20. Weston
“It’s official.” Gregg shakes my hand vigorously.
“It’s official,” I repeat. I’ve just closed what will soon be one of the most lucrative deals of my career, helping me pave the way as a major market share owner in the transportation industry. I should be ecstatic and celebrating, but it doesn’t hold the joy things like this used to. It’s just a business transaction, nothing more. I leave the conference room, letting the lawyers finish up as I head back to my office.
“Weston?” I turn to see Natalie following me down the hallway. “Can I talk to you for a moment?” She doesn’t have her normal overly friendly demeanor today.
“Sure.” I usher her into my office, closing the door behind us.
“First, congrats on the deal.” She smiles.
“Thank you, not just for the congratulations but also for your work on the deal. I appreciate it.” After our last conversation, she did everything to negotiate with Nile’s lawyers and my own to make sure the deal went through as smoothly as possible.
“Listen,” she says, taking a seat. “I owe you an apology.”
“Actually,” I say, interrupting her, “I think I’m the one who owes you an apology. The way I spoke to you last time was rude.”
“No, it was… understandable. I’ve thought a lot about what you said and you were right. I did take advantage of your grief, but I also want you to know that it came from a place of loss and hurt on my own part. After Mike left me for someone else, I was really struggling with my self-esteem. I missed having Mira around to talk to; she was always there to talk sense into me when he and I were going through something. She really was an amazing person and if she knew how I behaved, how I made you feel, she would be really hurt by my actions. So I’m sorry. I’m also incredibly sorry for talking to Daphne. I had no reason to do that. I went to apologize to her at school the other day, but I must have just missed her because she wasn’t there.”
I let out a sigh. I’m thoroughly shocked to hear her talk like this. “I appreciate that. I know we both acted on our feelings of loss and loneliness. I should have handled things better with you… and with Mira.”
“I— I knew,” she says nervously.
“You knew?” I ask, confused.
“About Ken.” She says the name as if I should know who she’s talking about.
“Ken who?” Then it hits me. “Ken? That’s his name? The man she loved?”
“Shit.” She hangs her head. “Sorry. I thought you knew.”
“I knew there was someone else. I knew she was in love with him but that’s about it. I asked her once but she didn’t tell me so I left it at that. I didn’t want to know.” I spin in my chair, staring out the window of my office. “Whatever happened to him?”
“I don’t know for sure. She told me that she called it off with him after getting sick. She didn’t tell him why, just that she couldn’t do it any longer. I guess he took it really hard, started spiraling and begging her to come back.”
“Did you ever meet him?”
“No. Never saw a picture of him or anything. I just knew his name. Ken.”
“Ken what?” I spin back around in my chair to look at her. I’m not sure what I’m going to do if I have his last name. What would be the point in finding out who he is now?
“I don’t know. She never told me his last name. I just saw him saved in her phone as KF. Anyway”—she stands up—“I should get going but I’m sorry this conversation went in this direction. It wasn’t my intention. I—I’m just sorry for everything.” She walks out my office, leaving my head spinning with that name.
* * *
“I don’t wantto go to school, Daddy!” Daisy’s face grows red as tears stream down her cheeks.
“What has gotten into you?” I try to hide my frustration, but Daisy’s tantrums have grown increasingly out of control this last week. “You love school, sweetie.”
“Not anymore!” she shouts, throwing her socks across her bedroom. “I want Miss Flowers back,” she says through tearful hiccups.
Fuck. I had hoped she wouldn’t have caught on that there was something between us that is now not between us.
“Sweetie.” I take a seat on the bed next to her, trying to figure out what to say to her. I don’t even know what to say to comfort myself about losing her. I haven’t even accepted the fact that I have lost her. “Sometimes men and women, even if they love each other very much, can’t make things work.” She looks up at me like she has no idea what I’m saying. “Shit, okay,” I mutter to myself as I try to think how to reword it.
“I don’t like my new teacher.”
“What? What do you mean new teacher? What happened to Miss Flowers?”
“She’s gone,” she says, her lip starting to quiver again.
“Sweetie. Daisy, look at me.” I stand up. “Miss Flowers isn’t your teacher anymore or is she just gone for a few days and is coming back?”
“I dunno. Mr. Fein said Miss Flowers is gone and we have a new teacher, Miss Pickler.”
“A new teacher?”
“That’s what I’m saying!” she says, completely exasperated. Now I get why she’s crying and throwing a tantrum.
“How long has she been gone?”
She shrugs. “A long time.”
“Okay, Daisy, listen to me.” I realize I’m not going to get the answers I need from her. “I need you to put your socks and shoes on so I can take you to school. I promise you, I’m going to find out where Miss Flowers is, okay? I’m going to get this figured out.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.” I stand up and walk out of her room, calling Daphne as soon as I’m out of earshot of Daisy.
“Fuck!” It goes straight to voicemail so I try again. Same thing. I send her a text.
