One Night In Amsterdam

by Nadia C. Kavanagh

  “You don’t have any say in this Chuck. This is between Emma and I.”

  “She is my daughter, and you will do as I tell you. Stay away from her.”

  “That is not possible. I am in love with her.”

  “Dylan Hamilton does not love. He screws…”

  “No. Not with Emma. I love her so much. It’s different. I want to be with her forever. I want to marry her.” He said so unexpectedly, then turned towards me and talked slowly. “Sorry baby… this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I was planning a romantic getaway after your graduation in May. I was going to propose to you there. It wasn’t supposed to be like this… not like this at all.” He shook his head vigorously. I could see the disappointment in his eyes.

  “Marrying my daughter…” My father yelled at him. “Over my dead body!”

  “You can not to tell me or Emma what to do.”

  “I am her father. It’s my job to protect my daughter from assholes like you.”

  “Your job to protect your daughter…” Dylan repeated his words mockingly. “Where were you when she needed you; when she lost her mother? What kind of a father abandons his twelve year old daughter and four year old son after their mother dies. Yeah, you are definitely a role model!”

  “You bastard!” He shook his head and made his hand into a fist. “I am going to make you pay for every fucking word…”

  I was at a loss, caught in the middle of their quarrel. I didn’t know what to do. With every insult they threw at each other, they were getting beyond control. I was scared one of them was going to hit the other, or do something worse.

  Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. “Enough!” I screamed. “Dad…I’ll come and see you in your office later. Dylan, shut up. Don’t say another word. Call Jeff and let’s go.” I said and pulled him away. We left the restaurant in a hurry without looking back. I wanted to get away from my father’s rage as soon as possible. I had never seen him like that before. He was unreasonable, boorish and vulgar. Whatever the problem he had with Dylan, it was obvious they weren’t going to solve it while throwing insults at each other.

  I held Dylan’s hand and led him out of the restaurant. We were walking hastily to get out of the building and I saw the uncontrollable anger in Dylan’s eyes and realized how much he was holding himself back in there. He was infuriated. “This is crazy. I am not going to let him ruin this Emma, I swear to God!” He yelled and punched the door opening to the parking lot angrily with his fist. The glass window shuttered in thousand pieces and glass cuts turned his hand into crimson red. Blood dripping from his fingers soaked his shirt, and made it look like he had a serious injury.

  “I am sorry, Emma.” He groaned. His voice was afflicted with his distress. His faced showed his agony. “I love you so god damn much. I didn’t know what to do! How are you? Please tell me you are not mad at me.” He implored.

  “I am fine, Dylan. I’m not mad, just confused. I have no idea what that whole thing was about. Why do my boyfriend and my father seem to be mortal enemies?”

  “I will explain everything. If you let me …” He begged.

  “Not now, Dylan. We need to take care of your hand first.” I cut him off.

  “It is just a scratch…”

  “It is more than a scratch. You hurt yourself pretty bad. You need stitches and all I have with me is a few Band-Aids.” I held his hand and put pressure on the deep cut with a tissue, but I couldn’t stop the bleeding. Blood dripping from his fingers stained my jeans and sweater too.

  “I want to know what you think…” Dylan whispered gazing into my eyes in a very concerned face. “You are not going to listen to him, are you?” He said, his hands were shaking, his voice cracked.

  “Let’s get you fixed first. Once you calm down and we are back in the apartment, we’ll talk about it.”

  “Okay…” He mumbled. His eyes were still full of worry.

  As soon as Jeff arrived, we rushed him to the nearest ER and he ended up having five stitches. It was a deep wound as I suspected. On our way to the apartment, Dylan was unusually quiet, as if he was contemplating our upcoming discussion.

  We got to the apartment and Russell greeted us with his usual warmth and courtesy. He glanced at our blood stained clothes and I could tell he wanted to ask what happened. However, Dylan ignored his attention and told him to call the elevator brusquely. And poor, old Russell just complied.

