by Suzie Nelson
“What relationship?” Chelsea threw up her hands and then stood up to her feet. “You guys have had two fake dates, that’s not going to wash with the reporters. No one is that blind! And what the hell are you going to say on the show that would be believable enough?”
Danica reached out her hand and took Jordan’s in hers which made everybody silent. “We can be believable. Until this tape, everyone loved the idea of us being together. We can make them love us again.” Danica squeezed Jordan’s hand hoping that he would back her up. Although he admired her strength, he knew it wouldn’t be enough to convince either Chelsea or the media.
Jordan released Danica’s hand and then made his way over to Chelsea. “Ok, Chelsea, so if you think they aren’t going to buy our relationship, what is your plan to get us out of this?” Jordan didn’t speak harshly nor did he try to be intimidating as he genuinely wanted to know if she had a better plan than to do the TV interview.
Barrack sat back pleased that Jordan had turned the tables on Chelsea and everyone waited to hear her bright idea. She looked at them all like a desperate cat backed up into a corner and then, as a last resort, she turned around to the flat screen TV that was mounted on the wall behind her. She pressed the ‘on’ button and it conveniently turned on to the entertainment news channel.
“I want you, Danica, to see what they are saying about you. Everything has been mixed up so that you look like the deal starter.” Frantically she pointed at the TV as though they couldn’t see it right in front of their faces. Barrack sighed, disappointed and amused by Chelsea’s erratic behavior. “They can’t claim to be in this with you when it’s your name that is being destroyed…your reputation.”
For a few awkward seconds, they all just looked from the TV to Chelsea and back to the TV wondering what point she was trying to make. “Chelsea, I already know what they are saying. None of this is helping.” Danica wanted to try and conceal the inevitable embarrassment that Chelsea would shortly feel but just before she was able to turn the TV off, the news presenter flashed onto the screen with breaking news.
“If you’ve just tuned in, you’re watching Celebrity News with me, Hannah Kelsey, and we are going live to the offices of Ramsey Enterprises for a press statement.”
Everyone looked at each other in confusion as the TV switched to a shot of the front entrance at Ramsey building only a few blocks away. Barrack and Jordan immediately recognized Edward’s assistant, a pushy obnoxious little man that they tried to avoid at all cost.
“Good Morning. In regards to the recent audio tape that has been released containing the voice of Jordan Ramsey, Ramsey Enterprises would like to make it clear that the meeting was arranged by Danica Cliffe’s management. Jordan Ramsey accepted the invitation as a courtesy but was unaware of Miss Cliffe’s intention to negotiate a designing contract with his fashion label. It is our understanding that Mr. Ramsey entered into a relationship with Miss Cliffe in good faith and not for any public advantage. It is not within our power to confirm or deny if Miss Cliffe did this same. Thank you. That is all we are able to confirm at this time.”
The TV switched back to the presenter as all four remained standing in stunned silence for a few seconds.
“Well, there you have it. Jordan Ramsey has confirmed that he did not initiate negotiations with Danica Cliffe. Did he believe that the relationship was genuine or was he fully aware of her intentions to use him for his fashion empire? We will have to wait to hear from Danica herself but she is remaining silent…”
“That little shit!” Barrack couldn’t believe they had used that weasel of an assistant as a spokesperson and knew immediately that this had been the work of Edward.
“You see, Danica? This was all just a huge ploy so that they could get ahead of the story first!” Chelsea swung her arms around as though she was drunk but the rage could not be contained. “You pathetic bastard! You summoned us here under the pretense that you wanted to work together when all the while you planned to stick a knife straight into Danica’s back!” Chelsea stomped over to Jordan and aggressively started to prod him with her finger. “Couldn’t even do it yourself, eh?!? Sent out your little errand boy to read your lies – you disgust me.”
Jordan stepped back just as shocked by the statement as everyone else. “Hang on there, Chelsea. We had no idea that was going to happen, this has nothing to do with us.” Barrack stepped between the pair and raised his hands so that Chelsea would back away.
“It wasn’t me. This must have been my brother or someone else. I swear it wasn’t me.” Jordan looked over at Danica as she just stood in complete bewilderment with her head down staring at the ground. “Danica, I didn’t plan this. I wouldn’t do that to you.” Jordan tried to move over and make his way to Danica but Chelsea wasn’t going to let him anywhere near her.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Chelsea quickly turned and grabbed a hold of Danica’s arm. “Get the fuck away from her. We aren’t falling for any more of your lies and schemes.” Chelsea dragged Danica over to the elevators and pressed the button. Jordan wanted her to look up so that he could try and convince her that he hadn’t planned it but she kept her head down and just let Chelsea lead her away.
