Getting by (A Knight's Tale) (11 page)

“Why?” the three asked curiously.

“Because…” I scratched my nose and crinkled it.
Someone shut me up, waiter a tranquilizer for table six, please.
“I worked on my art 12 hours a day, went to school for eight and he considered my paintings and other art pieces a game. Dad wanted me to grow up and take life serious. Each time I got some sort of praise for my art, he gave me grief—big time.” Jake caressed my hand with his thumb, and I glanced at him, catching a sad smile. “He lectured me when he found me inside the art room and it was past midnight. He criticized my school habits, but I never got less than an A minus—to avoid his anger. Imagine if I added Chloe’s partying style.
She lost her v card at fourteen, and not with Gavin.”

“Why did you whisper the last part? No one can hear you,” Liam wisely pointed out, and Mitch arched his eyebrow, while Jake gave
a welcome to my world look.

“I promised not to tell my parents.” I searched the entire room for any anomaly. “There’s no guarantee their spirits aren’t around, and I don’t like to break promises. Can you imagine the grief they’ll give her? Not that it matters, Dad caught her doing pretty hard stuff. And she’ll kill me if she hears.”

“I thought you guys didn’t talk to each other?” Jake asked.

“You’re asking too many questions, Knight.” He tapped the table awaiting some explanation. I sipped a little more of my drink and bit a strawberry. Courage tonic? “Sorry, I can’t.” A tear came out, and Jake wiped it with his thumb.

“Is she still partying?” Mitch asked. I narrowed my eyes, how did he know about her little habits? My body froze for a few seconds, shocked that they knew about her. Then again, they were friends with Gavin. I needed to cut this conversation. Chloe was a subject I never wanted to talk about.

Chapter 13

Emma

I BLAMED THE ALCOHOL for the lack of creativity. I couldn’t stir the conversation before they asked me again about her partying. Finally, my head understood and I shook it, hoping they’d let it go.

“Sorry,” I repeated, “I would rather not talk about my family.” This was my last hope to make them understand that the subject was not open for discussion. “It crumbled after my parents died. Every man for themselves. Dad’s parents hate me, like Mom, he was an only child, so no uncles or aunts to be there for the orphans.” I shook my head at the bitter tone.

“This week I might see Grandma Lily—first time since the funeral. Mostly because I promised Grampy—maternal side.” I guessed Grandpa would be there too, but I didn’t mention him.

Then I turned to Mitch who had no idea who Grampy was. Liam and Jake had heard me call him that since his accident. “My mom’s Dad. He and Nana are the only family I’ve got left, if they live through their little tragedy.” I tried to claim my hands, but Jake had both of them secured. Resigned to having his touch calm me, I continued narrating my story. “Grampy’s immune system is failing since the accident, and Nana is all depressed. Understandable, she lost her only daughter five years ago and the love of her life is on the verge of following, leaving her alone.”

“And you,” Mitch said.

“Me what?”

“She has you,” Jake responded.

“Nah, I don’t count. It’s me.” No one gave a shit about me, only Mom, and I did something pretty bad to her. “Their favorite was Chloe because she’s all pretty and small like Mom. Please, don’t give me that pity look,” I warned Mitch, and noticed Jake gave him a strange stare, while shaking his head. “I don’t care, as long as I’m busy and deep into my world, nothing affects me. The only person that would kill me if she left, is Gaby, which will eventually happen. I deserve it, after what I did; penance and all. If Cass, that angel in
Supernatural
, did it, why not me?”

“Don’t ask.” Jake rubbed the inside of my wrist with his thumb. “You think the woman doesn’t have time to watch television, but she’s a junky for the screen.”

You loved my TV time, because while I watched you took advantage of me.

I absented the conversation, the buzz from the alcohol started to move into the drunk stage, not a good thing. I hated not to be in control, and I’d done this wasted thing about four times. All of them with Jake, and he knew better than anyone how pissed I’d be the next morning. This whole night screamed personal, and I needed to go back to my room and barricade myself. I needed work.

