by Sloan Storm
“Is that?” I began, turning it back and forth and squinting. “A camera?”
DANI
I’d only been home for a few hours when the knock came at my door. Listless since returning to New York from Pennsylvania and the disastrous visit with my family, I dragged myself off the couch to answer it. I opened the door. Chloe stood there in front of me.
“Hey,” I said, turning away from her and shuffling towards the kitchen. “Do you want anything?”
Chloe came inside, closing the door behind her.
“Lock it?”
I didn’t bother turning around. Nearing the refrigerator, I shook my head.
“No.”
It was probably the fifth or sixth time I’d opened the fridge. I wasn’t even hungry. I didn’t know what I was. I closed it and turned to look at Chloe.
“Shit, sorry…” I began, gesturing with my chin towards the refrigerator. “Did you say you wanted something? I-I wasn't listening.”
Chloe stopped a few feet in front of me and leaned against the wall in my kitchen.
“That bad, huh?”
I’d done a lot of crying since I left them. I honestly didn’t think I had any tears left. But, no sooner did she speak those words than I walked over to where she stood.
“Oh, sweetie,” Chloe began, opening her arms and inviting me in for a hug. “Come here.”
I staggered towards her, resting my head on her shoulder. She alternated between caressing my back and rubbing my head. What little moisture remained in my eyes pooled in my tear ducts and dribbled down my cheek. Exhausted and leaning my weight into her, I knew that if I didn’t sit down I would probably fall down. While I wept and sniffled, Chloe remained quiet, holding me close.
At last, I let out a final shaky exhale and raised my head.
“I think I need to sit.”
Chloe reached for my cheek and using her thumbs, brushed away the streaks of wet heat from my face.
“I think so too. Totally, let’s go sit.”
I’d been too upset to talk when I called her to come over after arriving back in New York, so I spent the next fifteen minutes or so telling her about everything that happened. I wasn’t sure what to expect from her. In the past she'd always tried to look at conflicts between my parents and me with a balanced point of view. But, when I told her what my brothers said and what my mother demanded of me, it angered her.
Sitting next to me on the couch, Chloe turned her upper body in my direction and reached towards me.
“That’s so terrible, Dani,” she began, stroking my forearm with her fingertips. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that alone.”
I shrugged and shook my head.
“I’ve been dealing with that stuff from them for years. It didn’t surprise me. But I thought that, just for once, because of my dad, they would act different.”
I looked at Chloe. She sat there listening to me, her lower lip protruding a bit.
“How did you feel about seeing your dad?”
I looked away from her, exhaling and feeling her question in the pit of my stomach.
“Horrible,” I began, the tone of my voice turning sad once again. “Absolutely horrible.”
Turning back towards her, I continued, “They don’t think… he’s probably not going to…”
The words got caught in my throat. I couldn’t make them come. She didn’t need to hear them to know what I meant. Chloe leaned towards me, opening her arms and trying to close them around me in another embrace. I shook my head and held up my hand, blocking her.
“I’m okay,” I said, doing my best to hold back another onslaught of tears. “I’m just angry with myself.”
“Angry at yourself? Why?”
Shrugging, I replied, “I just let the situation get the best of me. After my mom demanded I help pay for my dad’s care, I lost it.”
“That’s understandable, Chloe. Like, anyone in that situation would do the same thing.”
“Okay, but, I still shouldn’t have left. I should’ve stayed there. I mean, what if he dies? I don’t know if I could live with myself.”
Chloe shook her head.
“Dani, you can’t sit here beating yourself up over this. If you want to go back to Pennsylvania, then you should just go. Sitting around here -- it’s not going to fix anything. You know?”
I looked away from her.
“I don’t understand, Chloe. Why aren’t they proud of me? I mean, look at my brothers… their lives are a mess, not to mention their marriages. All I’ve ever done is achieve in life. And now, because of that, I’m the one that’s being punished and is expected to pay for everything? It doesn’t make any sense.”
I dropped my head and muttered. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Chloe didn’t say anything right away. There really wasn’t anything to say. Soon though, she did speak again.
“Well, what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
Chloe eased back into the couch.
“I mean, like, do you think you’ll just give in at some point, or are you going to stand your ground?”
If she’d asked me that question the day before I went to see my dad in the hospital, I would’ve told her absolutely not - no way would I give in. But seeing him lying there like that, suffering… even though I was angry and disappointed, the honest truth was that I didn’t know.
“I’m not sure. At this point, the only way I can deal with this whole thing is from one minute to the next.”
“I understand, Dani.”
I turned to look at her again. Chloe had such a sweet spirit. Growing up the way she had, I often wondered how she managed to stay so positive. I felt lucky to have her as my friend.
“I’m sorry,” I began, dropping my hands in my lap. “I feel guilty for dumping all this on you.”
“You’re not dumping anything on me, Dani. That’s what friends are for, right?”
Nodding, I continued to stare at my hands.
“I guess. I still feel bad though.”
