Asking For A Friend

by Parker, Ali

  He didn’t face me as he said it, which spoke volumes. “I told you, I’m here to talk to you about her.”

  “How do you even know her?” He practically hissed the words, a muscle in his cheek twitching from how hard he was grinding his teeth.

  “That’s none of your concern,” I told him coolly. “But I do know her, and that is all you need to know. I also know that you’re the father of her child and that you don’t contribute a cent.”

  “I don’t have time for a woman who is only after me for my money,” he spat. “If she wants my money, she didn’t have to send her lap dog. She can take me to court. I’m not giving her a cent. She didn’t need to sic you on me.”

  “She absolutely did not sic me on you,” I retorted, appalled by his assumption. “And I’m no one’s fucking lap dog.”

  “If you say so.” He finally turned to look at me, fire spitting from his eyes. “If she wants money, tell her to take me to court. But I’m warning you right now, she has no case and she stands no chance. There isn’t a jurisdiction in this country where she’d be able to fight me in court.”

  Here was the reason she probably hadn’t gone after him in the first place—ridiculous warnings and barely veiled threats like the one he just delivered to me. I doubted if he had anywhere near the clout he thought he did.

  Law wasn’t my game and I didn’t know too much about it, but I did know the courts wouldn’t let fathers just walk away without taking financial responsibility for their children. If they did, our system needed a serious overhaul.

  Especially when it came to guys like him, who so obviously had the means to contribute substantially to their children’s welfare without sacrificing a thing. The man wasn’t destitute by any means.

  “She doesn’t want your money, Brice. As far as I know, she hasn’t asked you for anything and she hasn’t sent me here to get money for her now. But what about your child? Don’t you wonder about her?”

  “I want nothing to do with that child,” he sniped. “Your friend tried to use that child to trap me, to make me have to pay her way. I never once told her I wanted a kid with her.”

  Shaking my head, I released a deep breath and clenched my fists. The guy was the most clueless asshole I’d come across in a long time. And that was saying something.

  Collecting my thoughts and reining in my flaring temper, I tried to reason with him. “You have to make things right, Brice. One way or another—”

  “Is that a threat?” He snarled, snapping at his driver to stop the car. “Seriously, Layton. Are you actually threatening me?”

  “It’s not a threat,” I told him and reached for the door handle. I didn’t want to breathe the same air he was breathing anymore. I was tired of his act and his attitude. “It’s a promise.”

  Chapter 54

  Marissa

  At the end of day two at the office with no sign of Layton, I was starting to wonder if he’d taken a permanent leave of absence simply for the purpose of avoiding me. There were many things I could say about him, but I never thought he was a coward. Well, not seriously. I was starting to wonder, though.

  I had no idea how much money he inherited from his dad or how much of his own he had, but it stood to reason that he had more than enough to never have to work again. It was within the realm of possibility that he caught a first class flight to a tropical island and was sipping cocktails on the beach with a busty local on each arm, laughing about the naive woman he’d left behind.

  Okay, so maybe the last bit was a little too much. He wouldn’t be laughing about me. He probably never even thought about me. Especially if he really did have scantily clad island girls on his arms.

  Just the thought of his touching someone else made my heart sink and ache, but I pushed it away. Whatever or whoever he was doing was none of my concern. My only regret was that I hadn’t gotten to give him my resignation letter yet.

  At least, that was the only regret I was allowing myself to think about for now. Once all was said and done, I’d have myself a good cry and a pint or two of ice cream, then after that, I’d pick myself up and move on. Again.

  Sighing, I rubbed my eyes—not even caring that I was probably getting mascara smudged all over my cheeks. It had never occurred to me that it would end this way with Layton, and it was too hard to wrap my mind around how wrong I’d been about him.

  Sliding open the drawer next to my desk, I eyed the letter of resignation safely resting right on top of my spare stationery. I wondered if I should just leave it on his desk and be done with it. It was a question I’d been debating over since I realized Layton was, once again, not going to show up for work.

  His assistant claimed not to know where he was, but I didn’t know if I should believe her. It didn’t matter.

  I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. No, it didn’t matter where he was. Or who knew where he was. I wasn’t going to be here for much longer, that was all that mattered.

  Abandoning my inner debate about whether to leave the letter of resignation on his desk or not, I left it in my drawer and slammed it shut. Layton might be taking the cowardly route by avoiding his own office, but I wouldn’t follow in his footsteps. I wasn’t afraid, I would do this right.

  Grabbing my purse, I stuffed my keys and my phone inside and went home. Denise and Annie were playing a board game when I got there, with a movie playing in the background.

  “Mommy!” Annie jumped up when I walked in, throwing her arms around my hips. “Do you want to play with us? Aunty Dee says this game will help me know general things.”

  Denise threw her head back in a laugh, shooting Annie a fond look as she told me, “It’s a general knowledge trivia game for children.”

  “That’s cool.” I wished I could muster the appropriate amount of enthusiasm, but I couldn’t. Not today. I was beyond ready and eager to get that letter in so I could put this chapter behind me well and properly. Until I could do that, it felt like I had a thundercloud hanging over my head.

