by Haley Nix
He knew everyone and everything there was to know about the place; he was the mechanism through which orders were disseminated and tasks were accomplished. That was part of why I was so angry at him for what he’d done – I relied on him and trusted him to be responsible. I wanted to believe he was a good guy, but it was becoming more and more difficult to convince myself of that fact.
I laid in bed awhile after Callie left just thinking about all of this, but my mind couldn’t settle on any course of action. I was torn between the loyalty Don had shown me in the past and the blatant way he’d disrespected me by pursuing Callie. If all of this really could be blamed on his problem with alcohol, then maybe I could get past it if he promised to head to rehab. But I had a feeling it was more sinister that that. Regardless, I called him into my office to deal with it straight on.
After I paged Don over the intercom, I poured myself a drink – perhaps a subconscious attempt at intimidation. It might sound strange to hear this, but I was feeling anxious about this conversation, way more so than I’d felt about many business deals of the past of much greater moment. When Don knocked on the door, I got up out of my desk chair and stood to receive him. I guess now I’d find out what my true reaction was to his indiscretion.
“Hello, Lane,” said Don jovially as he walked in.
He was all smiles as usual, casual and pleasant as though nothing had happened.
“How are things, Don?” I asked, trying to hide the latent animosity just barely below the surface.
“Good, Lane, good,” he said with a smile. “Everything is running A-OK.”
“I’m glad to hear that. How are things with Fast Lane? Running into any problems with the trainers?”
I noticed that Don flinched right then. He hesitated before speaking again.
“Well, it’s funny you mention that,” he said.
“Oh really? Funny in what way?”
“Listen, Lane. I don’t want to start trouble, but there’s something I should tell you about Callie.”
“Yeah? What about her?”
“Lane, seriously, I don’t mean to upset you, but I don’t think she’s good for us. I was walking around the ranch late at night the other day. I heard a noise and wanted to check up on it,” he said, looking up hesitantly.
“Go on.”
“Well, it sounded like it might be coming from somewhere around her cottage, so I knocked on the door and…”
“What kind of noise was it?” I asked, cutting him off, trying to trip him up.
“Oh, hmm… I don’t know. I ---”
“You don’t know?” I asked, pressing him.
“Lane, I don’t want to cause an issue here. It was just some noise, like an animal or something. I was just making sure everything was OK.”
I could tell that Don was feeling the tension in the room, that I was speaking to him under high-pressure circumstances. So I tried to ease up, to make myself more amiable so he would proceed with his story.
“Got it. So what happened next?”
“Well, I knocked on her cabin door to make sure everything was fine. You know, I’d heard the noise right near there, I wanted to make sure she was alright. I waited for a minute out on the front porch without a response. I figured she was OK, so I was about to leave when she opened the door.”
Don paused and looked at me. I could tell he was working himself up to say something, so I encouraged him to go on, to just tell me what it was he was thinking.
“Don, we’ve known each other for years, you can tell me anything. I’m all ears.”
“She made a move on me, Lane,” he said, his eyes looking towards the floor. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but she went after me. She was drunk or something, I don’t know. But it’s like I said before, she’s a gold digger. We had a feeling about this, didn’t we?”
“Yes, you told me you thought she might be after my money.”
“I know, Lane. I’m only looking out for your best interests. I didn’t want to believe something like this could happen, but once it did I knew for sure we needed to let her go. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Lane, I know you really liked her.”
My heart started beating faster as I heard him speak these words. That son of a bitch. To hear him lie to my face like that, to try and play me like I was some kind of damn fool. It was more than I could take. I walked around from behind my desk to confront him.
As I walked over, I saw a confused look come across Don’s face. But I knew it was all just a façade, for underneath I saw a hint of fear, a subtle streak that raced across his face for a split second before disappearing.
“You son of a bitch.”
“Lane, what’s going on man?”
“You’re lying to me.”
“Lane, it’s the harsh truth. Trust me, I would have rather not told you. But you’re not just my boss, you’re my friend. I didn’t want to see her do you like that. She’s a no-good slut, Lane. You can do better.”
I knew Callie wouldn’t have wanted me to do it, but before I could stop myself I drew my arm back and slugged Don across the face. He fell backward on the floor, holding his jaw in his hand and looking up at me in disbelief. I unclenched my fist and stretched my fingers, looking at my hand, studying it in the light of the office.
“You’ve been drinking again. Callie told me everything that happened. Told me how you came to her cottage, woke her up in the middle of the night, made an advance and only left when she threatened to call in Jim. Are you going to deny any of that?” I asked coldly, giving him one last chance to come clean.
But shockingly, Don didn’t give up one inch, he didn’t backtrack or change his story in the slightest. Instead he pressed me in the opposite direction.
“And you believed all that shit? You’ve only known her a few days. If she’s after your money, she’ll say anything to get it. Come on, Lane, we’ve known each other for years. Why would I steer you wrong on this?” he asked desperately.
