Sure enough, he found me on the homepage of the company that I worked for – the sister company of the one he worked at prior to his long bout of unemployment. Having an identical person living in the city did seem a little odd, but now knowing where I worked made it seem absolutely impossible he hadn’t met me before, even if only briefly. The coincidence was too strong.
Then, it finally hit him! But his memory of me wasn’t a fond one, unlike the night we went out together. He logged into his old email account and typed something into the search bar, his face was stoic when the results turned up.
Without a second thought, he called Gina into his office. As always, she was far too pleased to be called by him. “I’ve met her before,” he blurted out as soon as Gina closed his office door.
She stared at him blankly. “Who?”
“Ali. I’ve met Ali before,” he told her impatiently.
Gina furrowed her brows. “Who is Ali?”
“The woman who was here the other day!” Hayden shot up from his chair and paced back and forth in his office. “Ali is the woman who looks like Via.”
“Oh,” Gina said. It was pretty clear she wasn’t thrilled to be discussing me, but that wasn’t something she would ever say to Hayden. She watched as he continued to pace up and down, occasionally ruffling his hair. “What about her?”
Hayden stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face Gina. “I’ve met her before. This whole time I thought it was the world’s craziest coincidence, but the truth is that wasn’t my first time meeting her. That woman has always been something important in my life, even if it wasn’t for a good reason.”
“What does that even mean?” Gina was perplexed, albeit still annoyed. Any time Hayden spoke of another woman it bothered her, whether he was saying something good or bad. She hated him lending his attention to a woman who wasn’t her.
“Gina,” he breathed out, “Ali is the one who cost me my first promotion. Inadvertently or not, she is what caused my long period of unemployment!”
“So she’s responsible for Via coming into existence in more ways than one,” Gina voiced her thought out loud. Catching herself, she placed her hand under her chin and looked at Hayden for a reaction. It was obvious I was now a thorn in Gina’s side, but Hayden couldn’t be bothered to notice or care. “Well,” Gina said cautiously, “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes!” He sunk down onto the couch and stared out the window of his office. He couldn’t believe it, “I’m sure.”
He closed his eyes and recalled that fateful day. There was no doubt in his mind I was that woman. Standing up, he crossed the office to grab a hold of his desktop’s computer screen. He swiveled the screen around to show Gina the photos he had found of me – photos that weren’t part of any of the articles or reports on me and Via Mace. They were old photos from many years ago at a corporate event.
“I looked her up. Once I figured out where she worked and I pieced things together, it didn’t take long to dig up old emails from when we worked for the same company years ago.”
Then he clicked out of the photos to point to a name listed on the email– Alice McClane.
Chapter 9-Lost and Confused
Silence had filled the room after Hayden showed Gina my name on the email. What he didn’t show her was the life-shattering email he had received, the one that changed everything the moment he lost his job. He knew now, past his haze of fury, that I had never done anything intentional to cost him his promotion and subsequently have him fired. But it took years for him to realize and accept that fact. Despite that, he still had a deep-seated desire to cause a problem in my life. Now, with the unintentional creation of Via Mace, he had managed to cause that major problem.
He smiled. If he had wanted to giftwrap revenge so beautifully it wouldn’t have been as perfectly poetic as this.
It wasn’t until later that night when he sat out on the couch in his backyard that he started to feel bad about everything. A part of him was frightened that he found joy in the thought of my suffering. He sat on the couch lost in thought with his eyes fixated on the untouched wineglass sitting on the coffee table. He thought back to a few nights ago when I sat next to him in that very same spot. He remembered the look on my face when our moment had been interrupted. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had disappointment written all over my face.
He felt somewhat disgusted with himself that he had spent so many years resenting me; even when he never knew me. And now that he had gotten to know me, he was even more confused. He leaned forward and took his glass of wine to drain it in one gulp. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the gentle evening breeze settling on his cheeks. In that moment he felt like things could be okay, but that was just an illusion created from good wine and pleasant weather.
Things were going to get a lot harder.
When his phone rang, he knew his moment of calm was over. He opened his eyes and leaned forward to see Gina’s name on his phone. As much as he wanted to ignore her, something made him reach out and answer her call anyway.
“Hello,” he said, somewhat dryly, now wishing he had brought the bottle of wine out with him.
“Hayden, I have some news,” Gina’s voice came in clearly. He wasn’t quite sure why, but listening to her was grating on his nerves. He almost wanted to shout for her to shut up and leave him alone.
“Hold on a moment,” he muttered, setting his phone down on the coffee table and strolling into his kitchen to grab the bottle of wine. He knew all the stress and confusing thoughts were coming to a head and it wasn’t Gina’s fault. Sure, she annoyed him in other moments with her lack of subtlety and tact, but never to this extent. Besides, she was currently the only person who knew the truth about his past with me.
