by Robin Cain
Citra listened to the group discussing the technical aspects of the improvements, but her mind raced in several other directions. The potential markets, the applications and the money involved were more than she had previously comprehended. One of her largest clients, APEX, a movie distributing company outside London, was currently considering merging with an international conglomerate located in Belgium. The larger corporate firm was involved in worldwide operations spanning several different industries. If they had access to this encryption program, they would literally save millions of dollars a year. It would be invaluable to them prior to a merger and, having once dated the CEO at APEX, she knew exactly how to get the deal made.
“What’s the current plan for time to market?” Citra asked abruptly, interrupting one of the designers in his discussion of cycle times. Everyone looked at her, but Ray made it his responsibility to respond.
“Well, this new development has both shortened and lengthened the original time line. With Mel’s fix, we now have a beta version of the original concept product,” Ray said, referring to the lengthy, selective-market testing phase done to ensure kinks were discovered and addressed before mass marketing. “The thing is, management wants to go with Mel’s enhancements and make them part of the total package. So we are now looking at, um, I’d say about six to eight months.”
“Then how long until market?” Citra snapped impatiently, making no attempt at masking her frustration with the answers she was getting. “Management” meant Frank and it infuriated her that this was the first she was hearing of his decision.
“With something like this, we will want a full six months prior to production, at least.” Several of the department heads around the table began interjecting their concerns and issues with the time frame Ray had ball-parked.
“Well, that’s bullshit!” Citra wasn’t famous for her diplomacy.
A few in the group rolled their eyes but said nothing. Ray turned to address some of the others’ concerns.
Citra didn’t care what they thought. She was incensed. This product, this industry-changing marvel, had to be available sooner. With regard to her client, she realized they didn’t have a year. With regard to her partnership, she wasn’t willing to wait a year. If she could get this product out sooner, if she could work a deal, she could make more money than she had made in all the combined years she’d worked at MineWare. She had to figure out a way to get her hands on this beta version. If Frank had only discussed this with her, she was certain he knew she would have thrown a fit. He was doing all this on purpose, just to get her to leave.
If Frank was going to continually deceive her, she wondered, why the hell should she feel any obligation to him? She had worked there for years, had lined his coffers with millions and given him her heart and soul in the process. She slammed her notepad closed and began gathering her things. She rose from her chair and interrupted the discussion in progress.
“I have an appointment,” she abruptly announced and stormed from the room. She didn’t see Mel flipping up her middle finger at the closed door or hear several of the others snicker.
Back in her office, Citra locked her door and quickly began dialing the private number of her contact at APEX. Forced to leave a message, she slammed down the receiver. She realized she would have to make a personal visit. Leaning back in her chair, she contemplated her next move. If she could get her hands on this software and APEX found out what she had, she knew they would pay a king’s ransom to acquire it. Big business was all about big gains, achieved only by even bigger leaps. This, she knew, would be a big leap.
She couldn’t pull it off alone, though. She would need someone on the inside with her—someone with access to the project. Citra hadn’t made a lot of friends in those departments over the years, but she knew she’d have to start soon if she was going to pull this off. She did not see that as such a big problem. She was in sales; she could convince anyone to do anything. It was MineWare’s state-of-the-art security that presented the greatest challenge. She would have to somehow secretly get inside the system, make a copy of the project code and leave no signs of the security breach.
Citra suddenly felt like the Cheshire Cat. She’d had the power to achieve this all along. She did a little happy dance, threw back her head and laughed.
This couldn’t fail or it would be the end of her career. It would certainly be the end of her relationship with Frank. If she was able to pull it off—and she believed she could—it would result in a huge pay day. She momentarily entertained the idea of trying to convince Frank to give her the beta version but realized that was a useless avenue to consider. She couldn’t rely on him anymore.
Hell, I’m a survivor. I don’t need a man. And I certainly don’t need one who can’t make up his mind!
With her mind now made up and the beginning of a plan forming in the back of her mind, she grabbed her briefcase and headed out the door. It was time to make her dreams come true.
twenty
BACK AT the Campelletti house, Sadie was sitting at her desk, wondering what the hell she was going to do. She’d gone to the drugstore, gotten a pregnancy kit and watched as the little plus sign magically and ironically appeared on the stick.
The phone rang, interrupting her franticly racing thoughts. She distractedly picked it up and said hello.
“Sadie?”
Tyler’s familiar voice caught Sadie off guard. His timing was eerie. “Oh, my. Hello, Tyler,” she stammered. “Um... I’m alright. How are you? It’s been awhile. Good to hear your voice.”
“I’m doing okay. I miss you, though.” The suddenness and pure honesty of his words caused her ache to rise from its temporary slumber.
“I miss you, too,” she told him.
“How’s Frank?”
“He was finally able to go back to work today.”
“Ah, I bet he’s real happy about that.” Tyler’s words, spiked with a tinge of sarcasm, were unlike him and Sadie chose to ignore the innuendo.
“Yes, we are all happy about that. It’s been a long, long road.”
“It sure has.”
