Pretty Little Mess

by Rhodes, Carmel

  “Fuck you. I told you she had nothing to do with this. I need to call my girl to make sure she’s okay. Her dad is going to see this shit. I don’t want her to be blindsided.”

  “I get it, but until we know who leaked those photos to the press, you have to tread lightly. Give Nelson time to spin this. If it’s as you say, she won’t have any issues coming forward and making a statement, but we don’t want it to seem like we bribed your victim.”

  “Victim?” I rear back in surprise. “I didn’t rape her.”

  “I didn’t use the r-word. I’m just saying, the world thinks you pressured her into being intimate with you, and in the current political climate, that isn’t something we can just laugh off with a few pictures of you two holding hands and smiling for the camera. We have to be smart about this, but first, we have the vote to worry about. Let’s focus on what’s important.”

  “Ellie is what’s important.” I sneer, snatching his phone from his hand, and dialing the number I learned by heart after the first time I tasted her. “I have to be the one to tell her. I can’t let her watch it on the news. I can’t let her be blindsided.”

  The phone rings and rings until her voicemail picks up. This is Ellie, leave a message. “Fuck.” I punch the seat again and think about throwing Graham’s phone too, but instead, I dial Jalen. Thankfully he answers.

  “Graham, what the fuck is going on?”

  “It’s me.” The car zips ahead, bringing us closer to the Anderson Building.

  “Max, what the fuck?”

  Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sigh. “I don’t know. Where’s Ellie?”

  “She went to the deli for lunch with Winston.”

  “Does she know?” I brace myself for his response.

  “No. They seemed to be pretty normal when they left. Said something about bringing back Rubens for us to try.”

  Relief like I’d never felt before floods my body. I’m still on edge, but at least I can shield her from this. “Can you go get her? I don’t want the paparazzi to find her.”

  Jay sighs and I know what he’s going to say before he says it. “I’m sorry, Max. I can’t. The vote. I’m heading upstairs now.”

  “Shit.” As much as I want to tell the driver to take me straight to Ellie, Jalen and Graham are right. We need to deal with the board. Ellie’s phone is most likely dead, and the chance of her finding out before I get to her is slim. The vote should be cut and dry. I’ll inherit my father’s stake in Anderson Capital and retain control of the company. Once we vote, I can find my girl and fix my legacy. “Okay. We are coming up now.”

  No one will meet my eye as we push through the revolving glass door. They all think I’m like him. In the short time that she’s been here, Ellie has wormed her way into the hearts of my staff. They all love her. They all think I hurt her.

  The ride up to thirty feels like I’m ascending to my execution.

  The board sits around the conference table as Graham and I enter. My father’s presence at the head of the table sends my hackles rising, but what really pushes me over the edge is the bitch to his left, defiling my fucking chair. I stalk toward her like a wild cat ready to feast. “Karen,” I grit through my teeth, “that’s my seat, you’re in.”

  She glances up at me, her bloodred lips contorted into a sugar-laced-with-arsenic smile. “No, I think I’m exactly where I’m meant to be, isn’t that right, P?”

  I spin on my heels and glare at my father. His facial hair is overgrown and his beard unkempt. The air around him reeks of bourbon. “No.” He laughs bitterly. “You’re meant to be here.” He stands on wobbly legs and pulls his chair out for her.

  “Preston,” Graham drawls, as Karen sits at the head of the conference table, “what in God’s name is going on?”

  I look around the room, half the table seems as surprised as Graham and me, while the other half avoids making eye contact. “It would seem as if hoeism does, in fact, trump nepotism.” Karen settles into her chair. “Now, please, take a seat at the end of the table. It’s closest to the door and you won’t be needed much longer.”

  “Father?”

  “Sit down, Son.” His voice is resigned. He’s accepted his role as the bad guy and now it’s time for all the chips to fall. Plopping down in my chair, Jalen tilts his head at me in confusion. I wave him off. I have nothing more to offer than a ticking jaw and an accelerated heartbeat.