  Denise told Annie to take a break and watch a bit of the movie, following me to the kitchen. “You look like hell. Did you do it? Have you officially resigned?”

  Shaking my head, I filled a glass with water and swigged down half of it. “No, Layton didn’t show up again today. I’m starting to wonder if I should take his absence personally.”

  Denise rolled her eyes, laughing softly. Meanwhile, I decided water wasn’t a strong enough drink and poured us each a glass of wine. “Stop laughing, you’re making me feel like I’m being silly.”

  She stopped laughing as requested, but gave me a pointed look. “You know where I stand on this. I’m still not convinced you’re not being a little silly. If you actually wanted to resign, you would have gone ahead and done it.”

  “No,” I corrected her. “I want to do it in person. I want to cause a scene when he gets there, then I want the big finish to be me delivering my letter. That last part is silly, but I feel like it would be cleansing for me to do that. Get some of my pent up anger toward him out of my system.”

  Denise only shook her head, clearly still not on board with my plan. I slid her glass over to her. “Don’t look at me like that. This is how it has to be. He betrayed my trust, Dee. Big time. I’m as angry with myself about this as I am with him. I’ve yelled at myself in my head many times, but him I actually get to yell at out loud. Let me have this, please.”

  “You can have whatever you want, my friend,” she told me, twirling her glass by its stem as she contemplated whatever she wanted to say next. “You haven’t heard what he has to say, though. I know you say it doesn’t matter, but are you sure about that?”

  Pressing my lips together, I dropped my chin to my chest and took a deep breath. “Well, actually. Um, about that.”

  “You’ve spoken to him?” Lines formed on her forehead as her eyes shot wide open. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Shifting on my feet, I kicked out my heels and stared deeply into my wineglass. “I didn’t speak to
him, exactly. I just heard what he had to say.”

  Denise buried her head in her hands, groaning. “Uh-oh, that’s a ’guilty Marissa’ face if I ever saw one. What did you do?”

  “I didn’t do—” seeing the way she was reacting, I knew she already knew I’d done something. Might as well tell her. “I listened to a message he left for me.”

  “Oh,” she visibly relaxed, lifting her head and taking her glass back into her hand. “That’s not bad. Why did you look so guilty for listening to one of your own messages?”

  “It wasn’t actually mine, well it really was, but—it was on the machine in his office,” I admitted, taking a big gulp of wine. It was crisp and cold, exactly what I needed. “On his machine.”

  Her relieved expression slid away. “You listened to the messages on his machine in his office, but you won’t listen to any of the ones he left for you on your own phone.”

  “Good point,” I felt my cheeks flush. “To be fair though, I didn’t know there was going to be a message for me. I just kind of—pressed the button.”

  “We’ll talk about the pitfalls of snooping later,” she said, bringing the palm of her free hand to her temple and resting her head on it. “What did he say?”

  “He said he cared about me,” I had no clue why I started there and I wanted to kick myself for the knowing look Denise gave me, so I carried on before she jumped in. “He said he’s doing something for me, that he’ll be back soon, and that he’s sorry.”

  “Okay, so let me get this straight.” She cleared her throat and lifted her fingers, counting them down as she talked. “He knows you well enough to know you haven’t been listening to his messages on your phone, so he left you one to find on his office phone.”

  A finger dropped. “He’s doing something for you, he’s sorry and he actually said out loud that he cared about you.”

  Three more fingers had dropped after the first two. I sighed. “Repeating what he said in his message doesn’t count as an argument for him, or points I haven’t taken into consideration.”

  “Have you actually been listening to what I’ve been telling you, or to what he said in that message? The message he left for you. On his own answering machine.” She took another swig of wine and dropped her shoulders. “Because I don’t think you listened, Sissy.”

  “I listened,” I protested.

  But Denise shook her head. “No, you really haven’t. I don’t think you paid attention the last few times you saw him, either. If he says he’s out doing something for you, I believe him.”

  “Why?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “You don’t even know him.”

  “I might not know him, but I’ve seen him with you,” she said, more gently now. “I’ve seen him with you and with Annie and there is no doubt in my mind that he cares about you. If you ask me, I think he’s head-over-freaking-heels in love with you.”

  I put up a hand, wanting to make a point of my own but she didn’t stop. “No, just let me get this out. I know you’re doing what you think is right, but I don’t think it is. I think you’re going to regret it for a long, long time.”

  Sadness and understanding mingled in her eyes. “I know he disappointed you, but one disappointment does not a bad man make. You’re projecting because of what happened to you in the past, and while that’s understandable, it doesn’t mean it’s not a mistake. He’s a good man. I know he is, and I think you know it too.”

  “One more thing,” she said, after another sip of wine. “You know I’ll always be here for you, but you need to think long and hard about handing in your letter of resignation. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think you’re too close to this, but you need to take some time to gain perspective. Layton messed up once, but he’s one of the better guys I’ve met and he’s a generous, understanding boss.”

  There were tears in my eyes. I also used to believe he was one of the better guys. I so badly wanted him to be. Badly enough that I let him into my life and into Annie. In return, he crushed my daughter’s heart.

