The Platinum Triangle

by T V Hartwell

  “Fucking bitch,” Jake said under his breath, fuming. The night was ruined for him and he wanted to go home right at that moment. He could not stand to be around Kerry for another second. But he toughed it out until the concert ended, getting up to go to the restroom and to grab a beer with Will for a good amount of the rest of the show. Jake lamented to Will about Kerry’s behavior and how pissed he was at her. Although sympathetic, Will was indifferent as he had grown accustomed to Kerry’s antics. Beyond that, they too were to marry a few months after Jake and Amanda, so complaining to Will about his fiancée didn’t do much good.

  When the concert ended, they all hugged and said goodbye except Jake and Kerry. “Jake, are you mad at me?” Kerry asked in a cutesy way trying to make nice.

  Jake shook his head in irritation. “Whatever, Kerry,” he said, turning to walk away. “Come on, Amanda.”

  “Okay. Well, if you want to be that way, fine,” she said back. “You know I love you anyway.”

  “Bye, guys,” Amanda said.

  “Talk to you later, dude. Can’t wait for Vegas next weekend,” Will shouted, as he was to be one of Jake’s groomsmen.

  After Jake and Amanda got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot, Jake let it rip. A heated conversation ensued.

  “Well, that turned out to be a shitty night. What was her fucking problem?”

  “What’s the big deal?”

  “I said I didn’t want to dance and you and Kerry kept pushing and pushing. We were having a perfectly good time up to that point.”

  “But you like to dance. We dance together all the time. I don’t understand why you’re so angry.”

  “Because I said I didn’t want to. And then she says I’m not romantic. What the fuck would she know about that? Is that something you and her exchange notes about or something?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Well she said it as if it’s been a topic of discussion between the two of you before.”

  “Jake, I’ve never told her that I don’t think you’re romantic. In fact, I’m sure I’ve told her the opposite. I really don’t know why she said that.”

  Jake snickered and looked away, doubting her words.

  “What? You don’t believe me?” Amanda said, sounding emotional and sighing.

  “I really don’t like her. You know that, and then you go and invite her out with us.”

  “You said you didn’t mind having them come. What’d you expect me to do, invite Will and not Kerry too?”

  “You told me you invited them after the fact. You could’ve asked me first. What did you expect me to say after you told me they were coming? Go and un-invite them?”

  “Okay. I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry for ruining your night.”

  “I’m not saying you ruined my night.”

  “But I feel like you’re attacking me when I don’t feel I did anything wrong.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not pissed at you. All I’m saying is that I wish you had talked with me about inviting them first since you know I don’t want to be around her.”

  “Jake, honestly, I don’t recall you ever telling me that you did not want to be around Kerry.”

  “That’s bullshit. I’ve told you many times how I feel about her.”

  “How you feel about her and not wanting to be around her are two different things. We’re around them all the time. In fact, the last time we were together you and Kerry were acting like BFFs and now you hate her guts.”

  Jake snickered. “BFFs? I don’t think so.”

  “Jake, yes you were. At Chelsea’s birthday party in June, remember? You two were laughing and yacking it up like two teenage girls,” Amanda said, rolling her eyes.

  “Oh please, we were in a group with other people.”

  “No you weren’t.”

  “Yes we were.”

  “No you weren’t, Jake.”

  “Yes, we were, Amanda. Jeez.”

  “Jake, you and Kerry were standing near the top of the pool talking for nearly twenty minutes. Alone.”

  “What! No fucking way. I don’t recall that at all.”

  “That’s because you were probably drunk.”

  Jake gasped and looked at Amanda with his mouth wide open, incredulous.

  “Mmm hmm,” Amanda mouthed with a smirk.

  “You are evil,” he said, smiling broadly as they both started to crack up at themselves and at the petty tit for tat of their argument.

  “Awww, you’re so cute when you argue with me,” Jake said while reaching over to pinch Amanda’s chin before she slapped his hand away.

  “Oh, now you want to be all lovey-dovey,” she said.

  “Ooh. A little feisty are we?” Jake said as he reached for her chin again. But she slapped his hand away a second time.

  “Stop it,” she said and then folded her arms. “So how do you want to resolve this?”

  “I don’t want to hang out with Kerry anymore. All right?”

  “So if they invite us to go out with them you’re going to tell Will ‘no’ because you hate his soon-to-be wife?”

  “I’ll talk to Will. He already knows how I feel.”

  “So you’re going to stop hanging out with Will too?”

  “No, he and I can get together separately or with the guys. You can do the same with Kerry if you want. I just don’t want to be around her unless it’s absolutely necessary or unless we’re in a large group. You know, like our wedding. Of course, Will’s in the wedding so I know I’ll see her, but I really won’t have to deal with her.”

  “You know she’ll be at the rehearsal dinner too, with Will.”

  “Oh shit, that’s right. I forgot about that. Oh well. There will be a lot of other folks there too.”

  “And speaking of the wedding, how did your conversation with your mom go yesterday? I’ve been dying to know, but keep forgetting to ask.”