I continued staring at the pad. Mitch wanted a new image for the menu to outdo my client. Was this ethical? It hit me, I couldn’t work on it because he requested a similar concept and it didn’t fit his restaurants. Add in the mix that Sam handled his account and it all screamed disaster. I couldn’t do the same image for all the restaurants he owned which was a sushi bar that had five locations. Mitch wanted to make it a franchise. Also, he had a Mexican chain—three locations—and four exclusive posh restaurants, each with a different multicultural menu.

“Fire K&W.” I pulled one of my hands out of Jake’s grasp and then took a personal card out of my tote bag and handed it to him. “What you want involves more than a new menu. And it’s impossible with them involved.” I pointed toward Liam. “Then there’s the small part, where my stuff is pretty distinctive. Sam will fire me when you hand my stuff to him. Mitch, get rid of them and call me.”

“You work on the side?” Liam snatched the card, scratching his chin. “Emma, I do not like what I just heard. What makes you think that I won’t fire you, and most importantly,” he turned toward Jake giving him a death glare, “did you know Jake?”

“It’s not what you think,” my slurred words came out all wrong. “And yes, he knows what I do. I asked the man for permission, since he owns part of the company. No big deal, Liam, I’m not stealing major accounts from you, I promise.”

“It’s complicated, Li,” Jake defended me. He pinched the bridge of his nose, freeing one of my hands. The other hand kept ahold of mine with a firm enough grip. “You only need to know she doesn’t charge a dime for her services. No harm no foul, right? Most of her clients are tiny businesses who need a boost, and they don’t have the money to afford a big company, let alone ours. Mitch doesn’t pay K&W for the job they do, so what’s the difference?”

“I’m confused.” Liam closed his eye, lifting a finger toward us. Why was he raising his hand? “You work for me a thousand hours a week, then do a side job—for free. And on top of that fight with Sam for giving away the new accounts to other employees. You’re nuts, woman. I’m… Mitch, it’s your choice not mine.” Liam rolled his eyes and handed my card to his brother.

“Just don’t tell Sam who you’re hiring, I don’t want to get into an unproductive-psycho-nonsense fight.” He closed his fists, which lay on top of the table, and took a deep breath. “As for you, Emma, another threat to sue my company for withholding workload and you’re back to entry level, no, I won’t fire you. Better yet, I’ll demote you to the mail room.”

“We don’t have one in New York.”

“I’ll make one for you.”

Jake hid his laugh, but not well enough. “Not funny.” I rested my head on his shoulder.

Liam drank a shot of scotch and signaled the waiter to bring him a third one.

“Hilarious, babe.” Jake kissed my wrist, a nagging thought from the inside of my brain yelled I was going backwards on my plan, but of course, like everything else, I didn’t listen to it and grabbed my drink with the free hand and finished it in two gulps.

“Does any of this make sense to you?” He pointed to Jake, who shrugged and began the interrogation. Why did I threaten to sue? Not my proudest moment.

Everything began three months ago with my big ‘I can’t anymore, Jake, we promised light and uncomplicated.’ I worked more than usual. Executives bitched about the lack of new accounts, and their productivity going down the drain while mine was way too high. Two months later, and after thousands of discussions between Sam, Liam and others, they decided to freeze me. One or two new accounts a month from the New York office was all I was given. Liam promised to give me a couple from the other two offices, but he never sent any. While Liam visited, I entered into his office and begged for new accounts. They said no, we had a deal. Until everyone’s productivity was even, I was grounded. They treated me like a five year old.

That’s when I became a thief. In the middle of the night, I broke into Sam’s office and went through his top secret drawer of potential new clients. I took a few of those accounts before the man assigned them to other executives. It was a terrible idea and decision. It was fun at first, but I regretted it when they changed Sam’s locks. There wasn’t much noise about it, and they didn’t ask me questions. Though, my boss threw a hissy fit, and couldn’t get those accounts off my load. He retaliated by not allowing me to obtain any new clients for at least three months. So I threatened to sue for workload withholding.

Sam called the lawyer on the spot, while Liam silently laughed. There wasn’t such a thing as workload withholding and we both knew it. But after the charade, the three hundred dollar charge for a stupid call and the heart attack fright Sam had, he sent me to my office, reminding me he could fire me without pay and not let me work until my five year contract was over. “I have the power to blacklist you from the advertisement world, Emma. No one would ever hire you.”

