A shudder swept through her. Jack was a formidable link to her past. Would he use it to get what he wanted? “The Sandler at one,” she said.
She set the phone back in its cradle and took a deep breath. Time to start her new job in earnest.
“Was that a business lunch you just made?”
“Yes.” Her thoughts were a million miles away.
“Well, I guess we’re doing lunch together after all.”
“You lucked out.” As much as she wanted to keep her distance from this man, he would be with her today, to keep Jack at bay.
In the lobby of the Sandler Restaurant, a popular out-of-the-way spot, they found Jack Davis sitting on a bench, waiting. He looked dapper in a Preston suit. His handlebar mustache had grayed over the past few years, but he had managed to stay as thin as a rail. When he saw them, he jumped up with the wariness and agility of a frightened ferret.
“Della,” he said and gave her an airy kiss on the cheek. “Not necessary to ask how you are. I know you must be in hog heaven. You didn’t tell me we’d have a guest. So like you, darling.” He turned to Steven, “And you are?”
“This is Steven Gates,” she said.
“So, you’re the illusive Steven Gates we all hear about but never see?” Jack said with a slight tinge of wonder in his voice.
“Nice to meet you, Jack. I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”
Jack palmed the head waiter with a folded bill, who in turn led them to a choice banquette on the upper level, looking down on the creme of business and movie moguls, wheeling and dealing over lunch.
“Iced tea,” she instructed the waiter.
“Same,” said Jack and Steven.
“No martini, Jack?”
“I’m off them. So, Della, you’ve floated to the top. There’s an old saying about shit–”
Steven bristled. “I’m not into old sayings. I think what you wanted to say was, congratulations, Della, for working your way to the top.”
Unflappable, Jack sat back and smiled sheepishly. “Of course,” he muttered. “Just kidding.”
She and Jack looked at each other. His barbs didn’t bother her; she even expected them, but when Steven came to her defense, she realized how crude Jack sounded. “Why the lunch, Jack? Couldn’t we have waited and scheduled a meeting sometime next week, after I settled in?”
“Needless to say, when I got the memo this morning and discovered I’d be–” he nearly gagged on the word, “reporting to you, I thought we needed to talk right away. Timing is of the essence on this pressing issue.”
“What’s so pressing? Your numbers look good. Really good, as a matter of fact.”
“That’s the point. I–” He stopped talking while the waiter took their orders. After the waiter picked up the menus and left, Jack addressed Steven. “I want to buy Globe back from Gates.”
“What?” Della’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “We’ve owned Globe for two years. The reason your figures are so good is because of the infusion from Gates. We don’t sell our companies once we’ve saved them.”
Jack continued to ignore her. “I’ll see to it Gates receives a great profit.”
She watched Steven from the corner of her eye. His head moved back and forth from her to Jack like someone watching a ping-pong match.
“May I be blunt?” Jack leaned in. “Or would you like this to be a la-de-da lunch?”
Della glanced at Steven, who shrugged his indifference. “You may discuss whatever’s on your mind, Jack. But direct your questions to me. I’m over your company, not Steven. Are we clear?”
“Very. I know you’ve been lying in wait for your big chance to get even with me.”
“That’s absurd.” She shook her head. “I have nothing but the highest regard for you. I’m thrilled Wes thinks we can work together.”
“I’ll bet! I can see you and Wes sitting in his office, plotting to get even with me. You’re both the types to sit back and, if necessary, take years until the timing is right, then pounce. He’s as much a thrill seeker as you are. He’s probably sitting in his office right this minute, rubbing those Bluto-sized hands of his together, chuckling under his breath. On second thought, he’s probably in hysterics.”
The waiter brought their salads and drinks.
“I’m going to ignore that entire diatribe, Jack. It’s not worth an ounce of my energy. I have more important things to worry about than getting even with you. I thought we cleared all this up in New York. Seems to me, you’re the one who’s been lying in wait.”
Steven jumped in. “I think you’ve got my dad all wrong. Let’s just say, he likes an occasional game of one-upmanship. Maybe you do, too?”
Flustered, Jack flagged the waiter. “Bring me a double martini.”
Della frowned.
“Now, we’re having a business lunch.” Jack slapped his palms together.
“Nothing for me.” Steven covered his iced tea with his hand.
Della shook her head. The fool hadn’t given up his liquid lunches. Now, she knew where she stood. “Four years ago, at my request, Wes bailed you out, hoping you had what it took to regroup, keep your business. Two years later, you failed to repay the money. Wes’s only choice was to take your company. I was pleased he left you in charge, though others thought him foolish. You’ve proved him right, but then, he’s right most of the time,” she added with pride.
Steven grinned at her.
“The shareholders,” she added with a smile, “are very pleased with the bottom line. Now, you want us to let you go? I don’t think so.”
“We’ll see, my dear.”
“If you leave, we hold a non-compete contract prohibiting you from working in the travel business for five years.”
“You wouldn’t hold me to that rag.”
“Don’t push me.” Her irritation grew by the minute.
Steven sat back as if enjoying the show, and folded his arms across his chest. It impressed her that he knew when to speak and when to stay silent. He was a good listener. It must be the lawyer in him.
