by Rick Soper
She hadn’t dated in high school because of the Tommy Healy incident, and nobody had been interested in her at Stanford. When Billy had tried to kiss her, as the two of them stood inside his apartment, looking over the lights of San Francisco, she let him. When he ran his hands up under her shirt, she let him. When he pulled her skirt up, she’d sighed in anticipation. When he took her virginity, she screamed with pleasure.
When she thought about it afterwards she had no regrets. She loved Billy, and he loved her back. She’d given him that special moment in her life and he’d made it special for her. She wasn’t thinking about college anymore, or her father. She wasn’t thinking about anything, other than Billy. Billy had become her world, and her world was filled with happiness. Love had blossomed in her heart.
Chapter 27
Russell’s clothes were packed and the flight was booked. He was heading out the door when London finally called back. He wanted to be mad. He steeled himself, getting ready to yell at her, to tell her how worried he’d been.
“Daddy,” she said. “I’m so happy!”
At the sound of her voice, every bad thought, every disturbed emotion drained away, along with the adrenaline. “You sound so good, dear. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’ve met someone,” she said, and his heart melted as she told him about Billy Stone. “Dad,” she said to end her story, “I’ve never been so happy.”
His heart melted. His little girl had fallen in love. Part of him was incredibly happy that she was happier than he could ever remember her being, but at the same time, he was terrified that Billy Stone was taking advantage of his naive daughter. What should he say? If he told her she was moving too fast or that Billy wasn’t right for her, he would drive her further into his arms. If he told her he was happy, he would be setting her up for whatever fall was probably coming. Before he could say anything she cut him off.
“I have to go,” she said. “It’s Billy. I love you so much, dad!”
And then she was gone, before he could tell her how much he loved her, too.
He dropped the handle to his rolling suitcase, walked into his office, poured himself a Scotch and took a deep, long drink, that burnt its way down to his unsettled stomach. He refilled the glass and fell back into his chair, exhausted from the countless hours he’d spent fretting over what London was doing since he’d seen the video. He was happy to have heard her voice, but scared to death that she was rushing into a relationship with Billy Stone. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to find Billy Stone and tell him that he’d better treat his daughter right. But he also knew that she was an adult. She’d gone to Stanford to find herself, and that was exactly what she was doing.
He finished his drink, threw the glass against the wall, turned, and started punching the wall behind his desk. He kept punching until the pain and blood made him stop, then he fell to the floor, bleeding, holding his aching hands as tears of frustration fell from his eyes.
Chapter 28
Agent Emily Sarah was designing the parameters and algorithms she would use to run the names that Stevens had given her. As she did, she pulled up the driver’s licenses of the girls and projected them onto the screen to use as reference points.
“That’s her!” Stevens said, pointing at the picture of London Scott.
“Why her?” Emory said.
Stevens clenched his fists. “She looks like the prostitute at the hotel, and it’s a Virginia License.”
Emily Sarah started throwing information about London Scott up on the screen, then sucked in her breath.
“Jesus,” Emory said as he read over her shoulder.
John Stevens practically shook with rage as he looked at the information on screen. “God damn it,” he said. “We’re already too late.”
Chapter 29
London Scott stretched as she woke, watching the sun that shined brightly through the twelve-foot high, glass windows of Billy’s bedroom, overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Cars made their way across the Golden Gate Bridge, seagulls flew through the air, and boats sailed across the bay. Everything looked perfect and peaceful, and if she had to describe what she was feeling, the word she would have used was joy. She reached over to put her arm around Billy, but he was gone.
He’d been there when they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms, but as she pulled herself up in the bed and looked around the room, she didn’t see any sign of him. She got up, threw a robe on and started walking through the massive apartment, looking for him. She went into his upstairs office, the theatre, the exercise room, and glanced into the two extra bedrooms before she finally walked downstairs where she found Tom Francis. She’d met him before – with Billy – at a charity event a few nights before. Now he was standing at the big crystal dining table in front of the twenty-foot high wall of windows that looked out onto the Bay.
She self-consciously wrapped the robe around her a little tighter, wishing she’d put something on under it. “Hi Mr. Francis,” she said, “are you meeting Billy?”
“No, Miss Scott,” Francis said, “he’s not here. I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”
“Me?” She didn’t like the flat, humorless sound of his voice or the dry look on his face. “Why me?”
“It’s time for you to move on, Miss Scott,” Francis said, pointing at the seat next to him.
London’s stomach sank, and her knees practically gave out as she dropped down into the chair. She felt as if she had just been punched in the gut. “Wh...what do you mean?” She tried to keep her lips from trembling, but she couldn’t stop the tears.
Francis waved a finger in front of her eyes. “Now, don’t start all of that. You had to know that this wasn’t going to last.” He threw a stack of pictures on the table, pictures of Billy with other women. “You had to know about Billy’s reputation.”
