Departure (Vivienne #3)

by Karen Gordon

  Departure

  By Karen Gordon

  (Dedication)

  Chapter One

  I’d like to say I slept after Jack left, but I didn’t. It took me hours to come off my anger-high—hours that I started by planning delicious revenge scenarios the next time I saw him. In the end it was all a waste of time because someone else came up with a better plan than I ever could have.

  Despite my lack of sleep I’m in my office, functioning as fully as three cups of strong coffee will allow, at eight a.m. I’m on my computer, pretending to be a vital part of team Jack when he comes in, Joel that is.

  “Good morning, Vivienne.” His voice is calm, as always, so his mood is hard to read.

  I try not to look startled. I don’t want him to know how much I dread talking to him. I don’t want to look guilty in any way.

  “Good morning, Mr. Rockhurst. Can I help you with something?”

  He shuts my door as he comes into my office. My heart stops at the sound of the latch click. This is it…I’m going to be fired. I steel myself to handle the news with grace and class, planning to fall apart when I get home…or maybe on my way there.

  “Let’s cut the bullshit.” He gets right to the point.

  I blink at him, shocked by his words and bluntness. Joel Rockhurst is always professional.

  “Sir?”

  He sits in one of the two chairs facing my desk. “I’ve tried to do this the polite way, keep my distance, but that obviously isn’t working.”

  He’s pissed and I’m scared. Mr. Cool-and-Calm is really scary when he loses that façade. “I’m not sure…”

  He cuts me off. “The marketing meeting yesterday was a complete charade, wasn’t it?”

  “Well, I mean I did give Jack notes much earlier than he made it sound…”

  He cuts me off again. “I’m not worried about the notes.” He’s fighting to control his composure. “Does Jack know anything about the Marketing department? Has he made even one decision since he started?” I’ve been waiting for this, waiting for Joel to notice that his son doesn’t have what it takes to be the next CEO.

  I shake my head but I’m amazed how much I hate ratting Jack out. I loathe him, but I still don’t seem to have it in me to throw him under the bus like he did me. I just can’t stoop to his level.

  Joel forces a deep breath, struggling to suppress his boiling anger. “Do you have any idea where he is? I’ve been looking for him since yesterday afternoon. He hasn’t replied.”

  “I believe he’s at his condo.”

  “Why? Have you spoken to him?”

  I can’t lie and I really don’t want to. Jack coming to my apartment and talking about fucking was waaaay over the line. I want Joel’s help to reel him in. “He…um…he showed up at my apartment last night…uninvited.” I stress the last word so Joel doesn’t think it might be at all OK or normal for Jack to do this. “He had been drinking, and…he uh, well, he was pretty rude.”

  He pins me with a stare. “Rude? Define rude? Did he make sexual advances?” He drops his voice a little on the last two words.

  “He, um, he did ask me if I would be interested.”

  With that Joel loses his cool and slams his fist into the arm of the chair. “God-damn it.” He gets up out of the chair and paces my small office. “I told him. I told him to stay away from you. It’s like he’s determined to lose this whole damn company, piss it away on a lawsuit.”

  I really hadn’t thought of suing. “Sir, I…I was offended and I told him to never come near my apartment again, but I’m not considering suing.”

  He seems relieved and sits again. “I’m sorry, Vivienne. I’m sorry that he crossed that line and I wish I could promise he will never do it again.” He raises his hands in defeat. “But I can’t.”

  “I appreciate your apology but I know this is all Jack.”

  Now would be a great time for me to tell him about the rest of my conversation with Jack. About how he went and tied one on, again, because he wants to please this man in front of me, the father who rejected him, and he failed, again. About how Jack is totally lost and needs guidance, specifically from the current CEO. But despite how honest we are being this morning I’m pretty sure my input would not be welcome.

  Joel sits in contemplative silence for a moment before he says, “You’ve been doing it, haven’t you? Covering for him, doing all his work?”

