by S. E. Lund
“Will it stress Kate to have someone else look after Sophie?”
“I’ll see,” I said. “The least I can do is get a housekeeper to come in and clean the place, maybe make us some meals so we can only think about Sophie and ourselves. I’m tired, but that’s fine. Nothing happened to me physically.”
Lara shook her head. “Drake, you almost lost your wife and baby. You’re facing damage to your professional reputation because of the publicity surrounding the trial. You are not fine. You’re a new parent, too. Don’t deny your own needs. You have to be in top health, mentally and physically, to be there for Kate and Sophie.”
I nodded, shifting position on the sofa. “You’re right. I guess I’m so used to stress that I don’t notice it. I’ve always been so busy with such a tight schedule, it’s second nature.”
“You need to slow down. Hire the housekeeper. Better yet, find a nanny who’s willing to do housework and make meals as well as tend to Sophie when needed.”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure Kate will want a nanny this early in the game.”
“Give her the option,” Lara said. “Better yet, hire someone and have her come over to start taking care of things. Don’t tell Kate that the woman is also a nanny. Tell her she’s a housekeeper and will cook meals. Hire a middle-aged woman with experience. Pay her well.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I said, then checked my watch. I had to meet Dave in fifteen minutes, but luckily, the foundation was down the street. I turned to Lara. “So, you’ll write up a canned response to any press inquiries for me?”
She nodded. “You should memorize it. In fact, you should carry a copy around in your pocket, have a copy on your cell and put a sheet beside the phone. That way, if anyone calls, you and Kate will know exactly what to say about the whole business.”
“What about ‘no comment’?”
She shook her head. “No,” she said and stood up when I did. “That’s only for people who are guilty. The public and the press will expect you to explain. You need short talking points that are easy to memorize and will not invite more questions. I’ll send you something later today. Until then, screen your calls. Don’t answer from any numbers you don’t recognize. Don’t return any calls from the press until you’ve got my text. Okay?”
She came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, smiling. I nodded, and exhaled heavily, feeling a weight off my shoulders that Lara was going to help.
“Thanks, Lara. For this and for going to the apartment and being with Kate while the police were there. You’re a true friend.”
We embraced briefly and I must admit I was thankful to have her at that moment, for everything almost overwhelmed me.
“Everything will work out fine,” she said and let go of me. “You’ll see. This will all blow over, and if it doesn’t, we’ll find a way to move forward. You and Kate love each other. You two have bright futures for yourselves and with each other. You have beautiful Sophia. Remember that.”
“I will,” I said and smiled at her.
I waved at her as she sat back down behind her huge mahogany desk and left the office.
Instead of taking my car, I walked the five blocks to the foundation’s offices and went inside, taking the elevator to the main offices.
As I exited the elevator, I noticed the discussion among the staff fall silent and felt their eyes on me. I frowned. Had they already read the article? I glanced at the receptionist, who quickly averted her eyes.
Then, I went to Dave’s corner office, stopping briefly to say hello to Dave’s admin person, Brenda, to make sure Dave was in. She smiled briefly and nodded when I asked if Dave was ready for me.
Dave was seated at his desk and on the phone. When he saw me, he held up one finger and I nodded. I took a seat across from his desk and unbuttoned my suit jacket.
Finally, he said goodbye to whomever he was speaking and put down the receiver.
“There you are,” he said and stood, extending his hand across the desk. I shook it and sat back down. “Thanks for coming in.”
“Why so formal?” I said, frowning. “You don’t usually shake my hand.”
He shrugged and looked a bit sheepish. “I just got off the phone with an irate donor and I guess I was still in formal mode.”
“What’s wrong? No,” I said and held out my hand. “Let me guess. The donor read the Herald article and doesn’t want to be associated with me anymore.”
He chuckled. “No, actually. It was some Florida resort owner who doesn’t like that we’re providing birth control education, including information about access to Planned Parenthood, in some of the poorer parts of the South. It’s part of our Mother-Baby program.”
“We’re usually focused on international aid,” I said and tilted my head, interested in learning more. “I don’t remember any projects in the US.”
Dave sighed. “We did some research on poverty in the US and in some of the poorer areas of the South, there are third-world conditions for many small towns and rural communities. I did a bit of groundwork to identify the need. They met our criteria for aid, so I did a pilot project in Mississippi and Florida. I can provide you with the project data if you want.”
I nodded, trusting Dave to pick good projects. “If you think these projects fulfill the foundation’s mandate, I trust your judgement.”
“Thanks,” he said. “So, back to the matter at hand…” He searched around on his desk and found the Herald article, which he had printed off. “It’s only a matter of time before we start getting flack. I overheard some discussion about it around the staff water cooler today, so you should know it’s out there. I want to develop a response to it so we don’t lose many donors. Not that I’m expecting it, but just to be prepared.”
I sighed and folded my hands in my lap, wishing all of it would go away.
“What about you?" I said, wondering how to broach the subject. "Do you have any questions? I realize this must be a shock to you as well."
