by Jessica Ashe
I’ve barely been paying any attention to what I’m signing recently, so the only surprise is that it took them this long to find a mistake.
“What are they saying we did wrong?”
“There’s a Powerpoint presentation that shows all the selling shareholders and their interests in other companies. It’s hardly a big deal. You don’t own any other stock and most of the other shareholders are minor investors at best.”
“Yeah, I remember the chart. It looked fine to me.”
“They’re saying that Grady owns 100% of another company.”
I laugh. “Grady barely has time to keep on top of the work I give him. Trust me, I doubt he’s running a business on the side.”
“You’re probably right. I’ve looked the company up. It’s registered in Delaware but doesn’t seem particularly active since formation three years ago. There’s not even a website presence as far as I can tell. Does Grady do any part-time consultancy work? It’s not uncommon for people to set up companies to receive sporadic payments. It helps them look professional and there can be tax advantages to putting those payments through a company.”
“Maybe,” I reply. “But like I said, I’d be amazed if he had the time. It doesn’t matter. If it’s a small company, there’s clearly no conflict of interest. I’m not going to let them mess us around on such a minor point. Give me the name of the company and I’ll revise the schedule.”
“You got a pen and paper on hand?”
I look around on instinct, even though I know the nearest pen and paper is in my office.
“Hang on.” I head over to Carly who is making edits to her script on her laptop. “Can I use this briefly?”
“Sure,” she replies, passing the laptop over.
“Okay,” I say to Edmund. “Shoot.”
“Alright, it’s a Delaware C Corporation called Johansen Contracting, Inc.”
“Thanks, Edmund. I’ll get it done.”
I hang up and look at what I’ve written on the bottom of Carly’s script.
Grady’s company = Johansen Contracting, Inc. Delaware C Corp.
I immediately feel sick to my stomach, but I don’t know why. That name. It’s so similar….
“What’s wrong?” Carly asks. “You’ve gone pale.”
I point to the name on the computer screen. It’s sinking in. I want to throw up.
“I don’t… oh, shit,” Carly mutters. She’s figured it out already. No surprise there.
I can’t speak. I can barely keep myself upright. My vision is blurry.
“Log in to your bank account,” Carly says firmly.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
I shake my head and take deep breaths until I can focus on the screen. I have to go through the convoluted process of signing into my password manager, doing two-factor authentication, then signing into my bank account, and then doing the two-factor authentication for that as well. It’s a five-minute process that could have been avoided by using the computer in my office, but I’m not thinking straight.
“Now what?” I say when I’m finally logged in.
Carly scans down my bank statement until she finds the check deposits.
“We already know he’s banking the checks,” I say, hoping she doesn’t notice just how much I spend at Starbucks.
“The bank scans the check when it’s posted. Look.” Carly clicks on one of the check payments and it brings up a black and white image of the check.
“Holy shit.”
“Did your mother never teach you how to balance a checkbook?”
“Numbers go in, numbers go out. I never thought to look at the image.”
It’s a miracle that he got away with it for so long. He must have known I’d find out. Right there in the middle of the screen is a check made payable to Johansen Contracting, Inc. When you look closely, you can even see the different handwriting where he’s added ‘sen’ on the end of Johan, and ‘cting, Inc.’ on the end of Contra.
“I’m going to kill him,” I say, calmly.
“Let’s get his liver first. Then you can kill him.”
My secretary looks surprised to see me in the office so early.
“Can you go find Grady and bring him to my office immediately?” I ask.
Byron nods and heads off to get Grady.
A stack of papers is piled on the desk and there are at least a hundred little red sticky labels indicating pages that I need to sign. The electronic signature is acceptable on most documents, but Pacific Technologies wants original signatures as well just to give them something extra to put in their files.
I don’t even bother switching on my computer. I’m not getting any work done today. That’s not what this little visit is all about.
Grady shows up a few minutes later. It’s impossible to hide from Byron.
“We’re not to be disturbed,” I tell Byron on his way out the door.
Grady takes a seat opposite my desk. He doesn’t look nervous or worried. Good. I want this to come as a shock. It dawns on me for the first time that this was the man Shannon cheated on me with. I’ve known about the affair for years, but I could never put a face to the name. I always assumed he’d be like me: tall, decent looking, muscular. Instead, she cheated on me with a scrawny weasel who looks like the stereotypical accountant that he is.
It wouldn’t have been about looks for Shannon. She didn’t have an affair with Grady because she was attracted to him. She did it to get at me because she knew I liked Grady and relied on him at work. Shannon had issues, but she gave me Olivia. For all her flaws, that’s something I’m eternally grateful for.
“I wasn’t expecting you to come into work today,” Grady says, when the silence stretches on a little too long. “Does this mean there’s good news about Olivia?”