  “We are okay, Russell, nothing to worry about.” I said to him, before the elevator door closed.

  “Would you like something to drink?” He asked when we were back in the apartment. He was still pensive.

  “I don’t know. Should I have a drink before I hear you out?”

  “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” He pursed his lips. He poured me some wine and got himself a neat scotch. “I am not sure where to start. It is not my favorite story to tell. I am scared you won’t understand.”

  “I don’t know why my father doesn’t like you, but I am not going to hold it against you. You already know that I am not close with him. I won’t let him meddle with my life or any of my personal relationships. On the other hand, I need to know the reason behind this strong animosity between you. So, just be straight, honest, and tell me nothing but the truth.”

  “Nothing but the truth…” He mumbled to himself and started talking. “It was four years ago. I was trying to acquire Ortuin Assets Management based in Hong Kong. It was my strategic move to get us into Asian market. We were expanding our business greatly and we didn’t want to lose a perfect opportunity in the fast growing hedge fund market in Asia. It was a billion dollar deal for us. We heard there was another American investor interested in them but our offer was strong; reviewed and already approved by the board of directors. The final transfer of title and agreements were due upon our visit. Max and I arrived in Hong Kong to sign and finalize the deal with our attorneys. On the day of the agreement, Mr. Chiang, Ortun’s CEO, did not show up to the meeting. We didn’t understand what was going on. Our translators were at a loss as well. They were telling us bits and pieces of what they heard. Soon we found that Mr. Chiang received another offer at the last minute. Reed Capital Management sent an offer, ten percent higher than ours. We couldn’t understand how it happened, how they came in higher than us. After a detailed investigation, we found a security breach in our office network and we realized one of our interns leaked our bid. We lost OAM to Reed Capital and lost our access to the Asia Market.”

  “And you thought my father paid off your intern and got the tip.”

  “I am sure that he did. I always knew Chuck Reed was a brutal businessman. What I didn’t know is that he would go to that kind of level to win. Everything is fair in love and war, and Reed was at war with Phliant.”

  “But…what you have explained sounds like corporate espionage. Isn’t it against the law? Why didn’t you take legal action?”

  “Because we didn’t have any proof. The intern left no trace. His computer was clean and we had no paper or electronic trail to link them. Other than two eye witnesses who saw them having a meal together, we had nothing that would stand up in court. A few months later, he transferred to a college in Melbourne and we couldn’t chase him any further. We ended up dropping the case. It was a lost cause anyway. It wouldn’t have changed the fact that Reed acquired OAM.”

  “This explains why you hate him. You had a big loss. But why does he hate you? It seems like he was the big winner. My father always finds a way to pull through.”

  “I am getting there. I just wanted you to know how it all started.”

  “Okay…I’m listening.”

  “Two years ago, Max and I were working on another deal in Singapore. After losing OAM to Reed Capital, we were being extremely careful. But I knew Chuck. He didn’t play fair, so we decided to change the rules of the game and play like he did.” Dylan spoke slowly, and then looked deeply into my eyes as if he was gauging my response. “Do you remember Trisha, your father’s girlfriend?�
� He asked hesitatingly.

  “The one before Marlene. Yes, I remember her. I also remember that they had an ugly break up. My father never explained us what she did. But I heard she cost him a lot of money.”

  “Yes, she did. I was the reason for that.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

  “We didn’t have anybody or any way to get to Chuck the way he did to us. So, Max and I made a plan. We knew that Trisha was Chuck’s girl. We studied her for a month and knew everything about her. What she liked, she didn’t like…What her weaknesses were. Our plan was to use her against Chuck. I wanted Max to carry on the plan, flirt with her and win her heart, but in order to do that he had to give up his wicked bachelor life and only date her. Of course, Max couldn’t do it.” He paused, took a big sip from his glass. “So I did. She was easy to fool. Since I studied her so well, she fell for me. She continued her relationship with Chuck as I told her to do. But she was coming to my apartment, spending her days in my bed after she left Chuck’s.”

