by Kylie Parker
“Why? Because you give it to her good on occasion? Screw you, man. I’m only trying to help you out.” Eddie seems to be pacing somewhat as he talks.
I stand up and wipe my slightly sweaty brow with the back of my hand, “I’m not going to the police and telling them that they need to investigate Éclair. So forget about it and move on, all right?”
“Fine.” Eddie grumbles, “I don’t know why I’m trying so hard to help you out anyways.” And just like that, Eddie storms out of the gym.
I grunt slightly. I am so not in the mood for his bullshit today. He seriously thinks Éclair might have something to do with this? He must be out of his mind. There is now way she would risk her fortune and the good name just to buy up a couple of buildings and branding from me. Besides, we are friends –I really do believe that despite our differences. I just could not imagine Éclair doing something so conniving. I could honestly punch Eddie in the nose for even suggesting something like that. Éclair is my friend, but for whatever reason I find myself questioning that factoid. She is, right? I mean, she would not do anything like this to me, would she? She would not try to ruin me –right?
I shake the nervous feeling off and head for the gym showers. I need to wash off before heading out. I have a meeting with my new lawyer this afternoon; I fired the other moron this morning, so I’m meeting with this new woman that Éclair had suggested and the time is sneaking up on me. I shoot my driver a text before hopping in the gym shower, letting him know that I will be ready for him to pick me up shortly.
After showering off, I get dressed in my regular suit and tie style clothing and gently work my right arm back into its sling. Damn, that shit hurts. I might have worked it a little harder than I should have today. I shrug it off, though, and then I head out the door to meet my driver out in the parking lot.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Okay, so I really hate this fucking lawyer Éclair set me up with. She’s rude, and she is so damn snarky. I guess it’s my bad for acting flirty, but what does the woman expect when she looks like that? Her brown hair flows back in loose curls, and her perfectly manicured nails tap the office desk, making a slight clicking noise with each motion. She is wearing an auburn colored suit jacket that is tight fitting for her petite little body, and it matches the short, tight suit skirt she is wearing that is now hidden behind the desk. Under the suit jacket is a white, lacey blouse that shows off her enormous breasts –breasts you would not normally see on such a tiny woman. Her lips are painted bright red, and her thick eyeliner makes her bright green eyes pop.
Éclair knows better than to put me alone in a room with someone like this –especially someone who is clearly not interested. I always take that shit as a challenge. I have to make myself think of Sylvia to keep from dropping my A-game and really pissing this woman off. Her name is Lillian Lioness; yes, that’s her real name, and I know because I had questioned its existence for ten minutes after she introduced herself, and it really pissed her off. I had only meant to lighten the mood, but she took it all wrong.
Right now she is twirling her pen around and piercing her lips together as she sizes me up. I sit in the guest chair in front of her desk somewhat nervous at the eerie silence that is present between us. I find myself breaking eye contact to just relieve some of the tension that is present. I look around at the bookshelf full of law books behind her as well as the various framed degrees and other awards and recognitions she has received. There are a few framed newspaper articles from big time cases she has worked in the past as well.
I look back at her and, for some moronic reason, attempt to put on the charm again despite the epic fail from just a few minutes ago that resulted in this awkward silence, “Listen, sweetheart,” I say with a smile, and she interrupts me –not with words, but with an embarrassing gesture.
She turns a picture frame around for me to see that has been sitting on her desk this entire time, and she slams it slightly. Awe fuck. I look at a picture of two women in white wedding dresses –one of them is her. I swear my face feels like it’s on fire as all the blood rushes to my head from the embarrassment I am feeling. My left-hand reaches up and loosens my tie, “Um…” I say, “Your wife is lovely.”
“Yup.” She says and leans back in her chair, “So, let’s skip pass all of your playboy bullshit, shall we? No calling me sweetheart, baby, doll, or any of your stupid ass pet names –got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say.
“Trust me. You don’t want to piss her off.” She says and takes the picture frame and turns it back around. “She’s a marine, and I’m pretty sure she could kick your ass, pretty boy.”
I laugh, “That tiny little woman in that picture is a marine?”
She rolls her eyes, “Yes, she is.” She crosses her arms, “You do want my help, don’t you? I don’t just take in random clients, Mr. Mont. You only have a meeting with me today because of Éclair. She’s an old friend.”
“Excuse me?” I question, and she just laughs –leaving me wondering what the hell she meant by that emphasis.
“You need to relax.” She says, “Look, the lawsuit being brought up against you is not going to hold much water once this information about the rat poison goes public. It’s obvious that it is some sort of sabotage. Now, here is the problem, though.” She sifts through some paperwork, getting right now to business, “Your new supplement line does break some minor laws regarding labelling, so the lawyer representing these clowns could actually build a case around that and argue that the mislabeling of your product was dangerous to begin with and that the rat poison only added to the dangers at hand. He’s going to try to label you as corrupt and negligent from the get go.”
“Whoa, hold the phone,” I say, “There is nothing wrong with my labels on the new products.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, but there are.” She says, “Your creators changed a few things with the recipe right before the product was finalized, and you failed to alter the nutrition guideline.”