“What’s the news?” He sat on the edge of the couch, slowly pouring wine into his glass.
“A location has been found.”
Hayden paused. It took a moment for him to process what she was talking about. The location she was referring to was the possible movie deal he could get out of Mind Lash. He set the bottle of wine down on the coffee table, mouth going dry. It felt like everything was happening at once and he didn’t have enough time to sort through his thoughts, much less his business.
“I think we should go check it out,” Gina proposed.
Hayden leaned back against the couch, rubbing his hand over his face and letting out a long breath. It wasn’t a bad thing, not by a long shot. It was, however, very stressful. And in the midst of everything that had happened with me and the feelings he was starting to develop, the stress was pushing down on him like a heavy weight.
“I don’t know,” he finally muttered.
Gina sighed. “Why not? You don’t have to be here in the next few days. You have plenty of capable people you can delegate to. And…” Gina paused.
“And what?” Hayden asked, now a lot more interested in whatever she had to say.
“And I think it would be really good for you right now to get away from everything,” she told him. She made a good point. After Hayden had spoken with my brother and his two stern-faced lawyers, he really didn’t feel like sticking around. But the image of my face popped into his mind and, for some reason, he felt unsure about just bolting. He wanted to see me again, even if we weren’t on the best of terms.
“She’s already sent her brother and his lawyers after you. I know Mrs. Hill told them they didn’t have a case, but that doesn’t mean she’ll stop harassing you over this whole Via Mace debacle. I think we should go on the scouting trip now, knock it out early, and don’t contact Ali. Don’t alert her to your leaving.”
“I’ll have to call you back,” Hayden said, ending the call without waiting for her response.
He dropped his phone on the couch and stared up at the sky. Every time he thought about me, a small bit of guilt welled up inside of him. He wanted to tell me the truth, but he was also afraid to take that step because he knew what it meant.
Telling me what
he had just discovered, buried deep in old emails, was something I could use to jeopardize the entire Mind Lash game. He wasn’t willing to give me that chance. He wasn’t willing to let me jeopardize everything. As soon as he thought about the possibility of me ruining his career again, the anger and resentment started to bubble up inside of him again.
He reached forward to grab the glass of wine and chug it, immediately grabbing the bottle and taking a long drink straight from it. His head was going to hurt and he was going to regret drinking so much so fast, but he couldn’t help it. His mind was already spinning.
He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do. He wanted to seek revenge for the man he was years ago. But he also wanted to stay true to the man he was today, the man who had actually gotten to know me—the man who was starting to fall for me.
To say he hadn’t taken some sort of liking to me would have been a lie, but that was something he couldn’t even start to think about when he had so much else to consider. He grabbed his phone and called Gina back.
“Maybe the distance and different location can give me some perspective,” he agreed.
Chapter 10- Becoming Via Mace
The following morning, I was sipping on a hot cup of coffee as I stared out my window at the foggy morning. The morning rush to the business district had already passed and I no longer had to look at my face plastered on the side of a bus. The streets were now relatively quiet so I could enjoy the way the long looming warehouses looked popping out of the fog.
Maybe later I could walk down the block to enjoy a glass of local wine and listen to live jazz at my favorite spot. I hadn’t been able to get out and enjoy myself ever since Via Mace had debuted. I was starting to get cabin fever, despite living in a big city. But when I turned around and saw an advertisement for Mind Lash on my screen, followed by a short segment on the possibility of a movie, I knew I didn’t have time to go out and enjoy anything. I needed to find a way to put a stop to all this madness or else I risked losing my job and any semblance of a normal life.
I knew what I had to do. Benjamin was absolutely correct when he told me that I needed to stay focused. So I got dressed, throwing on a headscarf and sunglasses, to head out to Hayden’s office. I was sure if I showed up I would be allowed into the building. My mind was too busy planning things to say to Hayden so the ride to the business district felt shorter than usual.
Maybe with a different approach, a more personal one, I could sway him. Braving the few fans loitering outside the office building as well as the employees who had gawked at me the last time I was there, I marched straight up to security. I pulled off my headscarf and sunglasses. His face remained expressionless, something I was thankful for.
“I’m here to see Hayden.” I said as I handed him my ID.
I covered my mouth to hide my wide grin when it worked and the guard stepped to the side, allowing me entry into the lobby of the building. What I wasn’t prepared for was to hear the secretary say, “I’m sorry, Mr. Dunn has already left.”
“He left?” I stood in front of the young woman, dumbfounded.
“Yes, Ms. McClane, he went on a business trip. I apologize, I was under the impression you knew about it,” the young woman said.
I smacked my hand on my forehead “Oh, I just didn’t expect him to leave so soon. I had been hoping to catch him for an important chat. Do you by chance know how long he will be gone or where he has gone to?” I said it in such a casual way that it was believable to the young lady, especially since it wasn’t my first trip to the office.
