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So, I shouldered the secret and kept looking for work. I thought about Eric now and then, mostly remembering how much of a good example he was. He was determined and a hard worker. I took those qualities on the road with me and tried to forget about him.
And for a time, it seemed to work.
Until I missed my period, I was hardly thinking about Eric Slade at all. Damn him!
Chapter Four
Eric
Fouryearslater…
I picked a stone from the case on the table. I held it to the light, admiring the way it shimmered from within. If I looked closely enough, I could see all the colors of the rainbow inside the tiny, precious jewel.
I put the diamond back on the table. “It’s beautiful,” I said, looking up at Steven, my head lab technician.
He nodded. “I think we’re about ready to start production, Mr. Slade.”
“Four years. It’s been a long wait. I must say, Steve, I’m glad my patience has finally paid off.”
“Terrific. I’ll make the necessary arrangements. You can call a board meeting at your earliest convenience.”
“I can’t,” I said, shaking my head with a smile. “Not for a week, at least. I’m flying out to Cape Cod today.”
“Oh? You attending MEC?” MEC stands for the annual Metals Engineering Convention. It was one of the largest business conventions in the USA.
“Afraid so,” I said. “In fact, I’m the keynote speaker.”
I stood up and shook his hand, before buttoning my suit jacket and heading out to the roof of my office building. I looked down. It was late spring, and around me, the cityscape looked beautiful through the shimmering waves of warm air. But I felt the humidity and the pressure in the atmosphere. There was probably going to be rain at Cape Cod, maybe even storms. At the helipad, Paul was waiting for me, dressed in his customary black suit and white shirt.
“Good morning, Mr. Slade,” he said. “We’re heading straight to the airport?”
“Correct,” I said. I got into the helicopter and donned my pair of noise-canceling headphones, looking down on the city below me as we took off. It was a short ride across the city to my private airfield, where my jet was waiting on standby to take me to Cape Cod.
I flew back from South Africa this morning to make it to my meeting with Steve, and I was still trying to get used to the time difference. But all the same, I was feeling good. A littletoogood. I wasn’t the tireless young man I once had been as a soldier years ago. I’d been on a high for the last four years; that was true enough. My company had gone from strength to strength, and I’d almost doubled my wealth in that time. I’ve made it to the big time now and am becoming somewhat of a celebrity. More than once it had frustrated me that I wasn’t able to leave or enter the hotel in Back Bay without a mob of paparazzi at every turn. Eventually, it had gotten so bad that I’d had to buy up a hotel on Boston Common, where I was busy having the penthouse redecorated at the moment. It felt good to have come so far in such a short space of time.
We’d just landed at the airfield when I got a call on my private cellphone. I looked at it, eyeing the screen suspiciously as I crossed the walkway to the airstrip. I could see the jet being fueled up and prepared for take-off in the distance. It wasn’t anything fancy—a light, reliable Cessna which had been a bargain at forty million dollars.
Plenty of people just ‘happened’ to get my private number these days, and I was getting used to calls from pesky journalists. But even I couldn’t resist cracking a smile when I saw it was Tom Reed. Even hearing from him these days did tend to produce a bit of guilt in my heart.
“Tom,” I said warmly as I picked up the phone. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Eric!” said Tom. “How are you? Looking forward to the week?”
“You know me,” I replied grimly. “Never been a fan of staying in one place for too long.”
“I’ll bet,” chuckled Tom. “But you’re gonna have to put aside some time for us to get together this week, kid.”
“Why’d you call me that?” I said moodily. “I’m only two years younger than you.”
“Can’t help it with that baby face of yours,” said Tom. He and I always teased one another like this. “Besides, you need it. Palo Alto was a disaster, remember?”
“Believe me, I’m well aware,” I said. “My head of PR called me about that last night for a few hours.” I’d gotten into an enormous fight with a CEO, which had ended with me storming out of the place. There had even been a newspaper article about it:America’s Grumpiest Billionaire. It hadn’t affected my stock price—in fact, it had helped. But I sure wasn’t letting the press into my office anytime soon.
“You know, I hate to keep saying it,” said Tom, “but it’s a shame you never got Jamie on board with your company. She’d have made a great addition to the team.”
“I’m sure,” I replied weakly. “How’s she doing?” I asked politely. Not that I wanted to know. Iknewhe was going to bring Jamie up. It was inevitable.
It had been four years since I’d seen Jamie—four years since that night in my hotel room where the unthinkable had happened. Where I’d betrayed my best friend by sleeping with his daughter. Of course, Jamie hadn’t taken the job with my company. She’d done just the opposite—gone and gotten herself pregnant soon after she’d interviewed for the job. I was happy for her in a detached sort of way. But it wasn’t like I was looking forward to seeing Jamie anytime soon.
