Mixing Business With Pleasure (Love Conquers All Book 2)

by Persons, Cheryl

  “I’m starting to think you have. You’re babbling away and you’ve lost me from the moment you said my name.”

  Robert sighed heavily. “You are in love with Matt; it’s plain as that. You have to tell him, before one of you loses your job and this love is lost forever.”

  “Wait a minute; that’s not what I’m saying. I don’t love Matt and I could never love anyone like that.”

  “You know, you have never told me why you have distaste for men. You have never explained what has caused you to have a lack of trust. I never pressed for this information, because I was hooked. I didn’t care. I just knew that you were making me the happiest person in the world, so what did it matter? Well, maybe I have shortchanged myself. I have put any thoughts of having a happy, healthy relationship behind me. I was idiotic to believe that I could live without love. Which, it causes me to question anything we have here.”

  Tiffany opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. She glanced away as a tear slowly formed in the corner of her eye. She knew he was right, not necessarily about Matt, but about him finding love. It wasn’t fair to expect him to give up his hopes and dreams just to satisfy her. “You have to leave.” She spoke the words quietly. “I appreciate the time we’ve spent together, and I am sorry I have held you back from true happiness.”

  He followed her to the door; when she turned back to him his lips slowly caressed her cheek. “Remember what I said Tiffany. You deserve happiness, as much as anyone else does.”

  She nodded her head in agreement as he walked out the door. “Goodbye Robert!” She waved as he got in the car. She fell up against the door as it closed. It was the best thing that could have happened; she needed to let him move on. What they had, it wasn’t real. She knew that; she needed to take some time away from any guy. It was the only way she could search for what was true.

  __________________

  Tiffany tossed and turned the whole night; she hoped that Bruce would come to his senses, but deep down she knew it wasn’t likely. As she got dressed for work, she thought of responses to various scenarios that the board members would ask her. Each thought, brought up another question that she could answer. She hoped that she was being harder on them that they would. She drove to the office and arrived minutes earlier than she did on a normal basis. She noticed Matt’s car was already there and she figured he too didn’t get much sleep. As soon as she entered the office she spotted him hovering near her office. “Hey, what’s up?” She tried to act nonchalant, but her voice squeaked in its nervousness.

  “Hey, I was going to call you; I hoped you would get here soon.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “I just got a call from Andy Harowitz.”

  Tiffany frowned and nodded. “Okay.”

  “He is coming in about 9:00 today to have a discussion with me. He wanted to make sure I would be around.”

  Tiffany grimaced. “Did he say anything else?”

  “Nope, just that he had some things he needed to get cleared up. It probably is going to be about…” his voice trailed and Tiffany knew he was right.

  Andy didn’t come into the office much; however, he was the leading CEO of the company. If he was paying Matt a visit, it surely was because Bruce had gotten to them. “I can’t believe he called them already. Does he have the phone number at home?”

  Matt shrugged. “I don’t know, but clearly they’re making it into a big ordeal.”

  “I’m sorry Matt; I shouldn’t have…” her voice trailed off when he took her hand into his.

  “Don’t be sorry. It’s not all your fault. We’ll make them understand what’s going on here; they will have no other alternative but to see the truth.”

  She knew he was just being nice. He looked as nervous as she felt. “Well, I’m sure they’ll want to talk to me too.”

  “Probably; just remember what I said…I will not let you lose your job.” Her hand fell from his and he headed back to his office. That was all good and everything, but could she stand by and let him lose his?

  Chapter 9

  Tiffany glimpsed ahead and saw Andy Harowitz and 3 other people headed her way. She stood up and met them at her door. “Hello Ms. Jenkins; it is nice to see you again.” She wished she could return the words, but it wouldn’t be truthful. She just nodded in a false agreement. “I was wondering if we could speak with you and your co-worker Matt Oswalt for a moment.”

  She led them to Matt’s office; he was already standing awaiting their arrival. “Good evening gentleman…ladies. How may I help you?” Tiffany was surprised at how calm he was, when her knees were tensely shaking together.

  “We need to speak with you both on a matter at hand. If there’s somewhere quiet we could go…”

  “Sure, follow me.”

  They headed to the conference room with Matt walking closely next to her. “Everything will work out; have faith.” He whispered. She felt better knowing that she wasn’t alone; she wished that it didn’t have to be Matt that was with her.

  As they sat down Andy began to speak. “First off, I would like to introduce you to the other board members. This is Shana Lowell, Sabrina Vance, and David Penrod.” They each waved and then he continued. “It has been brought to our attention that there might be an office affair going on and we want to reiterate that it is our company police to make sure that that doesn’t happen.” He paused for a moment and Tiffany caught herself glancing at Matt. His expression was one with little to no concern and she was awed by that. “Ms. Jenkins, I know that you are still fairly new to the position but I am sure you were thoroughly informed of the policies that this Ad Agency has set up.”

  “Yes sir, I am. However, I can assure you nothing is going on between Mr. Oswalt and myself.”

  “Okay; if that is true then this is going to be as painless as possible. We are here to determine that and to see if the information we have received holds any validity.”