How dare he even speak her name. Carly convinced me to talk to Grady instead of beating the shit out of him, but that’s so much harder in practice. He’s sat there like we’re normal coworkers, casually mentioning my child as if he doesn’t know full well that he’s the biological father.
“She’s still in hospital,” I reply. “But we’re expecting good news soon.”
“We all have our fingers crossed for you.”
I let Grady stew in silence for a few moments before dropping the bombshell. “I’m calling off the sale.”
Grady smiles, but it turns into a frown. “You’re being serious?”
“Deadly.”
“Why?”
“Change of heart. What with Olivia’s health problems—”
“That’s exactly why you should sell. Get the money and spend more time with her. She needs her dad by her side.”
You fucking piece of shit.
“I’ll cut back my hours,” I say, “but I’m not selling.”
“You have to,” Grady protests. “You’ve signed so many of the contracts. I’m not sure you can legally back out now.”
“Letters of intent aren’t binding, and none of the contracts give Pacific Technology any rights. We might have to pay their legal fees, but they can’t force me to transfer the stock.”
“This is crazy. You need to think about this.”
“I’ve thought about it plenty. Anyway, the sale can’t go through on schedule because I have an important operation coming up.”
“An operation?”
“Olivia needs a liver donor, and as her father, I’m the best person to give her my liver.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Grady pauses, his right leg twitching furiously as he resists the urge to turn my attention back to the sale. “Is it safe?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. I only give up part of my liver, and as her father, I’m only too happy to do the deed.”
“Of course.”
“After all, what kind of man would I be if I wouldn’t give up part of my liver to save my daughter?”
Grady nods but doesn’t say anything.
“I’d be a real piece of shit,” I continue. “That�
��s what I’d be.”
“It’s still very brave,” Grady mutters. “Maybe we could push the sale forward? I hear the due diligence has been going smoothly.”
“No, there’s no time. It has to be her father, and it has to be soon. There is one potential problem, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not her biological father. But then, you already knew that, Grady. Or do you prefer to go by Johan?”
Grady swallows and turns pale. He wants the chair to swallow him whole, but he’s not going anywhere. I stare him in the eyes and give him as much time as he needs to think this through. Too much time has passed for him to deny it. He could try getting angry or cocky, but he knows what I’m capable.
“Nothing’s changed here,” Grady says eventually, in a surprisingly cool tone of voice. “Remember, I have her suicide note, and you don’t want Olivia to see that when she’s older.”
“She won’t see it if you’re not around to show it to her.”
“You’re not going to kill me. If you’re going to beat me up, get it over with. Some of us are still busy with work.”
“I’m not going to hit you, Grady. I need you in good condition.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to make a little trip to the hospital.”
“You don’t think he’s going to change his mind?” Carly asks me in a hushed tone, as we watch Grady sign the consent forms in front of the doctor. Grady convinced the doctor that he genuinely wanted to be the donor, and because he’s Olivia’s father, they didn’t ask too many questions.
“No,” I reply. “He’ll do this.”
“He’s a coward. I’m worried he’ll back out.”
“The surgery scares him, but not as much as I do. Besides, if he doesn’t do this, I won’t go through with the sale of the company, and Grady really needs the money. Turns out he’s a huge gambler. That’s why he kept asking me for money. He knew he was pushing his luck, but gamblers don’t always think rationally.”
I hold Carly’s hand as the doctor runs through the schedule. Grady is a match and doesn’t have any diseases that would prohibit him being a donor. The doctor is confident Olivia will take the organ, but he doesn’t want to waste any time. Grady will have the surgery tomorrow. All we have to do is wait.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carly - Nine months later
ROLL CREDITS.
I love reading those words. The sign that I’m finished with another script edit. I email Sergio to let him know I’m done. Fingers crossed that’s enough for today.
“Thanks, Carly,” Sergio calls out from his office across the hall.
Here goes nothing.
I head over to Sergio’s office and knock on the door.
“Come in,” he replies without looking up from his screen. He’s already looking at my script notes. We got well behind schedule last week, and now we’re playing catch up. I only have myself to blame. I came up with what I thought was a cool mid-season twist for the show, but it required a lot of rewriting of previous scripts.
“Hey, Sergio. Can I have a minute?”
“Thirty seconds. Good work by the way. You’re a natural at editing other people’s scripts. You still need to speed up your own writing, but you have the skills.”
“Thanks.”
Writing for a network television show is ridiculously demanding. I used to be critical of the quality of writing on television, but after seeing the process and how quickly they have to work, I’m amazed that it’s as good as it is.
We work far too many hours, but I never complain. The show’s fun, and Olivia absolutely loves it. She doesn’t completely understand that I write the words her favorite superhero says on screen. She still thinks it’s real, and I’m not about to break that spell. Not yet.
“I have a favor to ask,” I say to Sergio.
“Twenty seconds.”
“I’d like to leave early today.”
“How early?”
On our current schedule, leaving before eight in the evening is considered early. Leaving at three in the afternoon is unheard of. “About now,” I reply nervously.