“I’ll make an offer you can’t refuse,” Jack said.
Della had no intention of selling Globe back to Jack Davis, but to end this farce, she offered, “Put anything you have in writing and submit it. I’ll look it over. If it has merit, I’ll take it to the board.”
Jack’s drink arrived.
Steven stood, excused himself to the restroom.
No one had touched lunch.
Della shook her head. “I thought you’d have the good sense to keep this between us.”
“You said I could be blunt.”
“I asked for an offer just to get you off my back. There’ll be no sale of the Globe, to anyone.”
“Bullshit. I’ve got the son as a witness. You’d better consider it.” He leaned back. “You see, my dear girl, I happen to know a lot about little Della that she doesn’t want anyone else to know.”
She went rigid. After all these years and all her help, how could he still be a skunk? “You mean this, or are we back to bluffing again?”
“Let’s just say it’s a little insurance that you should treat with respect.”
“You have no insurance, Jack.” He had pinned her to the wall. But this time, she was in the driver’s seat. “If you feel you have something you want the world to know about me, by all means, share it.” The last time she bluffed Jack Davis, he took her up on it. She wondered how Wes and all of her new associates might feel about her if they knew she was the daughter of a scumbag who wanted her aborted, and a prostitute on welfare for a mother? And that she had sold her body and landed her fanny in jail? She shivered. The image she’d worked so hard to create, destroyed.
Steven returned. “You two okay?”
Jack downed his drink and rose, threw a hundred-dollar bill on the table. “That’s for lunch. I’ll have my proposal in your office later today. Consider it.” He reached out and shook Steven’s hand. “Nice meeting you. Sorry if this was a tedious lunch.”
“Actually,” he rose, shook Jack’s hand, “I found it quite interesting. I certainly see why my father promoted Della to vice president.”
Jack blanched. “I’m sure I’ll see more of you.” With a smirk on his face, he turned and strolled away, his head high, leaving her shaking with anger.
“There goes a bona fide asshole,” Steven said, sitting closer to Della.
“Very perceptive. Jack and I go back a long way.”
“I see that.”
“We have a lot of baggage.”
“You got rid of him by letting him submit an offer? You’re in control, aren’t you? No wonder Dad thinks so much of you. I like your style. No-nonsense Della.”
His support during the meeting with Jack gave her a sense of pride, but his presence still exasperated and unnerved her. She asked with her usual bluntness, “Steven, what exactly are you doing here? Did your mama send for you?”
“Oh, and she hits below the belt, too.” He started eating his salad. “Just because you two didn’t eat your lunch is no reason I should starve.”
Now he ignored her question and stuffed his face. He infuriated her, sitting there amidst the din of the crowded restaurant, chewing his cud, acting like a smartass. “I don’t know your game, Steven, but whatever it is, I intend to find out.”
“There’s no game.” He laid his fork down, wiped his mouth and leaned his elbows on the table. “You’re right. Mother did send for me. You know the drill. I had to come. I knew the moment I met you at the party why she feels the way she does. My mother is a proud woman. Being a Gates is important to her, as is her place in the community. She’s been at my father’s side for twenty-seven years, thinking she was the great woman behind the successful man. Of course, she hasn’t taken into consideration he was a millionaire before she came along, but that’s neither here nor there.
“She’s jealous. She feels left out, and she’s sick to death I’ve gone my own way and haven’t stepped in to carry on when Dad goes.” He took a sip of tea. “And he’ll go one day soon. He’s not well. But I don’t have to tell you that. You know him as well as anyone.”
She started to speak. He stopped her. “If I were in my mother’s shoes, I’d be jealous of you, too. But I see where my dad’s coming from, and I approve. My job now is to convince Mother we’ll all survive in spite of my career choice. I’m not sure she’ll like it, but that’s something she’ll have to deal with.”
“You think you can size me up that fast?”
“I’m a quick study. More importantly, my dad sized you up. All I want is to know you better personally.”
“Forget it. You can shadow my job, that’s all. My personal life is off-limits.”
Steven gazed at her with such intensity, filled with such desire, it sent unwelcome shockwaves through her. Four and a half years had passed since anyone looked at her like that. She blocked her sudden attraction to him. She’d sworn not to allow anyone to penetrate her armor again. At least, not anyone who gave her stomach butterflies and jelly legs from the moment she met him. She had convinced herself true love didn’t start out like that. Only lust or animal attraction did. She’d been able to fight it off the night of the party, over the weekend, and she must fight it off now.
Entering a relationship through the front door was something entirely different from this. Love should start out with friendship, a set of common goals; then, if all arrows pointed to the heart, lust could enter the picture. No more starting out with sex to find the right man. She had a new set of standards in place.
She would know true love when it happened.
It wouldn’t be with the likes of Steven Gates.
He was just another Adonis.
He took her fingers in his. “I know some of the pain you’ve suffered. I can appreciate your concerns with the job, my being the boss’s son.”
She jumped when he took her sweaty palm in his and massaged it dry.
They sat in silence. She wanted to pull her hand from his, but she couldn’t.
