Desire: The Dark Christmases

by Z. L. Arkadie

I smirked. “So you’re the one who made these eight see the light?”

  Her smirk matched mine. “Yes, I am.”

  We made the calls to the women on the list, and all eight agreed to meet us at the studio for a prerecorded roundtable interview for that night’s live broadcast of The Rochester Report. Jasper had other meetings to attend but agreed to meet us at the studio at six p.m. Julia would accompany him.

  There was something about her I didn’t trust. First of all, she never looked me in the eyes. When I said hello to her, she just smiled, tight-lipped, and got away from me as fast as she could. I sensed the way she treated me could’ve been born of deception or depression.

  Regardless, after the women spoke, she and Jasper would sit down for their own exclusive interview. I had no idea what they were going to say, and I couldn’t ask Jasper because he was still inaccessible.

  Jacqueline drove us to the studio in her sensible four-door sedan. She talked about how she would soon be leaving Christmas Industries for training in Quantico.

  “Then you’re going to be an FBI agent?” I asked.

  She smiled for a moment then breathlessly said, “Yeah.”

  “Ha,” I said. “I guess they definitely hired the wrong person when they hired you.”

  Jacqueline laughed. “Or the right person.”

  I laughed too. “Definitely the right person.”

  We filled our time with more conversation even as I texted Branson, an investigator, and asked him to perform a search on the mystery woman’s phone number. I noticed Rachel had called me a number of times and left some messages. I still didn’t know what to say to her other than to tell her I quit. After what Kylie had pulled, there was no way we could work together.

  Jacqueline and I exchanged numbers, vowing to keep in touch. A journalist could always use an FBI agent in her life, and vice versa.

  “By the way, you’re his girlfriend, aren’t you?” she asked as we pulled up in front of the studio.

  My eyes expanded. Should I cop to it?

  “That relationship between Julia and Jasper is fake as hell. She’s not his type. You are.”

  I shrugged, still unable to confirm or deny her suspicion.

  The valet stood at her window.

  “Don’t worry. You don’t have to say anything,” she said and opened her door.

  I winked at her. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to.”

  We both laughed as we got out of the car.

  My nerves quaked as the page walked us to the studio. Yesterday, when Rachel escorted me down the same hallway, I could feel the buzz of electronic equipment in the air. None of that was in the air at the moment.

  Suddenly, the page put his fingers on his earpiece. He held up a hand, stopping us. “One second.”

  Jacqueline and I raised our eyebrows at each other. I was sure her intuition was also telling her something was wrong.

  “What was that?” the page asked, seemingly upset about something. He rolled his eyes. “Okay. Bye.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Management wants me to take you upstairs.” He looked at Jacqueline. “Not her.”

  I set my jaw. “You can take us both.”

  He started blinking rapidly. “I’m only supposed to take you.”

  “Both of us or—”

  Jacqueline put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”

  I sighed sharply as I pressed my lips together. For some reason, I felt like insisting that she join me. We were in this together. I had no idea what was going on. Maybe taping had been delayed. The Rochester Report would definitely be airing that night.

  “We have to get moving,” the page said, watching me with eyes full of worry.

  Finally, I nodded then turned to Jacqueline. “I’ll come get you when I get this all figured out.”

  “That’s fine, and I’ll call Jasper as well.”

  I slapped a hand over my heart, feeling relieved. I hadn’t thought to name-drop or call him. “Yes, do that.”

  Once we were out of the studio zone, Jacqueline went back to the lobby as the page escorted me to the elevators and got inside with me.

  “I can find my way from here,” I said.

  He hit the button that closed the door. “I’m supposed to take you all the way.”

  I leaned away from him, frowning. Something was up. For sure, Rachel had heard about our taping. Perhaps she was trying to hijack the interview. That would be something she would do, fight for it until the very end. And I would give it to her as long as Kylie wasn’t involved.

  Finally, we reached management’s floor, and the page walked me all the way to the big office. Through the glass doors, I saw David Eastman, Rachel, and Stan Rochester.

  “Really, I can take it from here,” I said.

  The page looked through the window then back at me. I could tell he was intimidated by management. He nodded.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He turned away without replying and fled the scene as fast as he could.

  When I faced the office again, all the occupants were watching me. From their grim expressions, I gathered that whatever this was about wasn’t good.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The meeting in David Eastman’s office went fast. Stan Rochester said there would be no interview. David Eastman told me BCN had decided not to employ me. Rachel, who could barely look me in the eyes, agreed with them both and asked me to clean out my office.

  “I have nothing in my office,” I reminded her.

  “Just check so you don’t leave anything behind,” she said.

  It was then that I knew she wanted some time with me alone. After we walked to my office, she gave me a play-by-play of what had happened. Apparently, Stan had received a call from someone’s lawyer refuting the stories of all the women who would be interviewed and proving that each of them were fired from Christmas Industries for nefarious reasons.

  “They’re lying,” I said.

  She widened her eyes and wiggled her head. “Well, whoopee-doo, I know. But you’re the one who trusted Jasper Christmas, and he played you, Holly.”

  I folded my arms defiantly, refusing to believe her. “No, he didn’t.”