“Emma, I mean it,” Liam went serious. Jake though, put his arm around me and pulled me toward him in support. “I’m a fan, but the stunts you pull are hard to fix; like breaking into Sam’s office to check for future clients.” He pointed at his brother. “Jake had to doctor the security tapes to erase your presence, sweetheart.” I gasped, scratched my nose and searched for the nearest exit. “You think we didn’t know? The entire floor is under surveillance 24/7.”

“My office too?” Fuck I’m going to kill him.

“Not yours, baby,” he whispered in my ear.

Good.

The man was in charge of security and did whatever he wanted with the keys, alarm system and CTV. Apparently it included erasing the evidence against me. It was hard to forget someone like him,
so freaking hard
.

“Sorry, I needed it,” I told Liam. “In my defense, I landed you numerous accounts that brought in millions, like the sports line account. They received my proposal just hours before they made a final decision and gave us a day to present it. Had I not pulled my stunt, the account would be with Sanders or Bellicose.” They were our biggest competitors.

I never left the scene of the crime. Instead, I pulled an all-nighter. My preliminary presentation hit Liam’s desk and the prospective client’s before seven in the morning—New York time. They held their decision until five when I could come up with a solid campaign. Liam and I worked for an entire day and sent it by four in the afternoon. We snatched the account from under the noses of our competitors; although, I swore no one knew I broke into Sam’s office.

Jake put his mouth close to my ear and whispered, “Time for you to go to bed, Pretty Girl.” Jake stood up and pulled me toward him, helping me stand straight. He placed my tote bag over his shoulder, that’s how amazing Jake was, and I closed my eyes while I rested my head on his chest. One minute to gather some strength before I walked away from him—again.

Fantastic, three months working toward forgetting him and finding a steady relationship went out the window.

“Is the key inside your wallet?” I nodded, and while he scrambled to get the wallet out with one hand, I wondered how it would be to have one last kiss. “You’re drunk, Emma.” He hugged me. “I’m not going to touch you in that state.”

“Thank you.” I sobered a bit with his comment, becoming upset at myself for not being able to hide the effect he had on me. “You didn’t have to do it—cover for me. Did Sam suspect me?”

“Nah, I caught you in the act and took care of it immediately.” He straightened me up a little so we could be face to face and then brushed some hair off my face, his eyes lingering between mine and my mouth. “Why did you do it, Em?”

“It’s complicated, Jake.” I took a deep breath and looked at the room key in his hand, avoiding those inquisitive eyes. “I just needed it…to escape.”

“You don’t have to, Emma.” Of course I did, more than ever. He wasn’t here to take me away from reality. He swiped my key, opened the door and gave me a lingering kiss on the cheek before releasing me. “Have a good night, Pretty Girl.”

So freaking hard to forget.

“Night, Pretty Boy.”

Chapter 14

Jake

IT TOOK ALL the strength in the world not to follow my animal instincts and take Emma to bed, against the wall, or…. Her body begged for my touch, and her sadness was eating her alive. Was it her parents? That was a huge part, I bet. How I wished she had opened a little for me and… I stopped before the last drop of sanity disappeared and I barged back inside her room. Doing it would’ve made me an asshole for taking advantage of her state. Angry at the situation, I headed toward the suite I shared with my brothers and took a long cold shower to cool my emotions and my body.

When I came out of my bedroom, dressed, the first thing I did was confront my brother Liam. “Was it necessary to tell her?” He threw me out of the plane, no parachute or safety gear attached. If it wasn’t because Emma had been wasted, she would’ve killed me, worse, done something rash to her career—like quitting.

Mitch sat on the sofa, Liam on one of the chairs and I took the one opposite of his. My twin shuffled a deck of cards, looking ready to strip us from a favor or two. I glanced at the luxurious room, a presidential suite wasted on three bachelors. Two nights, and so far none of us had gotten lucky. Damn, two days ago I was ready to bed any available woman. Now, not so much. The night before, I cursed the moment I spotted Emma. My current situation was far from that because…I had no freaking idea what to make of Emma and our relationship. My inner voice asked,
what relationship?