“What?” I am pissed off. Whose job is that? I’m not sure, but someone is getting fired.
“Yup. Now, it’s not a big deal. You probably would not have even had to issue a recall because the change was so subtle, but you would have had to send out replacement labels if this issue was ever discovered. However, you didn’t. Someone could have posted an allergy to one of the new ingredients… not that basic vitamin allergies are a common allergy, but case in point –you screwed up long before the rat poison made it into your supplements. What this lawyer is going to try to do is use that as evidence of business malpractice. He’s going to suggest that this whole rat poison thing could have been prevented if you had taken the necessary precautions. He might even be able to bring this to court.” Lillian leans back in her chair, “But lucky for you, you are hiring me. My hope is that I can swipe this shit under the rug during mediation and have the judge throw the lawsuit out altogether, but I can’t promise that.”
I’m practically shaking. “So what about the guy who did this? I mean, who could have possibly poisoned my supplements?”
“That’s another thing,” she says, “That’s going to be a criminal case –something different entirely from the malpractice lawsuit. I don’t think the investigators are going to try to pin it on you, but it might be wise if we can try to have something ready if they do. Personally, I would like to look into your brother Eddie.”
“Excuse me?” I sit upright, “What do you mean?”
“I spoke to Éclair, and she briefly mentioned that you two had had an argument not too long before all of this went down.” Lillian props her elbows up on the desk, “So I went ahead and did a little digging. Sounds like Eddie is probably our guy.” I could punch her. I really could punch her.
“You’re out of your mind.” I say with as much anger in my voice that I can manage, “Yeah, we had an argument and got into not too long ago, but he would never-”
She cuts me off, “Come on, James. I know all about you and Eddie. I read
up on my client's personal lives. Certain things always seem more obvious to people looking in from the outside, you know? And believe me, this seems pretty obvious. Eddie got screwed out of your father’s will –that shit made headlines. He’s been branded as a bastard and the result of infidelity amongst LA’s socialites. He’s in debt because of it too. He clearly detests you from what I have read in the tabloids; you two have gotten into physical altercations before that have led to arrests, but neither of you ever press charges against one another. And, he has full access to that factory as the head supervisor. He is there all the time alone without anyone else present. And according to Éclair, you slept with the man’s girlfriend not too long ago, and that could very well have been the straw that broke the camels back.”
I am at a loss for words. She really does make it all make sense, but I can’t bring myself to believe it. I grumble, “Eddie wouldn’t.” I say it, but a part of it really does make sense. Plus, Eddie had been really awkward lately. He hadn’t wanted to tell the police about us finding rat poison and let them find it on their own, and he had wanted to pin all of this on Éclair pretty quick.
“Well, lucky for you, picking a suspect is not in my job description –not yet, anyways.” She stacks up all over her paperwork and puts it into a file. “So forget what I said about your brother. Right now, let’s focus on this lawsuit.”
I nod in agreement, but I am hardly able to focus. Does she really think Eddie could have done this? I don’t think Eddie hates me so much that he would try to bring my company down, but for some reason, I cannot get the thought out of my head.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I feel sick to my stomach. I am seated in my office at the factory; it’s been a while since I’ve been here. The cops finally returned my computer after having not found any evidence worth holding and after having copied everything off my hard drive, so I am tapping away on it. I don’t like what it is I am finding. I know Eddie is working down in the factory today, mostly just trying to reassure nervous employees who keep showing up wanting to know when we are going to have the place up and running again. Lucky for Eddie, that conversation has gotten easier in the past few days. We are going to be restarting productions in just a couple of weeks after getting the green light from police; we just have a few things to take care of in the factory –like inspecting other supplements for poison and cleaning all equipment that could have possibly have been exposed. At least, we are going to be getting the ball rolling again soon. I have my secretary call Eddie up to talk to me.
While I am waiting on him, I catch myself biting my nails. I don’t normally act so nervous, but today I am terrified. My sling is seated on my desk so that I can stretch out my sore arm. I can’t shake this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and my conversation with Mrs. Lioness has me on edge. I have not been able to stop thinking about it. It’s been on my mind ever since our meeting, and I have done everything in my power to look for evidence to contradict her claim, but instead I have found something that makes her claim all the more plausible.
Eddie enters into my office, looking as annoyed as ever, “What?” he hisses. This has been his general attitude towards me for weeks now. Could he really be harboring so much hate towards me that he would try to fuck me over this bad?
I stand up and come around to the front of my desk, leaning against it as I speak, “We need to talk.”
Eddie crosses his arms, “About what?”
I don’t’ know where to begin. I take a deep breath, “I started doing a little bit of my own investigations, and I think I found something.”
“Really?” he perks up, “What did you find?”
I take another breath, trying to think of how it is I’m going to say this, “Eddie, do you hate me?”
He looks at me with a curious glare, “What makes you ask that?”
I don’t know what to say next. I decide to just throw it out there, “I noticed you had been clocking in a lot of extra hours in the weeks leading up to all of this.” I say.
“Yeah, so? You know I’m in debt.” He says. He looks really annoyed, but I don’t think he has pieced together what it is I am suggesting just yet.
