Love My Way

by Bridget Midway

  “I’m already talking to Rip Von Tussel about taking over the role. The two look so much alike from the back and side, I don’t think it would cost that much to re-shoot.” Eagan hadn’t talked to anyone about taking over Dris’s role yet. But he needed the jerk to squirm a bit and this would do it.

  “You can’t use his likeness in the picture.”

  “I can do any damn thing I want. You remind your client of that when he’s looking for other work.” Eagan hung up the phone.

  A knock sounded on Eagan’s door.

  “Enter.”

  He was surprised he heard it. Since Ananda started her vigil, a small crowd gathered down the street from his house, screaming words of encouragement to Ananda, and spewing threats to him.

  Phil walked inside. He must have gotten tired of running his hands through his hair. It was shorn down to his scalp.

  “New look.” Eagan sat back in his chair.

  “I thought if I changed it a bit the crowd out in the street would leave me alone. I thought the people would hate you for picking Begonia. Now they hate you for ignoring her.”

  “Not Begonia. Ananda. Ananda Zelder. This is her second go ‘round with me.” Eagan shook his head, stunned that he didn’t recognize her before. Admittedly, he looked at her body more than her face.

  “Okay, do I think she started this competition to get back at you? Sure. Did she maybe cheat along the way? Absolutely not. They found a book about BDSM in her room. She’s not talking right now, so I didn’t know if she brought it or if Carter gave it to her. So I watched the tapes taken from the cameras in her room.” Phil popped in a DVD and played it. “See, Carter put that book under her pillow.”

  Eagan glanced at the screen quickly to see the short, fat bastard creeping into the women’s bedroom to slide the book under her pillow.

  “Now watch this.” Phil advanced the DVD. “She finds the book, but never opens it. As a matter of fact, she hides it under her mattress and that’s where it stayed until the crew found it yesterday. She didn’t cheat.”

  Eagan gritted his teeth as Phil talked. “Yes, she cheated. She was the contestant I had sex with throughout the competition.”

  Phil furrowed his eyebrows. “And you didn’t tell me who she was at the time?”

  Eagan glared at him. “What’s your point?”

  “Why don’t you just admit that you like her? Hell, I’ll go as far as to say you love her. You could have had her kicked out of the contest for having sex with her and been justified. But you didn’t. Why is that? And for what that woman is going through right now, I think, no, I know, she loves you, too. It’s been a day, man. Let her up. Talk to her.”

  Eagan knew it had been a full day since Ananda had gotten down into her position. Eagan kept a close watch on his monitor in his office.

  “Love had nothing to do with me having sex with her.” Eagan chuckled as a way to seem unaffected, even though he was.

  “Picking her as your submissive would have to do with how much you love her. I saw the way you lit up when you picked her.” Phil shook his head. “I wish … never mind.”

  “What? Just say it, man.”

  “You drop people so easily out of your life. Ophelia, your family, Dris Markham, Tony, Nina. Why can’t you ever stop to save the ones who matter to you?”

  “I’m the only one who matters. If they make me feel like shit, I’m dropping them.”

  “You need to start giving people a second chance.”

  Eagan sprang from his chair. “I give people second chances. I gave Ananda a second chance before I knew who she was. I called her before I sent her home to offer her a spot on the High Stepper show. Then I find out that that was her plan the whole time.”

  “So give her a second chance now. Talk to her. Get her side of the story. That woman let you do things to her that someone who was supposed to be an opportunist, like she has been characterized, wouldn’t do. She’s no Poppy.”

  “Like Ophelia, she’s a good actress.”

  “Unbelievable. So how long are you going to let her stay down there like that?”

  Eagan sat down again. “She’s free to go at any time.”

  Phil walked around to where Eagan sat at his desk. He turned on the monitor Eagan had been watching, just moments before Phil walked into the office.

  “Does it look like she’s going to go at any time without your permission?” Phil pointed to the screen.

  “She’s going to break. They all do. And when she does, I’ll have proven my point.”