“Tyler, I’m sorry.” Her words wouldn’t help, but she offered them anyway.
“Yeah, me too.”
“Saying goodbye the last time we were together was so difficult on both of us,” she said, but she knew the words were unnecessary. She knew Tyler had felt it, too. She didn’t finish her thought, knowing the explanation really didn’t matter, and changed the subject. “So, how are you? I mean, how are you doing?”
“Well, I’m just swell, Sadie. And you?” For the first time, Sadie detected the slight slur in his words.
“Tyler, have you been drinking?”
“Maybe a little,” he mumbled. “My construction company is doing well. Been busier than a one-armed paper hanger, but I guess that’s better, huh?”
“Oh that’s great,” she said. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Yes. Busy is good.” Sadie heard him take a long deep chug of something before he began again. “Sadie? I have to tell you something. Are you ready?” The tone of his voice combined with his obvious case of liquor-induced soul searching caused Sadie to momentarily hold her breath. “Um, I’ve met someone.”
The words, like a hot poker, prodded her festering wound. “You did?”
“Yep. Her name is Sam and we’ve been dating awhile now.” When Sadie didn’t respond, Tyler continued. “She’s nice, Sadie.”
“Well, that’s good—that she’s nice.” Words were failing her. She certainly couldn’t share any of her fears with him now.
“I’m sorry, Sadie. I just can’t fucking wait forever for you.”
The truth broke her heart, its finality crushing her with its weight. She began to softly weep. “I know Tyler. I know.”
“Sadie, I love you... and you know that I will always love you. I just have to move on now. This wanting you, this hoping for one day, is killing me.”
“So, why,” Sadie asked through her te
ars, “why did you feel you needed to tell me this?”
“I don’t know why, but I thought if you knew, if I told you, somehow... somehow it would make a difference to my conscience.”
“I’m sorry.” Sadie didn’t know how many more ways she could try to make him understand.
“I know, baby. I know,” Tyler told her. He was now crying as well. “I am sorry too.”
“I love you. Take care of yourself, okay?”
“You, too,” Tyler softly told her.
Weak from the overwhelming emotions, Sadie hung up.
Down the hall in her bedroom, Vivian quietly hung up the extension she’d been listening in on, trying make sense of what she’d just heard. She had only worked for the Campellettis a couple months now. She had never intended to care about either of these people; working here had just been a favor to Janie. But she had needed the job; it paid well; and what did she care if Janie called every few days to see how everything was going? Janie was an absolute fanatic about making sure Frank was taken care of. But, no matter how odd Vivian thought that was, she wasn’t going to question it. This gig paid too well.
The problem was she really had a thing for Frank now. He was kind, a gentleman and filthy rich. He was exactly what she’d always wanted. The fact that he was dependent made him all the more attractive to her. She had also sensed there was something lacking in her employer’s marriage from the very first day she’d met them— something beyond what had been caused by just the tragedy of the accident. Sadie seemed resigned to the fact that Frank wasn’t ever going to be able to walk, but her melancholy seemed to originate from an unrelated place. Vivian couldn’t explain it at the time, but overhearing this phone call now put everything into perspective. Sadie’s endless patience with Frank stemmed from her guilt. Her continual crying jags were because of this Tyler fellow. Sadie’s trip to Sullivan while Frank was recovering must have been a little têteà-tête with her lover. It was all becoming crystal clear. Sadie was the awful bitch Janie had warned her about.
Vivian silently seethed, knowing she couldn’t risk divulging the fact she had listened in on the conversation. It had been tricky trying to work her way into Frank and Sadie’s trust. She didn’t want to ruin it all now—ruin this double-paying gig she’d fallen into. She would just have to let Janie know what she’d found out and maybe Janie could somehow let Frank know about it. Then she could watch as the marriage disintegrated and swoop in, now that she was close to Frank. In the meantime, she’d make it her job to ensure Sadie didn’t do anything further to hurt Frank.
Vivian got up and left her room to go see what Sadie was up to and ran into her in the hallway. Sadie looked like she had been crying.
“What’s the matter with you?” Vivian asked, curious as to just what excuse the little tramp would come up with.
“Oh nothing. Just emotional with Frank’s going back to work, I guess,” Sadie answered, wiping her eyes.
“Hmm, I bet,” Vivian sneered.
“Have you seen a calendar around? It has Frank’s travel schedule for the next few weeks and I seem to have misplaced it.”
Having taken it to her own room earlier that morning to look over, Vivian had to quickly come up with a lie. “Uh... no, I don’t believe I’ve seen a calendar like that anywhere.”
“That’s odd,” Sadie said, absentmindedly scratching her head. “It was right in the top drawer of my desk and it’s not there anymore.”
“Maybe Frank took it,” Vivian suggested, quickly turning to walk away. She had to get back to her room and find a way to get the calendar back to Sadie’s desk. “Let me go look in his office for it.”
“Uh, no, that’s quite alright. I will go into his office and look for it,” Sadie firmly told her.
“Now that you mention it, I think I saw it in one of Frank’s office drawers. I’ll just go get it. You don’t know where he put it,” Vivian told her, now a little nervous for having not been more careful.
