****
Jack
I arrived home at one a.m. and headed to the kitchen. That was when I saw the note that Lorelei had left. FUCK! I never should have gone out. I slammed my fists on the counter. I had met Holly, a girl I occasionally fucked, for dinner. She had called earlier and asked if I wanted to go out. I figured why the hell not. It wasn’t like Lorelei would give me the time of day. The problem was that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Holly would be talking and I would zone out. I would try to act like I was interested in what she had to say, but I wasn’t. I could have cared less about Holly. This went on for over three hours. After we finished dinner, I put her in a cab to go home, and I went and sat in a bar, kicking back a couple of drinks and thinking about Lorelei and this mess of a situation Sutton Magazine was in. I never dreamed that I would come home and she and Hope would be gone.
A worry swept over me for Hope. She had a fever and I wasn’t here. I desperately wanted to call Lorelei to find out how she was, but I couldn’t very well call her at this time of night. Damn her for leaving and damn her for walking into my life and turning my whole fucking world upside down.
****
Lorelei
The next morning, as I was in the kitchen getting Hope some more Tylenol for her 102 fever, my phone rang and it was Jack. I debated whether or not to answer it, but I did anyway.
“Hello.”
“How’s Hope?”
“She’s sick.”
“Does she still have a fever?”
“Yes,” I replied in a short tone.
“I was not happy when I came home last night to find you and Hope gone.”
Was he serious? He went out on a fucking date and then took an attitude with me for leaving?
“I needed to get my daughter home to where her medicines were. This is her home, Jack, and this is where she’s most comfortable.”
“You should have called me.”
“And interrupted your date? No thanks. I did what was best for us and that was going home. I have to go and give Hope her Tylenol.” Click.
Yep. That’s right. I hung up on his dumb ass. How dare he! After giving Hope her medicine, I called her doctor’s office, and luckily, they had an appointment available in an hour. I helped her get dressed and we headed out the door.
Chapter Forty-One
Jack
I threw my phone across my desk after Lorelei hung up on me. Who the hell did she think she was after everything I’d done for her? As I leaned back in my chair, staring at the empty desk that sat outside my office, Coco walked in.
“I’m surprised you’re here. It’s Saturday,” I spoke.
“I kicked Joshua out and broke up with him.”
“What?” I quickly sat up.
“I told him last night that I knew about the woman he was seeing and to get the hell out.”
“What did he say?”
“He said good riddance and that he didn’t even know why he bothered staying as long as he did because he was never in love with me.” She started to sniffle.
I got up from my chair and walked to where she was standing and pulled her into me.
“Don’t, Coco. He’s a scumbag. You know it. He’s not worth a single tear.”
“I know he’s not worth it. I’m crying because I didn’t break up with him sooner.”
I broke our embrace and handed her a tissue.
“Things with him fizzled fast, Jack. I haven’t been in love with him for a long time.”
“Then why did you stay with him?”
“Because I was afraid nobody else would want me. Every guy I had met over the years was intimidated by me and my career. Joshua was the first man who wasn’t because he had that same craving for success. I still can’t believe he’s blackmailing our mother.”
“Have you seen her yet today?”
“No. I haven’t. I tried calling her and she didn’t answer.”
“I’m right here,” my mother spoke as she stepped into my office and shut the door.
She looked tired and weary. This whole thing was taking a toll on her.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“I was running some errands. I want both of you to sit down. I’m leaving the country in a few hours and I’m going to Paris.”
“WHAT!” I shouted.
“Sit down and be quiet, Jack.” She pointed her manicured finger at my chair. “I’m not paying Joshua the money. That slimy, spineless coward can go to hell.”
“So you’re just going to leave and leave us to clean up your mess?” I asked in a stern voice.
“I’ve already taken care of it. I didn’t tell you this before, but that woman that he’s seeing is Shae, the woman I hired to go work for Flourishing. He’s using her, and I told her that. I also told her that as soon as he gets the money, he’ll dump her. So I offered her two and a half million dollars to keep quiet and deny everything. She accepted and she’s leaving town tonight.”
“How can you trust her?” Coco asked.
“I can. More so than Joshua.”
“I broke up with him last night,” Coco spoke.
“I know. That bastard called me last night to tell me that I had twenty-four hours to give him the money or he was going to go public. I made Shae see that Joshua is only using her. I planted ideas in her head and got her thinking about a couple of things. So if Joshua does go public with the information, he doesn’t have proof and it will look like a revenge thing, so to speak, because you, my darling daughter, kicked his ass to the curb.”
“If it’s settled, then why are you going to Paris?” I asked.
“Because, darling, I need to hide out until all of this blows over. Bradley is closing out the accounts as we speak and the money will be put back into our accounts first thing Monday morning.”
“Tell me, Mother, why were some creditors not paid?”
She waved her hand in front of her face. “Pish, I told Bradley not to pay a few vendors because they were screwing with me. I can play just as dirty as they can. Anyway, I spoke with them and called off that lawyer girl you hired. We reached an agreement and all is good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a couple of things to do before I leave.”
“You’re just going to walk away as if it’s no big deal?” I spat.
“Stop overreacting, darling. Everything will be fine now.”
She hugged and kissed Coco goodbye. As she began taking steps towards me, I held up my hand. Her brow arched right before she strutted out of my office as if she didn’t have a care in the world. A bad feeling crept up inside of me. A shit storm was rolling in and she was seeking safety in Paris while she left us behind to ride it out.
When I slammed my fist down on my desk, Coco flinched.
“You heard what she said, Jack. She took care of the situation.”
“The hell she did, Coco. I have a feeling this is far from over.”
****
After spending the day trying to calm down and get some work done, I headed to the toy store to pick up something for Hope. I had texted Lorelei earlier in the day and the doctor said that Hope had strep throat. As I was walking through the store, not knowing what the hell I was going to buy her, I stumbled across a wall of children’s movies. My eyes scanned the rows and then fixated on one particular movie that caught my attention: Charlotte’s Web. I smiled as I picked it and looked at it. She would like this. After checking out, I had Tony drive me to Lorelei’s apartment.
“Does she know you’re dropping by?” he asked.
“No.”
“Don’t you think you should tell her?”
“No.”
“After the recent events that took place, she may slam the door in your face. Or you may not even make it through the security door.”
“She may and maybe I won’t. But I am not leaving until I give this movie to Hope and I see how she’s doing for myself.”
“She’s not your responsibility anymore.” He glanced up at me through the rearview mirror.
“Doesn’t matter. I still need to make sure she’s okay.”
He gave me a small smile and didn’t speak another word.
Hope wasn’t the only reason I wanted to come over. After the clusterfuck of a day I had, I needed to see Lorelei. I didn’t necessarily need to talk to her; just seeing her was enough to make everything okay. I rang the buzzer to her apartment.