Only one love, p.19
Only One Love, page 19
"What do you need from us?" My father gets up, and I look over at my mother, who has tears in her eyes. I start to breathe a touch heavy, and I know I need to sit down.
"I need to …" I turn and walk out of the room toward the bathroom. After closing and locking the door, I exhale the big breath I was holding as I drop my head back onto the door. "Oh my God," I say with my eyes closed, the stinging of tears starting to form as my heartbeats start to slow just a bit. "I love him," I mumble to myself. "How in the hell did this happen?" I turn to look at myself in the mirror. "I love him," I repeat, and I think I’m going to be sick. I wet my hands with cold water and pat my cheeks as I fight off throwing up and tears at the same time.
The soft knock on the door has my head turning to the side. "Franny." I hear his soft voice, and I blink away the tears. As I look at myself in the mirror, I see the tip of my nose is a touch red before I open the door. His eyes search mine. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I reply, pushing down the lump in my throat. Opening the door, I step out. "I just needed a little bit of a breather."
He slips his hand in mine, and instead of walking back to the family room, he brings us to the kitchen where my mother and father are making coffee. "I just ordered breakfast," my mother says, looking over at me, and I can tell she has been crying. I don’t have time to ask her what’s wrong because Vivi comes into the kitchen.
"What did I miss?" Vivi looks around the room. "All guests accounted for." She smirks. "No casualties." My father rolls his eyes. "Dad, are you going soft on me?" She walks to Wilson. "We haven’t met formally." She holds out her hand. "I’m the good sister."
"She’s also my only sister," I mumble to Wilson, who puts his hand out to shake my sister’s and puts his other on my lower back.
"So what are we talking about?" she asks, going to stand next to Mother. "By the way, I can’t find the video anywhere."
My mother gasps. "Relax, I was just going to report it." She turns and winks at Wilson and me. "Luckily, no other videos turned up." She walks to grab a cup of coffee. "I also have your name as a Google alert, so as soon as one pops up, I’ll be the first to know."
"I need to find someone who can do a sweep of my home to check for any hidden cameras.”
"I know someone," my father says, taking out his phone from his back pocket.
"Of course you do," Vivienne says and rolls her eyes. "Who don’t you know? It’s like you’re the Godfather."
I’m on pins and needles the whole time. My mind’s in overdrive as I play out the past couple of weeks, trying to pinpoint when I fell in love with him. Even when we go back to his house and meet with the people to discuss the camera we found, I stay quiet and just observe.
That night when we slide into bed, he turns to me. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I say, trying to put on my poker face. "I’m just tired." He searches my face and then takes me in his arms. I fall asleep listening to the sound of his heart, and when I get up the following morning, it’s to him bringing me coffee.
He bends to kiss my lips, sitting on the bed beside me. "How did you sleep?"
I take a sip of coffee. "Good, except the couple of times I woke up to your cock in me."
He smiles at me. "You kept rubbing up on me."
I smile at him. "Too bad we don’t have a camera as evidence." He glares at me. "Too soon?" I sit up to kiss his lips. "Do you have to go to the rink today?"
"Yeah," he says, and I get out of bed and head to the shower. He jumps into the shower when I get out, and when I walk into the walk-in closet, the phone beeps from my bedroom. I slip on my gray pants with white and black lines. Grabbing a black short-sleeved cashmere shirt, tucking it in with a black blazer. I pick up my white sneakers and then change my mind and opt for black ballerina flats.
When I turn, I find him leaning against the doorjamb, watching me with his white towel around his hips. His eyes are crystal now. "I have to get going, and there is no time for whatever it is you are thinking." I kiss his lips and grab my phone, walking. "I’ll call you later!" I shout out to him from the front door before walking out of the house.
I stop to get another coffee and a sandwich before walking into the office, and for once, there are a couple of people in before me. I stop and look at my watch to make sure it’s not later than it is, grabbing my phone to double-check when I see the email.