She remained silent for a few seconds.
“Let’s talk about something else. Okay? I think you’ve been through enough over this for tonight.”
I glanced towards her. The idea hadn’t occurred to me but she was right, obsessing about this was exhausting me.
“Okay, well, what do you want to talk about?”
Chloe looked up towards the ceiling, trying to come up with an idea. After a couple of seconds, she snapped her fingers.
“I know…”
DANI
“How about something completely different?” Chloe began, her mood brightening. “What’s the latest with Marco? How was the trip?”
Since leaving the hospital and all the drama with my family, I’d completely forgotten about the agreement. Of all the things going wrong in my life right now, at least that wasn’t one of them. A hint of a smile came to my lips.
Chloe leaned away from me, narrowing her eyes at me in suspicion. “What? What happened?”
“I’ll be right back,” I replied.
“What?” Chloe began, wrinkling her brow in confusion. “Where are you going?”
Ignoring her, I stood from the couch and made a quick trip to my bedroom to get my purse. While I was gone, I heard Chloe yelling at me from the living room.
“This is totally not cool, Dani!”
Chuckling, I reached inside my purse and pulled out the signature page. After making my way back in the living room, I walked up to her with my hands behind my back.
“What are you doing?” she said, craning her neck and trying to sneak a peek. “Why are your hands behind your back? Dani!”
I looked down at her, shaking my head and smiling wider than ever.
“This is just killing you… Isn’t it?”
Chloe leaned back into the couch, crossing her arms and legs at the same time.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, turning her head to one
side. “I don’t care what you have behind your back. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. It’s like, the last thing on earth I care about right now. Seriously.”
“Uh huh,” I nodded. “Okay then, well, never mind.”
I turned and started to walk away. Before I could take a single step, Chloe shot to her feet.
“Dani!”
Enjoying the first good laugh I’d had in days, I spun in place and faced her again, swinging my hand around in front of my body. Chloe covered her mouth with her hand and after dropping it away, she pointed at the signature page.
“Is that what I think it is?”
I shrugged, finding it more and more difficult to keep a straight face.
“Well,” I began, turning it towards me and pretending to read it. “If you’re thinking that this is the biggest contract in the history of the investment firm, then yes, it is what you think it is.”
Before I could lower the page away from my face, Chloe leapt towards me, shrieking.
“Oh my God, Dani! Oh my God!”
She snatched the page from my grasp, nearly ripping it in the process.
“Hey!” I began, trying to settle her down. “Careful with that.”
Ignoring me, Chloe spun it around and began to scan the page. She finished reading and lowered her arm, holding the paper to the outside of her thigh. Drawing my gaze up to her face, I noticed the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
“No,” I said, wagging my finger at her. “God, please don’t do that. I can’t take any more crying right now.”
“Uh! But Dani!” she exclaimed, her voice cracking. “But like, this is totally unbelievable! This is everything you’ve ever wanted! You’ve finally done it!”
I smiled at her enthusiasm. On the one hand, she was absolutely right, I did get the agreement signed. On the other hand, Bernard and Leopold still had to actually follow through on their promise to make me a partner. I didn’t think they would go back on it but I’d been around long enough to know that until the deal is signed, there is no deal.
Even so, I didn’t want to kill Chloe’s enthusiasm, because after all, she was only trying to make me feel better.
“Dani, what’s wrong?” Chloe began, her wide smile vanishing.
I exhaled.
“It’s nothing. It’s just complicated. That’s all.”
She frowned.
Passing the signature page back to me, she said, “Well, I’m sure that whatever it is, you’ll find a way to handle it. You always do. Like, there’s no limit to what you’re capable of doing.”
Taking the paper from her, I glanced down and looked at Marco’s signature.
“Hey! You didn’t tell me about the trip. What happened between you and Marco?”
I glanced up at her, smiling again. Chloe nodded.
“Oh yeah,” she chided, the tone in her voice turning accusatory. “That’s what I’m talking about. You bad girl! What did you do?”
I shook my head, smiling wider than ever and turning to walk away from her.
“I don’t know what you mean. I got the agreement signed. That’s all.”
Chloe stomped her foot.
“Stop! Don’t take another step! You better tell me everything that happened!”
With a bit of reluctance, I spent the next half hour or so telling her about the entire trip, including our getaway to the Italian countryside. By the time I finished, Chloe stood there fanning herself with her hand.
“Oh my God, that is seriously hot. When are you going to see him again?”
Until the moment she asked that question I really hadn’t thought about it.
Shaking my head, I replied, “I don’t know. We didn’t discuss it. I had to leave in a hurry, you know, because of my dad.”
A soft, sad smile came to Chloe’s face. She reached for me, rubbing my arm.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll see Marco again before too long, especially now that you’ve got the contract and everything.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“What’s wrong?”
Biting my lip, I thought about her question for a few seconds before responding.
“I can’t explain it, Chloe. It just, it doesn’t feel like I thought it would, that’s all.”