  “Sir, if you don’t mind me asking; when did you get this call?”

  “I’m sorry Mr. Oswalt; we can’t share that information. We can’t tell you who, when, where, or why.” Tiffany looked at Matt when he chuckled. “Is there something humorous?”

  “No, I know who. I was just wondering when. Never mind!” Tiffany tried to silently urge Matt to not blow it, but he never peered her way.

  “I think to properly get to the bottom of this; we should speak with you both individually. Mr. Oswalt, if you could please wait in your office we’ll call you back in.” Matt shot a glance to Tiffany and she couldn’t deny the fact that her fears grew immensely. He stood up and left; Tiffany tried to smile, but her nerves got the best of her. “We hear that Mr. Oswalt accompanied you to a wedding out of town and you shared a hotel room. Is that correct?”

  “No!”

  “You didn’t go to a wedding together?”

  “We did, but…”

  “Please Ms. Jenkins we will give you plenty of time to make statements, after we ask the questions.” She folded her arms and sat back; she felt like she was being quizzed in a courtroom. They didn’t do anything wrong and it was making her temperature rise, that they had to defend that. “Now, where were we?” He looked down at the papers and then glanced back at her. “From what we understand, after the wedding you two were spotted going out to eat for lunch. Then he gave you a rose? Is this all true?”

  “Yes.” She shook her head as she felt like everything that they did would seem to be more than a friendship.

  “Okay, as you can see, each of these scenarios would cause someone to perk up and think. However, we learned that that’s not where it stops” Tiffany thought for a minute; she didn’t know what he was getting at, but that should have been all the juicy details Bruce could share. “We’ll forget about the countless times you have been in his office. After all, you are his boss and it would be hard to keep that from happening.” Tiffany couldn’t help but glare at him; that was a relief. “Yet, we hear that he was at your house late one evening
recently.” Tiffany opened her mouth in shock and he stopped her from saying anything. “Then, you went out to eat with him and wound up at his apartment. Are these two accounts correct?”

  She waited for a moment as the realization hit her that Bruce couldn’t have known that, unless he was spying on them. “It is.” She quietly admitted; even though she knew every account was legitimately platonic.

  “Well, you didn’t deny any of the accusations. I guess that’s good, except it makes things even more difficult in our decision.”

  “Of course; we said we would give you the opportunity to explain.”

  Tiffany skimmed the faces of each of the people in the room; she suddenly wasn’t afraid. She knew they had a valid reason for each of the encounters. “I invited Matt to the wedding, mainly because I didn’t have anyone else to go with. I know it was selfish, but I didn’t want to go alone. He was here and I asked him. Yes, it was out of town, however, we took a plane and the plan was to go and come right back home. We didn’t anticipate the pilot would get sick. They only had one hotel room, but we didn’t stay in it together. We had an argument and he left. I didn’t see him until the next morning.”

  “Was it a romantic argument?” She cocked her eyebrow and shook her head. “So, it wasn’t about things that a romantic couple would argue about?”

  “I forget what the argument was about.” Of course it was a lie, but she didn’t think it would do the case any good if she confessed to what they were arguing about.

  “Okay, go on.”

  She huffed in despair and begged that she was getting through to them. The guys seemed tough, but the woman’s expressions showed concern for her and she hoped that was correct. “The Monday, after we got back, I had a huge meeting scheduled with a prospective client. It went well; so Mr. Oswalt and I went out for a celebratory lunch. Nothing happened, and it meant nothing. He was just congratulating me.” They just nodded, showing no idea of whether they bought it. “He bought me a rose, and put it on my desk for the same reason. He was saying congratulations. I still have the card; if you would like to see it.”

  “So, you kept his card? Isn’t that something a girlfriend would do?”

  Tiffany wanted to scream in despair. “The rose hasn’t died yet; I kept the card attached to it. There’s nothing romantic about it.”

  “There’s no need to show us the card; this isn’t a trial.” She wanted to laugh. It sure seemed like a trial. “You can proceed.”

  “As for him being at my house late; that is also explanatory.” She contemplated telling the whole story about Bruce blackmailing her, but when she opened her mouth to share she realized it wouldn’t help anyone if she got someone else into trouble. Besides, she wasn’t convinced they would believe her. “I had too much to drink; I was out by myself and miles from my home. I didn’t have anyone else to call. He was there and willing to pick me up. He drove me home, but nothing happened.”

  “Don’t you have any other friends, girl friends that you could have called?”

  “Mr. Harowitz, with all due respect, I don’t think that’s really any of your business. I will explain, because I want this nightmare over with, but you shouldn’t feel the need to worry about that. No, I don’t have any friends that are girls, which I felt would drop everything and come help me out. Mr. Oswalt was the only person that I could think of; that wouldn’t ask questions. Then the next day I did go to his place, knowing that it could be perceived wrong. I did for two reasons; one, he is my friend and I go to friends houses. Two, he is new to town and he doesn’t know a whole lot of people. I thought he could use the company. It’s as simple as that. Again, nothing happened, we went out to lunch, he bought groceries, and then we cooked supper. That’s all.”

  “You still stand by that you are just friends?”