  “Which is that you’re an uncaring, unwavering, pompous asshole with no heart or soul.” Phil marched to the door. He turned to his friend. “You need to learn that people are fallible. Will you drop me if I ever disappoint you?”

  Eagan remained silent.

  “That’s what I thought.” Phil opened the door. “Have a nice life, Eagan.”

  Damn! Eagan turned to the serene setting outside. He’d had a bad feeling about this show concept from the very beginning. Phil and his big ideas. He should have never let anyone in his house. No, that wasn’t the problem. It was letting them in his heart that got him.

  The sight of a small rowboat floating close to his property, with paparazzi taking pictures, prompted Eagan to leave his office and go down to his bedroom. As soon as he opened his office door, Aspen stood outside of it.

  “Yes?” he asked when she opened her mouth but remained silent.

  “For what it’s worth, sir, when I knew Ananda, she had no aspirations of becoming an actress.”

  “Thanks for telling me. Why should I know this?”

  “Her feelings are real and genuine. She’s showing you such devotion right now.”

  “Yeah, now, because she’s been caught. Trust me. She’ll give up soon and go home. Until then, I don’t want anyone touching her.”

  He continued to his bedroom when the next chilling words Aspen spoke froze him to his spot.

  “I’ve stopped eating, sir.”

  Eagan pivoted around to her. “What?”

  Aspen shuffled in her spot. “I worried about whether I measured up to Willow and Apple. The worry made me stop eating and I started exercising all of the time. I didn’t want you to see me as old and useless.”

  Eagan put his hand to the side of her face. “Honey, considering I’m older than you are, why would I think that or treat you any differently than Apple or Willow? I love you.”

  Aspen sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Thank you, sir.” She held his hand.

  “I’m going to get you the best help out there. A therapist will come here or I’ll send you to a place where you can get help.”

  “If possible, I’d like to stay here with you, sir.”

  Eagan nodded. Phil was wrong. These people in his house were his family. He liked taking care of them, fallible or infallible.

  Aspen took in a deep breath and on the exhale said, “That day you came home and found me and Ananda in your office, I told her about my eating disorder.”

  Eagan dropped his hand from her face.

  “I told her I knew her from my dance class and told her I would tell you. I fainted in front of her and I confessed about my eating disorder. She begged me to let her tell you her secret. I asked the same of her.”

  “Why are you telling me this now?”

  “One of us had the integrity to keep her word. The day of your last show, she could have easily said that I had been lying to you all of this time about my diet, and she would have been right to do so. But, she promised me she wouldn’t do that, and she’s a woman of her word. She also said that she would tell you about her dancing and her initial plan. If I hadn’t intervened, I believe she would have told you. I feel responsible for what’s going on now.”

  Eagan shook his head. “Don’t. Like you said that day, you have an allegiance to me, not her. You did the right thing.” So why didn’t Eagan really feel that inside? “Go on to your room, Aspen.”

  She nodded and kissed his hand before retreat
ing to her room.

  He ducked into his bedroom and slammed his door. Eagan clicked the TV on to have some noise other than the screams from the people down his street. On the CNN crawl scrolled a message about Ananda’s progress: Twenty-seven hours and holding.

  Ananda would quit soon. She had to have been doing this for publicity. Right now, she was getting it in spades. Eagan could hold out longer. He wasn’t the one who had to prove himself.

  * * * *

  “You’re on Day Two,” Ananda heard Willow whispering next to her. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  Ananda said nothing. With what she was doing, she didn’t think she would have to. Her actions should speak for her. Eagan had to see she wasn’t lying about her feelings for him. She loved him with all of her heart and soul.

  Ananda’s back ached from the position. She felt the burning in her shoulders after the first few hours. By the second day, the discomfort came as an intruder and set up house in her body. Sharp shooting pains spread from her knees all the way through her legs and back. Needless to say her bladder wasn’t too happy with her either.

  No matter what, she wouldn’t budge from that spot. She would die there, but she would die knowing she took a stand for someone she trusted and loved.