  It sounds a little accusatory so I word my answer carefully. “I’ve been helping Jack get up to speed.”

  He pins me with his eyes again, demanding a more direct, honest answer.

  “I’ve been doing a lot, and more often than not Jack works against me, but we are making progress.” I hate giving Jack any credit but if I say he’s failing it might be my fault.

  “Maybe I’m asking too much of you.” It’s not a question but a thought he might not have meant to voice.

  “It’s been a challenge, but I’m keeping up.” So don’t fire me, please.

  He looks around my super organized office and admits, “Yes, you are.” Then he goes back into deep contemplation.

  I try not to fidget during the heavy silent moments that he sits in my office seeming not to notice that I’m there.

  He’s still not looking at me when he says, “The business aircraft convention is in two weeks, in Las Vegas. I need Jack to be there, to have a presence on behalf of the company.”

  I almost choke on my need to laugh. Vegas? I’m sure Jack can make quiet an impression in Vegas. Yeah, that’s definitely a safe place for him to go to on a business trip.

  Joel doesn’t miss my half smile. “I’m going to prep him myself, through you.”

  Because that would be so bad if you were to actually talk to your son yourself.

  “But I’ll give you resources, more help. Essentially you will be in charge but Jack won’t know it.”

  Kind of like now? I nod in agreement. “Ok, but…resources? Can I ask what type of resources?”

  “Whatever you need. I’ll get you a company credit card, your own account, one that Jack won’t see. Use it to get whatever you need to make this work.”

  I’m picturing Jack shackled to his hotel bed, unable to get into any trouble in Vegas. I nod again.

  “I’m going to assign a member of my security team to Jack. He’ll be under the guise of protecting Jack, but he will stay with him twenty-four-seven, to keep him out of trouble. I’m sending him to Vegas with you but I’ll assign him to start later today. I’m sure Jack will be in the office with him tomorrow.”

  Ah, we do think alike. “That sounds good. It would also be helpful if I could get the objectives you would like Jack to meet while we are there, so I can make sure we meet them.”

  He chuckles a little and I’m relieved to see his mood lightening. “You’d like a check list.” My mood lifts too because he seems to appreciate my no-nonsense, direct style.

  “I will get one to you by tomorrow morning.” He glances toward Jack’s empty office as he rises. “I doubt we will see Jack today so why don’t you call it a day too.”

  Could this day get any better? I’m not fired. I’ve finally got some help dealing with Jack and now I’ll have clear goals to make sure we meet them. I will stress so much less when I know for sure what Joel expects. And a day at home is exactly what I need right now. I have visions of a long nap then the rest of the day spent in my PJ’s, planning all the ways that I will now control Jack.

  Chapter Two

  Joel is a man of his word. Jack appears in the office this morning at nine a.m. with a large shadow who wears a suit and carries a gun—something he will probably end up using on Jack instead of for Jack.

  I look up as Jack passes my office but he doesn’t make
eye contact. He looks sullen, which I could read as remorseful for the apartment incident but I know him too well now. He’s no doubt being pissy about his dad assigning him a thug-sized babysitter. I give a little wave to the security detail who nods back. I resist the urge to jump up and hug him or at least high five him—you know, welcome him to team Jack.

  I give Jack a few minutes to get settled in his office before I walk right in. The days of waiting to be summoned are gone.

  “Hi Jack.” I don’t give him time to reply. “Oh and, hello…” I face the guard like I just noticed him. “I’m Vivienne.”

  He pushes himself off the window sill where he was leaning and reaches to shake my hand. “Martin Anderson. Nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you too. Is everything…ok?” I ask Martin, not Jack, a subtle hint that his opinion is not relevant.

  Martin’s smile is conspiratorial. I like him already. “Everything is fine, ma’am.” He nods toward Jack. “I just come with the job.”