Emergency board meeting requested.
I look around, then walk into my office. Sitting down, I turn on my computer. I see Earl coming in and going straight to his office. A couple of the other men walk in and go to his office. My phone beeps again at the same time as Ava comes into the office.
Board meeting in ten minutes.
"What is going on?" she asks, and all I can do is look out at the men huddling together. "I have no idea," I say with a sinking feeling in my gut. "But I don’t think it’s a meeting to shoot the shit and talk about our weekend."
I stand and head toward the boardroom. The men are all sitting facing that one chair in the front that is unoccupied. "Gentlemen," I say, walking in and pulling out the chair. "What is this meeting about?"
"It’s come to our attention," Earl starts, "that there was a sex tape." The minute he says the words my back goes straight up. "Circulating." I look at the men as they all stare at me. "With you in it."
I tilt my head to the side. “You mean something that was shared without my consent?” I say, and as I look at the members, a couple of them can’t look me in the eye. I know what this is. They are here to ambush me and fire me. Well, they’ve come to the wrong fucking girl. “Is that what you’re talking about?” I look straight at Earl. “I never pegged you as the voyeurism type.”
“We’ve held a vote,” he says.
“You held a vote with whom?” I ask, putting my hands on the table. “How was I not included in this vote?” No one says anything. “So basically, I was prosecuted without being able to defend myself.”
“What can you say? We all saw it. We know it was you,” Earl snaps. “You can’t deny it, and we can’t have the station associated with you.”
I laugh at them, and I’m sure a couple of them are surprised. “You guys are a joke.” I stand with my head held high and my shoulders back. “First, I’ll have you know firing me for having sex is discrimination.” I hold up my hand when Earl starts to speak. “And I have grounds to file a suit against you for sexual harassment.”
“That’s preposterous,” Earl says.
“Is it?” I stare at him and make sure he sees that he doesn’t scare me. “I have kept extensive notes of dates and times when my wardrobe was discussed. But I’ll cut to the chase. I’m not going to give you the pleasure of firing me because I quit.” A couple of them look at me in shock with their mouths hanging open. I turn and start to walk out. “And just so there is no mistake, all my shows are no longer allowed to be used by this station.”
“You can’t do that. We own those shows,” Earl says, getting up.
I smile having the last laugh. “That’s where you’re wrong. The station may have aired the show, but they belong to MFG Production.” Looking around the table, I continue, “Which I own. Have a nice day, gentlemen.”
I walk out of there with a smirk on my face, putting the production name into the contract was done at the last minute, and for once, I’m glad I listened to my father.
“How did it go?” Ava asks nervously.
“I quit,” I say, and she gets tears in her eyes. “Ava, I would like you to come work for me. It won’t be the same salary, and I’m going to have to see about benefits.” She just stares at me. “Can you give me a week to come to you with an offer?”
“I would like nothing more,” she says with a smile.
I look around the office now, the office I thought would bring me so much joy. “Guess I need to clear out.”
“Why don’t you let me take care of it?” Ava says. “Don’t give them the satisfaction of walking out with a box.” She looks back at the men who are watching. “I promise I’ll pack it myself.” She steps forward and turns her hand, showing me a USB key. “I backed up all your files.”
I smirk at her. “Look at you.” I hold out my hand, and she slips me the USB key. “I’ll call you later.” She nods at me, and I grab my purse, walking out with a smile.
Stopping at the flower shop on the way home, I pick up eight roses and put them in a vase as soon as I get home and I start making my plan.
The phone rings, and I pick it up, a smile coming over me when I see Wilson’s name. “Hello, you.”
“Hey,” he says softly, and I hear a car door close. “What time will you be home?”
“I’m home already,” I say, leaning back in the chair.
“Already?” He laughs. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just decided to work from home.” I avoid telling him about what went down, knowing he’ll blame himself. “Are you on your way?”
