Building Billions - Part 2

by Lexy Timms

  “Fuck your movie,” she said.

  She went to open the door, but I closed it with my hand. She tried to open it again, grunting with all her might.

  “Let me out,” Ashley said.

  “Not until you talk to me.”

  “You lost that right the moment you yelled at me. Now let me out of this apartment.”

  “All I’m asking you to do is let me in. Talk to me. Stop hiding things from me. You don’t have to protect me, and you don’t have to shut me out. All you have to do is be honest with me.”

  “You want honesty? Fine. I’ll give you honesty. You won’t protect your own company. Instead of following the advice of your best friend and business partner, you let some investor who comes into town once a year make the decision for you. Now, the investors know what’s going on, and they’re threatening to tear everything down, all because you keep leaning on Markus. Markus this and Markus that and Markus is the holy grail of everything. Well, what if he’s not?” she asked.

  She looked up at me as my hand slid away from the door.

  “What if he’s not?” Ashley asked.

  “What do you know?” I asked.

  “You can make an appointment with me for tomorrow,” she said.

  “You tell me what you know right now.”

  “What I know is you have nobody to blame for this but yourself. Your company’s tanking, and instead of helping with the investigation, you’re fighting me over some fantasy pregnancy.”

  “Would that not be important? If you had been pregnant, would that not have been worth my time?”

  She opened the door as tears streamed down her cheeks. She stepped out into the hallway, clutching her water tightly in her hand. My mind was racing, and at the same time, it was standing still. It felt like I was sinking to the bottom of an endless ocean, farther and farther away from the people I cared about. The people I loved. People like Ross and Markus and my receptionist.

  People like Ashley.

  Just ... Ashley.

  “Why are you lying to me?” I asked. “What do you get from keeping this from me?”

  She snickered and shook her head before she drew in a deep breath.

  “You’re fighting the wrong battle, Jimmy.”

  “I’m fighting the one I need to fight,” I said.

  “Leave me alone,” she said. “I don’t know what in the world has gotten into you, and I don’t care. Just go away.”

  I watched her walk down the hallway, making her way to the elevator. She pressed the button and leaned heavily against it, her forehead pressed into the wall. My heart was breaking. I was more confused than ever. I got no straight answers from her except what she really thought about me.

  And what was that she didn’t care.

  Her head leaned into the wall, and her shoulders began to shake. I wanted to go to her and find a way to comfort her during this time together. But I knew she needed space, and I knew she needed time. We were going through a lot, and the company was on its last leg, and the last thing I needed was to push Ashley away too.

  I couldn’t lose her, not when I needed her the most.

  But then, I saw it. I watched her heave in the hallway. Her shoulders shook with her muffled sobs as she covered her mouth, and then it happened again.

  Her stomach lurched, and she held it back.

  She stepped into the elevator, and I ran after her. I tried to get there in time, but it was fruitless. The doors shut on her before I could press the button, and I heard the elevator carrying her down the floors.

  I looked over to the stairs and rushed down them. I took every single step two-by-two, trying to beat the elevator down. I prayed it stopped. I prayed I had enough time to get to her. I prayed the elevator got held up by someone getting on at a different floor so I could meet her at the bottom.

  She was sick, and she was heaving. She had to be pregnant.

  I was sweating down the back of my shirt as I ran down all twenty-three flights of steps. I busted out into the main lobby, my eyes darting around for her. I heard the elevator doors open, and I turned, waiting to swoop her up in my arms and carry her right back upstairs.

  But instead, an older man with a much younger woman got off.

  I ran outside, looking around to see if I could see her, see a cab carrying her off, or see her walking down the sidewalk. But the more I looked, the less I saw. The longer I spent trying to spot her, the more time she had to get away from me like she wanted.

  I raked my hand through my hair as I walked around in circles. I couldn’t go back up to my penthouse, but I couldn’t go to her. What the hell was I going to do? Was Ashley really not pregnant? And if she wasn’t pregnant, then why was she heaving at the elevator? Was she really that upset?

  Had I upset her that much?

  I started for the only place I knew, the only place that had given me solace for the past twelve years and the place I was about to lose if my detective team couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on with the discrepancies.

  I walked down to the parking garage, got in my car, and went to work.

  Chapter 24

  Ashley

  “Ugh, this coffee is always so good,” I said.

  “The clock is ticking,” Cass said.

  “Holy hell, would you get off it? I’m talking to him today about it,” I said.

  “Good. I want you to let me know how it goes.”

  “Hardly. You’ve been riding my butt about this, and I’m tired of hearing you chirp in my ear.”

  “Until you can woman up and chirp in your own ear, I’m always going to be there to do it for you.”

  “I don’t think he’ll believe me, especially after the fight we had over the weekend.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. What fight?” she asked.

  “We had lunch yesterday, and it spawned a huge fight between us. He knew I was hiding something from him, and I told him that wasn’t the time or the place to talk about it. But do you know what he accused me of hiding?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Being pregnant.”