Dave shrugged but shook his head. "None of my business, frankly. I think what goes on in a person's bedroom is their own and their partner's business. As long as it's adults and they consent, I have nothing to say."
He finally met my eyes, and I didn’t see any judgement in them.
"But first,” he said and leaned back in his chair. “Before we get into any business, how is Kate? How’s Sophia?”
I shifted position, a gnawing sense of gloom coming over me when I thought about what Lara told me. “Kate's having problems. PTSD, I think. The accident, the surgery, Sophie being premature, the usual new parent fatigue. She’s struggling.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Dave said, his expression genuinely concerned. “I know it’s hard in normal circumstances when you have a new baby. People always talk about how tired they are, how much sleep they’re missing, the whole physical adjustment. Add to that the accident, and Sophie being premature…”
I nodded. “Yes, it’s all adding up to more than Kate can handle. I’m going to hire a housekeeper-nanny to help out so Kate and I can both get more sleep and so we can spend our time with Sophie and not cleaning or cooking.”
Dave watched me, his eyes narrowed. “How are you doing? This has got to be a shock to you as well.”
I took in a deep breath. I didn’t want to bring up the email issue. If it came out later in the press, I would discuss it but until that time, I didn’t want to have one more thing out there that could blow up in my face. Even though Lara seemed to think the cops would discover the account was fake, if word got out there were emails…
“Yeah, I’m pretty exhausted. Running on adrenaline at times. I’m doing a lot better than Kate. I’m used to the stress.”
He shook his head. “Don’t think you’re invincible. You’re human, too, Drake. You probably have PTSD as well.”
“Nah, I’m fine,” I said, waving him off. “I’m tired. Nothing that a little sleep won’t cure.”
“My uncle's wife, Karen, is a retired nurse who was a
doula. She might be willing to help you out if you need it. She loves babies.”
“Talk to her and see if she’s available,” I said, genuinely interested. Dave’s aunt would be a great choice if she was willing. From what Dave told me, she almost raised Dave after his mother became ill when he was a child.”
“I will,” Dave said.
We spent the next hour going over foundation business – a report on projects that were on-going, starting up and finishing, and I was glad that Dave was still his old self with me. I had only a few close friends, and I didn’t want to lose Dave.
Finally, when we were through, Dave turned to me, his expression curious.
“What are you going to say in response to the article?”
“Lara’s working on some text for me,” I said.
“Your lawyer friend from college?”
I nodded. “Yes,” I said. “She’s going to develop talking points for me and Kate so we stick to the script.”
“That’s a good idea. You want to respond, but not too much. You want to talk about it being in your past and that now you have a loving wife and child and are focused on your family and on your future. Something like that. This woman who tried to kill Kate? She’s a nutcase. Kate’s the innocent victim in all this.”
I nodded.
“And you, of course,” Dave added quickly. “You did nothing to bring this on.”
I shrugged. “I’m the one who was involved with her in the past. I obviously didn’t handle things well enough when I learned she was a student in my Fellowship program.”
“It’s not your fault, Drake. That’s clear. I know you.”
“Our donors don’t know me. For all they know, I was having an affair with a student doctor and asked her to kill my wife so we could be together.”
“That’s what she’s telling police?”
I nodded. “Yep. She told them that I wanted Kate out of the way so we could be together." I wasn't going to say anything about the emails, but I felt Dave needed to know everything so he could be prepared. "She even faked some emails from me. Created a fake account and sent herself emails and responded to herself.”
“That’s crazy. You cheating on Kate is the biggest lie in the world,” Dave said with a sardonic laugh. “You’re crazy about Kate. I told the police detectives that.”
I frowned. “They talked to you, too?”
He nodded. “Yeah, they came by last week because they learned we’re friends, besides the fact that you’re my boss. I told them that there was no way in hell that you would harm a hair on Kate’s head. That you were deeply in love with her and were so happy about the baby. That you took a year off so you could spend it with Kate and the baby. That you were a humanitarian and saved the life of your son from another marriage. I was adamant that there was no way you would ever become involved with that woman.”
“Thank you for that,” I said and shook my head. “I can’t believe that all of this is happening to us. Lisa went off the deep end and I didn’t see it coming fast enough.”
“Were you concerned?”
“Yes,” I said and remembered back to the week before the attack. “I went to my supervisor the week before and told him I had to withdraw from the program because of Lisa. That she was acting inappropriately and I didn’t want to jeopardize my position. They decided to expel her instead. That must have driven her over the edge.”
Dave grimaced. “You think so?”
I nodded, feeling guilty for it. “So this might actually be my fault. If I hadn’t insisted that I’d quit because of her, Kate might have still been able to have more children.”
“Nah,” Dave said, shaking his head firmly. “With someone like her, she probably would have done it anyway and Kate might have died. You can’t know the future, and you can’t know what might have happened if you didn’t go to the head of your program. Don’t think that way. Deal with reality.”