  “Yes, he did,” she adamantly claimed.

  I whipped my phone out of my purse. “I’ll call him right now.”

  Rachel crossed her arms and waited as I placed the call, which rang twice before going to voice mail.

  I turned away from her. “Jasper, call me. The interview fell apart.”

  When I faced Rachel again, she was shaking her head. “We could’ve had a good thing here, Holls. I wanted to work with you, but you fucked it up.”

  My mouth dropped. I had no idea what to say.

  “Take your time. No one’s going to escort you out of here like you’re a common criminal as long as I’m your friend.” She walked over and gave me a hug.

  I felt so awful, so shocked. This couldn’t be happening. “He didn’t betray me, Rach,” I said in a small voice.

  Rachel sighed deeply. “Yes, he did. Let’s talk later.” She let go of me and walked out of the office.

  Never had I felt so embarrassed and possibly betrayed. I called Jasper again, and the call went immediately to voice mail. My heart took a tumble.

  “Damn it, Holls,” a familiar voice said.

  I looked up, and Kylie was leaning against the doorjamb with a smug look on her face. “You were never supposed to trust a Christmas.”

  With that said, she stood straight and walked away.

  When I made it back down to the lobby, Jacqueline was gone. I wondered if she had been in on the farce too. As I walked back to the hotel, I called Jasper’s phone, feeling like a psychotic stalker. He answered none of my calls. I had left messages with each, though. I called him an asshole, a dark soul, and a sociopath. I told him I never wanted to see him again. I was sure he didn’t care.

  Kylie had been right, and that infuriated me. I was so angr
y that even in the stifling cold with aggressive snow flurries pelting my face, I was hot under the collar. I needed to unleash a good tongue-lashing on someone who was involved in this whole Rochester Report stunt. As soon as I was in the lobby of the hotel, I called Jasper’s assistant.

  “Hello,” Jacqueline answered on the first ring.

  After a moment of shock that she’d answered so quickly, I asked if she knew where her boss was.

  “I’m going to tell you this, and I’m going to say it fast. I was fired, and I won’t be going back to the office ever. If I were you, I would stay away from that place. Goodbye, Holly. It was nice meeting you.”

  “Wait,” I called, knowing she’d already hung up.

  My legs turned to jelly, and I flopped down on the sofa in the lobby. I had to regain some focus. The sad part was that I didn’t know where Jasper lived. We’d declared our love for each other and had so much sex, but I had never been to his home in New York City. I felt like a fool. I was ready to cry my eyes out but not in front of the people sitting around me, who were presumably waiting for something or someone.

  I forced myself to stand, dragged myself to the elevators, and walked into one. My limbs were heavy, and my head throbbed as if someone were clubbing me. It was time to go back home and lick my wounds. I didn’t know how I could ever recover.

  As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, my phone rang. I looked at the number on the screen. It was Branson. I didn’t answer. At the moment, I didn’t want anything to do with a Christmas investigation.

  Each step down the hallway was heavier than the last. Don’t cry yet. I wanted to hold it together until I was in the privacy of my own room. Once I got to the door, I stood straight up. What if my key didn’t work? What if BCN had called the front desk and told them I was no longer welcome in the room? My heart beat out of my chest as I slid my room key through the reader. The green light flashed as the door beeped. I sighed with relief. At least something was going my way.

  I stepped into the room and made sure the door was closed behind me. Suddenly, I felt something hard against my neck, squeezing. Then I felt a hard body against my backside. It was that of a man. I pulled at the fingers on my neck, gasping for a breath that had been stifled.

  Then I saw a man sitting in the armchair, illuminated by the light from the floor lamp. It was Arthur Valentine.

  “Let her breathe,” he calmly ordered my attacker.

  The man released the pressure around my neck, and I coughed until air flowed freely through my throat again.

  “Do you see how fast and easy I can kill you?” Valentine asked, sitting there as if he owned the world.

  I didn’t dare answer, and I was sure he didn’t expect me to.

  “But I wouldn’t kill you.” He stood casually. “I would kill your boyfriend. He’s the fucking thorn in my side.”

  “Then what are you doing here?” I hissed.

  He jerked his head back. “Oh, she fucking speaks. Be careful.”

  My heart beat like thunder as he walked in my direction. Valentine was pasty and big bellied. His entire face was falling. He resembled a man who didn’t care how bad he aged because, repulsive and all, he could always pay beautiful women to fuck him.

  Suddenly, he was in my face and rubbing his hand up and down my crotch. “There’s the pussy young Christmas can’t keep his fucking dick out of. Hey, Jer, how about we fuck it?”

  The guy who was holding me grinded against me with his hard cock.

  Instead of being afraid, I grew angrier. “You would be fucking my corpse because you would have to kill me first,” I said then clenched my lips. I meant it.

  Valentine smirked as his cold gaze seized mine. He was still rubbing me, but his fingers might as well have been air. I couldn’t feel a lick of arousal. Disgust made my pussy numb. Finally, he grunted and stepped back. Jer’s dick stayed hard, though. I could tell he was eager for his boss to give the order to rape me.

  “Stay away from Jasper Christmas,” he finally said.

