by S. C. Adams
Although the reason Kate is standing there is because it’s part of her work, I’m secretly wondering if she is daydreaming at all about us the way that I am. The more I speak, the more I realize just how much more confident and secure I feel in this shitty situation ,with Kate there by my side.
I can’t stop shooting looks over at her during the question and answer segment. Eventually, she has to signal me to stop looking over at her. I know that this is the worst time to be checking her out, but I can’t help it. If she’s there, she’s always going to get my attention. Occasionally, after she catches me looking at her, she gets that look on her face that says, “This is why our romance needs to end.”
I dread even the thought of us stopping now that we are seeing just how good we can have it. I hate having to keep my feelings about Kate a secret. I want to talk to the reporters about Kate and just how exceptional she is. Instead, journalists and reporters ask questions about Sarah and what I think about it all, whether I think she’s lying or whether I am lying. They throw out their questions, most of which even I could’ve predicted, and I gave them all the best answers. If anything, the crowd seems annoyed at just how cool and calm I’m being.
After all is said and done, I pull Kate aside.
“Hey,” I say to her quietly. “I don’t know about you, but I’m wiped out from all of this.”
“Same here,” she replies.
“Why don’t we go get a drink after we get out of here?” I propose. “You and me—we’ll go and chill, cool off after all the hard work we’ve been doing.”
Considering all of our circumstances, I suspect that she might actually say no. To my delight, she smiles and agrees.
“I’d love to,” says Kate.
I have Kate meet me at the Lightning Troubadour, a fancy drinking spot just outside of Queens. We each dress casually, and we meet up with the stipulation that we are both on our best behaviors. I agree, but I know even my best behavior might not be good enough for her.
With each new drink I order, I ensure that each subsequent topic of conversation we have will leave less room for us to introduce mischief.
“So, what’s your family like?” I ask her once I start my third drink. “Where’d you grow up?”
“I grew up in Brooklyn,” Kate answers. “I’ve lived in New York my whole life. I was really close to my family growing up, and still am. I’m really close with my parents.”
“You have any brothers or sisters?” I ask.
“Nope, I’m an only child,” she replies. “I’m glad, though. I think my parents were happier more because they only had one kid. They’ve been happily married for thirty years now.”
“Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Harly,” I say, raising my glass.
“Yeah, they’re a really cute couple,” she says. “I think my dad’s about to retire here soon.”
“What does he do?”
“He’s a teacher,” she says. “Both of my parents are. They taught so that we could all have weekends together and have the same stretches of time off to be a family together. I really liked my home life. I’m one of the only people alive that had a good home life, if you ask all my friends.”
“Do they still live in Brooklyn?” I ask.
“They sure do,” she says. “What about your parents? What do they do? Do they live off their wealthy son’s massive riches?”
I realize that she is being light and has no idea, but I regret the tonal shift that is going to come with my next revelation.
I clear my throat. “Actually, my parents both died in a car accident when I was young. I barely even remember them hardly.”
Her hand goes to her heart, and her demeanor instantly changes.
“It’s okay,” I assure her with a laugh. “They died over twenty years ago. I’m not sad about it anymore.”
“That’s terrible, Aiden. I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, it’s made me glad that I have the best drivers in the industry to take me around,” I comment. “People drive like lunatics, and people die.”
“I hate driving in New York,” says Kate. “So, if your parents passed away when you were a little kid, who raised you?”
“I was raised by my mom’s parents,” I explain. “My grandparents took me in right away, and I lived with them right until the day I made my first million. They’re basically my parents, though. They’re the only family I’ve ever had. My grandparents took me and my older sister in at the same time, but she was already sixteen and almost out of high school, so she never hung around for long.”
“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost both of my parents,” says Kate. “I don’t blame her for not sticking around.”
“I worry about her sometimes,” I say. “Greta, my older sister, bounced right out of here after high school graduation. She only talks to our grandparents once or twice a year. No one in the family really sees or hears from her that much. Her friends from around here don’t see or hear from her, either.”
“Okay, new topic,” says Kate. “One less sad—”
“I’m not sad, I promise.”
“Still,” she says. “Let’s talk about something less personal. Who’s the richest person you’ve fucked?”
I’m taken aback. “Uh, what?”
She laughs. “Come on now. You’re a billionaire! You must have scored with many high-profile ladies. You’re young, too. Come on, spill the beans.”
“Now, come on, Kate. I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Right,” she says sarcastically. “You just wait for them to go and say shit about it in the press.”
“Something like that.” I laugh. “Tell you what—you tell me about someone you’ve slept with, and I’ll tell you about the most famous woman I’ve ever had.”
I have no intention of going through with my end of the agreement. I just want to steer away from my sexual history with Kate. As far as I’m concerned, the history she and I are making together is the only one that matters, and I don’t want to put images in her head of me with other girls.
