by Josie Brown
“Don’t worry. I mean it. Go take care of Zoe.”
“Thank you, Brady. Really…Thank you.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Had she hung up? No. The seconds were still ticking away.
Every minute we spend away from each other is a minute wasted, he thought.
But before he could say that to her—or anything at all that would lead to even more pain—he hung up.
He sat in his car until he composed himself.
He hoped no one noticed his eyes were red from crying.
***
“…sadly, lower earnings for next quarter,” Laurence concluded. “That’s it folks, unless there are any further questions or any items that didn’t make the agenda, I’ll call this meeting to a close.”
Ellis raised his hand. “I hate to bring up a sensitive subject, but I feel it’s one that needs to be addressed immediately. Over the past quarter, one of our companies, Foot Fetish, has taken on quite a few losses. It can be attributed to over-inflated projections, coupled by poor purchasing judgment on the part of our chief buyer.”
Brady couldn’t believe his ears. Ellis was trying to pin his own ineffective managing on Ally. And he was succeeding. The wan smiles that most of the board members wore were flattened with the weight of their concern.
Laurence shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Since these concerns are under Ms. Thornton’s purview and she isn’t here to answer your questions, why don’t we shelve this for the next board meeting?”
“Frankly, that’s part of the problem. I’ve tried on several occasions to ask her about it. She ignores all my emails. Further, she’s never around to question in person. In all honesty, the number of board meetings she’s missed have put her in violation of her contract.”
A hum of concern rumbled through the boardroom.
“We all know Ms. Thornton well enough to consider the possibility that there is some oversight here,” Brady said calmly. “Laurence, if you’re motioning to wait until Ally is here to defend herself, I’ll heartily second it.”
“In truth, we all have lives outside this room.” By the tone Ellis was using, he could have been talking to a kindergartener. “But most of us—the rest of us, in fact—don’t take our roles here for granted. Foot Fetish has lost its edge. That’s the reality we’re facing.”
A female board member, in her mid-fifties with deep auburn hair, raised her hand. “I have to say that I’ve personally been disappointed with their recent product lines. The company isn’t a part-time hobby for a socialite. It needs a trendsetter on the helm, full-time. Someone who has her finger on the pulse of what the consumer wants today.”
Brady wasn’t positive, but he was sure he saw Ellis wink at the woman.
“Perhaps her new pie shop venture is taking away what little available time she has,” Ellis declared.
Brady couldn’t stand it anymore. “Make up your mind, Ellis. Is she a socialite hobbyist, or an over-achiever?”
“You’re a good friend to Ally, Brady. But you of all people know that our loyalty is to our stockholders, first and foremost.” Ellis turned to Laurence. “I’d like to motion that we buy out Ms. Thornton’s contract before her half-hearted decisions cause Bracknell another quarterly loss, which will precipitate another hit on our stock price.”
“I second the motion,” the redhead piped up.
Only Brady and Laurence opposed the motion.
Brady was out the door the moment Laurence gaveled the meeting to a close.
He was standing at the elevator when Laurence caught up to him. “Your loyalty to Ally is admirable, Brady. I know you’re here because of her, but I hope this change in direction doesn’t discourage you from staying on with us.”
“Ellis is lying about her. Ally cares deeply about Foot Fetish. Laurence, you need to hear this from someone who doesn’t have anything to lose by saying it. She’s made a lot of sacrifices, professional and personal, to ensure that the company succeeds.”
Laurence shrugged. “I’ve always appreciated her diligence and her drive, no doubt about it. And I’m not blind. I know Ellis has an agenda. But he’s right about one thing. Ally has taken herself out of the game. And if Ellis’s agenda is a better one for Bracknell, it’s the one we have to go with.”
Brady knew he was right. If it were Brady’s company, he’d feel exactly the same way.
And he would have done exactly the same thing.
To anyone but Ally.
***
Ally answered Brady’s knock in her pajamas. Her nose was red, and her eyes were glassy.
“You’ve been crying,” he declared. “So, you’ve already heard?”
She sneezed. “I think I must have caught the same crud that has Zoe down and out. Whatever it is, it’s got me too so if I fall asleep, just prop me up against the wall.” Before another sneeze could escape, she blew her nose, hard. “Yuck! Sorry…What did you say? What was I supposed to have heard?”
“You better sit down.”
She shook her head and stood her ground.
“Ellis made a case for voting you off the board tonight and removing you from your job. Worse, the board bought it.”
“What?” She sat down hard. “You mean I got canned?”
“You’ll still get whatever golden parachute Barry wrote in for you. But yes, essentially, quote unquote, your services are no longer required.”
“Well, isn’t that just dandy?” She sneezed again. Then she reached for a Kleenex.
The box was empty. She held her nose with one hand and threw the box up against the wall with the other.
Quickly, he grabbed a cloth diaper from one of the two laundry baskets on the table and handed it to her. After blowing her nose on it, she threw it after the box. “Double yuck! I think that came out of the dirty laundry. But my nose is so stuffed up, I can’t smell anything, so I may be wrong. Take a whiff and let me know, okay? No, never mind. I really don’t want to.” She threw up her hands in disgust.