  “Yes, because that’s all it is.”

  “Well, we took notes from what you had to say. Is there anything else you would like to add?”

  She started to shake her head, but then she stopped. “Actually, there is. I know that there are rules and no one is above those rules. I just think that if you have to question everything in your life, it makes life stressful. We are friends, nothing more and nothing less. I just hope that after you guys do your investigation, you will realize that. I love my job Mr. Harowitz and it bothers me that someone is willing to disrupt that.”

  “Thank you for your feedback. I will keep those in mind. Please send Mr. Oswalt in.”

  Tiffany felt like he was being cold and it made her irritation grow. “Okay; thanks for your time.” She got up and hurried out of the room. It was beginning to feel claustrophobic. Matt appeared to be busy, but the moment she entered his office he looked up. “It’s your turn, be prepared for the acquisitioning.”

  “How did it go?”

  “I don’t know.” He passed her and she reached out to stop him. “Just please, don’t get all high and mighty. Just answer the questions and leave them to the investigation.”

  He walked away leaving her to have to stew about his questioning. She didn’t know what he would do once he discovered Bruce had been spying on them. She looked upward and let out a sigh. “Please God; make them see that they have it all wrong.”

  ___________________

  “Please Mr. Oswalt, have a seat.”

  “Thank you!”

  “First off, we’ll start out by telling you everything that we know. Ms. Jenkins has concurred that she invited you to a wedding, you were going to share a hotel room, you both went out to lunch, you bought her a rose, you were at her house late, and she was at your apartment doing things other than working. Does that about sum it up? Do you have anything else to add?”

  Matt blinked his eyes at the words that were coming out of his mouth. He was lost, mainly once he got to the point about being at Tiffany’s house. “Well, I’m a little confused about a couple of things. I will start off by saying, because I am sure she has already told you, nothing happened at the wedding and I didn’t stay in the hotel room.”

  “Yes, she did mention that.”

  “I took her out to lunch on Monday because we were celebrating that she landed a big case. I gave her the flower, for the same reason. That is what I am sure she said to you too.” Andy nodded and Matt let out a soft sigh. “As for how you found out about me being at her house and vice versa, is beyond me. We must have been spied on, and I have a pretty good idea who did it.”

  He glanced away and had to decide what he wanted to say. He knew that Tiffany wouldn’t tell about Bruce blackmailing her, but he wasn’t going to be so nice. “Is there anything you want to add before we take into consideration everything you and Ms. Oswalt has said?”

  “Yes, there is actually. Did she tell you that she was being blackmailed?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Bruce, a co-worker and the one I’m pretty sure called you, blackmailed her and told her that if she would go out with him on Friday night, and give him what he wanted he wouldn’t tell about his assumptions. Did she tell you that?”

  Andy turned to the other people in the room and then finally shook his head. “No, she didn’t but…”

  “I just think that maybe it isn’t ideal to go by the word of someone that would use blackmail to get what they want.”

  “We will keep that in mind. Now, if you will excuse us we will talk and get back to you and Ms. Jenkins soon.”

  Matt stood from the table and left the room. He stopped shy of the door and looked back in their direction. “I do have one more thing to say. It’s a bit old fashioned to come up with a rule such as this. People should have more freedom to date and see anyone that they want.” He then walked out the door, remembering their stoned faces. He didn’t know how it was going to go, but he would hope they wouldn’t take the word of a jerk over them. He spotted Tiffany pacing in her office and he walked over to her.

  “So…”

  “I don’t know; they’re talking and will get back with us. Why didn’t you tell them
about Bruce?”

  Her eyes got big and she went back to pacing. “You told them?”

  “I had to; Bruce can’t get away with this.”

  “What’s that going to help? They could just as easily not believe it.”

  “True, but what if they do believe it? That could be our ticket out.”

  “I just hope it doesn’t look like we’re trying to hide something.”

  He was sure they would believe him. “It won’t. I’m going back to my office; let me know when they have made a decision. I have a lot to do if this is going to be my last day here.”

  “Stop joking.” Tiffany replied with a frown.

  He walked away; he wasn’t joking. This could be his last day and he was going to make the best of it.

  ___________________

  Tiffany walked into Matt’s office and gestured for him to follow. “They’re ready for us.” It was only about 30 minutes after Matt had left the conference room and Tiffany didn’t know if that was good or bad for them.

  “Just remember; we still have our friendship.”

  Tiffany smiled. She knew he was only trying to cheer her up; it wasn’t working. When they walked back into the room the men and women were standing, so they didn’t sit down. “This won’t take long. We’ve done some talking and we realize that we all aren’t on the same page with this. With that being said we have decided that the best choice, for now, is to give you both a temporary leave.”

  Tiffany’s mouth dropped and she saw that Matt’s expression wasn’t much different. “You’re giving us a leave; for how long?” Tiffany was thankful Matt asked the question; she was afraid if she spoke she would start crying.

  Andy looked at the other board members, and then turned back to Tiffany and Matt. “We’re not sure. We thought about asking the other co-workers their thoughts and going from there. We will be sure to let you know as soon as we figure something out.”