“Well, I’ll tell you about the first guy I ever slept with,” says Kate. “Mike. He was my boyfriend in high school that basically helped shape who I was for years, and how I viewed myself in general. I thought he and I were going to end up together. He is pretty much the only guy who ever paid me any attention.”
“That’s a crime against humanity,” I say.
“Yeah, we should’ve gone to high school together.” She winks. “Anyway, we were fine at first. He was sweet and he was my first, but he always put me down and told me that I was going to do badly, no matter what I tried to do. He’d say I was a failure at everything: hobbies, job aspirations, goals. I was always optimistic, and he was always pessimistic and always said he wanted to ‘keep me grounded in reality.’”
“He sounds like a piece of shit, no offense,” I say.
“None taken.” She laughs. “I broke up with him right after high school. My parents were about to kill him. I think I probably saved his life.”
I chuckle. “Don’t mess with their baby.”
“Right. It did take me a lot longer to break free of the massive self-esteem and self-image issues after the breakup, but I finally felt better about everything around my third year in college.”
“You don’t deserve to be treated that way at all,” I tell her. “It’s a travesty that any guy would abuse you like that. You’re a fucking treasure.”
“Well, I would thank you for saying that, but I think those might be the drinks talking,” she speculates.
“So, what if it is? I mean it. You deserve better, and you’re worth so much more than being with a guy like that.”
“Oh, I know I deserve better,” she assures me. “At first, it took me a while to stop blaming myself. Once I stopped blaming the wrong person, I realized that my life in general is worth so much more than how I’d been living it.”
“Which has turned you into the strong person you are today,” I finish.
“I don’t know if I’d put it like that, but thank you, Aiden.”
As our night draws to a close, I try to put less distance between us. I sit closer to her whenever I come back from the bar. She doesn’t resist my approach, but she is crossing her arms and not inviting me like she usually does.
“This can’t go on, and you know it,” she eventually says.
“I don’t know it,” I say. “We both know we don’t agree with the things we’re saying. We know how we feel, and we know what we want.”
“You have to control yourself, Aiden,” she says. “Come on, you can do this. I have faith in you.”
“It’s not that I can’t. I can’t do anything else whenever my thoughts are of you. You’re the center of my universe right now, Kate.”
“You have to stop thinking that way, Aiden.”
“This is easier said than done,” I whine. “Trust me, I’m restraining myself every moment when we’re together. Right now, I have to hold back from just… grabbing hold of you and kissing you right here in front of everyone.”
“We have to be safe, Aiden,” says Kate. “You know PDA is off the menu for you right now.”
“Fine,” I say, looking to change the subject. “So, listen. I go and visit my grandparents every Sunday. We usually have lunch or dinner together. It’s a really nice time.”
“Oh, that’s really sweet. I love how close you are to your grandparents.”
“Thanks.” I chuckle. “Anyway, I see them every Sunday, so I was wondering if you’d like to come to Sunday dinner sometime soon. Nana and Papa are basically my parents, you know? I don’t care if it sounds sappy. I want you to meet them. They’re my favorite people in the whole wide world.”
“I would like that,” Kate says as she finishes her drink.
10
Kate
I am truly surprised by just how much things are looking up already, and the week isn’t even over.
At the end of my day on Friday, I go into Aiden’s office to give him a quick rundown on the most recent media coverage regarding him and the sex scandal.
“Overall, it seems things are going rather well for us—not to jinx it,” I tell him. “There are lots of people sticking up for you. A lot of men and women are bringing up how women use sex as a weapon just like guys do. A lot of news outlets are talking to the various other men, and they’re giving more details of their encounters, explaining how Sarah sought to hurt them. The public really doesn’t like Sarah right now.”
“That’s good,” Aiden says.
“But they still don’t love you all that much yet,” I continue. “They just don’t hate you with a fiery hot passion anymore. The media’s approach right now, it seems, is to hang out around you and wait for you to mess up.”
“That sounds about right,” he says.
“They’re not talking about you as much as they were before, and when they do, it usually redirects right back to Sarah and the men she screwed over,” I say with a hint of satisfaction. “We’ve really played this all nicely.”
“You really are incredible,” he says with awe.
“Of course, there are still some loud, vocal skeptics in some markets, but it happens,” I say. “Not everyone on the planet is going to like you, and most people are jealous and angry at rich people no matter who they are.”
“That sounds about right,” he says again with a laugh.
“As far as what our next move is, I think right now we just have to do what those paparazzi outside your house do: sit and wait. Giving the press that info on Sarah is the greatest move we’ve made. She’s falling apart organically, without any additional help from us.”
He sits there quietly for a few moments, scratching his chiseled chin with his fingers. He is pondering something, but I’m way off about what it is.
“Do you have any plans this upcoming Sunday?” he asks me.
I am surprised by his redirect, and I’m flabbergasted by his question at first.
“I’m not sure,” I reply, slowly remembering what he’d said before about Sundays. “Why do you ask?”