“Yeah,” I say, “And you stayed after for hours some evenings doing factory clean up and working for my PR guy. You were alone here at the factory several times. And I noticed that a couple of different times our security system was down at that time. And I looked to see who authorized that, and it was you.”
“Well, yeah,” Eddie says, “You know our system has been on the fritz. I had a guy come look at it a couple of times. Remember? You’re the one who paid for a new system.”
I stand upright, “Just tell me the truth Eddie. Are you the one who poisoned my supplements?”
Well, that ignites something in him. He looks beyond pissed. “Are you fucking kidding me, man?” His arms come uncrossed and form fists down at his side, “Are you fucking kidding me? You think I did this?”
“Well-” I start to further explain myself, but he won’t have it.
“Screw you!” Eddie shouts and takes a rather intimidating step towards me, “I’ve always looked out for you, and you know it! I know I got pissed off at you about Tiff, but I know you didn’t know who she was. You really think I’d try to bring down your company because of it? Are you kidding me? Besides, what good would that do me? Seriously? You know I’m broke as shit right now! I need this job!”
“Yeah, well, you’ve been pissed at me for a long time –long before that shit with your slutty girlfriend.” I say, “You and I have not been the same ever since Dad died.”
“No shit.” He snaps, “I spent my entire childhood wasting away in this God forsaken factory, and Dad let me believe I would be CEO one day. Of course, I got pissed when he screwed me. And, man, I’m sorry, but yeah, I got pissed off that my loser little brother is living it up while I still have to clean up after him.” His voice continues to escalate, growing louder with each word until he is practically screaming, “I do everything for you! I practically run this company, and you have me working in the fucking factory! I know more about this place than you ever will! I should be the one sitting behind that desk, but I would never –and I mean never –do anything to take this from you! I wouldn’t! I would never hurt anyone. I would never try to ruin your life like this. And you’re a damn asshole if you think-” he shoves me.
When he shoves me, he gets me right in my right arm. “Shit!” I shout and reach up with my left arm and grip my right shoulder. “My shoulder is fractured, dumbass!” I don’t give him a chance to spit out an apology before knocking him across the face with the back of my hand. I bust his lip.
“You son of a bitch!” he snaps and grabs me by my hair and yanks my head downward, sending shock waves through my entire body –reminding me of every injury I had sustained during the wreck. I could beat the shit out of him. I knee him right where it counts, and it sends him to the floor. I kick him in his fucking head. “Fuck you!” I shout. Geeze, can the two of us not have a serious conversation without it escalating to a physical altercation anymore?
He stands up and rubs the side of his head, “Fuck me? Fuck you!” he shouts. “If it wasn’t for Mom cheating on Dad, I would be the one sitting behind that desk. Dad would not have even thought about leaving you shit because you are an absolute moron! You can’t even complete a product order without calling me for help. Dad might have loved you more than me, but he didn’t respect you. At least, I had that!” He punches me in my chest, and I retreat immediately. Damn it, if I wasn’t hurt, I know I would kick his ass right now.
I’m clenching my sides, and I start to cough. My ribs are killing me. He suddenly looks really calm, his eyes dart over to the sling lying on my desk, and he looks nervous suddenly. I sink down into one of the chairs in front of my desk because I can’t stand up anymore. My sides are throbbing. Today would be the day I did not take my pain medication. I hear a calm, apologetic sound emerges out of Eddie, “Are you all right
?”
“Get the hell out of my office,” I say angrily.
“James-”
“No!” I snap when he tries to put his hand on my shoulder, “Get out of my office! You’re fired! Get your shit out of this building, clear out, and get lost! You’re fired!”
Eddie opens his mouth to speak while I attempt to get a hold of my coughing fit. He just backs away, a sad expression on his face. As soon as he closes the door, I lean over in my chair and moan loudly. I don’t want him to know just how back he got me. Every inch of me is throbbing. I need my pain medication right now. I’m not waiting around here. I call my driver and tell him to meet me out front. I might need to go to the hospital; it feels like it did the day I got into the fucking accident to begin with. Just when I was starting to feel better!
I leave the building, knowing that I did not mean what I said to Eddie about being fired. He knows that I’m sure, and we are both probably going to have to have one of those awkward brotherly moments where we apologize and move on, but for the time being I just want to put as much distance between myself and this stupid factory as possible.
Chapter Thirty
I had been upset after my conversation with Eddie, and I had called Sylvia after going home to take my medication. She had invited me over, and now I am really glad that I had called her. I’m not normally a bath kind of guy, but Sylvia had decided she wanted to play nurse. She had drawn me a bath and filled it with coconut scented bubble bath. I’m leaning back and relaxing, and she’s on her knees behind the tub rubbing my back and occasionally leaning down to kiss my neck. I’m not going to lie; it’s really great. I will knock her over the head if she ever tells anyone that I took a bubble bath, though.
“At least, your face doesn’t look bruised anymore.” She says as though this should make everything better. She leans down and gives me a peck on the cheek. Her hands move from my neck forward to my chest and down.