Danica didn’t know what to think. She wanted to trust Jordan and believe that everything between them was real but what if it all had been a cruel plan so that she would take the fall for everything? She knew that if she looked at him she would be swayed by his good looks and familiar smile, so she kept her eyes diverted. It seemed too cruel for everything to be a lie but Chelsea had said it all along. Chelsea had doubted them every step of the way and it had been Danica that had ignored her own manager’s advice.
The elevator pinged and the doors opened to reveal Edward Ramsey.
“Oh, just what we need. Another pathetic excuse for a man here to congratulate himself on his evil scheme.” Chelsea backed away so that Edward could walk by as Danica stared blankly at him. “Here’s your proof, Danica, if you needed anything more. The conspiring brother is here to pat them on the back for dumping you in it.”
Danica didn’t want to see or hear anything more. She walked into the elevator desperate for the doors to close. Chelsea walked in but had one last thing to shout at the three men standing in the lobby. “This isn’t over. Get ready for a legal storm! You Ramsey brothers are going to pay for this!”
The doors closed and the two women disappeared as Edward looked over at Jordan and Barrack, baffled by Chelsea’s departure. “I see I came at a bad time?”
“What the fuck is going on, Edward?” Jordan stormed over to his brother enraged that his reckless actions could have cost him his relationship with Danica. “Your repulsive assistant was just on the TV telling everyone that Danica set up the deal. What the hell are you playing at?”
“Hey, I wouldn’t call Tim repulsive. Ambitious and a bit annoying, maybe but repulsive is a bit much.” Edward walked straight past Jordan and headed for the mini-bar. He was completely un-phased by the scene he had just created and started to pour himself a whiskey. “I did what needed to be done. You weren’t doing anything, so I had to step up and get something out to the media.”
“It wasn’t your place to do that!” Jordan shouted at Edward as he was completely astounded that his brother would interfere in his business affairs.
“It’s been two days, Jordan!” Edward sipped from his glass and then put it down on the marble countertop. “Neither you nor Danica came out with a statement, so while you’ve been hidden away up here, our companies have been taking a serious hit on the stock market. It’s not just you that has been affected by all this. My office is being bombarded with media calls and everyone I know is asking me if I knew that you were banging that talentless stick insect.”
Jordan couldn’t believe what his brother was saying about Danica even though he had been fully away of the plan the whole time. He clenched his fist and tried to hold himself back although he wanted to go over and smack his brother straight in the face.
“Jordan, just take a second to calm down.” Barrack put his hand on Jordan’s shoulder and then moved between the brothers. “Edward, we were in the middle of negotiating a plan with Danica and her manager when we saw the press release. Jordan and Danica are meant to be appearing on the Morning Daily tomorrow where they were going to explain everything – releasing that statement without any warning has obviously disrupted things.” Barrack was trying his best to make Edward realize the error of his ways but Edward was not the type of person to take advice from his brother’s friends.
“Well, there is no need to go on the show now. We have denied our involvement and the media is believing us. They can only hear Danica on the tape so as far as I am concerned, we are free and clear. You should be thankful, Jordan, not angry.” Edward took the last swig of his whiskey and then plonked the empty glass down on the counter.
“I’m angry because, in typical Edward fashion, you bulldozed over the problem when I already had a solution. Your thoughtless actions have cost me more than just my reputation and legal action, Danica is never going to speak to me again.” Jordan was shaking as the rage pumped through him.
“Danica? So what?” Edward laughed flippantly as he realized why his younger brother was so upset. “Oh, I see now. You really do care about that model. Don’t you?” Edward looked pleased with himself as though he had just uncovered a huge trade secret.
Barrack flashed a look of confusion at Jordan as he too started to realize that Jordan had fallen for the statuesque blonde. Jordan didn’t say anything and just stood still holding his fists wishing his brother would just leave.
Edward walked over to Jordan as though he was going to pass by and then at the last second whispered into his ear. “I bet she’s a sweet fuck.”
That was it. Jordan turned quickly without Edward having time to defend himself and threw a hard and fast punch straight into the side of Edward’s nose. Edward went down clutching his bleeding nose and groaning in agony as Jordan stepped over him and headed for the elevator.
Chapter 9
Danica had spent most of the afternoon in Chelsea’s office listening to her manager vent about how despicable the Ramsey brothers were and what she would like to do to them but Danica was lost in her own thoughts. She had believed every word Jordan had said to her about loving her and wanting to get through this together but was it all a game? Had his PR man set this all up so that she would take the fall for their failed pretend relationship?
“I could just ring his neck!” Chelsea paced behind her desk as she puffed away on an electric cigarette. “Acting like he had nothing to do with it when his brother had just declared to the world that you set everything up. The pathetic little weasel!”
“We don’t know if Jordan was involved, it could have just been his brother? Barrack and Jordan looked just as surprised as we did when the statement was read out.” Danica still wanted to hope for the best. The idea of Jordan using her in this cruel way was too much for her to bear. Something inside her was telling her that this was not right.