Chloe stepped towards me and extended her hands towards my upper arms, wrapping her fingers around them.
“What do you mean? Are you talking about Marco?”
I looked at her.
“No, not Marco. No. I don’t have any illusions where he’s concerned and…”
Chloe interrupted me.
“That’s bull, Dani. I can tell that you’re crazy about him. You should see the way your face lights up. You may be trying to convince yourself that, like, you don't want to be with him or whatever, but you’re not fooling me. Not one bit.”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “Well what difference does it make? It would never work out, even if he felt the same way. I mean, we live halfway around the world from each other. And anyway…”
“Cut the crap,” Chloe snapped, cutting me off again. “Have you told Marco how you feel?”
“What?” I said, leaning away from her. “No way. Are you crazy?”
“Why not?”
I held the signature page up, rattling it in front of her face for emphasis.
“This. This is why. I would have blown the whole deal coming off like some crazy stalker.”
Chloe leaned back and howled with laughter.
“What?” I began, my tone firm. “What is so funny?”
She continued to laugh for a few more seconds, at last refocusing on me.
“Dani, you’re being completely ridiculous right now. Like, do you seriously think that this guy would take you away to his private villa and then fly you all the way back here on his private jet, and somehow that means he’s not into you? Hello? Are you completely dense?”
I exhaled and was about to reply when Chloe held her hand up in front of my face.
“No, Dani,” she began, curling her fingers inward until only her index finger remained. Pointing at me, she continued, “You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're achieving incredible things in your life, you got a sexy thing going with a super-hot guy, and all of this other stuff – with your family – it will work itself out. You need to snap out of it. You still have to get that partnership, right?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay then,” Chloe said, narrowing her gaze at me. “Focus on getting that done, and all these other things will work themselves out. Totally, they will. You're the strongest person I’ve ever known, Dani. It’s time for you to get what you deserve.”
DANI
I woke up suddenly, bolting upright in my bed.
I’d just had a dream – more like a nightmare – my father had died. For the first few seconds, I sat there not sure if I was still asleep. Soon though, the cobwebs of slumber cleared from my consciousness. Reaching for my cell phone on the nightstand nearby, I grabbed it and flipped it over to check the time.
2:09 AM.
Groaning, I fell back into the mattress, closing my eyes at the same time my head hit the pillow.
“Fuck.”
I suppose I should have been grateful I slept as long as I did, considering everything I had at stake. Later that morning, I would deliver the signature page to Bernard and Leopold. I rolled over, exhaling and trying to let go of the anticipation.
If there was ever a time I needed sleep, it was right now. Only it didn’t happen. Not then, not in the next half hour or the next hour. In fact, it felt like I lay there forever, waiting for consciousness to slip away.
At last, mercifully, it did.
The final image I held in my mind was shaking their hands and accepting my position as partner. My goals were closer than ever and it looked like they were going to come to pass.
When I next woke up, my bedroom glowed with sunlight. Groggy, I rubbed my eyes until the blurriness disappeared. I hadn’t bothered to put my
cell phone back on the nightstand. Grabbing it, and with only one eye open, I swiped my thumb across the display.
9:17 AM.
“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, ripping the sheets away from my body and scrambling to the bathroom to shower. If the pressure of making partner wasn’t enough, today also happened to be the deadline, the last day, I had to deliver Bernard and Leopold the agreement. I didn’t want to give them any excuse, no matter how small, to reject my efforts to become a partner.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten ready so quickly. I made my way across town and arrived at the office a little past ten thirty. Once at my desk, I gathered up all of the files related to Marco's estate, finishing by placing the signature page at the top of the pile. Exhaling, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
“This is it, Dani,” I whispered, trying to settle my nerves. “This is it.”
I reached for the phone, readying myself to call Bernard. But before I could press a single key, the intercom on my office phone blared to life.
“Dani,” Leopold’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Bernard and I would like to speak with you. Immediately.”
Considering the situation, I should’ve been excited to get a call like that from him, but the tone in his voice suggested otherwise. Before I could say anything, Bernard interjected.
“Yes, Dani,” he added, pausing and shuffling a bit of paper in the background. “Don’t forget to bring all of the files for Mr. Rhys with you, please.”
Now I was completely confused. I wondered why they felt the need to tell me to bring Marco’s files with me.
“Okay,” I began, a tone of uncertainty in my words. “Where would you like to meet with me? Bernard, in your office?”
Bernard interrupted me.
“No, no, Dani…” he replied, pausing suddenly and cutting off the rest of his sentence.
The microphone emitted a muffled, scratchy sound. In the background I heard other voices, voices that didn’t belong to either Bernard or Leopold. I frowned in the direction of the phone. After a few seconds of silence, Bernard came back on the line.
“Sorry about that, Dani.”
I shook my head. “That’s okay. You were saying?”
“Yes, yes, Dani,” he began, seeming to refocus on our conversation. “We’re going to need you to come to the conference room.”