What the hell could he be doing here? Did Hale regret last night and send Charles here to end things between them?
“Ms. Shore, so nice to see you again” Charles was dressed to the nines, as he always was. Black suit, dark sunglasses, a handsome leather briefcase, and a toothpick hanging out of the side of his mouth. He slid his sunglasses off his eyes and onto his head. “Do you have time to meet?” He looked at Ally, then at Julie, then back at Ally. “Alone?”
Ally looked at her sister and shrugged her shoulders. Her heart was racing. It seemed that anything to do with Hale’s world somehow got her adrenaline going in one way or another. “Yes, of course. I just need a minute,” she said.
Ally and Charles headed towards Monagan’s Trail, their original meeting grounds.
Charles flipped his sunglasses back over his eyes. “I understand you made it out to Bakersfield yesterday.” Hale’s 6’5” bodyguard or assistant or whoever he was looked down at Ally. She turned away as naturally as she could, hiding her flushing red face.
Could he know about the two of us in the alley? She wondered how much Hale told this man about his personal life.
“I’m gonna play this with you straight, Ally.” His voice was deep, and his eyes were polite but all business. She was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on.
“This election is huge,” he continued. “It’s bigger than you might understand. If things go well, his candidacy as the governor of California is just the beginning. We’re closing in on Washington, bit by bit.”
“You mean that Hale plans on running for the presidency?”
“He’s young, powerful, and he knows the right people. And Hale Westbrook’s never made any plans he couldn’t execute.”
She shook her head. “Fine. But that doesn’t explain why you’re here with me,” she said.
“I’m gonna make this simple for you.” He adjusted the toothpick in his mouth and looked down the trail. “My job is to make sure that things go smoothly. Hale likes you. And he trusts you. His instincts are good in this department.”
She stopped in her tracks. Charles followed suit and looked her straight in the eyes. “And under normal circumstances his intuition is more than enough,” he said. “But these aren’t normal circumstances.”
Ally had been so lost in the romance of this whole situation with Hale that she had completely lost sight of the political magnitude of what all this meant. Charles was right, she didn’t understand. And she was starting to feel like the leading female role in some Jason Bourne movie.
“Please, let’s sit for a minute,” Charles said, gesturing towards a nearby bench. The aide opened up his briefcase and handed Ally a black folder. He nodded towards the folder. “Why don’t you take a look inside.”
She opened the folder and read the following two words situated at the center of the document’s cover page: Confidentiality Agreement.
She crinkled her eyes, trying to make sense of it all.
“Please, you must understand, this isn’t personal Ally,” said Charles.
“You want me to sign something to show I’ll keep my mouth shut?” Ally was annoyed, but not nearly as annoyed as she thought she’d be at something like that..
“Things happen in this world, Ally. And we…” he paused, as if catching himself. “…and Mr. Westbrook…He just can’t take any chances. Too much at stake.”
A sudden revelation hit her like a hundred anvils. “Do you… have to do this often?” she asked. She wondered if she was among a pool of countless women that Hale Westbrook conquered and then rendered essentially invisible once he was through digesting each girl.
“I really can’t speak to that question Ally.” His eyes told a story--it was as if he actually felt bad for her in this moment.
Or maybe she was just going a bit insane with paranoia.
“Let me guess, you had to sign one of these things too,” she said.
He fiddled with the toothpick in his mouth, but didn’t bother responding.
“I don’t know if you’ve been reading the papers,” he said.
“Not really. No,” she said.
“The public, they’re already talking about you two.”
She adjusted her posture. “What are they saying?” She felt a rush of excitement fill her veins.
“Good things. All good things. Yesterday’s polls showed that Hale just took the lead in the campaign,” he looked down at the contract and then up at her. “I’m pretty sure you can figure out why,” he said.
She stared off for a few moments, trying to understand where Charles was going with all of this.
“You’re good for Mr. Westbrook. And I think he’s good for you,” he said. Ally’s cheeks shifted from a pale hue to a deep red.
She looked at Charles one last time to study the level of sincerity in his eyes. And fortunately or unfortunately she was still coming down from her Bakersfield cloud. Charles couldn’t have picked a better time.
Ally reached for Charles’ pen. A wide smile crept through the aide’s face. After reading through the legal contract, she etched out her best Jane Hancock. She didn’t know a lot about Hale Westbrook even still, but she knew from the beginning that anything between the two of them would be anything but normal. And now she knew that everything between the two of them would remain… between the two of them.
“Congratulations, Ally. You’re life will never be the same. You made the right choice,” he said, tucking the contract securely into his briefcase.
Her head was spinning. She was pretty sure that she just made the right decision to sign.
What’s the big deal? It’s just a contract saying I won’t write some tell-all book about Hale. And I wasn’t planning to do something like that anyhow.
But she now found herself wrapped up in the middle of a very big deal. So big that words like billionaire, confidentiality, and White House were swirling around her head. As much as she tried to relax and tell herself that she could handle all of this, the nausea in her belly was telling her otherwise.