“Who knows, maybe Bracknell’s buyout will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Ellis is sure to run the company into the ground, and you will have gotten your money out before he does it. And your goal was to be a stay-at-home mom, right? Besides, if the pie shop takes off the way we think it will, you’ll have the entrepreneurial success you deserve, and on your own terms.”
“Maybe you’re right…Oh, I don’t know! With this bloody fever, I can’t think straight! And I’m so tired.” Despite the fact that her tears were falling fast and furious, she closed her eyes. Shielding them with her hand, she added, “To top it off, I can’t even call Barry to get his opinion. Those two wanted a romantic getaway, so he made it a point not to carry his cell phone with him.”
Brady couldn’t stand it anymore. He sat down beside her and nudged her into his arms. “You’ve got me. Ally, you know I’ll always be here for you.”
Her answer was a gentle snore. She’d fallen asleep.
He could feel her heart, pounding against his chest. Soon their hearts were beating in unison.
He wished he never had to leave her side.
That was his last thought before he too fell asleep.
***
Jade was still awake and sitting in the armchair facing the front door when, right after sunrise, Brady walked into the house.
“You were with Ally, weren’t you?” Her question came out in a whisper.
“It’s not what you think. She had a crisis. Bracknell voted her off the board.”
She shrugged. “What does that have to do with you?”
“I felt I should break the news to her in person.”
“And you wanted her to know you were there for her.”
He nodded.
“Well, isn’t that convenient.”
“Jade, you don’t understand. They tore into her like a pack of hyenas. It didn’t matter that she’d started the company and grew it into a huge success. They dumped her because profits slipped one lousy quarter for
God’s sake!” He paced the floor angrily. “It’s just not fair.”
He really cares for her, she thought sadly. Everything is about Ally.
She had to ask him. “She let you fuck her, didn’t she?”
At first, he didn’t answer. When finally he did, he might as well have cut her heart out with a stiletto. “You don’t get it, Jade. She’s nothing like you.”
Disgusted, he went up to his room and slammed the door behind him.
You’re right, Jade thought. She’s nothing like me. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would’ve kept my promise to her. Instead, when she was down and out, she let you sweet-talk her.
I know how to make her believe me, too.
Oliver’s cheery morning babbling had her running up the stairs in no time. She dressed him quickly and headed back down the stairs with him so Brady wouldn’t hear them take off.
It was time to pay Ally a visit.
Chapter 19
Friday, 10 May
“I came the moment I heard what happened.” Jade gave Ally a quick hug. “I can’t believe it! Those jerks! My goodness, I hope you fight them over it.”
Ally shrugged. “Thanks, Jade. It means so much to me that you’re here. As for Foot Fetish, I’m so sick right now, I can’t think straight. But yes, I’m pissed off.”
Jade nodded sympathetically. She looked around the kitchen. Noting the tea kettle on the stove, she murmured, “Let me make some tea for us.”
“That sounds nice.” Ally laid her head on the tabletop. It felt cooler than her feverish forehead. She heard Jade walk over to the stove, then to the sink. As the water ran, Jade continued, “Ally, from the bottom of my heart, I want to apologize for Brady’s role in your dismissal. I can’t believe he’d be so cruel, so…selfish!”
Ally raised her head to face Jade. “What do you mean?”
Jade turned off the water. She sighed heavily before turning to face her friend. “I overheard him this morning, talking to someone at Foot Fetish. Is it Elton?...No, I remember now, Ellis. Brady said something about hating to see his chunk of stock in Bracknell losing value, and that he’d thoroughly understand if Ellis felt the need to—well, push you out. He even said he thought he could make you accept it as the best thing that could ever happen to you.” She sighed. “I guess he’d rather have you focus on the pie shop. Or as he put it to Ellis, ‘She thinks she can do it all, but let’s face it. Being a mom is really where her head is at now.’”
So Brady sold me out, Ally thought. She dropped her head again onto the table. This time, though, she hid her face in her arms so that Jade couldn’t see her cry.
Jade walked over with two cups of tea. After placing one beside, Ally, she patted her friend’s bowed head and murmured, “Ally, as much as it hurts me to say so, I’m sure Brady also presumes that, with Foot Fetish out of your life, you’ll have more time for him, too.”
Ally lifted her head. Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, she declared, “Ha! Well, he’s wrong. I told him that door was closed, and I meant it! I’d hoped we could stay friends, but after this, I never want to see him again.”
Seeing the shocked look on Jade’s face, she added, “Please don’t think I’m mad at you, too! Of course I’m not.” She paused contritely. “Listen, Jade. I know how hard this was for you to hear. His infatuation with me…and yes, mine with him, should never have happened. I’ll regret it for as long as I live. And I’ll always treasure your friendship, and your honesty.”
Jade’s hand shook as she picked up her teacup. Her voice shook, too, as she whispered, “Hey, that’s what friends are for, right?”
Chapter 20
Mother’s Day, Sunday, 12 May
Dawn
Lorna loved waking up to Matthew’s kisses.
To feeling him, thickened and hard, beside her.
Lately they’d all but stopped having sex. Instead, as the dawn’s early light sifted through the slanted blinds over their bedroom windows, Matt lay with his back to her.