  So many replies raced through my head, but none of them would come out. I was just so happy to see Valentine walk to the door and open it. His disappointed hoodlum grinded against my ass one more time before leaving. I hadn’t realized how foul the man’s breath was until he let go of me.

  When the door closed, I rushed over to it and locked all the bolts. My legs turned to jelly, and I collapsed on the floor. While on my knees, I pressed my face against the floor and wailed like a baby.

  The crying would not stop, and I couldn’t move. So many minutes, perhaps a few hours, had passed. My face was drenched. I knew at some point I would have to grow silent, get up, and pack. I would have to make my flight first thing in the morning and abandon this wretched city.

  Knock, knock, knock.

  Suddenly, I grew silent.

  “It’s me, Kylie,” she said from the hallway.

  I nearly jumped to my feet and raced to answer the door. Not until I saw her face did I realize how frightened I was. I threw my arms around her, holding on to her for dear life.

  “Shit, Holly, you’re shaking.”

  “It was Arthur Valentine.”

  She leaned back to see my face. “Was he here?”

  I nodded rapidly. “He threatened me.”

  “Shit,” she said with a hard nod. She shook her head. “Well, are you okay?”

  I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming like a waterfall.

  Kylie walked me to the sofa then ordered us cobb salads and tuna melts from room service. She swore by the food items. She said she’d been at the hotel long enough to know what to order and what not to order. Meanwhile, she poured us wine from what was left over from last night’s bottle. Kylie insisted I sit on the sofa while she informed me on what she had found out earlier that day.

  “I had a reason for passing the story off to Kathy,” she said. “I wanted to avoid exactly what happened.”

  I put a hand over my tightening chest. There was logic to what she’d just said, but my mind couldn’t make the connections.

  She watched me with a concerned frown. “You look confused.”

  I fell back against the sofa and pressed my forearm over my eyes. “I feel confused.”

  Kylie patted me on the knee. “I bet you do. I hate that you had to face off with Arthur Valentine. We’re down but not out.”

  I dropped my arm and grimaced at her. “What do you mean we’re not out?”

  “I want to tell you why I’m here.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know why she was there. Did I want to have anything else to do with the Christmases or the Valentines? I pressed my hands over my ears and squeezed, knowing I had to force myself past the emotions I was feeling. Something traumatic had just happened to me, but sometimes my job could be dangerous.

  “Tell me what?” I finally asked.

  “Jasper Christmas and Julia Valentine were prepared to go on the record and give a statement.”

  I adjusted until I was sitting up straight. “What statement?”

  “I don’t know, but Rachel thinks they were planning on throwing Julia under the bus.”

  My head flinched back slightly. “What?”

  “Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “Regardless, I just spoke to Rachel, and she really doesn’t want you to go anywhere. We’re going to try to smooth this over with Dave.”

  “But Jasper’s the one who’s telling him what to do. Remember last night’s revelation. He’s buying or bought the company.”

  “That fell through. Stopped cold turkey.”

  My mouth dropped open in awe.

  “Arthur Valentine stepped in somehow and made Jasper withdraw his FCC application and bid. Kathy’s group is buying BCN.”

  I still didn’t know what to say.

  “Rachel’s meeting with her today, explaining everything to her. We’re getting you back on the show. So…” She was wringing her hands.

  “So, what?”

  “Do you have
an update on Chattanooga?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you still dead set on ruining the Christmases because you think Bryn stole your boyfriend?”

  She grunted.

  “Because if you’re actually telling me the truth, then your fight is futile. Bryn’s known Dale ever since we were eighteen. He used to come to our dorm room. That’s how long they’ve been involved.”

  She sighed sharply. “Okay. That’s not it.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Her eyebrows furrowed then evened out. Seconds ticked by. Finally, I realized that once again she wouldn’t provide an explanation.

  I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. I was worn out. I had given up. “Well, you’re going to have to ruin the Christmases on your own. I’m going back to my life before all of this.”

  “This is your life before all of this, Holly.” She sounded as if she were trying to sell me something.

  “No, it isn’t. The only time I want to hear about Christmas is on December twenty-fifth.”

  “Okay then, well, pass the details of Chattanooga on to me. I’ll work that angle.”

  I tilted my head slightly. “I thought you were forbidden to investigate the Christmases.”

  She shook her fist. “I am, but we’re so fucking close.”

  I leaned toward her. “Close to what?”

  She leaned away from me.

  I folded my arms. “Then tell me the truth. Why are you misleading me, Kylie? You’re not in love with Dale Rumor for goodness’s sake. What’s the real reason behind your obsession with the Christmases?”

  “I’m not obsessed.”

  “You are obsessed.”

  Our stare down was of epic proportions. However, I could see that whatever she was hiding wouldn’t be revealed that evening. But I cared for Kylie. It was because of her that I felt so much better after being accosted by Valentine and his goon.

  I sighed in defeat. “Okay, I’ll look deeper into Chattanooga.”

  She clapped her hands once. “Yes.”

  I threw up my hands, palms facing her. “Don’t celebrate yet. My lines dried up as of yesterday, but I have my investigator working on getting me a fresh catch.”