  Eagan’s hurt expression replayed in her mind every time she closed her eyes. Ananda had wished she could have explained the situation to Eagan before the taping. She truly hoped she would have been the one picked. Then she hoped he would just listen to her.

  Footfalls sounded coming across the room. Not unusual. She listened to the crew as they broke down the set around her. Plus, there was one cameraman keeping an eye on her at all times. The footsteps stopped next to her.

  “You’ve made your point.”

  Ananda recognized Eagan’s voice. Her body shook, but she fought hard to control it.

  “You can have a spot on the High Stepper show.”

  Did he think she was still doing this for a spot on the show? Ananda remained quiet and still. After two days, he wasn’t getting her gesture. Sad and painful, but she wouldn’t quit.

  “And this is why I like plants. You give them water. You put them in sunlight. They do what they’re supposed to do. They flourish. People?” Eagan grumbled.

  After a few seconds she heard him walking away. She hoped he would come around to his senses soon. As it was, hunger and exhaustion plagued her. Ananda didn’t know how much more she could take. She wouldn’t quit.

  * * * *

  Eagan took a deep breath before walking into his dining room. Seeing Nina and Tony holding hands still shocked him enough that he blinked at the sight.

  “Thank you for coming here to see me.” Eagan held up his hand to nonverbally ask them to take a seat.

  Tony pulled out a chair for Nina then sat next to her, keeping himself in between Nina and Eagan.

  “I’m surprised you would want anyone over here with what you have going on now.” Tony shook his head. “What has it been? Three days for her?”

  “Two.” Eagan glanced at Tony. “I had no right to tell you two what to do with your lives. I was concerned for both of you because I know your pasts.”

  Tony chuckled. “That’s your problem, Eagan.”

  Eagan gritted his teeth, but listened silently.

  “You have this one impression of people that you hold on to and won’t let go. I’m sober. I’m clean.” He turned to Nina and kissed the back of her hand. “And I’m in love. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Eagan knew full well what he meant. He didn’t know how valuable Nina was to his organization until he fired her.

  “Nina, how do you feel?” Eagan asked to verify she felt the same way.

  She stared at Tony and smiled. “Like the luckiest woman alive. I thought landing a job with you was great. It’s nothing compared to waking up next to him every day. We’re so supportive of each other.” She stared at Eagan. “I know relationships are hard without the outside influences that could ruin it for both of us. We’re willing to fight for each other…like that young woman in there has been fighting for you.”

  Eagan didn’t need her reminding him of that. With each minute that ticked by, he understood full well what this all meant to Ananda…and to him.

  “I have a proposition for you both. First, Nina, I would like to offer you your job back with an increase in salary.”

  Nina wiped tears away from under her glasses. “You mean it?”

  “You are a valuable part of my team. I can’t do this without you.” Eagan turned his attention to Tony. “I have an even bigger proposition for you. Dris Markham recently abandoned his role in the sci-fi flick Infinity.”

  “Rumor around town was that you were giving it to Rip.”

  Eagan shook his head. “I haven’t even talked to his people. I said that to Dris’s camp to shake them up. I want you to take the role.”

  Tony beamed. “Really? You want me in the lead role?”

  Eagan nodded. Butterflies, bats, and all birds of prey flapped around in his belly right now. Deep down, he felt like this was the right decision to make.

  Tony jumped from his seat and threw his arms around Eagan. Eagan sat still for a while, then hugged him back. The feeling of comforting someone hit him hard. Eagan stood and backed away from Tony.

  “I need you two to pack and head to the set now. We’ve already lost so much time with all of Dris’s antics. You’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

  “Yes, sir.” Tony gave him a cockeyed salute. “Thanks again for believing in me. You don’t know how this feels.”

  Nina approached Eagan. Instead of waiting for her to hug him, Eagan wrapped his arms around her tiny frame.

  “Take care of our boy, okay?”

  She nodded when she pulled back. “So what’s going to happen to Ananda?”

