Playing with Power - Book 5: New Adult Office Romance (17 page)

“Alright, we should lock up and then we need to go to the emergency room,” Lauren laughed. “Didn’t think I’d be saying that today.”

“I can meet you at Damon’s, if you want. I’ll call Mr. Jarvis and get the ball rolling on all this.”

Overwhelmed, Lauren felt hot tears pickling her eyes. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you, sweetie.” She hugged her tightly. “The worst is over. We just have a little bit left to do and we’re in the clear.”

“Are you sure Parker’s dad is going to go for this?” said Landon.

Faith shrugged. “He always struck me as a pretty level-headed guy. I think if I tell him everything that’s happened and then give him a chance to speak with you, it should work out. He knows what Parker’s like.”

“Don’t we all,” Lauren muttered.

14.

It was dark by the time they left the emergency room and Lauren was looking forward to a bit of quiet and rest. They had plenty to do but none of it was nearly as dramatic or confrontational as that meeting. Damon and Faith were looking cozy on the sofa, sipping a couple glasses of red wine. She almost felt like she were interrupting but Faith jumped to her feet as they shut the door.

“There you are! Gosh, look at you two.”

Lauren laughed. She had to admit, they looked pretty funny together in their casts. She’d picked a bright pink one while he’d opted for a blue, giving their injuries a real his-and-hers feel. “I broke two bones and he broke three, but I only hit him the once so I figure that means I’m stronger.”

“And I’m not willing to fight her over the honor!”

“Faith was just filling me in. Sounds like you two might need a drink.”

He almost seems...pleased,
she thought. She was surprised at how proud that made her feel. “Yes, that’d be great. I’d rather that than the pills they gave us.” Lauren sank into the leather love seat. “Did you get in touch with Parker’s dad yet?”

Faith shook her head. “I think Parker might’ve gotten to him first, but I left a message with his secretary. I’m sure he’ll at least call back.”

Landon sat on the foot stool and sighed. “Obviously, it’d be better if he did, but it’s not important. I sent a couple emails off from the ER. Lauren doesn’t think he’s going to do anything to the office, but I’m not so sure. At the very least, we need to protect the assets.”

“It sounds like he ran away with his tail between his legs,” Damon said as he handed them their wine. “Even if he were, everything in that office is insured. I’d bet he’s laying low and scrambling to salvage whatever he can at this point. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.”

Lauren nodded and took a long sip of the wine, savoring the warmth it spread through her body.
It certainly is.

It was still dark when her phone chimed on the side table. Without opening her eyes, she reached out and silenced it.

“Why did you set an alarm?” Landon grumbled beside her. She rolled over and nestled onto his chest.

“I didn’t,” she yawned. The phone chimed again. “That’s the push notification noise.”

“Well, get it to stop pushing notifications. I want to sleep.”

Lauren rolled onto her elbow and reached for it with her right hand, forgetting it was wrapped in a bright pink cast. “Ugh,” she groaned as she sat up fully. Another notification rolled in as she started to read with bleary eyes. “I set up alerts for any time StyleSpur was mentioned online.”

“Seriously? These are all alerts about the company?” Landon said with a little more clarity.

“It looks like Damon issued a press release and a bunch of sites have picked up on it already.”

Landon sat up and grabbed his phone. “Where? Which ones?”

“Techcrunch, Gizmodo...”

“I just found a thread on Reddit.” They looked at each other in shock. “Did you know he was going to do this?” Lauren shook her head and looked back to her phone.

“What exactly did he do?” She started to read an article out loud. “‘Billionaire investor guru Damon Kael issued a statement early today requesting calm in the wake of recent events that have rocked one sector of the startup community.’”

Landon began reading from the same article. “‘I was disappointed when I heard about the alleged fraud and corruption coming out of the fashion startup StyleSpur. Not only am I disappointed because my firm was considering a sizable investment in the company, but also because of what these actions might do to the entire sector. We can’t allow the actions of one bad apple to taint the entire bushel. My confidence in startup investing has never been stronger.’”

“‘This leaves us wondering, what exactly has happened at StyleSpur? We reached out to CEO Parker Jarvis but he has yet to respond.’ I don’t get it,” said Lauren.

He snorted and nodded his head appreciatively. “It’s actually quite smart. By getting ahead of the story, Damon is able to control it. He’s basically directing their attention straight to Parker while appearing to stay above the fray.”

“I need to know what he’s doing.” She jumped out of bed, pulled her sweatshirt over her head, and headed down the hall to Damon’s room. Figuring with this press release out, he’d be up, so she opened the door without knocking. A figure in the bed stirred but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed the mess of blonde hair on the pillow.

“Lauren? Is everything okay?”

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” she stammered as she backed out of the room.

“No, it’s alright,” she giggled. “He’s been gone for hours but he left you something.”

Lauren sat on the edge of the bed just as she had the first time she’d entered that room. Faith pushed herself up, switched on the light, and handed her that familiar book. She ran her finger along the bookmark, flipped the pages open, and began to read the highlighted passage.

“‘In the fable, the Monkey grabs the paw of his friend, the Cat, and uses it to fish chestnuts out of the fire, thus getting the nuts he craves, without hurting himself. If there is something unpleasant or unpopular that needs to be done, it is far too risky for you to do the work yourself. You need a cat’s-paw—someone who does the dirty, dangerous work for you. The cat’s-paw grabs what you need, hurts whom you need hurt, and keeps people from noticing that you are the one responsible. Let someone else be the executioner, or the bearer of bad news, while you bring only joy and glad tidings.’”

“Something tells me that press release isn’t the only thing Damon has planned today,” Landon said from the doorway.