Or he wasn’t in the bed at all, but slept on the couch in his home office.
It was all the proof she needed that Matt was discouraged about Dante’s lack of progress.
Since Dante’s fall, the little progress their son had been making in his motor skills seemed to vanish. The tests performed the next day by his autism specialist, Dr. Remfeld, were outright discouraging. They validated Lorna’s worst fears, that her son would never enjoy a truly independent life. The only issue now was the amount of functionality he could achieve.
Matt’s response to the sad news was to hole up in his home office for hours on end.
In truth, his reaction to the news had dampened her passion for him, too. His helplessness was no aphrodisiac.
And yet, this morning Matt’s lips found her again.
Yesterday they’d had a breakthrough with their marriage counselor.
Since he was told of Dante’s condition, their sessions usually started with stormy silences, but invariably ended in shouting matches. Yesterday, Lorna felt it was her duty to point out all the ways in which he ignored both her and Dante, to remind him he was in denial. He countered by accusing her of always expecting too much from everyone, most certainly him.
“I guess you’ll be pushing Dante all the harder to prove he isn’t autistic after all!” Matt had growled. “Admit it, Lorna. You’re the one in denial.”
Upon hearing this, she burst into tears.
When her sob finally subsided, she realized he was cradling her in his arms.
He whispered over and over, “Don’t cry, Lorna, please don’t cry. We’ll both be strong for Dante. Together. Always together.”
For the first time since Dante’s fall, they’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms.
Now, hearing her sigh and seeing her smile, his mouth moved lower, nuzzling her throat, roaming below her shoulders before zigzagging toward the nearest breast, her left one. As his tongue slowly circled her nipple, a surge of desire swept over her. Fully aroused, she took his hand and led it inside of her. At the same time, she placed her hand around his dick. It was already stiff. Her touch brought a moan to his lips, and deeper thrusts from his forefinger and thumb.
Feeling her moistness, her readiness to accept him, he mounted her, murmuring something. His voice was so low that she could not make out his words, but his tone was one of love and longing. Her moans, coming in tandem with his, were even louder. But her whispers, though dampened with her tears of joy, were naughty. Filthy, really. She begged from the kind of pain that comes with unrequited lust; for the need to be forgiven.
Each thrust was that, and more.
Finally, he collapsed on her, spent.
No. He was broken. “My son will never know a woman in this way. He will never be a normal man, living a normal life,” he whispered. There was just enough light to see the dampness on his cheeks.
She had to forgive him because as she climaxed, she’d had exactly the same thought.
She was crying about it, too.
11:10 a.m.
“I don’t know why you feel the need to dress these two alike!” Jillian’s mother, Beverly, sniffed. “I can never tell them apart.”
Jillian frowned. It was a silly thing to do, but Jillian loved dressing Addison and Amelia exactly alike, especially for something as special as Mother’s Day.
“Of course they’re different,” she countered. “Amelia is taller, and her hair is a shade darker. And Addison’s dimple is on the right side.”
She reached for Addison’s hand, which now held a butter knife. Gently, she extracted it from the little girl’s chubby fingers. “You know, Mother, if you spent more time with them, you’d see these things too.”
“Ha! That’s just your way of trying to get me to babysit for free.” Beverly’s guffaw echoed through the Gamine’s, the cozy little French bistro on Union Street that Jillian had chosen to take Beverly for Mother’s Day.
They had strolled down to the restaurant from
Jillian’s house, stopping at the Life of Pie along the way. Jillian was proud of the fact that the place was bustling. The line was out the door with customers waiting to pick up their pies.
Appropriately enough, a favorite on the menu was the pie she’d created in honor of her mother. Called Very Berry Beverly, its filling boasted four juicy fruits: blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, and cranberry. For an added bit of tartness, it also had lemon zest.
Earlier in the day, she’d dropped one off at Gamine’s, so that it could be served to her mother after their meal, as a special surprise.
Jillian turned to Beverly. “Isn’t this great?”
Her mother shrugged. “I think it’s a lot of work for someone with two babies. You look even more exhausted than the last time I saw you. Now I know why.”
Jillian bit her tongue to keep from lashing out at her mother. Yes, I’m bone tired, she wanted to say. But unlike you, who never worked a day in her life and collects alimony from three ex-husbands, I’m making my own way. But, of course, she said none of that.
Instead, she forced a smile on her face and said, “Yes, my life is full these days. And I’m happy, too. Which is what you want for me, isn’t it, Mother?”
Her mother’s nod was more like a reluctant shrug.
Jillian ignored it. “Shall we continue on to lunch?”
As always, Gamine’s mussels had been divine. The girls had shared a plate of scrambled eggs.
Beverly deemed the restaurant’s signature omelet “just so so,” but Jillian couldn’t help but notice that her mother had cleaned her plate, which had included merguez sausage, gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, and harissa.
Jillian smiled. “Now, how about a little dessert with our coffee? There’s something special here I’d like you to try.”
Her mother nodded warily. “Nothing too rich. I’m watching my weight. You know better than anyone that men like their women slim and fun.”