  “He what?”

  “Yeah. He told me to stop lying to him and admit that I was pregnant. We’ve all been on edge this week with everything going on, and I admit, I’ve been bouncing between my emotions pretty strongly. One minute I’m anxious and the next I’m upset. But I told him I wasn’t pregnant, and he unleashed.”

  “What do you mean by unleashed?”

  “Apparently, he’s still upset that I used a couple of sick days without being sick.”

  “No, he’s upset because you told him you were sick when you weren’t.”

  “Isn’t that what I said?” I asked.

  “No, it’s not. But as long as you agree that’s the issue, I won’t break it down for you,” she said.

  “I told him I wasn’t pregnant, and he told me to stop lying to him. I told him he had bigger issues on the table than me being pregnant with some child that didn’t exist. Then, we said a lot of things we didn’t mean.”

  “Like?”

  “I told him he was idly standing by while his company tanked.”

  “You what?” she asked.

  “And he told me he didn’t know what to think about me anymore because he couldn't trust me.”

  “That’s ... not a terrible reaction given the scenario.”

  “Then we laid out everything, how he’s been treating me lately and how my mood swings have been bad. My skin’s apparently paler and me not eating my lunch translated into morning sickness somehow.”

  “Are you pregnant?” she asked.

  “Hell, no, I’m not pregnant. I am worn down and worried about all this stuff with the company. But Jimmy lied to me, too. He looked me in my eyes on Friday and told me he trusted me, point blank in front of Ross. Less than two days later, he’s telling me he doesn’t and he doesn’t know what to believe because he doesn't know if I’m telling the truth.”

  “You two need a break. You need to pu
t this shit at the company behind you, sit down together, and have an adult conversation. But you can’t do that until this issue’s resolved.”

  “Which is why I’m talking to him today about it,” I said.

  I finished my coffee and hugged Cass before I went to work. I headed straight for Jimmy’s office, ready to receive whatever punishment was going to come my way.

  But when I knocked on his door and jiggled the doorknob, I found his office locked.

  Furrowing my brow, I dug out my cell phone. Jimmy was never late for work. Was something wrong? I dialed his cell, but it shot me straight to voice message.

  Great. He was screening his calls.

  “He’s not coming in for the day.”

  I turned around and took in the receptionist sitting at her desk.

  “Is he sick?” I asked.

  “No. Just called in and said he was taking a personal day,” she said.

  “Did he say where he was? I’ve got something very important to discuss with him.”

  “All he said was to hold all of his calls and meetings until tomorrow,” she said.

  I sighed as I looked down the hallway to Ross’s office. He would know where Jimmy was. I walked down the hallway, darted into the office, and waited patiently for Ross to look up at me.

  “I can feel you standing there, Ashley.”

  “Waiting for you to finish,” I said.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Do you know where Jimmy is today?”

  “No. He called in and said he needed a personal day but didn’t give any specifics. Why?”

  “I needed to talk to him today about something.”

  “Is it something you can talk to me about?” he asked.

  “You might want to be there, but it needs to be with Jimmy around,” I said.

  “Well, he’ll be back in tomorrow. We can catch him then.”

  Instead of heading for my desk, I headed for the elevator. Jimmy wasn’t getting out of this that easily. Just because he pissed me off didn’t mean I called in for a personal day. And now that I needed to talk to him about something important, he was doing the one thing he didn’t like of me.

  I mean, it was sort of like what I had done.

  Fuck. It was all so confusing.

  I rode down to the parking garage and started up my car. I raced to his apartment and parked at the curb. If there was anywhere he would be during a time like this, it was in the comfort of his apartment. I placed a quarter in the meter and ran up the steps, busting into the main lobby.

  I didn’t stop for anyone calling my name as I made my way to the elevator.

  I rode it up all the way to the penthouse level. The doors opened, and I darted down the hallway to Jimmy’s front door. I rose my fist and banged on the heavy wooden surface, not intending to stop until I heard his footsteps.

  But the longer I banged, the more my fist hurt.

  I took my cell phone out and dialed his number again. I was listening for the ringing before he ignored my phone call again. It rang out twice, and I pressed my ear to the door to see if I could hear it. His voice message picked up again.

  However, there was no ringing coming from inside his apartment.

  I leaned my forehead against the door and groaned. Where the hell was Jimmy? I needed to talk with him. It was important, and this wasn’t the kind of information to relay to him through Ross. What kind of businessman didn’t come to work during the most important week of his company’s life?

  What was wrong with him?

  Chapter 25

  Jimmy

  Taking a day off work helped me to try and sort through some things. The private detective agency was keeping me abreast of their findings, but it didn’t look good. It was taking them longer than they thought to trace all the IP addresses, and they would be cutting things close. I told them to use whatever they needed, and I would shovel the difference out-of-pocket. I needed this wrapped up by the end of the week.

  I couldn't stand to lose any of my investors.