  “As you all know, I’ve been in the news lately for my”—Preston clears his throat—“extramarital affairs. It’s time for me to face the facts. It’s dragging the company my father built down. Shares are at a historic low. Investors are pulling out, clients are dropping like flies and there’s only one thing we can do to stop the bleeding.” He pauses, making eye contact with everyone in the circle, before continuing. “I’m selling my stake in the company and removing myself all together. It has been a pleasure working with you all.”

  “Selling?” I shout, standing so fast my chair falls behind me. This isn’t how this is supposed to go. He is supposed to be relinquishing control to me, not selling off his shares to the highest bidder. I press my palms into the wood and lean forward. “To whom? This isn’t the way grandfather would have wanted it.”

  “Why would he give them to you?” Karen cackles. “Your name is just as tarnished as his after today. Do you think another philanderer is what this company needs? Especially after that embarrassing display on Cooper Jones?”

  “It’s a minor setback. Ellie and I are together. It isn’t like when you blew my dad and he left you with cum dripping down your chin. We can fix this.” I turn to address the room at large. “I will fix this.”

  Karen snorts. “You are her superior and your relationship is against company policy. What makes you think you even still have a job?”

  “Once I’m majority shareholder I’m abolishing that stupid fucking rule, so your point is moot.” The room erupts in a flurry of side conversations and full-out objections. The decision is split, but only one opinion matters, my father’s, with his forty-eight percent stake. “Dad,” I nearly choke on the words. Preston has never been a father figure. I don’t know why I expect him to start now.

  Karen gives me a self-satisfied look that makes my skin crawl. My heart thuds as I look to my father. The room goes silent, heads volleying between us.

  “Look, Maxwell,” Preston says after a few beats of uncomfortable silence. “I’m a businessman first, a fact you’ve known your entire life. Relinquishing control to you would only result in the further decline of this company. Putting Karen in charge, a woman who can clean up the patriarchal system we have in place, is just good business.” He shrugs. He fucking shrugs. A collective gasp sweeps through the room, and my knees go weak. My entire life I’d been groomed to take over this company. I’ve spent countless hours growing it into the powerhouse that it is today. Jalen and I did the work. We should be reaping the rewards, but instead, Karen.

  “No way you can afford his shares,” Jalen interjects. He moves to stand beside me. Shoulder to shoulder as it’s been since we were teens.

  “We have an arrangement, don’t we, P?” The evil bitch winks at my dad. “Legal and binding. I’ll pay him over the course of the next five years. Once the world finds out a woman is in charge, the Anderson’s PR problems vanish.”

  “We still have the vote,” Graham adds. Coming to stand on my other side.

  “I’ve spoken to Richard, James, and Louise.” Karen nods to each of the board members in her back pocket. “They are with me. Add in Preston’s shares and the vote is just a formality. I win. You lose.”

  “Dad. You can’t be serious. Grandfather is rolling in his grave.” I make one last attempt to appeal to his humanity. “You have never been there for me, not once in thirty years. I’m asking you not to do this.”

  My dad pulls a flask from his wrinkled suit jacket and takes a drink. “Sorry, Maxwell, my decision is final.”

  “How long have you been planning this?” Graham asks.
“News just broke about Max and the girl less than an hour ago. How could you have possibly drawn up—” Graham’s mouth snaps shut, realization painted on his features. He turns to Karen. “You did this. The pictures. Cooper Jones. All of it was your doing.”

  She smiles that poisonous smile of hers. “Not me…well, not just me. I had a little help.” She presses a button on the intercom. “It’s time.”

  The door to the conference room swings open, and a tearful Ellie and a smug Weiner step inside and just like that, my entire world comes crashing down.

  “Was it all a lie?” Max’s voice is devoid of emotion. His eyes are the color of the sea at midnight, black and impenetrable. His body pulses with anger, and even from across the room I can feel his wrath. It shoots through my chest like an arrow. He’s in pain and I want nothing more than to go to him. To wrap my arms around his waist and absorb every ounce of his hurt, but I’m rooted in my spot next to Winston. Stuck in the muck and mire of my bad decisions. Standing at the mercy of the firing squad.