  “What? You… you were…” I stuttered. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “Yes Emma. I used your father’s girlfriend for six months to get to your father. She was so in love with me that she was ready to do whatever I asked. She had access to all his files. She fed me all his business information. Now that we had the insider information, we closed all the deals when we were competing against Reed. We acquired an even more powerful company in Singapore for the Asia Market and we turned a record profit that year.” He explained. His face was solemn, eyes not blinking. “Of course, Chuck found out about Trisha and me eventually, and we’ve become mortal enemies ever since.”

  “Oh, Dylan. How could you? What you did is…”

  “I know, it is disgusting. Horrible. Immoral.”

  “Yes. All that…and more. I don’t know what to say, or what to think?”

  “That was old me Emma. I promise you, I’ve changed. You’ve changed me. Since I’ve met you, I’ve become a different person. Can you forgive me?”

  “I am not the one to forgive. You used a girl to get to my father. I don’t care how you made my father lose millions, but using a girl the way you did… it’s unacceptable.”

  “Trisha wasn’t a good girl Emma. She was using me as much as she used your father. She saw that I was a better catch, so she played an ugly, unethical game to get me. I am not proud of what I did but please believe me when I say, she wasn’t in it for love, she was in it for money.”

  “I don’t know what to believe any more.”

  “I know. You asked for nothing but truth. This is the truth. Please let me hold you?” He said and wrapped his hands over my waist. He leaned in, his face a few inches away, breathed in the side of my neck. His lips were close but not touching my skin.

  I put my hands on his chest and pushed myself away from him since I knew the moment we kissed, I wouldn’t be able to stay away. I needed time to think and make up my mind about of all of this. “I think I should stay at Sydney’s apartment tonight.” I said after a long silent minute.

  “No, I can’t let you leave.” Dylan rejected. “You won’t come back.”

  “Dylan, please… ”

  “I’m scared Emma.” He muttered and buried his face into my hair. He wrapped his arms tightly around me again and whispered in my ear. “I’m scared that I am going to lose you.”

  “I love you Dylan. I can’t just turn off my feelings for you. But I need some time. Give me some time.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest and gazed deep into my eyes. When I opened the door to leave, “Please come back to me, Emma,” he said and watched me get into the elevator with doleful eyes. Oh, God… What was I going to do?

  CHAPTER 17

  DYLAN

  “Just give her some time…” I kept repeating to myself on my way to work after I got out of the gym. I couldn’t sleep all night. Being alone in a cold bed and her absence in my arms was horrifying. My apartment felt like a strange place without her. It was so bothersome and uncomfortable that I couldn’t stay inside. I rushed out of my apartment before dawn broke. I crossed the empty street and started my usual five mile jog around the park. I ran faster than my usual pace. I was out of breath and sweating like crazy by the time I completed my run but it wasn’t enough to distract me. So I went to the gym next, worked out for another hour, took a shower and then called Jeff to pick me up. I was staring at the New York skyline through the tall windows in my office blankly, absorbed in deep thoughts when Max came in. With one look at me, he noticed my miserable mood. I was in anguish and my face obviously showed it.

  “What the hell is wrong with you again?” Max growled.

  I turned around and glared at him without saying anything. I was still on edge and felt like I was ready to punch someone in the face. If Max wasn’t careful with what he said, he was going to be the unlucky victim of my burning rage.

  “Come on, man. You look like shit.” He commented bluntly. “What’s up with your hand? I left you all fine and chirpy on Friday. Tell me what happened.”

  “Chuck Reed happened.” I mumbled.

  "I thought you guys didn’t do face-to-face anymore. Is it the same old shit again?”

  “No.” I sighed deeply before I told him the disturbing news. “He is Emma’s father.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “Just as I said… Chuck Reed is Emma’s father. We had a very pleasant brunch yesterday.” I said facetiously.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. How is that possible? She’s Dr. Collins.”