That gets Sergio to look away from his laptop. “I assume you have a good reason for asking.”
I nod. “It’s Olivia’s first day at school today. I want to be there when she gets home.”
Sergio has already been more than generous where Olivia’s concerned. I’ve gone with her to all her doctor’s checkups, and there have been quite a few. Any normal boss would probably be fed up with me by now, but he met Olivia when she came in to see her hero in costume on set, and once you meet Olivia, you can’t help but love her.
“You can leave,” Sergio says reluctantly. “But keep an eye on your email tonight in case I have questions. If you hadn’t come up with this brilliant idea then we wouldn’t all be working our butts off now.”
“I’ll keep the brilliant ideas to myself in future. Thank you.”
“No problem. And say hello to Olivia for me.”
I make it back home before Parker and Olivia. The traffic from work is brutal, but it’s not as bad as the school run Parker is contending with.
I keep an eye on my email, as promised. There’s nothing from Sergio, but Kelsie has an update on the movie. There’s another studio interested in picking up my script. The first few times that happened, I got excited and started dreaming of winning awards and walking the red carpet. I soon got brought back down to Earth. The movie still has the dark ending, which puts a lot of people off, as Kelsie predicted.
Kelsie thinks this buyer might go all the way and already has investors in place. I’ll believe it when I see the signed contract. I’m not trying to sell it for a lot of money. I already have a stable job, and Parker has more money than he can ever spend. My main concern is finding a studio who’s serious about making the movie I wrote, and not turning it into a romantic comedy.
I’m still holding out hope for Tami to be my lead actress. Tami and Bruce are still ‘friends,’ whatever the hell that means, and he’s got her foot well and truly in the door at a few studios. She’s on network television now, and while it’s not technically a starring role, it is a recurring one, and she has more auditions than she can keep track of. She still wants to be on my show, though. Tami keeps coming up with evil characters with super powers that she wants to portray. I think it’s just an excuse to fly around on the wires, which to be fair, does look like a lot of fun.
Parker’s car pulls up in the driveway. I resist the urge to run out and greet them. We didn’t want Olivia to be nervous about school, so we tried to pretend this was a completely normal thing and not make a big deal out of it. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep that up.
Olivia walks in the door carrying her tiny backpack and looking absolutely adorable.
I kiss Parker and quietly ask him how it went.
“Okay, I think. She talked my ear off the entire way home.”
“Hi, sweetie,” I say to Olivia, as I lean down and pick her up. She’s getting heavy, so I’m making the most of holding her while I still can. “How was your first day at school?”
“Fun. We did reading and we did writing and we did coloring.”
We head into the living room, where I put Olivia down so I can look at her works of art.
“That’s me, you, and Daddy,” she says, pointing at a picture of three stick figures and a box that is presumably our house.
“Looks like we have our first picture for the fridge,” I say. “That’s if Daddy remembered to buy some magnets when he went shopping.”
“Of course Daddy remembered,” Parker replies. “Although heads up, he did forget the milk.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head. Parker does his best, but he’s not the greatest at doing the shopping. Our housekeeper usually buys the groceries, but she’s off this week. That means Parker is in charge. Yesterday he went to the supermarket and remembered to buy thirty-six eggs, but somehow forget to get any cereal.
“What are the other children like?” I ask Olivia.
“Okay,” she replies. “But they don’t have belly lines.”
I bite my lip and share an awkward look with Parker. ‘Belly line’ is what Olivia calls the scar from her liver operation. We told her all kids had to have operations before they could go to school, because we thought it would stop her being nervous.
“I’m sure they do, sweetie,” I reply. “Maybe they just didn’t want to talk about it.”
“No, they don’t have them. I looked.”
“What do you mean, you looked?”
“Well Matthew said he didn’t have a belly line, but I didn’t believe him so I lifted up his shirt. And then Lucio and Ralph said they didn’t have them so I lifted up their shirts too.”
“Olivia, sweetie,” Parker says, “how many shirts did you lift up looking for belly lines?”
“Lots and lots. But I didn’t find any.”
“Uh oh,” I say quietly, as Parker and I share a look.
“I showed them mine,” Olivia continues. “I told them that they’ll all have to go to hospital and have their bellies cut open if they want to be grown ups.”
“Uh… how did they take that news?” Parker asks.
“Some of them cried. That’s silly. You shouldn’t cry about becoming a grown up.”
“I’m going to have to phone some parents, aren’t I?” Parker asks.
“Olivia,” I say softly, “you should probably keep your belly line a secret.”
“Why?”
“Well, we told you a bit of a fib. You see, not all children get belly lines. You were sick, and so you had to have an operation. Do you understand?”
Olivia pauses for a few seconds and then nods. “Can we write a story?”
“Of course. Although perhaps you should be the one to write the story now that you’re at school?”