  Eagan hadn’t thought that far. Right now, he was taking it minute by minute. He knew something had to happen soon.

  After the duo left, Eagan had one more big relationship to repair. He picked up the phone and punched in seven digits. He didn’t even trust voice-activation or speed dial to get him connected.

  The phone rang and with each ring his stomach fluttered. The click at the third ring surprised him. As though the party on the other side of the line could see him, he sat up straighter.

  Eagan took a deep breath, then spoke. “Mom?”

  “Eagan? My baby.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment. “We need to talk.”

  “Oh, God. It is you.”

  He closed his eyes and savored his mother’s voice. It was one relationship he desperately needed to repair. He wasn’t sure if the relationship between him and Ananda was even salvageable. Was he strong enough to try?

  * * * *

  Ananda blinked so slowly she wasn’t sure if she was taking small naps in between the blinks. She heard voices. Sometimes, they were loud and angry telling her to get up and go home. Sometimes, they were whispers telling her she was doing the right thing. After so many days and so many hours, she didn’t know what was real and what stemmed from her imagination. Please believe me, Eagan. Trust me. Love me.

  Her body settled into the position. Her back tightened with slight movements. She would ruin her legs for dancing, but Ananda didn’t care. This was the hardest she’d ever worked for anything and Eagan was worth it.

  She felt a hand touch her back. Not so unusual. Willow made it a point to rub her back on occasion. The connection and the soothing touch comforted Ananda.

  This time the touch was harder. The hand felt heavier than Willow’s. She felt an arm go around her waist and the other hand slipped under her butt.

  “No,” she said. She wanted it to come out like a scream, but instead it came out like a whimper. No food, water, or sleep for three days tapped her energy. “Put me down. Don’t touch me.”

  Ananda was now off the floor and cradled in someone’s arms. Blood rushed to her knees and calves, causing more pain
than the kneeling had. It felt like millions of needles stabbed her lower extremities.

  She blinked several times to see who had stopped her. Seeing Eagan’s face broke her. She wept as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder and allowed him to carry her up the stairs.

  Ananda closed her eyes and pressed her face against his chest. His familiar scent was a great payment for all of the hours she’d spent on the floor.

  Eagan brought her into his bathroom. When Ananda looked over at the tub, she saw Aspen, Willow, and Apple all around waiting. Eagan set her on the side of the tub, but she wasn’t willing to let him go yet.

  “No, please don’t leave me.”

  Eagan unclasped her hands from behind his neck and held them in his. “You’re never getting rid of me.” He kissed her softly. “I’m so sorry.”

  The connection made her head swim. This was her true prize in this whole thing. Eagan Morton. Not the money. Not the fame. Not anything else.

  “You want us to bathe her, sir?” Willow asked.

  Eagan shook his head. Kneeling at her feet, he took off her shoes then her dress. After taking care of some much needed bodily functions, Eagan helped her into his bathtub. It took less than a second for him to strip out of his clothes and join her in the bath.

  “Leave us alone, ladies,” Eagan said to his slaves.

  They bowed and left the silent room. Eagan wrapped his arms around her and held her close against him. Her head rested on his shoulder. Her legs, though, remained bent.

  As though reading her mind, he said, “Sergio is waiting to check you out. I know your legs must be hurting.”

  The compassion he showed her after everything that had been revealed made Ananda weep out of joy. Eagan held her tighter.

  “Let me get you cleaned up and we’ll go to bed.”

  She shook her head. “I’ve waited so long for you to just hold me like this. Let me enjoy this moment.”

  He kissed the back of her neck.

  Once the water became frigid and their fingers and toes turned to prunes, Eagan got her out of the tub and dried her off. Wrapped in a white terrycloth towel, he carried her to his bedroom and sat her on his bed.

  As promised, Eagan’s personal doctor examined Ananda, testing her legs and feet for pain responses. “To do a really good exam, I need to take her to my office to check out her circulation, her muscle dexterity, her—”