  “Oh, that turned out to be much ado about nothing. She was just being emotional. That’s all. Everything’s fine. She even said she’d try harder to be nicer to you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I confronted her about how mean she is to you and she apologized and said that she wants us to be happy.”

  “Thank God. I was worried that she was scheming to pull the plug on our wedding at the last minute or something.”

  “That would be impossible,” Jake said with a chuckle. “Do you think I’d ever let that happen?”

  Chapter 21 The Art of Manipulation

  Rick Climent had made a shrewd and bold move by contacting Mike Wallace to enlist his assistance with executing his plan to derail his daughter’s marriage to Jake. As Jake’s boss and mentor, and a close friend of the Doyle family, Rick believed that Mike’s involvement would add credibility and weight to the story he wanted delivered to Jake about why he had to call off the wedding. Plus, as he was one of the law firm’s biggest clients, he felt certain of Mike’s cooperation.

  Mike arrived at Rick’s office about ten minutes early for his eleven o’clock meeting. However, Rick was running a little late, tied up with another meeting, so Mike took the opportunity to make a couple of quick phone calls.

  “Hello, Jake Doyle.”

  “Jake, this is Mike.”

  “Hey, Mike, how are yah?”

  “Good, and you?”

  “I am well, thanks.”

  “How was your weekend?”

  “Not bad. Went to see Ziggy Marley last night at the Hollywood Bowl.”

  “Any relation to Bob Marley?”

  “Yeah, that’s his son. He’s pretty good. It was a tribute to his dad’s music, so he sang a lot of familiar tunes. He really got the crowd goin’. It was fun.”

  “Sounds like it. I’m a Bob Marley fan myself. Hey, we missed you on the golf links Saturday.”

  “Oh yeah, you played with my dad and Harry, right?”

  “Of course, and we won the tourney.”

  “Oh, congrats! I didn’t know you guys had won.”


  “Well considering we had Harry on our team the odds were in our favor. I tell yah, that brother of yours has the best stroke I’ve ever seen.”

  “Yeah, he’s pretty impressive. I don’t play with him very often to save myself from embarrassment.”

  “Hey, Jake, listen, I’m about to go into a meeting with Rick Climent and I am not going to have time to review the revisions you made to the Harley agreement, but I know we promised to get a draft back to them before noon today, so go ahead and send it to them. I trust your work and since I agreed with the recommendations we discussed last Friday, let’s go ahead and get it out ASAP. I don’t want to hold things up, and I know they’re pretty anxious to keep the ball rolling on their bid.”

  “No problem. I’ll get it out right away. Is Rick interested in this deal too? This is the kind of company that would neatly fit into his portfolio mix.”

  “That’s true, but frankly I’m not sure what he wants to meet about. For all I know he might want to buy a fleet of new planes.”

  Jake chuckled knowingly. “All right. Well, let me know if you need anything else. Tell Rick I said hello.”

  “Thanks, Jake. Talk to you later.”

  Mike attempted to make another call, before Rick’s assistant stepped into the reception area to let him know that Rick was ready to see him. Climent Partners occupied the top two floors of a high rise on Avenue of the Stars in Century City. The travertine floors and walls in the main entrance and reception area gave the office suite a fine art gallery aesthetic and feel. Although Mike had been to the office before, he nevertheless took in the museum quality contemporary and abstract paintings and sculptures from Rick and Camilla’s private collection as he walked the long corridor leading to Rick’s suite. A row of three lush but nicely groomed Ficus trees with braided trunks set in planters built directly into the floor right down the middle of the corridor’s path was a nice touch, Mike thought. The décor came courtesy of Camilla, reflecting her taste and love of grand entrances.

  “Mike, how are you my friend?” Rick said as he stood and came around his large custom-made desk to shake Mike’s hand.

  “Rick. Good to see you. I thought you were usually away on your yacht sailing the Mediterranean this time of year.”

  “We were in Italy for a week at the end of May, but beyond that we haven’t been able to get away much this summer. It’s been very busy around here and then we have this big wedding coming up, which has been quite the production. Camilla is beside herself with preparations and drags me into it as often as she can.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t miss it, Rick. You must be excited, but I’m sure you’ll be glad when it’s over too. My oldest daughter got married last year and the wife and I had to take two weeks off afterward just to recover.”

  Rick chuckled in response. “Oh yeah?”

  “Shelly and I felt like we were having another baby. All the time and effort we put into it and all the money we spent, and then finally the day arrived. It was a happy moment, but we were even happier when it was all over. So I feel your pain,” Mike said, smiling broadly.

  “Well, that’s very nice. I didn’t realize your daughter had gotten married. Congratulations to you. I’m glad you survived,” Rick said amicably.

  There was a momentary silence in the room as Rick waited to make his next move. He needed Mike to be a little off balance and very eager to please before he told him the true reason for his visit.

  Sensing the awkwardness of the silence and not yet knowing the reason for the meeting, Mike began to babble on about some of Rick’s deals he had been involved in recently. After going on for a few minutes, Mike noticed that Rick wasn’t being very responsive and didn’t seem that interested in what he was talking about. When Rick called Mike and asked to meet with him, all he told him was that it was about an important matter, but he didn’t elaborate. So it was still unclear to Mike why he was there. With Rick not being very forthcoming thus far, Mike finally asked him what he wanted to meet about.