“I was wondering if you would come over to my grandparents’ house for dinner,” he says. “Nana’s making the best pot roast you’re ever going to have in your life, and Papa’s grilling vegetables. If you were down, we’d love to have you.”
“Do your grandparents know who I am?” I have to ask.
“Of course, they do,” he says matter-of-factly. “They want to meet the girl that’s been helping me out so much. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by them what kind of trouble I’m in. They know I’m not saving my own ass here. I’ve told them a lot about you.”
“Am I just ‘Kate Harly, PR superstar’ or am I ‘a girl named Kate that works for me that I like a lot’?”
“Which would you prefer?” he asks.
“I’m comfortable with either, really.”
“I’ll give you until Sunday to figure that out,” he says. “I promise there are no strings attached or ulterior motives here. I realize that we continue to play with fire, and we are inevitably going to get burned if we keep at it. But I like you. Sue me.”
“I don’t think I should sue you now,” I quip. “You’re already in a lot of trouble right now. The last thing you need is your new PR girl to slap you with a lawsuit.”
We laugh at my playful joust, and I give him my typical beaming adoration.
“Yes,” I say to him like a smitten teenager. “I would love to come to dinner with you.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about going to dinner with Aiden, Lily.”
I’m out getting a drink with Lily after leaving work. After my meeting with Aiden had concluded, I held a few meetings with my PR staff, daydreaming the entire time, and then I called it a day. I’ve done all of my duties and my team is up to speed and working their tails off for Tech Wreck and me. Things are all going according to plan, and slowly but surely Aiden and his company’s image is turning around.
“This isn’t just some easy achievement, Kate,” says Lily with pride. “You’ve pulled Tech Wreck and its CEO out from a quagmire of debauchery and shit, and you’ve made them relatable victims. And you’ve gotten all that done in what, less than a week? Come on, you should get an award for this kind of work. Don’t be modest, girl. Be proud, and drink up, bitch!”
We clink our drinks together and I down my entire glass in one gulp.
“Damn, you owned up!” Lily laughs. “I knew you were going to dominate, Kate. You’re in your element.”
“Shucks, stop it. What’re you trying to do, take me home?”
“Hey, maybe I am,” she says, getting closer to me. “Remember those times we played gay-chicken when we were first getting to know each other? I miss those days.”
“Keep it in your pants, homie,” I say, smacking her lightly on the face.
“But seriously, Kate, in the amount of time it took you to save that whole goddamn company and turn their image around, most PR heads would still be storyboarding their overall plan. This is what’s going to make you rich like that billionaire.”
I laugh. “Who would I have to do PR for to make that kind of money? I’ll be rich after I win the lottery.”
“Or marry the rich, handsome guy and become Mrs. Marx,” she jokes.
“You know, I am proud of what I’ve accomplished,” I say. “I’m even more thrilled that people don’t know that I’ve been sleeping with that rich, handsome guy.”
“You only slept with him that one time in the limo, right?” Lily inquires.
“Actually, I slept with him again in his office after hours,” I admit.
“So much for keeping it in your pants!” says Lily. “You guys are like two great big dogs that can’t stop humping each other. You need someone to turn the hose on you!”
“I can’t help it,” I say like a smitten teenager. “I’m drawn to him.”
“I don’t care that you’re fucking the guy,” says Lily. “You can have sex with whoever you want. Yo
u’re a grown woman who can make her own decisions. I’m just thinking, in his office? Really? You guys couldn’t have gone anywhere else? You’re asking for trouble.”
“I know.”
“Do you have, like, serious feelings for him?” she asks. “Outside of work and the hooking up, do you care about this guy in some way?”
“Yes, no, I don’t know,” I say like I’m clueless.
“Come on, you really don’t know?”
“He’s taking me to meet his grandparents for dinner on Sunday,” I admit.
“Okay, so yes, you guys like each other.” Lily laughs. “What made that come about?”
“He just invited me to have dinner with them on Sunday,” I say. “That’s all. He even said ‘No strings attached.’ He said they just want to meet the girl who has been saving his fine ass.”
“Hmm, interesting.”
“I’m confused, Lily!” I cry. “I have no idea what’s going on between me and him. I don’t know if he just wants me for sex or for something more. What does he have in store for me? Rich businessmen are smart, or they have smart people around them. He has to get into situations like this with a lot of women. I just feel he has some kind of plan for me, and I can’t figure out what it is.”
“You are confused,” Lily agrees. “See, I’m inclined to think he has to like you if he’s bringing you over to, basically his parents. You two just met!”
“I can see how it would look that way,” I partially concede. “But no one thought Aiden was going to make it out of this. His grandparents may have thought his career and reputation were over. I’ve proven just how wrong everyone was, and maybe they really are grateful. I’d like to think if I was a guy that Aiden hadn’t slept with, he’d still invite me over to dinner with his grandparents.”
“I don’t know about that,” she says with doubt. “I think he might invite you out for a beer or something if you were a guy. He likes you and wants to show you off to his family. Believe that.”