“No, I…” She looked at the pictures of Billy, seeing them, but not comprehending. “Where’s Billy?”
“He’s back at work, where he should have been the whole time. He’s done playing with you.”
“Playing?” She felt her entire sense of self, unraveling.
“A girl like you doesn’t get involved with a man like Billy unless she wants something,” Francis said, taking a check out of his pocket. “So here you go.”
Through the tears, she saw that the check was from The Agency and was made out to her...for one million dollars. The memo in the box said FOR SERVICES RENDERED.
“What...what is this?”
“Like it says,” Francis said dryly, as if he’d done this a hundred times before. “For services rendered.”
She knew what he was implying, but she just couldn’t believe it. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You presented a good idea. PushThrough is going to use it, and Billy said he’d pay you for it, so before you go to a lawyer claiming that he made a verbal commitment to you... which he did... we’re giving you that check.” Francis pulled out a second piece of paper, a document. “Sign this, releasing the idea to PushThrough, and we’ll call it a day.”
The idea of taking any money from Billy sickened her. “I don’t want your money, I want to talk to Billy.” Her head fell into her hands and the tears came streaming out.
Francis shook his head and waved dismissively towards the door. Blake Fitzpatrick from Black Hawk Security stepped forward with one of his men. “Don’t you get it?” Francis said.
She looked from Fitzpatrick to Francis. “Get what?”
Francis smiled. “I wouldn’t be here unless Billy wanted me to get you out of his house. Just sign your paper, take your check, and move on. You should be happy.”
London’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart. She loved Billy. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She’d given her virginity to him. And now Francis was telling her that she was being swept out like the trash, and Billy didn’t even have the decency to tell her himself.
Francis grabbed her knee an
d squeezed. “Don’t let it get to you, kid. You weren't the first, and you won’t be the last. People like Billy, they live above the rest of us, and no matter what he said to you, you’re just another girl to him.”
Just another girl? How could she be just another girl? She’d always been the girl, the center of attention, and now she was being cast aside? How could it be true?
“I...I just want to talk to Billy!”
Francis shook his head. “That isn’t going to happen. Just take your check and go.”
“I don’t want the money...”
“When you get past all this–” he pointed at her tear-stained face “–you’re going to want that money. That and a lot more, but this is one time offer: it’s not going to happen again, and if you walk out that door you won’t receive a penny. Take my advice: sign the paper, take the money, and at least you’ll have that to compensate you for your...services.” At the last word, Francis curled up his lip in disgust.
“I don’t want it...”
Francis gestured, and Fitzpatrick and his man came up and stood over her. “Sign the fucking paper!” Francis yelled, slamming his hand down onto the top of the glass dining table.
With Fitzpatrick standing over her, and Francis yelling, all she wanted to do was run away, but there was no escape. She didn’t want anything to do with Francis, or the money, but didn’t know what else to do, so she did the only thing she could to get out of that room. She signed.
“Good girl,” Francis said, and he smiled.
Chapter 30
The last thing Billy Stone had wanted was to go to the corporate offices of PushThrough that morning, but Josh had said it was an emergency, and they needed him to get down there right away. Once he did, though, all that was waiting for him was a big pile of paperwork he needed to sign, and meeting after meeting on the new mobility applications for PushThrough. What he thought would be an hour turned into four, and he hadn’t been able to reach London all day.
In their short time together, London had made him re-think who he was and what he wanted. When he started PushThrough, it had been all about impressing people and meeting girls, but it had turned into a monster that took over every second of every day, with endless problems and fixes and options to be added. When Tom Francis and The Agency had kidnapped him, it was actually the break that he’d needed. Looking back, he didn’t know how much longer he could have kept up that pace. When Francis had started pushing him to develop his image, it had helped him shift his focus away from PushThrough.
Being the Internet King – the clothes, the cars, the apartment, running around with the models – had been the kind of self-indulgent fun that he’d needed to give him perspective. When London had stood up in that crowded auditorium, everything had changed.
Meeting London was like having a switch turned on in his head, with a neon sign – he realized suddenly that none of it meant anything if you didn’t have someone to share it with. When he was around London, the rest of the world ceased to exist. It was just the two of them. Her radiant smile as she cracked stupid jokes and they laughed and laughed. Her stories of growing up with a father who treated her like a princess. Watching her mind work as she asked him smart, thoughtful questions about PushThrough and they traded ideas about mobility. The sweet, soft skin of her body as they made love – sex would never be the same. Now, he realized that it would be a connective, shared, spiritual act: two individuals transforming into a single, loving entity.
He loved her – that’s what it came down to. He wanted to sell his interest in PushThrough and start enjoying his life with her. It felt like the right thing to do, and he knew that it would make her happy.