  “Well,” Karen chirps a little too brightly given the thick layer of tension swirling through the air, “this seems like a personal issue, one that we don’t need to be present for. Max, you have until the end of the day to clean out your desk. Jalen, Graham, figure out where your allegiance lies or else you can join him in the unemployment line.” One by one the board members stand and exit, leaving me alone with Karen, Max, Jalen, Winston, Graham, and a very disheveled-looking Mr. Anderson.

  My eyes dart to Max’s in confusion. Winston and I were having lunch one minute, and the next the TV in the deli has my face splattered across the screen. We’d made it halfway back to the office when Winston got a call saying I was needed on thirty. I’d assumed I was getting my walking papers, but judging by the look on Max’s face, it’s more serious than breaking company policy.

  “Tell me you didn’t.” Max stalks over to me. Wrath and pride contort his features. Pain lives there too. He’s a mosaic of sins and emotions and I can’t help but feel guilty. Guilty because our lack of self-control cost him everything. I back up until I hit the glass wall of the room that suddenly feels like a cage. “Tell me you didn’t set me up. Tell me you didn’t play me.”

  “What?” I choke back a sob.

  “The news seemed to know intimate details about our time together, and I’m wondering if the broke girl from Brooklyn with a fucking fashion degree didn’t give it to them. I’m wondering if everything out of your pretty little mouth was a lie?”

  I push him back, hard. “Fuck you, Preston.”

  He grins a maniacal grin. “Fucking is what we did best, am I right, Piss Girl. I’ve got the stained slacks to prove it.”

  “Don’t do this,” I cry, not caring about our audience. “Don’t break us.”

  “Didn’t you see the news? This is who I am, I’m the monster, not the handsome prince.”

  Three steps and I’m on him. My chest against his. My hands cupping his cheeks forcing him to meet my gaze. “Look at me, Max.”

  “Tell me you didn’t.” His voice cracks, sadness chipping away at the anger.

  “Look. At. Me,” I repeat. “I think I’m falling in love with you.” His eyes snap to mine. “I would never do that to you. Ever.” He stares at me for so long the world stops spinning. I need him to believe me. I need him to know I’d never hurt him. “Ever.”

  His mask of indifference slides off and he takes me into his arms, his face buried in my neck. He inhales, and I can feel his body relax. “I’m sorry, baby. I saw you with Winston and something inside me snapped. I know you. I know you wouldn’t do that.”

  I nod, tears falling down my cheeks. “Never. Ever.”

  We stand locked in each other’s arms. It’s easy to forget the media hailstorm surrounding us. It’s easy to forget the entire fucking world. None of it matters. It all fades to black like the end of a movie. Only this isn’t the part where Max and I ride off into the sunset. This isn’t the part where the credits roll on The Disgraced Prince and The Commoner.

  A slow clap echoes through the room. “Congratulations, Son.” Mr. Anderson rises on unsteady legs. “I’m really happy for you. Enjoy it while it lasts, because the next thing you know she’ll be fucking your best friend.”

  We turn to face him. His cold glare focused on Graham.

  “P,” Graham starts. He moves toward his old friend, but Preston raises a hand to stop him.

  Max releases me. “What are you talking about?”

  “Tell him.” Max’s dad takes a swig from his flask. “And don’t you fucking dare lie.”

  “You’re drunk,” Graham says. “I refuse to stand here and listen to the incoherent ramblings of an alcoholic.”

  “Is he, Dad?” It’s Winston’s turn to step up to the table. The four of them on opposite corners, fathers and sons and lies and deceit.

  “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Max yells and his fist slams into the wood.

  “Son,” Graham looks to Max, “calm down.”

  “He isn’t your son.” Winston points an accusatory finger at his father. “I am, but you’ve always loved him more, because of her, because of Gwen.”

  “That’s not true.” Graham tries to defend himself, but the look on Winston’s face is resigned. He’s already built the pyre and his next words light the match. “You think I don’t know about you paying the rent on that stupid fucking pizza shop? You think I don’t know why you and mom got divorced? You think I don’t know about the ‘business trip’ you took last month?”