“I’ll be there in twenty,” he says and then disconnects.
I turn off the computer and walk downstairs to grab a glass of water when the door opens and slams shut. “Why is your front door unlocked?” He comes into the room, and I can’t help but smile when I see him.
“Hello to you, too, sunshine.” I laugh with the glass in front of my lips.
He glares at me, and then his eyes go to the flowers. “Who the fuck sent you those?” He puts his hands on his hips, and I walk around the counter
“Someone is either hangry or cranky.” I wrap my hands around his waist. “You didn’t even give me a kiss.” I look up at him, and he bends his head to kiss my lips. “Now the front door was open because I know you don’t have a key, and those flowers”—I point back at the flowers—“I bought for you.” I kiss under his chin. “Count how many I bought.” I get on my tippy-toes.
“Eight,” he whispers.
“Do you know what eight roses stand for?” I wrap my arms around his neck and look into his eyes as he puts his hand on my hips. “It means I support you, no matter what.”
“Frances,” he whispers. “I …” His hand comes up to touch my face. “I …” His voice trembles, and my stomach soars as his fingertips trace my face.
“You?” My voice almost cracks. He’s about to say something when the doorbell rings, followed by a knock on the door. “Hold that thought.” I walk away from him toward the front door.
The doorbell rings again, and the banging gets harder. “Jesus,” I say, swinging open the door and coming face-to-face with my father.
His face is filled with rage, and my heart sinks when I think another tape leaked. “They fucking fired you?”
Chapter 34
Wilson
I stand behind her as the banging starts, and when she swings open the door, Matthew is standing there. His hair looks like he just ran a rake through it, and his face is filled with rage. My body goes cold, and my hands form fists beside me. At the thought of another video being out there in the world, I’m pretty sure I look the same way Matthew looks. “They fucking fired you?” he shouts at Franny, and my chest tightens.
“Would you like to come in?” she asks, and he walks in. He just looks at me, and maybe from the way my face is, he realizes that I didn’t know. “I need a drink,” she says, walking past both of us and going to the kitchen. We watch her walk out before we look back at each other.
Matthew doesn’t move, and neither do I. “She didn’t tell you?” I shake my head.
“I just got here,” I reply and then look up at the ceiling. I want to kick myself for not even asking how her day was. When I got in the car and called her, I was so happy to hear her voice after the day I had that I didn’t even bother to ask. “But no, she didn’t tell me.”
He puts his hands in his pockets now. “Take a couple of seconds to calm down and then.” I look at him and glare. “They tell me counting to ten helps.” With a chuckle, he walks away from me, slapping my arm.
I don’t count to ten. I don’t even count to one before I storm back into the kitchen and see her standing at the island with a glass of whiskey in front of her mouth. I don’t even try to hide the anger in my voice when I finally say, “You got fired because of me.” Her eyes come to mine, and if she doesn’t take my breath away with her beauty, she takes it away with the sass that I know will come.
She puts the glass down in front of her, looking at me square in the eyes. “No.” She shakes her head. “I quit because of me.” She points at herself and then smirks, and I really wish I could kiss her right now. I also really wish we hadn’t been interrupted before I told her that I loved her. My eyes go to the flowers she bought me. She got fired yet still stopped to buy me flowers to let me know she supports me. She isn’t just perfect. She is one of a kind.
“That is so much bullshit,” Matthew says, and I turn to look at him. “We are going to call my lawyer and see if we have a case.” She glares at him, and my eyes go big.
“You didn’t even want me to take the job.” Her voice goes higher, and I know she’s not only pissed; she’s fucking angry. “You literally stopped speaking to me because I took the job.”
“I swear to God when I get a hold of Tiffany,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m going to fucking …” I continue between clenched teeth. “Fucking sue the pants off her,” I say instead of what I really want to say.
“Getting her pants off is what started this whole thing to begin with.” She winks at me, and I walk to her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, my voice going low. “You should have told me.”