“Oh, they were surprised.” A puff of vapor left Chelsea’s mouth as she rested one hand on the desk. “Surprised that I turned on the TV when I did. They were hoping we’d be up there all morning working on a deal, completely oblivious to the knowledge that a statement had already been released.”
Danica looked down at her hands and wished that it wasn’t true.
“I told you that we needed to get ahead of the story or they would, didn’t I?” Chelsea had turned her anger towards Danica now but she was really more annoyed at herself for not acting when she knew she should have.
“I know but I just didn’t think them capable of this.” Danica could hear her phone vibrating in her handbag but it had been ringing all morning so she just ignored it. “I really thought they wanted to come up with a plan together. What about the show tomorrow? I guess that’s not happening?”
“Oh, it is happening.”
Danica looked up at Chelsea in surprise as she had expected that the interview would be canceled.
“You’re going to go on there and tell them every dirty little detail.”
“No, I couldn’t. How could that possibly help?” Danica couldn’t bear the thought of her going on national television alone to reveal all the sordid details about the Ramsey deal. Her hands started to get sweaty and she could feel herself getting anxious at the possibility.
“It will be the last thing they would expect.” The cogs in Chelsea’s brain were starting to turn again and she was concocting a plan that would turn the media hatred back onto Jordan. “You’re going to go on there, hold your hands up and say you were a part of the deal because you wanted to use your designing skills but then you will tell them everything. That it was Jordan’s idea to stage the relationship because they needed something to distract the media from the child labor scandal at his factories.” Chelsea walked around her desk and leaned herself up against the edge while she focused on Danica.
“Everyone loves to see a sinner repent and that’s what you’ll do. You will tell them how they contacted us and set up the meeting in the diner. Obviously, you can add in some emotions, tell them that you didn’t really want to do it but you saw it as an opportunity to break into the designing field and then turn the story back on Jordan. They set it up, they needed the media to talk about something else and they released a false statement. Then you can tell them that you have a contract proving everything and by the end of the show I will have it released online.” Chelsea could see the whole thing unfolding in her mind and she was starting to calm down as she could see a way out of it but Danica wasn’t as convinced.
“Surely that would ruin us both?” This time Danica began to pace the room thinking about the consequences of coming clean. “No one would want to work with me if they knew I’d do anything just to get a designing deal.” As she spoke about her career, Danica was also thinking about Jordan. If she destroyed his reputation would he ever forgive her? But why would that actually matter? She had to remind herself once again that it was all a hoax. Nothing had been real, not even their amazing nights of passion together. She was just too naïve to fall into the trap.
“But that’s the beauty of it – by the end of the week, I would bet that you will have a guest designing contract with some other label. By coming clean you are giving everyone what they want…the truth. The media will hate the Ramsey for trying to manipulate them and everyone will realize that you just did what anyone would do to get ahead. It’s perfect!” Chelsea was clearly pleased with herself and Danica felt as though there was no other option than to go along with her manager’s plan.
“I don’t particularly want to do it but I guess we have to do something. I think I’m just still in shock that they played us like that.” Danica put her hands into her jean pockets and gazed at the plasma screen that was still showing images of her and Jordan as news presenters talked.
Chelsea pressed the button on her phone as the plan was now in motion. “Francesca, get me someone from legal over here straight away and confirm with the Morning Daily show that Danica will still be attending tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, Chelsea.” With the assistant’s confirmation, everything was going ahead while Danica still stood there wondering if there was no other way out of this mess.
***
Hours passed in a blur of legal meetings and preparation questions until Danica could take no more. She stepped out of Chelsea’s office into the evening breeze and wrapped herself up in her raincoat as a little drizzle soaked the ground. Danica’s apartment was only a few blocks away, so instead of calling a town car, she decided to clear her head and walk the street with her hood up. She passed a couple of newsstands and could see her face pasted on the c
over of the tabloids but she didn’t stop to read them. She had been told every word of the headlines by Chelsea, her lawyers and anyone else in the office that felt they could comment on her life.
As she neared her building she suddenly panicked and realized that she hadn’t thought about any photographers waiting outside her building. Normally, she would quickly brush through them from the car into the lobby with the help of the driver of her doorman but she hadn’t thought about approaching them on the street. She turned the corner and was relieved to see that only two men holding cameras were standing outside talking to each other as the other photographers must have thought her apartment might be the last place she would show up to.
With her hood still covering her head, Danica tried to slip by unnoticed but one of the paparazzi caught a glimpse of her face just as she was about to enter the building. “Danica! Danica! Give us a shot love.” They pounced on her flashing their bright lenses and she raised her hand to cover her eyes. Her first reaction was to run inside the building and hide but then she realized she had an opportunity to change the story.