“Don, I wish I could believe you. And I’d be ready to give you the benefit of the doubt if it wasn’t for how similar Callie’s story was to what happened with the maid a few years back. When she told me, I felt like I was living through it all over again. I bailed you out, Don, and you promised never again, no more drinking. I can’t trust you anymore. You’ve got to go. Please, just get yourself some help.”
I had calmed down slightly by now. I looked down at Don where he still sat on the floor rubbing his jaw. He looked up pitifully, as if begging for mercy.
“Lane, just give me one more chance. I’m sorry, I’ll get help. It was a momentary lapse of judgment.”
“I can’t have you around Callie. It’s not fair to her. What you did to her is unconscionable.”
“Lane…”
“Just get out. Have some damn self-respect.”
Don got up off of the floor, brushing himself off.
“I always knew you were a mean bastard at heart,” he said, malice entering his eyes as they narrowed. “You better lawyer up, because I’ll be coming after you for everything I can get. I can tell this is going to bruise up quite nicely.”
He pointed to his jaw right then, and sneered at me. The open threat of a lawsuit made me absolutely livid, and I momentarily debated giving Don a black eye to match his injured jaw. Instead I held myself back and watched him walk out of my office.
Once Don had closed the door and left me alone, I picked up the drink I’d poured before he entered and chugged it down. I’d call my attorney in a bit, but for now I just needed a second to think, to calm down.
Perhaps if I had known ahead of time all the trouble it would cause, I wouldn’t have hit Don like that, but it was hard to control myself when he spoke so slanderously about Callie. I hoped and prayed that the fallout from firing Don wouldn’t ultimately rip she and I apart.
***
Callie
When I left Lane’s bedroom after our night together, I snuck out of the house through a back exit. Lane
walked with me while we were still inside, not wanting me to get lost in the enormous mansion. I left very early of course, needing to get back to my cottage and wash up before Jim came by to fetch me for our morning training session.
I walked back through the cool, early morning air of late March. The sun was just starting to rise and I could smell the freshness all around me. I knew it was going to be a gorgeous day.
After showering, I cooked myself a small breakfast and walked out onto the porch to find Jim about to knock on my door.
“Ah, there you are,” he said with a smile. “You feeling better?”
“Huh?”
“You said you were feeling sick yesterday. You had a headache or something.”
“Oh, yes. Much better,” I said, remembering the little fib I’d told him yesterday so he would let me off work earlier than usual.
“Good. We’ve got a big day ahead,” said Jim, turning to walk out to the barn to get the horses. I followed him gladly.
The rest of the day was spent out in the fields. Aside from a short break for lunch, we worked all day and long into the night. With only a little over a month to go before the race, we needed to be on the job around the clock. Really, I didn’t mind it. I liked my job and was excited about the opportunities that the next month would afford.
Working with the horses, Fast Lane in particular, always seemed to relax me. They provided a certain comfort and understanding that was more difficult to find from human beings. After having stressed so much about whether to tell Lane about the Don situation, I was grateful to have some extended time with these beautiful creatures.
At one point in the afternoon, however, I almost slipped up while talking to Jim.
“You sure you’re feeling alright?” he asked out of the blue. “You still seem a bit off your game.”
I looked out of into the rolling hills beyond the pasture, then back at the mansion.
“I’m fine, I---”
I paused, debating whether I should tell him about the issue with Don. But Lane had told me he would deal with it, and it seemed wrong to undermine him by going to Jim. On the other hand, Jim was my boss and mentor; he was someone I trusted and I felt weird hiding the incident from him.
“What is it?” he asked, sounding concerned.
“Nothing,” I said. “I guess maybe I’m just not entirely over the headache. It feels like its cropping back up.”
“Oh,” said Jim. “Maybe you ought to go lay down for a bit then.”
“No, really, I’m fine. It’s not like yesterday, just a little distracting is all. I’ll push though.”
“Great, that’s what I like to hear.”
We went back to work in extended silence.
***
Lane
With Don officially on the way out, I knew I needed to make an announcement to the rest of the ranch staff before word started flying around the rumor mill. But I wanted to speak with Callie before I did that.
It’s not that I didn’t trust her story. I did, and I could tell by the way Don defended himself that he was lying to me. I saw all the common tells, that sneaky disingenuous way he’d spoken, the way he’d blinked and couldn’t look me in the eye directly. Like I said, it was the maid situation all over again. I just wanted to warn her that there might be certain repercussions she had to be ready for.
I knew that news like this would spread quickly, so I went to Callie’s cottage that night to speak with her. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I figured she was probably still out at the barn, so I pulled over one of the chairs on the porch and sat down for a while.
It was a cool, beautiful night, with stars strewn across the Texas sky. Regardless of the bullshit I was dealing with right now, I had to admit that I was a very lucky man to have all of this in front of me. And then up walked the voluptuous girl who made me realize exactly how damn lucky I was.
“You’re back pretty damn late,” I said. “Is my horse giving you any trouble?”
