Fallen Too Far (24 page)

Chapter 18

It was seven PM when Annik came through the door to Tom’s home after her first day as owner of Pandora’s. She was exhausted. Her feet hurt. She kicked off her shoes in the foyer; starting tomorrow she’d be wearing sneakers. Did she bring any with her when she packed up to stay with Tom? It didn’t matter. Her office was on the third floor; she’d climbed those stairs at least twenty times in the last ten hours. If she didn’t have sneakers here she was buying a pair first thing in the morning.

“Anybody home?” she called out.

“In here!” Tom’s voice called from the kitchen.

Briefcase in hand, she went to him.

He was standing at the island in the kitchen, removing containers from a brown paper take out bag from Chin-Lee’s. He looked up and smiled.

“I just beat you in. When you said you’d be staying late and gave me my marching orders, I stayed to work late too.” He set the aluminum pans out on the surface of the island and began to remove the covers. The aroma made her mouth water. She hadn’t eaten since the staff lunch buffet at noon.

They kissed hello. She was getting used to kissing someone in the morning and after work. Especially when that someone’s name was Tom Eldon.

She went to the cupboard for plates.

“No dishes, honey—I had them throw in the whole thing so we can just eat and toss.” Tom removed some Styrofoam plates and plastic cutlery as well. As they started to load their plates, he said, “I think this was a good idea. I really wanted to take you to Munchkins to celebrate your first day, but we’ve both tired. How did it go?”

“Well, it started off with a battle-”

“Oh? Did you win?”

“Yes and no. You remember that woman who ran Pandora’s for the Vanderbergs?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I had only met her once before when I was trying to track down the owners. That morning, and again this morning, she looked at me like I was something she wanted to scrape off the bottom of her shoe.” Annik loaded her plate and took a bite of a shrimp.

“And…?”

“Well, I saw her first thing, and she still had that attitude. I wanted to get her onside with the plans we’ve made, Tom. But she just wouldn’t listen to me. She said that I was biting off more than I could chew, I didn’t know anything about contracting out renovations and repairs, and she believed that with me at the helm Pandora’s would be shuttered in a year.”

Tom stared at his plate, and scooped up a forkful of fried rice. He scowled. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Fire her, Annik. You
cannot
tolerate someone like that in a managerial position.”

Annik nodded. “That’s what I did. She was out of the building fifteen minutes later. I’ll be sending her six months severance or something.”

“Good call.”

“Good? Are you kidding me? My first hour as the new owner and I fired the longest serving member of the staff? Tom, she’d been there almost thirty years.” She pushed her plate away and sat up.

“Hey, hey, take it easy, Angel. You made the tough call. That’s your job. I didn’t say anything about Mrs. Byrd until now because it’s your company, okay? A person in her position
has
to be totally in line with your vision, Annik.”

“Well, she made it easier for me to live with.”

“What do you mean?”

“She took a parting shot as she was going out the door. She stood at the bottom of the staircase and looked around. Out of respect I waited at the foyer to see her out.”

“Okay. Go on.”

“She told me that she had worked for the Vanderbergs for thirty years. That she met her husband at Pandora’s. She said it was a place of wonderful times.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“I told her that was exactly what I wanted to do. I said I was going to make it even better and she laughed in my face.” She stood up from the bar stool at the island. “She said that with a
whore
running it, it would be a brothel in no time, and would be shut down in six months.” Her voice got froggy. “The last thing she said to me was once a whore, always a whore. Welcome to your whorehouse you bitch.’”

They sat in silence for a few moments. Annik climbed back in her seat and pulled her dinner towards her. She was still hungry, who was she fooling? She’d probably lost five pounds today pounding up and down the stairs. “The day
did
pick up from there though.”

“Whew. Glad to hear that. What happened next?”

“The Major and I talked about what I’m planning to do.”

“How does he feel about it? That guy plays it close to the chest. I’ve never heard him say a single word critical of Pandora’s in all the time I’ve known him.”