  “It doesn’t matter what he’s doing. It’s not for me. I haven’t asked him to do a thing for me. I’m handing in my resignation, Dee. I can’t risk this happening again.”

  That was what it came down to. I didn’t know what to believe about where he was or what he was doing. He sounded sincere when he apologized in that message, but it was too little too late.

  I might be confused and I might not know what to think, but I did know that it was my job to protect Annie. And my job only, her dad had made it pretty clear to me that he wanted no part of it.

  Chapter 55

  Layton

  Delayed flights were the bane of my existence. Especially when they’re delayed indefinitely, which was what happened with my flight from New York back to Boston. There was a storm somewhere and we had to wait for it to pass before our metal tube could take to the skies.

  I was more than anxious to get home, but no amount of pacing, knee bouncing or glaring at the sky got me there faster. And trust me, I gave all those things a very fair shot to work.

  As it was, I was now five days late for my date with Annie and Marissa. All the flights back to Boston were full on Monday after my talk with Brice. I got a flight on Tuesday morning, but then the storm rolled in and eventually, I only got in on Wednesday night.

  Making things right with Marissa was going to be a nightmare. She still hadn’t returned any of my calls, she didn’t read my messages and I had no way of knowing whether she’d listened to any of the voice messages I left.

  My intention for going to New York was good, but my execution was a mess. Marissa was so pissed she wasn’t talking to me and I was way behind with work. I really should have thought it through before I took off for New York.

  Despite having done as much work as I could while I waited to get home, there were things I could only do at the office. Important things, now already overdue.

  And so, even if it was late, I went straight to the office from the airport. At least it should be empty at this hour, and hopefully I would be able to sort my stuff out in time to catch a couple hours sleep before heading back in.

  As I expected, the office was dark when I got there. My footsteps were muted by the industrial carpeting, but it was so quiet I could actually hear them for once. There was only one light on in the entire space, but it was coming from the other end of the floor.

  Marissa’s end of the floor. Hope flared in my chest that it might be her, but then I remembered the time and that she had a child at home and doused the flame. She wasn’t here. Someone probably just left their light on.

  Stepping into my office was a homecoming of its own. I flipped on the light and breathed out, relieved to finally be back. My desk was clear except for my computer screen and the phone, exactly the way I liked it. I was suddenly itching to get to work.

  It took only a few seconds for my computer to fire up. Meanwhile, I used the time to pull the drawings I made at the airport out of the backpack I brought up with me.

  The faintest sound at the door drew my attention and when I sat up again, drawings in hand, I sucked in a breath. Standing in my doorway with the light in the dark office shining right onto her golden hair, making her seem to glow, was Marissa.

  God, she was beautiful. My heart picked up speed, slamming itself against my rib cage. I stood up, about to open my arms for her when I realized that she was wearing a scowl and her arms were crossed tightly across her chest.

  White hot anger flashed in her eyes as she stepped out of the pool of light in the doorway and came into my office. “You’re back.”

  Her voice was flat, but laced with deadly poison. I nodded, momentarily stunned by her appearance and by how I had somehow forgotten how unbelievably gorgeous she was. “What are you doing here so late?”

  “I work here. I had things to finish up before I went home.” Yup, she was definitely pissed. Exactly how pissed remained to be seen, but I could tell it wasn’t going to be good.

  �
�I’m glad you’re here, actually—”

  She put up her hand, shaking her head. “I don’t want to hear it, Layton. I’m not interested in your excuses.”

  “It’s not an excuse,” I protested until I realized that was exactly what it was. “I know you’re angry with me, I deserve it. I take full responsibility for what I did.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “If you took responsibility, you wouldn’t be trying to talk your way out of it right now. Look, I only came to your office because I thought I was alone here and heard something. I wanted to check what it was, that’s all. I have something I’ve been wanting to give you, but I’ll do it in the morning. It’s late. I don’t have the energy for this now.”

  My mind raced and I could already see she had her mind made up. She wasn’t just pissed, she was done. There would be no hearing me out, no giving me a chance to explain. If I wanted that chance, I was going to have to take it instead of waiting for her to give it to me.

  I also knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere unless I could show her I understood why she felt the way she did. She turned her shoulders, her heels pivoting on the ground when I started speaking. “I know I hurt you and disappointed Annie. I never meant for that to happen. I was just as excited about spending the day with you guys.”

  Marissa stayed in her half turn like she was trying to decide whether to stay or to run. Just in case she decided to run, I carried on quickly. “I swear to you I am not the guy who flakes. I know how seriously you take commitments made to Annie and I know you didn’t allow me to meet her lightly.”

  She was still frozen. I had a feeling this was my one chance, so I made it count. “That morning before I was supposed to meet you, I was getting to leave when my father’s lawyer delivered the next video.”

  That made her frown, but she was still not looking at me. “I wasn’t even going to watch it at first, but then I saw I had a few minutes to spare and popped it in to get the gist of it. Just so it didn’t bother me all day and distract me from you guys.”