“Hi, Lane,” she said, her voice friendly, but tired. “Your horse is good. But a Derby horse is going to need many more days and nights like this.”
“How’s he coming along?”
“Really well. But then again, I’ve never worked with a horse running in the Derby before, so I guess we’ll find out. We’ll know more after he runs a few preliminary races.”
“I can’t believe we’re only about a month away,” I said, my voice registering a bit of awe.
It really was amazing how fast time had gone by since I’d first hatched this plan.
“You’re telling me.”
There was an awkward pause, and both of us stood there on the front porch for a bit staring at each other. Callie made a move to touch my arm, but I stopped her, realizing we might be in eyesight of someone else on the ranch.
“Maybe we should go inside,” I said.
“I like that idea.”
Once inside, I led her over to the couch. She sat down on top of me, straddling me, holding my head to bring it up to her lips.
“Callie,” I said, taking her hands and putting them back at her side. “I wanted to let you know that I fired Don today.”
She pulled back and looked at me, her eyes widening.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said.
“No, it’s fine. It was the best decision to make.”
“Well, I appreciate that. I feel better knowing I won’t have to run into him again on the property… But Lane I don’t want to be responsible for someone getting fired.”
“You don’t need to feel responsible. Don is responsible. He chose to do what he did.”
“And you feel good about it?” she asked.
“As good as one can about something like this. Like I said, it was the right decision, the only decision to make given the circumstances.”
She stayed silent in response. I knew she was feeling guilty for some reason, but it wasn’t her fault. I think she was just the type of kind person who feels bad hurting anyone, even when they deserve it.
“Anyway, part of the reason I wanted to tell you before I tell the rest of the crew is that I know this is going to cause a stir. Don was a big part of this place, replacing him is going to be difficult.”
“Yeah, I can imagine,” she said, looking down at me, rubbing my shoulders gently.
“The other thing is,” I said, hesitating, since this was the part I dreaded telling her. “I think the stir could be bigger than just the ranch. I won’t be surprised if Don goes to the media. He’s already told me he plans on suing me.”
“What could he sue you for? He was being creepy. You fired him for good reason,” she said, her voice rising in concern.
“Well…”
“What?”
“I ended up clocking him one before he got out of my office,” I said bluntly.
“You punched him!?”
“Yes.”
“Lane,” she said, hitting me on the chest. “Why would you do something so stupid?”
“He said something about you that pushed me over the edge. It was a momentary lapse of judgment, nothing more.”
“But you’re going to have to pay him a huge settlement. And if he leaks to the media there will be reporters swarming all around!”
“I know. I don’t like it either. But dammit, if I got the chance I’d smack him again. The fucking nerve on that guy. One of the reasons I wanted to bring this up is that the story about us could come out. Don is the only person that knows about us, and he knows it’s a story the media would totally eat up.”
“What do you mean?”
“Us. Hooking up. Think of the scandal. Especially with my name all over the news after the merger. I’m sorry to put you through all this. Maybe you shouldn’t have ever gotten involved with me.”
She leaned back into me then, her cheek against my shoulder.
“I don’t regret getting involved with you. I’m not exactly thrilled to be a subject of gossip, but part of me is rel
ieved that this is coming out.”
“Why?”
“I just hate all the sneaking around.”
“You’re right. We’re adults. Why should it matter if we’re together? I don’t give a damn about what anyone else thinks. I mean, we didn’t plan this, but I’m glad I met you and I don’t mind going public with this. Why should we hide it anymore?”
“It looks unprofessional, I guess, is one reason,” she said bluntly.
“Who gives a damn? Professionalism is for amateurs. I’m sick of hiding how I feel.”
“But what happens if this goes south? What happens if you lose interest? It will be a whole fiasco, a complete embarrassment for me.”
“You can’t really believe that would happen, can you?”
“I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but we’ve known each other for only a little while. How can you know what the future holds?”
“I don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t matter. Why should we play it safe just because it might not work out? If there’s anything I’ve learned in life it’s that taking risks is what gets you ahead. Playing it safe is a recipe for disappointment.”
“I don’t know…” she said softly, trailing off.
“What about the first night we met? That was good, right?”
“Yes…”
“Would that have happened if we’d played it safe? I mean really, if either one of us had hesitated, would that have happened?”
“I guess not.”
“And that was fucking phenomenal. For me anyways.”
“For me, too.”
“Well, then let’s take another risk.”
***
Callie
After those last words, I leaned in and kissed Lane deeply. I guess I just figured the damage had already been done. There was nothing stopping us now from being together. It was either fulfilling our desire or cutting things off completely – and there was no way either of us would have considered the latter option for even a millisecond.
Lane’s mouth parted and I slipped in my tongue, rolling it, and sliding it slowly around his own, making small, circular motions and delicate pokes. He was a good kisser and that’s not something you can expect in just anybody. What made him so spectacular was that each of his movements seemed to correspond completely to my own. I sucked at his lower lip, giving a small bite. Then moved my mouth up to his ear and gave a little nibble.