“London!” he said as he burst in the door, excited to share his realization.
“She’s not here.” Tom Francis sat at the glass dining table.
“What?”
“She’s gone. And she won’t be coming back.”
“Why? I don’t understand.”
Francis shook his head. “Look, Billy,” he said, “PushThrough hired The Agency to protect your image–”
“Fuck my image! Where the hell is London!”
Francis stood, and pointed an angry finger at Billy. “Look,” he said, “you’re too damned young to understand that you can’t just neglect your company because you want to shack up with some little slut!”
“Don’t you fucking call her that!”
“Billy. This is your first long term relationship, so you–”
“You’re fired!”
Francis sighed. “She took the money....”
“What?”
Francis shook his head, speaking as if he were talking to a child. “I offered her money to leave, and she took it.”
“What?” Billy dropped into a chair. “Why...Why would you do that?”
“A man in your position must always be skeptical of his relationships. Most of the time, the women – the people – that you meet have no interest in you as a person, no matter what you might think, or how they might act. When it comes down to it, they’re interested in you because of the money.”
“She... was different,” Billy said softly.
“She was just another girl, looking to marry up.” Francis put a hand on Billy’s shoulder.
“She wasn’t like that...” Billy shook off Francis’ arm.
Francis knelt down in front of him. “Billy,” he said, “I’ve got a lot of famous clients, and I learned a long time ago to protect them. This is my test.”
“Test? What the hell are you talking about?”
Francis smiled thinly. “You dangle a check in front of them, and see how they react. It’s been my experience that they do one of three things. They throw it back in your face, they take it and run, or they say you need to add a zero. Option one is the keeper, Options two and three you're glad to get rid of before they take you for more than you can easily give them.”
“And she took the money?” Billy asked, slumping.
“She took the money.”
“So I’m better off?”
“She was just another girl...”
“Just another girl...”
Billy got up walked towards the bar. He needed to forget everything. He’d been ready to throw it all away for her, and she’d only been in it for the money. He looked back at Francis, the man had kidnapped, broken and rebuilt him. Billy had every reason to hate the man, but he was closer to Francis than he’d ever been to anybody in his life. Francis might be the only real friend he’d ever had. If Francis said he was better off without London...he was probably right.
But it didn’t feel right, so Billy picked up a bottle of Patron, ripped out the cork and slammed down a huge drink that made him gag until he bit into a lemon. He took another shot, and then another. While the tequila burnt in his gut, his eyes teared and his senses dulled. How could he ever trust anyone again... except Francis?
Chapter 31
Russell Scott was lost in his own house. He didn’t know what to say or do. Two large men had dropped London off the day before. Since then, every attempt to talk with her had resulted in her telling him to leave her alone, and a retreat back to her room. He knew she was in pain, he knew she’d been hurt, but it killed him not to be able to do anything about it.
This was Billy Stone’s fault. When he’d talked to her on the phone just three days earlier she’d been so happy. And now... He shook his head. Even after the whole Tommy Healy dating disaster, London hadn’t been this upset. His fists bunched into white-knuckled balls. His hands were still aching from punching the wall. He turned to see where he’d moved the new bookcases behind his desk, to cover up the holes. Russell gritted his teeth as he thought about getting his hands on Billy Stone.
He needed to get those thoughts out of his head. He needed to be calm so he could be there for London. He tried to distract himself, tried to work, but all he could do was shuffle papers around in his office as CNBC played on the wall-mounted T.V. opposite his desk, while he fought b
ack the urge to run upstairs, break the door down, and hug his little girl. And then he heard her.
The door at the top of the stairs opened up and she walked down the steps and into the kitchen. Not wanting to disturb her, Russell stayed in his office, listening past the noise of the T.V. He heard a cupboard opening, the water turning on, and then silence. A few minutes later she came into his office. He tried not to be shocked at how bad she looked, but it was hard. Her hair was matted, her face puffy and red, and the black rings under her eyes made him wonder if she’d slept at all since coming home.
From the look on her face, he could tell that he wasn’t fooling her. She broke down and started crying again, but this time raced across the room and threw herself into his arms. He held her tight as she shuddered through her tears. He wanted to tell her it was going to be okay, that she’d get past it, but no words came, and his own tears were threatening to fall at any moment.
Then suddenly she stopped crying, and turned to stare at the T.V. He hadn’t even realized it was still on until she looked at it, and he saw Billy Stone on the screen. The reporters were talking about PushThrough’s move into mobility applications. Billy was surrounded by reporters, outside of PushThrough’s, main headquarters, as they shot questions at him – mostly about when would it be available and what it would cost, but then one of them asked where the ‘Idea Girl’ was and Billy looked into the camera coldly.