  “Ah, I see.” I look at Jack who is ignoring us and booting up his computer. This should be interesting. Per company policy I’ve removed all games from his work computer. He also only has access to official JetStream email and I had IT reset his filters to eliminate any chances of him viewing any porn. He has a really good poker face because he shows nothing but he clicks and types, clicks again and retypes, looking for his toys.

  I’m really enjoying this but I can’t waste too much time on it. We’re going to Vegas and I need to make it happen my way, without Jack being too aware.

  “I got the layout for our booth at the convention and forwarded it to you for approval.” Which is very silly because the entire thing is already built. I approved the design in Jack’s name two months ago. I needed some way to start the ball rolling that let Jack think he’s in charge. “I have you scheduled to fly to Vegas the Sunday after next, unless you will need to go earlier.”

  He’s paying attention to me now. I can almost see his thought process on his face. Vegas? Away from here? Adult play land? I should leave today.

  “No, I’ll need to get in earlier than that. Friday morning would be better.” I keep smiling even though I realized what I’ve just done. He’s captured my Queen in our chess game but he doesn’t realize it. I gave it to him. I gave him an opening to take a weekend from me.

  I open the new iPad I purchased yesterday with my new account—the one in the beautiful leather case. “Friday it is.” I put a note on my calendar. “We can fly out Friday around ten a.m.”

  “I won’t need you to go.”

  Help me! Help me have the strength to do this! He is offering me a weekend at home with him out of town—my holy grail. I suppress a sigh before I say, “The entire Marketing department will be going with you. I would think you would need me too.”

  My only solace is seeing the look on his face as his party plans die. “Fine.”

  “Mr. Anderson, I’ll forward the flight schedule to you. Will you need a room?”

  “You can call me Martin,” he says, “and no ma’am. I will need to stay in Jack’s suite.”

  Jack’s complete poker-face fail makes up for my lost weekend.

  Oh yes, Jack. You are on lockdown.

  ✈✈✈

  It’s hard for me not to dwell on my stupid move. Jack will only be completely in the dark for so long. Once he figures out that his dad has moved the power to me I will have to be at the top of my game.

  I shake my head and breathe out an ironic laugh as I realize that what I will be doing is fighting Jack to do his own job, for which he is paid a shit-ton of money, a lot more than me.

  There’s an email from Joel’s secretary, Carolyn. It must be the objectives Joel and I discussed yesterday. I steel myself and open it. Please don’t let these be too hard. I can only push Jack so far. I read them over and relax. Joel isn’t looking for any miracles. He basically wants Jack to stay out of trouble, show up at the convention every day (dressed appropriately), meet a few key people (briefly) and generally be the good looking, young face of the company. It won’t be easy but I think I can pull this off.

  It’s followed by an email from Judy Carnie, the person in charge of our convention presence. It’s just an FYI, forwarded to me to let me know that all of our printed materials for Vegas are being delivered to her office today. I’m about to ask her to send me one when they arrive but I stop myself. I think it’s time Jack got more involved in his department. I reply that I want the entire order sent to my office with instructions that it must be signed for by myself or Jack.

  ✈✈✈

  An hour later I’m putting on my jacket when I walk into Jack’s office. He’s still working on his computer. I smile.

  “Since we moved our departure date up a few days, I have to go pick up a few things. They were supposed to be delivered but this will speed it up.” He just nods, half listening to me.

  “There is one delivery today, all our new printed handouts. They’re coming to you so you can give final approval right away. They should be here in the next hour or two and you will need to sign for them.” Or was it three or four hours? Maybe I scheduled a late afternoon delivery.

  He glances up briefly, annoyed. “Fine.”

  “I’m going to grab lunch while I am out. Can I bring you anything?”

  Food? Now he pays attention to me. “Yeah, get me two slices from Vinnie Van Go Go’s. You know what I want on it.”

  “Martin, how about you?” Jack looks over at his bodyguard as if he forgot he was there. Martin has positioned himself on the chair closest to the door. It’s not clear if he’s there to keep someone from getting in or Jack from getting out. He looks up from the magazine he’s thumbing through. “I’ll take a few slices, something with lots of meat?”