“The guy’s a pro, Tom. After Mrs. Byrd cleared out, I took over her office and the Major and I–his name’s Don, by the way-”

“I didn’t know that.”

“He’ll always be the Major to me. When I went over the plans, he got so pumped up. He told me that he’d made similar suggestions to Mrs. Byrd years ago, and she would have no part of it. Seeing them on paper and in progress he got really excited.”

“So you have your VP of operations?”

“Yes. I’m going to give him a substantial raise—with Mrs. Byrd out of the picture, there’s money in the budget. He’s taking over a spare room next to my office; we’re going to be working very closely.”

“Oh?” Tom cracked a smile. “Sure glad he’s gay or I’d be concerned with you working so closely.”

“Well, I’m concerned.”

“What. Oh God, don’t tell me he’s Bi.”

“No, through and through gay.” She smirked at Tom. “Except he thinks
you’re
hot.”

“Ack! Through and through straight here, honey. We’re safe.”

Her appetite had returned so she ate quickly.

“So what else happened of import?”

“I had a staff meeting over lunch. We set up a buffet and the kitchen staff laid out food and drinks. I went over our plans and asked for ideas. I got some looney ones and a couple of good ones.”

“A good brainstorming session comes with both. Sometimes it’s hard to keep a straight face when the looney ones come out; but usually a really good one comes right after.”

“Exactly. So we’re not going to have an aquarium at the front entranceway with nude swimmers.”

“Yeah, kind of looney.”

She nodded. “But we’re looking at doing sensuous topiary.”

“What’s that? A dessert?”

“Not tapioca—topiary. You know, sculpted hedge art? They have them at Disney World.”

“Wait. And this isn’t looney? Hedge porn?”

“No, not porn—sensuous. Steve, the guy with the idea, said that he could probably do hedge sculptures of things like Rodin’s ‘The Kiss’, or a sort of ‘Venus di Milo’, stuff like that. Not people having sex.”

Tom looked away picturing it in his head. He nodded. “You put them along the driveway and that could look sharp.”

“Yes. I thought the same thing. Steve’s going to do a work up on it on his time and give me estimates and such. He’s got some experience with this, so it’s not a shot in the dark.” She looked at her plate again. “He also said he ran it by Mrs. Byrd two years ago and she laughed at him.”

“Got it. What next? Byrd’s history, Annik. Let’s move on.”

“Well… I don’t know how you’re going to like it, but I think I have the contractor for the renovations locked in.”

“What? How could you get that done in a day? How could you even get any of them to show up? It’s tough to get contractors to return phone calls.”

She gave him a cheese grin. “My Vice President of operations used his connections.”

“Huh?”

“When I went over the plans for the renovations, he suggested that I contact Fait Accompli Construction.”

“Never heard of them.”

“Maybe not the company; but you know the owners.”

“I do?”

“Yep. You know the gay couple at Pandora’s?”

“There are a few.”

“Do you remember the two guys who usually show up, one in drag, and the other wearing a leather vest, collar and leather jock strap? The sub is Pierre Corbet.”

“Hmm… I think I know who you mean. Dark, curly hair, about thirty-eight, not that tall, but in real good shape?”

“That’s him. His partner is Eric, and they own Fait Accompli. The Major called them and we spent the rest of the afternoon going over the plan sets. They’ll be back with a cost and a schedule next Tuesday.”

“That’s pretty fast.”

“I guess so.” She leaned in to Tom. “He was as excited as I am to get the work done. He said that if we can come to agreement he can postpone two other projects to put this at the top of his list.”

“Uh oh. How much extra will that cost?”

“Lifetime free membership for the two of them.”

“Sold!” He slapped the counter with the palm of his hand like an auctioneer.

“I didn’t think this could be so easy for me, Tom.”

“Easy? You just spent ten hours there, and we’ve been going over it since you walked in the door. It’s not easy. You’ve worked very hard. It’s your passion, Annik.”