Maybe that was because she had failed to let Hale, or Charles, know something about her- something that could send this entire train off the rails and into a dusty ditch.
Holy shit. What did I just get myself into?
* * *
Ally returned to her sister’s apartment door, took in a deep breath of air, and proceeded to go in.
“What the hell was all of that about?” Julie said, curled up in a papasan chair that faced the door, as if she’d been waiting there since the moment Ally left with Charles.
Ally stood frozen. At this point her sister, who was by far her best friend and most trusted confidant, knew pretty much nothing about her virtually secret life with Hale Westbrook. Ally knew she had some answering to do.
She plopped herself down on the soft leather hand-me-down couch that faced Julie’s chair.
“I think I might be dating Hale Westbrook,” she said. Julie’s jaw dropped and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.
“Are you fucking serious Ally?”
She shook her head up and down. She started to feel dizzy from the weight of everything that had just been dropped on her. And now she had to face her older sister.
“I know, it’s crazy Jules. My head is spinning,” she said, tugging off her shoes and burying her head underneath an accent pillow.
“Did you hook up with him?” Julie asked.
Julie always had a way of caring for Ally in that classic older sister sort of way. She wanted Ally to be safe and happy, but within certain limits. If Ally ever got too far ahead in life, her Julie always seemed to reel her back in just the right amount.
“Yeah,” Ally grabbed an extra pillow to hide her face behind.
“Ally look at me,” she said. “This is crazy! You’re in love with Hale Westbrook?”
“No. No. I’m not in love with him. I barely even know him and beside he’s…”
“Bullshit Ally. It’s so obvious and you know it,” said J
ulie.
Ally sprang through her pillow fortress. “You can’t tell a soul,” Ally said.
“Obviously,” Julie’s eyes were covered in disbelief. “This is going to be all over the news you know?”
“Yeah, I know,” Ally had prepared herself for a new level of public scrutiny.
“Are you happy?” Julie asked.
“I’m scared,” Ally replied.
“I don’t blame you. I can’t believe how crazy this all is,” her sister said. “He’s so fucking hot. And rich. And powerful”
“I know. I know Julie. You’re not helping matters right now,” Ally said.
“What’s he like, you know…” Julie licked her lips, wanting her sister to tell all.
“Enough Julie. I’m not going there with you right now.” She had given her sister all that she could handle giving at this point. “Aren’t you taking Gracie to the aquarium this morning?”
“Whatever Ally. I’m going to need to know more at some point. Don’t even think about getting all shy with me about this stuff.”
Little Gracie came bounding out of her bedroom, her soft hair perfectly messy form her long night’s sleep.
“Auntie!” Gracie jumped onto the couch and crawled onto Ally. Nothing felt better to Ally than the feel of little Gracie’s body snuggling into her own. Nothing.
“Excuse me little girl! Where’s momma’s good morning kiss?” Julie reached out her arms for Gracie.
“Hi Mom,” she said.
“You missed your Auntie last night, didn’t you sweetheart?” Julie asked.
Gracie tickled Ally’s side. “Auntie! Auntie! I’m going to the aquarium today with Mommy and Steve. Can you come Auntie?”
Ally looked at her older sister. “No cutie, you’re having special time with Mommy today,” she said.
“Auntie please, please come!”
“I can’t you little peanut. But maybe we can color together later today, if that works for Mommy?” She looked over at her sister. She loved her sister, a lot. But when it came to her love for Gracie, there was nothing that Ally hated more than having to ask for permission from Julie to spend time with her.
The confidentiality agreement. Reality came flooding back into her mind as Gracie tugged at Ally’s hair. Ally gazed long and hard, mourning the striking familiarity of the young girl’s facial features.
Then it hit her. Hard. And her stomach felt like she had just swallowed a handful of nails.
What if he finds out?
Gracie continued to play with Ally’s face, occasionally burying herself in her warm body.
“I’m gonna hop in the shower,” Julie said, heading towards the bathroom. “Gracie, you gotta get some real clothes on girl. You can’t wear your footy pj’s to the aquarium,” she said, disappearing into the bathroom.
Suddenly Ally had her all to herself. “I love you Gracie,” Ally said. Her eyes welled up.
“I love you too, Auntie,” Gracie said. “You’re the best auntie ever,” she said, nuzzling her warm cheek against Ally’s face.
Ally sighed deeply, fighting back a stream of tears as she wrapped her arms around little Gracie’s body.
My baby. My baby girl.
Ally held her daughter as close as she possibly could, wishing she could somehow start all over again. But she couldn’t start all over again, with Gracie, or with anyone else. Including Hale.
Suddenly, it all hit Ally like a ton of bricks. There was no way that Hale Westbrook would want anything to do with her after he found out the truth.
THE END
Look for Book 2 in this series- Coming Soon!
On His Terms Page 5