  I drove myself out to the beach and rented a condo for the night. I was still confused and hurt by Ashley and what had happened between us. I knew, now more than ever, that she was pregnant. The heaving by the elevator confirmed it for me. Why she was still hiding this from me, I had no idea, and it felt like a knife was piercing my gut. After everything we had been through with Nina and what we were going through with her mother, all I wanted was the truth from her.

  And she couldn’t even give it to me.

  I came into work early, hoping to avoid her. This week was important, and I needed all the space I could get to figure things out. I was pouring over documents that had long since been buried in the files room to see if I could find any leads. I was trying to bat away the investors who were now bugging Ashley, Ross, and me. I felt my world crashing in around me, and I still couldn’t concentrate.

  Not with Ashley’s office just down the way.

  A soft knock came at my door, and I felt my gut turn over on itself. I knew who was out there. I knew who was knocking on my door. Ross had informed me that she had been looking for me all day. The front lobby told me she had come in yesterday morning in a trance trying to find me. Maybe she was ready to talk, ready to finally admit to me what was going on with her so we could get her to a doctor and get her through this.

  Though with her mood swings, she would probably have to take a backseat in the company. Because they were getting bad.

  “Come in,” I said.

  “Could we talk?” Ashley asked.

  “Shut the door behind you and take a seat,” I said.

  I watched her walk across the room, and I could see the fear in her body language. The way she hid behind her glasses. The way her hair spilled in her face. The way her shoulders were slightly caved in as she sat. She was petrified, and I didn’t know why. I had no clue what I had done to make her think I would be upset over something like this.

  I was ready to put this behind us, save my company, and move forward with our family.

  “Are you ready to admit it?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m still not pregnant,” she said.

  “Come on, Ashley. Stop with the—”

  I watched her dig around in her purse before she pulled out a bag full of pregnancy tests. She tossed it onto my desk and kept her purse on her lap, her eyes boring into my face.

  I picked up the bag, looked at the tests, and all of them were negative.

  “Can we get on with it now?” Ashley asked.

  “You’re not pregnant,” I said.

  “Nope.”

  “But you didn’t eat lunch.”

  “Because I wasn’t hungry, Jimmy.”

  “And you were heaving at the elevator.”

  “I was sobbing at the elevator. What you saw was my trying to hold back sobs,” she said.

  “You were you crying that hard?”

  I felt my stomach drop to my toes as Ashley’s face hardened.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “But you’ve been on edge, and your skin is paler. I know you see it. It’s obvious you haven’t been getting much sleep,” I said.

  “Thank you for pointing out how shitty I look,” she said. “But we’ve all been on edge with everything going on in the company.”

  “But you’ve had it the worst,” I said.

  “Because I know who L.R. is.”

  The bag dropped from my hands and to my desk as I sat forward.

  “What?”

  “It took me a little while to piece everything together, but I know who it is. I’ve been in a rough state because I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you, but I know you won’t believe me, not after this fight over trust,” she said.

  “Ashley, how long have you known this?” I asked.

  “Since Saturday,” she said.

  “Okay. Who is it?”

  “Remember when we went to get drinks with Markus? You know, the time Jamie couldn’t make it?”


  “Uh, yeah. I do. Why?” I asked.

  “Markus and I had a long discussion while you were in the bathroom about our mothers.”

  “Ashley, stop beating around the bush.”

  “Sit back and listen, Jimmy. It’s for your own good.”

  I clenched my jaw as I sat back in my chair.

  “Markus and I talked about our mothers and how they both struggled with Alzheimer’s. He mentioned his mother calling him Lou one time. He said something about it being his father’s name, and he thought maybe she thought he was his dad or something. Then, he told me another story about how there were times when, like my mother, she would forget she had been married. His mother would correct the nurses whenever they called her Bryant. She would tell them her last name was Roth, not Bryant.”

  I felt the breath leaving my lungs as I took in Ashley’s every word.

  “If you combine ‘Lou’ and ‘Roth’ together, you get the initials L.R. You also said Markus has been here since the inception of the company, guiding you and giving you advice. Did you ever give him control of the finances at some point?” she asked.

  “Of course, I did. Because I trust Markus. What are you saying, Ashley?”

  “When did Markus leave to establish his headquarters in Alberta?” she asked.

  “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” I asked.

  “Was it three years into the establishment of your company?”

  “Markus is not the one behind this. Without that man, we wouldn't be here right now.”

  “Of course, he would want to help you. He’s siphoning money from you. He said he was here because of company issues, and I looked up some things. There are articles being run about him, rumors going around that his company is struggling financially. Has he talked about it at all?”

  “Shut up,” I said.

  “Jimmy, I know you want to trust him. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you to hear, but you have to believe me. Everything about his story makes sense and fits. Why he’s staying in town longer. Why the initials didn’t exist on any of the balance sheets until three years in. Jimmy, he even reacted strangely when we clued him in on what was going on. How defensive he—”

  “I said, shut up, Ashley!”