“Yes, I think you’re right.” She hesitated. “There’s something I want to talk to you about that’s sort of fallout from my fight with Ida Byrd.”

“Let it go, Annik. You have other fish to fry than that woman. She was just trying to hurt.”

“No, I don’t think so. Yes, she was when I told her I couldn’t work with her. But I’m pretty sure she really believes what she said about me personally.” She looked away for a second and back. “And that scares me.”

“The crack about once a whore?”

She nodded.

“You worried about me?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“I’m worried about your sister.”

“What the hell does Bonnie have to do with this?”

“She doesn’t know what I used to do for a living. And I’m afraid that when she finds out, she’ll feel the same way as Byrd does. Byrd couldn’t get her head past my having been a prostitute. She walked away from her job because of it.” Her mouth twisted. “And I’m afraid that your sister will feel the same way, and that I’m going to come between you and your only living relative.”

A tear came out of the corner of her eye. Tom reached over, and with his thumb wiped it away.

“I can understand you feeling that way, Angel,” he said softly. “She’s a lawyer, and they’re trained to see the worst of a given situation.”

Annik started to cry. “Nobody talked about what happened
after
the credits rolled on ‘Pretty Woman’ you know. I mean, how did Richard Gere explain to his friends and everyone afterward that Julia Roberts was a streetwalker he picked up, huh?”

“Annik, that was a movie. This isn’t. Take it easy.”

“Tom, I love you with all my heart. And I’m scared that you’re going to get forced into having to choose me, or your sister’s good opinion of you.” She shook her head and blew her nose in one of the paper napkins. “And that’s not right. She’s your flesh and blood.”

Tom sat back in his seat and pivoted on it a few times thinking. He leaned forward and took her hand. “You’re not seeing the whole picture, Angel.”

“What do you mean?” She kept her hand in his. He made her feel so petite.

“You and my sister are a lot more alike than you realize, that’s what.” He waved her down with his free hand. “Listen. If there’s one thing about Bonnie, it’s that she’s
fair,
okay? Sure, when she first hears about your past, she’ll be upset and scared on my behalf, no doubt about it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of--”

“Shhh… In time, and I don’t think it will take very long, she’ll see you for
who you are
and not what you had to do. I think she’ll come away with as much respect and admiration that I have for you. It’ll just take her some time to get there.” He took her hand in both of his. “Hell, I’ll bet Mrs. Byrd will come back and apologize to you.”

“Get real.”

“You never know. As far as Bonnie’s concerned though, I believe in her qualities as much as I believe in yours, Annik. You did what you had to do as best you could. That deserves respect. The
who
you are deserves the love. She’ll come around. You’ll see.”

“You really do love me, you know that?”

“Duhh!”

“No, Tom, I mean it. You saying this… you’re letting love guide you. Through loving both of us you’re seeing the common traits between Bonnie and me. I didn’t see that, Tom. I was too scared.”

“Annik, what’s the opposite of love?”

“Apathy.”

“Nope.”

“Then what is it?” She’d always thought that apathy was the opposite of love. What was he driving at?

“The opposite of love is fear. You can’t love and fear at the same time. You can fear for the one you love, sure; but you can’t love someone you fear.”

She sat and digested this for a moment, letting the truth of what he said resonate within.

“You’re something pretty special, you know that Mister Eldon?”

“I had to be, to land a gal like you. Feel better?”

She nodded.

She wasn’t afraid anymore.

She didn’t know that in a few short weeks she’d feel unimaginable terror.

Chapter 19

The next twelve weeks flew by for Annik. Her days were filled overseeing the renovations and implementing her changes to Pandora’s. Fait Accompli was on budget and on time. When Pierre Corbert got back to her with his construction workups he took her ideas and raised them to a higher level. He improved the sound and lighting systems for the theater, rivaling any Broadway house. He revamped the kitchen layout to increase efficiency and safety for the staff. Annik wanted to renovate Pandora’s. With Pierre’s guidance, she was transforming it.