  “You mean the one where he took my jet to Chicago and fucked my wife,” Preston adds. A gasp tears from my throat and I turn to Max. His eyes dart between his father and the man who’d been like a father to him since he was a teenager.

  “It isn’t like that. We haven’t been having some torrid affair. She was in love with you, P, and I did everything in my power to turn you into the man she deserves. I lied. I covered up your indiscretions, all to keep her happy. The one time I slipped was after Max found you nailing that bitch on your desk.” Graham points his index finger to Karen. “She was so upset.”

  “And you comforted her with your dick.” Max’s dad shakes his head, before staring out the window, realization dawning behind his droopy eyes. “She cried for a month. I foolishly thought it was because of my fuckup. I did everything I could think of, flowers, jewelry. I spent more time at home, everything. Then one day she got out of bed, took me in her arms, and said we’ll start clean. Forget our past mistakes and try again, because I was the love of her life. My ego wouldn’t let me see what she meant. It wouldn’t let me see that I’d lost a little piece of her heart to you. I couldn’t see it then, but I see it now. She wasn’t upset about my infidelity. She was upset about her own. That’s when I lost her. I tried to ignore it because, it was my fault, right? I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants.” He inhales. “But really it was because she had fallen in love with another man.”

  “It was just the one time…until Chicago, I swear.”

  Max turns to Graham. “So that’s your play? My mother?”

  “Max. It’s not like that. Gwen is the only woman I have ever loved.” Graham steps around the table, his hand lands on Max’s shoulder, and he gives him a reassuring squeeze.

  Winston’s face turns to stone as he takes his place behind Karen. “Meanwhile, fuck your wife and son.” He turns to me. “I told you not to get involved with him. Lynn would have been the perfect pawn, and none of this would have touched you. But you couldn’t keep your legs closed long enough.”

  “What?” I gasp. His words cut deep. I thought Winston and I were friends.

  “You see what Anderson men do to women like you. Good, kind, strong women. They turn them hollow. Is that what you really want?” Every eye in the room turns to face me. “Do you want to drown with him, or do you want to steer the fucking ship with me?”

  Max’s dad, laughs. “He’s got more balls than you ever had, Graham. Pining away over a woman
for thirty years. Well, guess what? You can have her. Not like she’ll remember you much longer anyway.”

  Max moves so fast, what happens next is a blur. I don’t see the hit, but I feel the crunch of bone deep down in the pit of my stomach. Blood leaks from Preston’s face and Graham and Jalen pull Max off his father. “Never speak of my mother in that way again, or I swear to God, I will kill you.”

  “See, Ellie, he’s monster,” Winston sneers.

  “ENOUGH!” Graham bellows. His voice echoes through the room, halting the commotion. “Max, you need to lie low for a few days. Go visit your mother. Take the jet.” Karen stands to interject, but Graham growls at her. “I’m in control of this company until the ink on your shady deal dries.”

  “I can’t leave now,” Max insists.

  “Just go. We can’t win today, but the war is far from over. Take the jet, check on our girl. Jalen and I can handle things for a few days.”

  Max sighs, then nods as he looks to me, hand outstretched. “Ellie, let’s go. You can call your sister from the tarmac.”

  “No, she needs to get back to work. Someone needs to inform all your clients they’ll be with another investor.” Winston grins.

  My world spins and suddenly I know how Andie feels in Pretty in Pink. Winston or Max. Duckie or Jake? My livelihood or my relationship?

  “Baby, let’s go,” Max says again. His handsome face falters a bit, but his stance remains firm.

  I can’t not pick him, and yet I can’t afford not to choose my job. It isn’t just me. My decision will affect Erin too. My lips tremble. “Max, I can’t quit.” The words leave my mouth on an exhale, spilling and tripping over themselves on their way out. “I can’t go to Chicago. How am I going to pay my rent if I don’t have a job?” Hurt flashes in his eyes and for the first time since we’ve met, he doesn’t bother covering it up. He bleeds in front of the wolves, for me…because of me. “Please don’t make me choose,” I beg. “I can’t go to Chicago. You said it yourself. I don’t make much serving rail drinks to drunk assholes. If I still have a job…I can’t leave it.”