“Seems like everything is wrapping up in a nice bow,” Aillard says. “Should we celebrate?”
“How about we celebrate after they’ve all been arrested?” Whitney offers, patting Aillard’s arm affectionately. “Celebrating now seems like we might jinx the entire thing.”
Aillard rolls his eyes at her. “Fine. We won’t celebrate right now. But I still think we should do something since finally Thorin’s life isn’t an ongoing trainwreck.”
I snort and glance back at the tables we’ve been packaging books on. “We could recount your box so I know once and for all that I beat you,” I smirk.
“You both are ridiculous,” Whitney mutters, turning around towards the table with Aillard as they begin recounting the books.
At least this way my life can stop being a topic of gossip for a while. I know everyone here means well, determined to help me see this through until the bitter end, but I need one night where I don’t wonder if the people out there are going to slowly take over my life.
I’ve had enough thoughts wasted on wondering if Donner’s voice poisoning the people I work with was going to really be the catalyst to change the trajectory of my career. And the fact Jessica can’t take a hint, then choosing to capitalize on my relationship with Bex as if she’s the mistress and Jessica and I are still in love. An acidic burn starts in my chest at the mere thought of having to give up Bex again.
I don’t know when I went from pushing myself to give her space, denying myself the happiness I knew I could find with her, to somehow entangling our lives to the point I don’t know if she’ll ever be free of me. Not that I want her to be. Bex is the best part of my day, even if I only catch a text here or there while we’re both living our lives. Fiercely independent, but still dependent on each other enough we check in constantly. She’s the perfect counterpart to me.