It definitely wasn’t. So much happened during that hectic morning, events began to blur together. Damon’s apartment turned into a type of mission control, all three of them working fervently before the sun was up. Lauren sent out a mass text to all StyleSpur employees telling them to hang tight until Friday and spent the majority of the morning responding to their concerns. Faith arranged a meeting between Mr. Jarvis and Landon for 11 a.m. while also fielding phone calls from reporters. Landon decided to throw his hat in the ring and had his assistant issue a press release in response, echoing Damon’s message.

Lauren received a text from Damon at one point.

Just got off the phone with my good friend, Murray Morowitz. I don’t think he was very pleased with his newest acquisitions manager...

They all smiled to each other as Landon ignored a phone call from Sahra. The voicemail he played on speaker was enough to make her entire day, but Lauren was still in for a few more surprises.

Shortly after Landon had left for his meeting, Faith was in the kitchen brewing a pot of coffee. “Holy. Shit,” she cried out.

“What now?” Lauren replied looking up from the dining table.

With wide eyes, Faith grabbed the TV remote and turned on NY1. “Pipp, the sales girl, just texted me. Look.”

A live feed from a hovering helicopter showed a small marina fully engulfed in smoke. Boats and fire engines were working together to douse the flames from at least a half dozen large yachts. The reporter was saying that a jogger had reported a strong gasoline smell coming from the docks shortly before the fire started. With the veracity of the flames, firemen believed the fire was intentional and were requesting anyone with information to call 911.

“That’s Parker’s yacht, right there, in the middle,” Faith said, pointing at the screen.

“Seriously.”

“You don’t think Damon could’ve—”

“No! No way,” Lauren shook her head.

“He did say he was going to do your dirty work...”

“Hon, he’s a good guy, don’t worry. I’d put any amount of money on Parker doing this himself for some twisted, convoluted reason.”

Landon returned shortly after lunch unsure if they could rely on Mr. Jarvis for any help.
It doesn’t really matter,
Lauren had thought.
All those people will have a job no matter what, I’ll see to it.
Just as they were about to sit down to lunch, Damon texted again.

Sorry I have to kick you before you’re ready to jump, but it’s for your own good. Congrats, CEO ;)

“What the hell is this supposed to mean?” she said passing the phone to Landon then Faith.

“CEO? Of StyleSpur?” said Faith.

“I have no idea...”

A moment later, another text came through with a direct link to another press release. As she started reading the first sentence, she didn’t realize she’d begun pacing around the room.

“The following is a press release announcing angel investment of $5 million US from Damon Kael Inc. to My Best Friend’s Closet.”

Lauren’s hands began to shake as she read further. Skimming the announcement, certain words popped off the screen. Innovative. Visionary. Trust-worthy.

“What is it? What does it say?” Landon said, suddenly at her side. She handed him the phone, smiling broadly.

“He just pledged five million bucks to our company...”

“You’re kidding me!” Faith squealed.

“Well,
he
didn’t but his company did. I can’t believe this is all happening.” Her ears were ringing faintly. She opened the French doors and stepped outside, the cool air clearing her head.

“Wren, this is incredible,” Landon said as he followed. “We couldn’t have asked for any better publicity.” He lifted her in a tight hug and spun her once, setting her down with a laugh. “You are so incredible. I can’t believe you pulled all this off.”

“I didn’t do
this,
though. This was all Damon,” she said shaking her head.

Landon lifted her chin, his brown eyes sparkling down at her in the autumn light. “You did this, Wren. You had the guts to get on that stage at Agitate, to start your own business, to take a chance with a complete stranger you met in California. None of this would’ve happened without you. You were given the opportunity and you made the decision.”

She blushed and kissed him swiftly. “I don’t know what to say to that. This is all just so unreal. Thank you.”

Faith called out from door, holding her hand over her phone. “Lauren, there’s a reporter from TechCrunch who wants to talk to you about your company.” Her smile was contagious.

“Can you take a message for me?” Lauren wanted nothing more than to crow about MyBFC and all her exciting plans for the future, but there were still a few loose ends she needed to take care of first.

15.

Saturday morning, Lauren trudged up the seemingly endless flights of stairs, coffees and muffins in hand. She knocked on Ali’s door and slumped against it. She could hear Ali stumbling out of bed and smiled to herself.
I’m gonna miss this.

Ali opened the door and grunted. Half her face was still stained white from her geisha costume, hair sticking out in every direction.

Lauren pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “I brought the breakfast, you provide the aspirin.”

“That was the deal. Get your butt in here. I can’t stay vertical for too long.”

“That was one hell of a party last night, huh? I’m really glad you were able to make it out last minute,” said Lauren. She handed Ali her coffee and curled up in the papasan chair.

“I’m mostly glad I made it too. Mostly. My head is absolutely killing me.”

“Your costume was pretty wicked. What party were you at when I called you?”

Ali waved her hand as she sipped her coffee. “Nevermind about all that. We didn’t get a chance to talk about all the craziness that’s happened to you. I’ve only caught bits and pieces of it online, as odd as that is to say.”

“God, yeah...” Lauren couldn’t believe everything that’d happened in the past week. It was still so surreal. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“I actually saw a news clip about StyleSpur when I checked my email yesterday. It was a photo of a bunch of you standing outside your office all in costumes because you couldn’t get in or something? Looked fucking hilarious.”

Lauren laughed. “Actually, that was one of my favorites. It said something like, ‘StyleSpur employees get trick, no treat,’ right? Yeah, that was nuts. By the time I got to the office, there were a dozen people all standing around on the sidewalk not knowing what to do. Parker changed the locks at some point during the night Thursday so none of us could get in. That’s how they managed to get so many photos of us just standing around.”