  “Mike, forgive me for my hesitation in not being more direct and to the point about why I wanted to meet with you so urgently. I know you are a busy man and I don’t mean to disregard your time. But I have a very delicate situation I am dealing with right now, and I need your help.”

  Mike had never seen Rick look so grave and serious. He was always so jovial and full of confidence and self-assurance. Mike became immediately sympathetic and concerned. “Yes, Rick, of course. What is it?”

  “Amanda has a fairly serious health condition that only Camilla and I and her doctors, of course, know about it. And it’s getting progressively worse.”

  “Oh dear God. I’m so sorry to hear that,” Mike said, his face painted with concern and surprise at this unexpected news.

  “It gets worse. Amanda is in denial about the state of her condition and we can’t convince her to take the steps she needs to improve and get better. She is so wrapped up in this wedding that it has become a complete distraction. We fear that her getting married to Jake next month could have dire consequences for both of them.”

  “Does Jake know about her condition?”

  “I am pretty sure he does not. If he did know, I don’t think he would have ever proposed to Amanda.”

  Mike frowned in disbelief. “What are you going to do?”

  “Because of the severity of the situation and to avoid the adverse effects her condition could have on Jake and on any children they might have, it has become increasingly apparent that there is only one option.”

  Mike sat in rapt attention, hanging on Rick’s every word and not leaving his gaze. He slightly nodded his head without speaking to indicate that he was waiting to hear what the only option was.

  “We have to call off the wedding and stop Amanda and Jake from getting married.”

  Mike’s heart sank to his stomach. Although he didn’t know Amanda all that well, Mike knew that Jake was completely taken by her and that marrying her would be the most important event of his life up to that point. Jake had even confided in Mike that he wanted to marry Amanda shortly after they had gotten back together following their breakup. Because of the pressure he was getting from his mother about being too young to marry, as a way to discourage his continuing interest in Amanda, Jake wanted to get another opinion from someone he respected and who was like a parental figure as Mike had been to him. Mike told Jake that only he could know who was right for him and when would be the right time to settle down and that he should follow his heart. Not too long after that conversation, Jake proposed to Amanda.

  “Rick, I’m speechless. Those two kids seem made for each other. Are you sure about this?”

  “I am 100 percent convinced that stopping their marriage is absolutely necessary. We’re now in a race against time and the clock is ticking.”

  A momentary silence fell between them as Mike digested the magnitude of what Rick was saying to him. While trying to process the information and the ramifications, Mike also felt somewhat uncomfortable being told something so deeply personal and private. This was Jake’s fiancée and thus Jake’s business, and to be told of this felt like an invasion of privacy. At the same time, however, Mike knew that Rick must be sharing this information with him for a very specific reason as he was not a part of Rick’s inner circle of close friends and confidants.

  “Well, what is it that you want me to do?” Mike asked carefully.

  “I would like to retain you to be my representative in this matter and speak with Jake on my behalf—convince him to call off the wedding.”

  “I don’t know how I would be able to accomplish that. Based on what you’ve told me, I don’t think Jake is going to walk away from Amanda because of some mysterious illness he’s hearing about third-hand.”

  “If he knew that the illness could kill her, then I think that he would.”

  “Why me? Why not just talk to Jake directly or to his parents about this?”

  “For one, I don’t think Jake would accept hea
ring this from me. His relationship is with my daughter not with me, and I suspect that he would go and tell her of my intervention, which would be a disaster. He needs to hear this from someone that he trusts completely and unequivocally, and your relationship with Jake and his family goes back a long way. Two, we don’t want knowledge of Amanda’s condition to get out. It is very important that it remain strictly confidential and only within the family. So talking to his parents or anyone else for that matter is off the table. I can’t even tell you.”

  Mike balked. “Let me get this straight. You want me to convince a guy that I’ve known since he was a kid that he needs to walk away from the girl he loves with all of his heart and soul and whose wedding is just weeks away, because her father says she has a serious, life-threatening illness, but he can’t know what the illness is or how it might be harmful to both of them? I’m sorry but that’s not going to fly.”

  “I know it sounds outlandish, which is why I am prepared to offer him a very substantial financial compensation in exchange for his cooperation. That’s how serious this is, Mike.”

  “How much are you talking?”

  “I am open to negotiation. But as you well know, money is not the issue. Saving my daughter is.”

  “So basically, you want Jake to take the fall. To be the bad guy, so to speak, who leaves his bride standing at the altar.”

  “Precisely. In order to save her life that’s exactly what we need him to do.”

  Chapter 22 Red Roses, Red Roses…

  When Amanda opened the door for her building’s porter to receive her delivery, she was stunned. “Oh my God,” she screamed before putting her hands over her mouth. Before her was the largest bouquet of roses she had ever seen. Fifty long stemmed premium red roses. She beamed with shock, tears, and laughter at the gesture, assuming Jake was apologizing for his snippiness in the car last night. How sweet of Jake to make amends in such a huge and demonstrative way.