  “I guess she took her mother’s last name when she got into Columbia. She doesn’t talk much about her father and definitely does not act like the daughter of a billionaire. I’ve never suspected anything.”

  “No, I wouldn’t have guessed Emma was that son of a bitch’s daughter either.” Max replied unbelievingly and shook his head. He looked as shocked as I was when I found out about Emma’s father. “So… You met Chuck and had a fight. Is that why your hand is bandaged? Don’t tell me you hit him, broke his nose or something?”

  “If Emma didn’t step in, I would have. The old bastard ordered me not to see his daughter ever again.” I snorted. “Of course I got mad, punched a window, cut my hand, and then we went to the ER, and I got stitches. All that fun stuff.”

  “Oh, wow. Too much shit for one weekend. So…how is Emma? What does she think of all this?”

  “I don’t know. I told her everything when we got home…and then she left.”

  “What do you mean you told her everything? Did you tell her about Trisha?”

  “Yes, even Trisha…”

  “Oh, God. You‘re in trouble, man. Good luck!”

  “Yeah…She said she needs some time to think.” I muttered and started looking at the folder Max brought in. I had to distract myself and stop thinking about Emma…what she was doing or what she was going to do.

  Max and I were going over Steve’s ten year projection numbers for South America when Mrs. Donnelly called in. She spoke through the office intercom in an unusual panicky voice.

  “Mr. Hamilton. There is somebody in the lobby and he demands to see you immediately. I told him you are in a meeting but he refused to listen.”

  “Who is he?”

  “He didn’t give me his name. He said something about your brunch on Sunday. He is a very unreasonable person and he is on his way.” She said anxiously.

  “Oh, shit!” I yelled at her inadvertently.

  “I am sorry, Mr. Hamilton. I tried but he didn’t listen.”

  “It is not your fault Rose…” I said and saw Chuck Reed’s tall figure approaching my office behind the frosty glass door.

  “What’s going on Dylan?” Max asked, but before I could answer, Chuck entered my office.

  “What are you doing here Chuck? Yesterday’s meeting was unpleasant enough. It is seriously unhealthy for me to see your face two days in a row.” I said.

  “Believe m
e, I’d like to avoid seeing your god damn face for rest of my life and I am here to ensure that happens.” He threw his usual insults at me immediately.

  “If you are going to start up about my relationship with Emma again, don’t bother. We’ve talked already…”

  “And…”

  “And I told her everything. She loves me and I love her. She just needs some time to think. But I trust that we’ll get pass this. I was honest with her and that’s what’s most important.”

  “I am sure you missed a few details.” He narrowed his eyes and couldn’t hide the subtle twitch on his face.

  “No… I told her about everything, even Trisha.” I said, self-assured.

  Hearing her name caused the effect I expected. He was irritated and pissed off. “I’m pretty sure you’ve skipped a few heated details. Like these…” He growled with a smirk on his face and threw a sealed yellow envelope on my desk. “I wanted to hand deliver it to you personally and make sure that you got it. If you don’t remember the night, I bet these pictures and Max will refresh your memory. Wouldn’t you Maximilian? You are the perfect friend. The perfect son. Always making your daddy proud! ”

  “What the hell you are talking about? What is in the envelope?” I asked angrily.

  “It is proof showing what a fucked up person you are and the same goes for your dear friend Max. Emma needs to stay away from both of you, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen. Why don’t you enjoy the nice photo album I prepared for you?” He said, mockingly. He was trying to intimidate me and I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of showing that I was worried. I glared back at him and then turned to Max to see if he knew what the hell he was talking about. Max crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

  “Go ahead open it…” Chuck snickered.

  Max and I reached for the envelope at the same time and I let Max tear it open. He pulled a stack of photos out and the instant he grabbed the first picture, his eyes grew wide. Almost in shock, he started swearing and cursing, while Chuck smirked back and lifted his eyes, daring me to look. I took the stack of photos from Max’s hands and checked them out quickly.