  “You got it.” I make a mental note to get Martin a nice iPad too, one loaded with games to help him pass his time.

  I’m practically skipping out the door. “I should be right back.” Or not. I feel bad that Martin has to get caught up in my game. I grab a pen and notepad from my purse and write down my cell number.

  “There’s snacks in my bottom desk drawer. Help yourself.” I hand it to Martin. “If you need anything or want to add to the order just call me.”

  He glances at the note and smiles. “Thank you.” I don’t plan on being back for hours and I don’t want poor Martin to starve.

  Once outside I check the Delta app. The flight’s on time so I’ll need to hurry. Dom and Luis are arriving home from their honeymoon in an hour and I’m going to be there to surprise them and give them a ride home.

  Chapter Three

  They are tan, rested, happy and in love. I’m happy for Luis and Dom and ok, jealous. Seeing them like this only makes me realize how jacked up I am in contrast. I imagine myself on a honeymoon, on a secluded beach, with Danny of course, then suddenly… Jack pops into the picture. He’s standing on the beach glaring at me, waiting impatiently for me to get back to coddling him.

  Dom notices that I’m lost in my twisted fantasy. She snaps her fingers in front of my face.

  “V hello? You in there?”

  I realize I’ve zoned out and try to shake off my now-constant Jack irritation so I can focus on my friends.

  “Sorry. Lack of sleep I guess.” Luis tugs at my hair from the back seat to wake me up. I smile a thank you to him in the rear view mirror. He is the quietest person I have ever met. But Dom and I have known him since high school and I usually know what he’s saying even when he says nothing. He’s more than happy to let his chatty wife be his front-man to the world.

  “Jack?” Dom has that maternal look of disdain. She hates anyone who messes with one of her flock. I’m tempted to hold back on telling her everything because I’m starting to worry that she will show up at work to put Jack in his place. But I don’t, I need her, I need to speak out loud all the emotions I’ve got festering in me.

  I start from the night of her wedding, my talk with her Mom and finish with th
is morning. I try to condense it but we still end up sitting in the parking lot in front of their apartment talking while Luis unloads the suitcases.

  Dom doesn’t have an answer but what she does have is better. She gives me a strong hug and a promise that she’s back and ready to do anything she can to help me. I’m not sure what put the idea in my head to blow off Jack and surprise Dom and Luis but I can feel in my gut it was the right thing to do. I feel like I’ve plugged back into my power source. I assume this is, once again, the work of angel Big Mike so I look up and thank him as I head downtown to pick up the pizza slices.

  ✈✈✈

  Jack is as pissy as I thought he might be when he doesn’t get his lunch until after three in the afternoon. It doesn’t help that the printing delivery didn’t arrive in that time either—not that I thought it would. Boxes from the printer start rolling in at four, just like I ordered. Martin helps me organize the boxes in the conference room. It gives us a chance to conspire.

  “Sorry about lunch being so late.”

  He shrugs it off as he hefts a box on top of a stack. “I figured you had a reason. Mr. Rockhurst told me that you would be calling the shots on this trip to Vegas.” I know he’s talking about Joel because no one refers to Jack as Mr. Rockhurst.

  I tear open a box and pull a few folders to bring to Jack for approval. I notice that his picture is featured prominently in at least three places. I’m pretty sure he’ll like these.

  “I am, but the trick is to let Jack think he’s in charge still.”

  Martin nods as he thumbs through a folder. “Got it.”

  “So you’re with him twenty-four seven?”

  “For now.”

  It’s left unsaid but we both see that we are in positions that can’t last and we have no clue what the plan is after the conference. He hands me the folder he was studying and I hold on to it before taking it.

  “If you need anything.” I stress this because I feel like I have all the resources and this poor guy has the shit job. “Annn-yyyy thing…just text me.”