“I apologize, I don’t know how long he’ll be gone and I’m not allowed to disclose any information regarding his itinerary.”
“Of course,” I replied.
Thanking the young woman behind the desk, I turned slowly and made my way toward the elevator. I managed to sneak a quick glance toward his office to double check and see if it was truly empty. I wasn’t going to schedule a follow-up appointment with Hayden. I had a better plan than that; one that was riskier but would give me a higher payoff. After all, I was only following the wise words of my older brother.
I had to stay focused and do everything in my power to solve this problem. I had moved past the phase of whining over how unfair everything was, because it didn’t matter. I had been thrust into this mess of a situation and it was solely on me to find a way out of it. No matter how bad I didn’t want it to be true, I couldn’t change that fact.
I was smart enough to know that nobody would tell me where he had gone, so I needed to employ other tactics to gain that information. I walked out of the office and toward the elevator. But instead of pushing the call button, I sidestepped into the hallway and leaned against the wall to think. I made sure I was out of the secretary’s line of sight. I stood there for a moment, wracking my brain for a plan, when I noticed a janitor cart in the hallway.
There was a pack of cigarettes and a lighter resting on it, but no janitor in sight. Looking around the hallway, a plan started to develop much more efficiently than I could have imagined. That plan seemed a lot more like something suited to Via Mace rather than something I was willing to do. Dressing as a janitor and hijacking the cart didn’t exactly seem foolproof, much less for someone who had zero knowledge in pulling off that sort of maneuver.
“You’re being ridiculous,” I mumbled to myself.
I leaned my head back against the wall and took in a deep breath. There had to be a way I could find out where Hayden had gone. I looked forward and that was when I saw a large poster of Via Mace mounted on the wall just outside the Mind Lash office door. I had no clue how I had missed it before, but there it was, in plain sight, and suddenly a new idea formed in my mind. It wasn’t foolproof, but it wasn’t as involved as pretending to be a janitor with a borrowed cart.
I quickly wrapped my headscarf around my hair, but opted not to wear the sunglasses. I didn’t want to look too suspicious, I reached into the janitorial cart and grabbed the lighter. Then I quickly ran over to the poster, digging my nails behind it to tear off a sizeable chunk, right where Via Mace’s face was. I stood just out of sight, clicked the lighter on, and watched as the poster and went up in flames. Just as the poster engulfed with heat I tossed it on the floor directly in front of the Mind Lash office door and ran back to my hiding spot.
I carefully peeked out from behind the cart, waiting to see what would happen. On cue, the secretary came barging out of the office in a panic.
“Oh no!” she cried out in a panicked gulp, hands pressed into her cheeks and eyes wide. “What is this? What is going on? What do I do?” I stifled a giggle as I watched the young woman nearly jump up and down with panic. She awkwardly tried to stomp out the smaller flames with her foot, but to no avail. She needed help.
I however wasn’t going to wait around for her help to come. I only had a small window of time to pull off my plan. As the secretary continued to panic and try to stomp out the smaller edges of the fire, I snuck behind her into the Mind Lash office. Luckily nobody else was in the reception area. I quickly snatched the secretary’s ID card from her desk in order to scan myself into the main area of the Mind Lash office.
I looked around and saw only one person working on a computer, but I figured if I looked confident and inconspicuous, I shouldn’t be bothered. Quickly, I made my way to Hayden’s office. I shut the door quietly behind me and was glad the blinds were closed. Unless somebody walked in, there was no way they would know I was inside.
I made my way to his desk to scour for answers. There had to be some information lying around in the mess of papers he had left behind. I shuffled through a planner, but he seemed to have dedicated it entirely to press related meetings for the release of the game. The thought of all those press releases made my stomach churn a little more. It took all of my self-control not to flip through it and take note of some of the meetings, or even take pictures of the planner.
“Stay focused,” I reminded myself out loud. I moved to the other corner of the desk an
d swept away a portfolio labeled ‘In-Game Tactics’. That’s when I hit the jackpot. I found a copy of Hayden’s flight itinerary to Machu Picchu in Peru.
“Wow,” I mumbled, grabbing hold of the paper and holding it up to my face for a better look. I wanted to grab it and walk out of the office, but even in my novice mind I knew that was far too risky of a move. Instead, I took my mobile phone out of my purse and snapped a photo of it. Once I got a clear picture I smiled and pressed the phone into my chest, feeling triumphant.
Nobody had been willing to give me the information I needed so I did what I had to in order to get it—just like Via Mace. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
As I walked back into the lobby, I heard the secretary on the phone. I froze. There was no way I could leave without being noticed, much less drop the card on the secretary’s desk. Hoping for the best, I feigned confidence and stepped out.
“There you are,” I said, meeting the secretary’s gaze.
Fourth Down and Dirty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance Page 21