“All I want is to be your friend,” he said.
“You reading my mind now?
12
Lillian Garland sat in her thirty-year-old recliner, wrapped in a blanket, a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth and a glass of wine in her trembling hand. With AA, she had downgraded her drinking from brandy to wine–an improvement. Hell, maybe even a life extension. She laughed at the irony of it. Younger folks who took better care of themselves were dying left and right. She had abused her body from the time she was fourteen years old, and was alive and kicking. There was no justice.
She coughed, one of those nasty, raspy coughs that took her breath away. It shook her body so hard, she slopped some of her wine onto the armrest doily. Her emphysema had worsened since moving to San Francisco. Last winter had almost done her in. If only she were back L.A. in her old house, under that warm Southern California sun! But that was just a dream. The only way to keep Della away was to pull up stakes and disappear. Della was so needy. Lillian chose San Francisco because that’s where she had lived as a young girl. She knew the city, a few cronies, and she blended in. Della would never think to look for her here. She was sorry now she’d gone this far. She missed her baby. She was sorry, too, that she’d been so hard on her about men. If Della never trusted another man, she’d never have kids.
From the rickety cart next to her chair, where she kept anything she might need during the day, she grabbed an inhaler, one of those over-the-counter types for asthmatics. With a quick spray in the back of her throat and holding her breath for the count of five, her leathery lungs inflated and deflated once again. Ah, the good life. She breathed.
The CNN noon financial report blared in the background. The anchor caught her attention when he announced Gates International was preparing for a stock split. Staring at the screen, she set her drink down and laid her half-smoked cigarette in the brimming glass ashtray. Startled, she heard Della’s name and saw her picture on the TV screen. Lillian leapt up, her wheezy breath quickened with excitement. Her baby had just been promoted to vice president!
She slapped her thigh. “Hot damn!” Wes was taking care of their girl. Her first inclination was to pick up the phone and punch out Della’s work number, which she had looked up moons ago and memorized in case she ever changed her mind and needed her baby. She wanted to congratulate her for making it to the big time.
Lillian sat with her eyes closed, savoring her baby’s glory. She never imagined Della climbing so high, but she shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, the girl did have brains. She was an “A” student in grade school and high school, without even trying.
With an overwhelming spurt of joy, she punched the number. Della might be angry she called, fuss about her disappearing right when they were firing up their relationship again. Frankly, she didn’t give a damn. She needed to talk to her daughter.
It took a few transfers through the corporate maze to reach Della Garland’s personal secretary, a pleasant enough girl who asked for Lillian’s name. “Please tell her a friend from her past is on the line to congratulate her.”
“I don’t think she’ll take the call without your name, ma’am.”
Lillian, thinking fast, said, “Tell her an old friend from Vermont Avenue is calling. That’ll do it, I guarantee. Now, girl, you just do what I say.”
A moment later, Della came on. “Where are you?”
“Never mind that now, darlin’. Hope you don’t mind me calling, but I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. You were on the CNN news.”
“I’m so glad you called, Ma, but I’m angrier than hell at you. Why did you disappear on me? You have no idea how I’ve worried. I thought we were squared, and we were going to try to put our lives together.”
“Back then, I did the right thing. You’d never be where you are if I hadn’t. Trust me.”
“I think of you all the time. You have no idea how hard I’ve tried to find you.”
“I’m livi
ng in San Francisco.” A long pause followed. “I’m not well. I’d like to see you, if you can manage it.”
“I want to see you, too, Ma. Give me your phone number and address.”
“First, promise you’ll keep me a secret.”
“I promise, Ma.”
“Knock off that ‘Ma’ shit, too. You don’t wanna blow your cover.”
“For crying out loud, you sound like a gun moll, talking like that! My cover, indeed.”
They laughed.
Saturday morning, Della took the first flight to San Francisco. Jack had submitted his proposal, and she sent it on to Wes for his perusal. Wes had agreed to meet with her Monday to discuss a possible presentation to the board. Della still feared Jacks bluff to expose her past. She hoped Wes supported selling Globe back to him, to get him off her back forever. She hadn’t realized how tough it was going to be, nor the sacrifices she’d have to make to live this lie. Many times, she wondered how differently people might treat her if they knew her roots. She wasn’t in show business. She’d be treated like dirt. Social doors now opening to her would be closed. Friends would bail on her. She knew it as well as she knew her name. As much as she hated the phonies in this town, she wanted her place in Wes and Carrie’s world. They were respected, and up until now, so was she.
Della understood that by making this trip, she was putting her future in jeopardy. Carrie wasn’t above hiring a detective and having her followed; nor was Steven, for that matter. Hadn’t he come all the way from New York to check her out for Carrie? The Gateses were great with detectives, making her life stickier by the minute. She shook off her negative thoughts and dozed until her plane landed.
When she arrived at SFO, she rented a car and drove for two hours through the City-by-the-Bay maze. She found her mother’s address outside of town on a narrow street, where all the houses were attached to each other, like condominiums instead of the single-family homes they were.
She was as apprehensive as she was excited to see Lillian.
Della Page 14