Chapter One #2
Eudora headed back toward her new apartment, opening the noodles and starting to slurp as she walked.
She finished her ramen and disposed of the container, walking to the apartment without any sense that she was still being watched. She checked her cheap little phone and hoped that two weeks would come quickly so she could get paid.
Eudora began making notes for the idea she had. It would be perfect for International Women’s Day. Her space was silent, so she worked with pen and paper before heading to bed. Thirteen days to go.
Eudora stretched after roughing out the campaign for Women’s Day.
She was targeting the ads at gyms that ran early and later hours but were women-inclusive.
She had nagged another friend into studio time, had created a rough draft of the song to back the video, and had spliced a lot of stock images together to the soundtrack.
She knocked on her boss’s door and said, “Are you still taking pitches for Women’s Day?”
He frowned and nodded. “Yeah.”
She tossed him a thumb drive. “Check it out.”
He blinked and plugged it in.
The music roared, and the images of women doing domestic labour versus women in the gym. The split went back and forth during the song until it turned into a woman punching dough. The tagline: You’re doing it anyway... make it count. She watched his face, and he smiled. “Oh, that’s good.”
“Thanks. So, submit it for the pitch meeting.” She flapped her hands toward him.
“Nope. You submit it.”
She frowned. “That isn’t how it works.”
“I already submitted the video that Evans did. This is better, but I can’t submit two.”
“Oh. Disappointing. Right. Well, it was worth a shot.” She shrugged.
She headed back to her desk.
Her boss came by with the drive. “Submit it to the committee. That’s an order.”
She grimaced. “I hate submitting things directly.”
“I know, but do it. Trust me. You are worth it. The music kicks ass, by the way. Do we own it?”
“Not yet. Arrangements can be made.”
She looked at the email and sent it to the Women’s Day committee. She turned and glared. “Happy?”
“Yes. Thank you, also smug.” He swanned away from her desk with a grin. “You will know if you have been selected by the end of the day.”
“Delightful. That won’t be distracting at all.”
He grinned over his shoulder. “Deal with it.”
He left, and she tried to go back to working on tweaks requested for other campaigns.
She managed to concentrate after all.
She was packing up for the day, resigned to the fact that she didn’t get selected, and then her phone rang on her desk. “Eudora speaking.”
A male voice spoke. “Eudora? We have been trying to get a hold of you for the last hour. Your husband suggested we use your business line.”
“Um, ex-husband.”
“Ah. Oh.”
“Yeah, the phone was his in the prenup. It was extensive. Anyway, what can I do for you?”
“Your video is our choice for the company submission for Women’s Day. Who were you thinking to get sponsorship from?”
“There is a list of gyms in the file pack. Also, some community centres that have family programs.”
“Oh, wow. Right here. How long do you think it will take to complete the video?”
“With enough footage? Four days. I am going to ask legal to get clips from the parkour videos, as well as some of the alpha versus beta videos.”
“What about the model at the gym?”
“Oh. Uh. That was me.”
Silence fell.
Eudora said, “Hello?”
“Holy shit. Damn. I had no idea.”
“That’s what clothes are for.”
He chuckled. “I suppose that you can’t look like that during the day.”
“Nope.”
She sighed. “Can you send me a breakdown of the budget to my email? I will wait for it.”
“I can send it this evening.”
“Um, I can’t work away from the office yet. Ex got my laptop, phone, and my equipment. I have a phone that isn’t very smart until I get my next paycheque. He also froze my accounts.”
“Fuck me. I am sending a note to IT. Go now and get a laptop and extra monitors.”
“Now?”
“Now. Go!”
She jumped. “Yikes. Okay.”
She grabbed her bag and stuffed her purse into it, scanning her way into the elevator and down to IT.
* * * *
Likon looked at the phone and frowned. She didn’t have a cell phone yet. He called Nelson. “Nelson, why do you think that Eudora doesn’t have a cell phone yet?”
“Her accounts are frozen until the divorce is finalized and the writ is issued. That was part of the prenup, so we could make sure she wasn’t making off with anything extra. We are running a forensic audit.”
Likon blinked. “What is she living on?”
“Not a clue. Not my business. I protected your assets, and that was that.” Nelson chuckled. “I got hers in the process, so I am very good.”
Likon felt ice in his gut. “What?”
“It was a marriage, right? You locked your assets down; she didn’t. She’s gonna bleed.” He laughed.
Likon hung up and went to the bathroom, where he threw up part of his soul. He had crushed her. All she wanted was the respect that he said he would give her, and he fucked it up.
His phone rang, and he answered it, freezing when a chirpy voice said, “Dori, did you want to go for lunch on the weekend? I haven’t spoken to you in ages.”
“Eudora and I split up, Athena. Our divorce papers were signed two weeks ago. She moved out.”
“Why are you answering her phone?”
“Uh, I bought her phone when she moved in with me, and she had to leave behind anything I bought. It was an asset of the marriage.” Likon hated the words as they came out of his mouth.
“What the actual fuck? Did Nelson write that up? Nasty bastard.”
“He’s a friend.”
“He likes to hurt people. He gets off on it, Li.” Athena sighed, and he could imagine her rubbing her head. “He also had a thing for Eudora.”
“What?”
“Yeah. She didn’t reciprocate, and that made him mad. He was the one who introduced you, right?”
“Yeah. Oh, shit. I need to talk to her.”
“So, talk.”
“I don’t have her new number or her address.”
“Tyler is going to be pissed if you don’t bring his aunt back. He had plans for a trip with her.”
Likon asked, “Where?”
“One of those theme parks. She’s just the right size and could pass for an older girlfriend if she does her makeup.” She paused. “What are you going to do about Nelson?”
“Tell another lawyer that he was acting in bad faith.” Likon was grim. “And I just realized it.”
“Right. Get on that. I had a perfectly excellent sister-in-law, and you did something to break her. I don’t want to know what it is, but undo it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
He dragged in a deep breath and said, “She caught me balls deep in Nessa in the living room.”
The line disconnected.
Likon rubbed a hand over his face and went to get dressed. He needed to get a new lawyer. Fast.