“And you do?” Sadie asked, increasingly more annoyed with Vivian’s manner.
“Well, yes. He keeps all his calendar copies in one place. I’ll go look for you.”
“No, Vivian, I will go.”
“Fine,” Vivian huffed, “find it yourself then. I’m going to go make myself something to eat.”
“You do that.”
Vivian headed in the opposite direction of the kitchen.
Vivian passed back down the hallway moments later, holding Frank’s calendar, and took a step back when Sadie stepped out of the bathroom and confronted her, face to face.
“What is that?” The accusatory tone in Sadie’s voice couldn’t be mistaken.
Vivian stared at her blankly. “Frank’s calendar. I thought you were looking for it.”
“Where did you get it?”
“Oh, it was lying on the table by the TV.”
“I thought you said it was in Frank’s office. How did you find it so fast?” Vivian hadn’t had time to go all the way to the table by the TV.
“I don’t know. I saw it lying there.”
Sadie grabbed the calendar out of her hands and pointed an angry finger. “I would appreciate it if you would kindly stick to duties related to Frank’s physical therapy and care only. Our personal business is absolutely none of your affair. If I ever catch you lying to me again, you will be out of a job. Is that clear?”
“You’re accusing me of lying? How dare you!” Vivian left the rhetorical question hanging in the air.
Startled by what she knew to be an indirect accusation, Sadie was left without an appropriate response. Vivian’s sudden change of demeanor put her on edge. She got a sense that Vivian was now a ticking time bomb and decided it best to walk away.
“You heard me. You’ve been warned,” Sadie quietly told her and headed back down the hall to her office.
Alone in her office, Sadie stewed, contemplating Vivian’s accusatory and intrusive remarks. Now more than livid, she questioned what Vivian could have possibly been implying with her accusations. And then it dawned on her.
Sadie jumped up from her chair, acting on instinct and intuition, and stormed out of her office and back down to Vivian’s room. Conscious of what she had to do next, Sadie pounded on Vivian’s bedroom door.
There was no answer.
She pounded again. Still nothing. She opened the door, only to find the room empty. Her curiosity now fully roused, Sadie walked through the house to look for her.
Sadie couldn’t find her in any of the common rooms and she hadn’t heard her leave. There was only one place left and the idea of that made her even angrier. She stormed down the hallway to the master bedroom, startling Vivian when she walked in.
“What the hell are you doing in our room?” Sadie demanded.
Vivian stood stock-still in the doorway between the master bedroom and bathroom, holding the pregnancy kit Sadie had discarded in the trash that morning. Her words came out in a rush. “How can you possibly be pregnant? Is this the result of your little affair—with Tyler?”
Sadie thought her head was going to explode. The nerve of this woman, standing in her bathroom, holding her personal business in her hands and asking these questions. It was absolutely unacceptable.
“I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave. This is no longer a good fit,” Sadie told her as calmly as she possibly could without strangling her first.
Vivian threw back her head in exaggerated disbelief, “Are you kidding me? Frank adores me! He’ll never let you do this.”
“Frank appreciates your credentials and your physical therapy skills but don’t think for a minute that he ‘adores’ you!” Sadie answered, appalled at Vivian’s nerve.
Vivian leaned right into Sadie’s face and began screaming. “And like you would even know how Frank feels? You? Miss Pretend-to-Be-a-Great-Wife? Ha! That’s a laugh. Wait until he finds out your little secret.”
Sadie, now trembling with anger and frustration, was barely able to get her voice above a whis
per. “Get out of my house this instant or I will call the police and have them escort you out.”
“You fire me and I swear you’ll regret it!”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No threats—only a promise!”
It was now Sadie’s turn to shout. “Get out of my house this instant! Pack your things and get out—now!”
Vivian came at her with a vengeance, her eyes wild with anger and loathing. Grabbing Sadie by the hair, she shoved her up against the wall and put her mouth right up to Sadie’s ear.
“You will live to regret this. Mark my words,” Vivian hissed. “I was only here to watch you. Now I may have to hurt you.”
Sadie heard the crazed resolve in Vivian’s tone and froze in fear. Resistance would likely cause more harm than good, so she stayed very still, allowing her body to go slack.
“Know that you will pay for this.” Vivian spit out the words, her body seething with rage. “You and your little buddy Tyler!” She grabbed Sadie by the shoulders and shoved her. “Now get out of my way before I really hurt you.”
Stunned and afraid Vivian would come after her again, Sadie slowly backed into her bathroom and locked the door. With her back against the door, she slumped to the floor, letting go of the tears she had held back. Her mind raced in a hundred different directions. Was Vivian capable of making good on her threats? Should she call the police or Frank or someone else to help her? She sat quietly and listened for sounds in the house. She wasn’t going anywhere until that woman was out of the house and gone for good.
After waiting for what seemed like forever for some sign that Vivian had gone, Sadie heard footsteps outside the door.
“Watch your back, Mrs. Campelletti!” Vivian finally cackled from the other side of the door.