I sighed heavily, wishing all of this would go away so that Kate and I could focus on what mattered – Sophia and each other. Sadly, that would not be the case.
Just then, the phone rang and Dave picked up the receiver.
“Hello, Dave Mills speaking,” he said and then covered the receiver with a hand. “It’s Michael from the Board.”
Then he listened and took out his pen and began to write on his desk pad.
“Do you think that’s necessary?” Dave listened some more and then he frowned. “Well, I have him here right now, if you want to speak to him.”
Dave glanced up at me and I could see he was getting upset, his face flushing.
“I don’t think--.”
I held out my hand. “Tell me,” I said, bracing myself for the worst.
“Just a minute, Michael.” Dave put his hand over the receiver again. “Michael says they had an informal meeting of the rest of the Board and they want you out. Vote was 9-1 in favor.”
I sighed. “Who was the lone holdout?”
“Michael. He’s sorry, but there was nothing he could do.”
I nodded and loosened my tie, which felt like a noose around my neck suddenly.
“All right,” Dave said on the phone. “I’ll make the arrangements. I want to voice my disapproval of this. You can tell the Board that I think they’re being short-sighted and that this will all blow over.”
Obviously frustrated, Dave continued to listen to Michael’s instructions.
“Okay, I’ll tell him. Goodbye.”
Dave hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair.
“I take it you get the gist of my conversation with Michael?”
I nodded. “Let me guess. They want me off the board or they’ll withdraw from it.”
“More or less,” Dave said. “Just until all of this does blow over. They don’t want to leave the board, but they want you off. They think it’s best if you take yourself off for the interim. Don’t attend any Board meetings or events.”
“It’s my foundation,” I said, but that sounded whiny. I understood completely how my name would negatively affect the willingness of donors to hand over checks. Most organizations and corporations made donations in part as a good tax write off and in part as publicity. It looked good on corporate promotional material to list the various charities that benefitted from your organization’s donations. It raised the brand identity and social proof.
If the foundation developed a bad name over my involvement in this case and the information about my past in the BDSM community, it would prevent donors from feeling free to give it money. It didn’t matter how good the projects were or how beneficial to people in third world countries -- or as I later found out – in the poorer areas in the US. It only mattered how being a donor looked on corporate materials and for the bottom line.
“I knew this was coming.” I said and rubbed my forehead. “I expected that they’d want to take my name off promotional materials, but I didn’t think they’d want me to completely recuse myself from any involvement in the Foundation. Do I have to temporarily turn over the director position to someone else?”
Dave moved some papers around on his desk. “You leave it to Michael to check into it for you. Michael wants to meet with you later this week, when you’re available, and he’ll have everything ready. He’s upset and thinks this isn’t necessary, but he’s willing to go along with the majority. You could let them all go and appoint a new board, but then that would be a scandal in and of itself. What you want to do is make a move, do it fast, do it quietly, and then have talking points ready if anyone asks.”
“That’s sound like a good idea. A quick surgical removal of the founder should clear things up.”
“I know this stings, but it’s only temporary.”
I stood, buttoning up my jacket, my face still hot from a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “I better go. I don’t want to leave Kate alone for too long.”
Dave stood behind his desk and extended his hand once again. We shook and he held my eye.
“Give
Kate a big hug for me and tell her I hope she’s doing well. Maybe we can all go out for dinner some night when things have quieted down.”
I nodded. “We’ll see. There’s a lot going on with her family right now. Ethan isn't doing well and so I doubt she’ll feel like going out and leaving Sophie any time soon. But maybe when this all clears up.”
“Sounds good,” Dave said and walked me to the door to his office. He opened it for me and watched while I left the room and made my way to the elevator. I ran the same gauntlet of staff as I approached the elevators and turned, noticing that several of them glanced quickly away. Would that be how it was from now on? I’d walk into a room and people would stop talking, staring at me as if I were a sexual deviant and attempted-murderer?
I said a quick goodbye to the front receptionist and left the building, her red cheeks not lost on me. She probably read the article and thought I was a deviant, too.
I had thought I’d be there to oversee the business of the Foundation, but instead, I was there to remove myself from any public participation. I started the foundation as a tribute to my father, to carry on his work. I was immensely proud of it and it gave me a way to keep connected to my dad in a way we weren’t when he was alive. I enjoyed my time there, feeling like I’d done something beyond myself when I did Foundation business.
Sadly, for the time being at least, that wasn’t going to be the case.
Chapter 6 : Kate
Drake and I hunkered down in the apartment for the next week, watching the television and reading the gossip columns. Luckily, the news about the case died down as things were slow and the police were still investigating.
I thought things had settled down, but then I got a call from Detective St. James asking if they could come over again for a talk.
“I don’t want to be difficult,” I said, frowning, a knot of fear in my gut. “But you’ve talked to me about the case several times. What more can I tell you?”
“We want to talk to you to make sure we have the timeline right,” he said. “It’s normal for these kinds of cases. It’s routine.”