“Because there was nothing much to say.” She turns toward me, and I bring my hand up to rub her cheek with my thumb. She smiles at me and then turns back to her father, my hand going around her waist. “Honestly, I didn’t even think about work. I walked in this morning and was summoned to some board meeting. Only when they started did I realize it was about the sex tape.”
“So you did get fired because of me.” I look down at her as she rolls her eyes at me and grabs her drink to take another sip.
“One, I didn’t get fired,” she says between clenched teeth while glaring at me. She looks at her father, and I swear I see a sparkle in her eye. “I wouldn’t let them fire me. Pfft,” she says, picking up the glass of whiskey again. “Pompous asses,” she mumbles.
“I’ll go to the board and talk to them,” I say, getting closer to her. “I’ll explain what happened.”
She looks down and then looks up, and I can see her struggling and blinking away tears. “I don’t want you”—she points at me and then turns to point at her father—“or especially you, doing anything.” Matthew and I share a look.
“You loved that job.” My eyes roam her face as she looks down at her whiskey in front of her. Her hands are nervously turning the glass around and around in circles.
“It’s been fucking miserable,” she says, her eyes avoiding us. “I’ve been miserable.” She looks up at her father, and her face shows defeat. “Every time I wanted to do something, it was always a tug-of-war with all of them. I just …” She takes a deep breath. “It’s been a fucking struggle, and I was at my wit's end.” She finishes the whiskey in the glass. “They did me a favor by pushing my back to the wall.” She shrugs.
“Those sons of bitches,” Matthew finally says, and we both look at him. He puts one hand on his hip while he runs his other through his hair, shaking his head. “They came to me before they hired you.” I don’t know why, but I pull her closer to me.
“What are you talking about?”
“They wanted me to buy the station and merge it with the New York station that your grandfather gave me,” he says softly. “But I told them no, and I still remember him saying that he was going to make sure I bought the station.”
“Oh my God,” she hisses, shaking her head. She pours another shot of whiskey in her glass. “All this fucking time.” Her voice starts to go higher. “I thought they hired me because I was good enough.” She grabs her glass of whiskey and downs it in one shot.
“You are good enough,” Matthew says, but she just looks down at the empty glass of whiskey in front of her.
“Your father is wrong,” I say, and she looks up at me. “You aren’t good enough for them.” I smile. “You are too good for them,” I say, kissing her head. “Way too good for them.”
“You are the best thing that station had going for them.” Matthew walks to the counter to get closer to her. “Your show pulled in triple the numbers than the sports show that plays during the day. And that was their best show to date.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing that all the shows I’ve produced belong to MFG Production.” She claps her hands. “They thought they had a sucker.” She shakes her head.
“Say what?” Matthew says, laughing.
“All the shows were shot by MFG Production.” She looks at her father and then me. “I own MFG Production.” She smirks. “Matthew Franny Grant,” she says, and my eyes go big. “I started it when I signed the contract. I knew that if what I created took off, they would own my shit for life. There was no way I was going to allow that to happen.” Matthew throws his head back, and the laughter roars through him.
“Now that’s my girl.” He points at her. “With that said, we are expanding into the Dallas market.” He smiles at her as her eyebrows pull together. “I’m going to be spending time here and figured why not.” He shrugs. “I want to offer you a job.”
“No,” she says right away, and Matthew just stares at her, not sure what to say. “I’m not going to take a pity job.”
He laughs. “It’s not a pity job,” he says, and she rolls her eyes. “I told you I watch the show, and I told you how good it was.”
“You have to tell me that. You’re my father.” She folds her arms over her chest. “What were you supposed to say? It sucked?”
“You should take the job,” I urge, and she looks up at me. “At least listen to what kind of job it is.”
When she doesn’t say anything, Matthew begins his pitch. “You can do what you want, to be honest. You’ll have the creative control to produce your own show. Exactly like you did for them.”