Me: I don’t know what’s going on, but Daisy said you’re not her teacher anymore. Please tell me you didn’t quit because of things between us. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. Call me, please.
I try to call her one more time, but it still goes straight to voicemail.
“Daisy, let’s go!”
By the time we make it to school, we’re late. I walk Daisy to her class, looking through the window of the door to confirm that it is, in fact, not Daphne.
I knock softly and open the door. “Apologies that she’s late; it was my fault.”
“Hurry to your seat, Daisy,” the woman says rather harshly before pulling the door from my hand and closing it.
I walk downstairs to Rick’s office, sticking my head in to see him sitting at his desk.
“Mr. Vaughn.” He pops up with a nervous smile. “How are you doing?” I’m a little taken aback with his overzealous demeanor.
“I’m okay, Rick, but I’m a little confused about something. Do you have a few moments?”
“Sure, sure, come on in.” He closes the door behind me and sits down behind his desk. “I have to say, I’ve been expecting you to come in.”
I cock my head to the side, confused. “You have?”
“Well, yes. After the incident with Miss Flowers, I kn?—”
“Incident?” I scoot to the edge of my seat. “What incident?”
“The incident that led to Miss Flowers being fired,” he says matter-of-factly.
“Wait. I had to find out from my six-year-old daughter that her favorite teacher was fired? Did I miss something? An email or note that went out informing the parents of this?”
He lets out a dramatic sigh. “Mr. Vaughn, I’m not sure what your angle is with this. We wanted to try and mitigate this situation as quietly and professionally as possible so as not to draw any sort of unwanted media attention. I’m sure you wouldn’t want it getting out any more than we would.”
“Rick, I’m going to be as clear as possible. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Is this some sort of power move? I will not be intimidated by you, Mr. Vaughn. The school is fully prepared to back my decision with our legal team. Having a sexual relationship with your daughter’s teacher isn’t illegal, but paying her for it is and we have proof—video and audio evidence that will be presented in court if this were to get that far.”
I’m trying to make sense of what Rick is saying to me. “Let me get this straight. You fired Daphne for sleeping with me because you think I was paying her to? And now you’re threatening me?”
“It’s not a threat. I’m merely telling you that should you think you can somehow pay your way out of this, we not only have evidence, but a credible source that is willing to testify.”
“Who?” I say, leaning forward as I plant my hands on his desk. He sits back in his chair.
“That’s none of your business.”
I push off his desk, laughing. “Do you have any fucking clue who I am, Rick? You think I won’t find out who did this and completely destroy them and you? We both know that I never fucking paid Daphne for sex and the fact that you are not only accusing the woman I love of being a whore, but you fired her for it, you sealed your fucking fate.” I point my finger in his fat face. “Mark my words, Rick, I’m going to destroy you.”
I march out of his office and back upstairs, opening Daisy’s classroom door.
“Mr. Vaughn, what ar?—”
“Daisy, let’s go,” I say, walking over to grab her stuff. She jumps out of her seat, following behind me as we exit the building.
“Where are we going?” I help her into the back seat with me.
“Grandma’s house.”
I explain things as briefly as possible to my mother once we get to her place.
“I’m heading over to her place to see if she’s home. She’s not picking up.”
“What did I tell you, Weston?” my mother barks at me in a hushed tone so Daisy doesn’t hear us.
“I’m really not in the mood for a lecture, Mom. I’m going to fix this. Just please don’t say anything about Daphne in front of Daisy.”
I head straight to her apartment, pounding on the door, but there’s no answer. I let myself in, bracing for an empty apartment, but all her stuff still seems to be here.
“Daphne?” I walk in further, calling out for her but there’s no answer. I check her bedroom and bathroom; everything seems normal.
* * *
I twirlmy tumbler on my desk as I stare at my phone. Still no response from Daphne. I stand up, pacing my office floor again as I try to figure out who would do this. My immediate thought was Natalie. She’s the only person I know of who knew about me and Daphne. She walked into her classroom one day while we were in there, but how would she have gotten any video or audio recording of us? Unless Rick is bluffing, but I can’t imagine he would threaten me without any sort of actual evidence or what he thought was evidence. He knows I’m way too powerful to just sit back on an idle threat.
Is this blackmail? Is it money he wants?
I sit back down, pulling up the teacher list at Crestwood. I find Preston’s last name, typing it in Google, but nothing is standing out. I rub my eyes. I know they’re bloodshot after staring at this screen for hours. I feel like I’ve failed Daphne but I’m not giving up.
“Think,” I say aloud as I drill my fingers on my desk. Then it hits me. “Steve.” He’s the only person who would have seen us together. I think back on that night when I met him, the way his door was open a sliver, slamming shut after I saw him watching us. “How would he know?” I type in his name and the building but nothing comes up.
What would he have to gain by getting her fired?
I know it wouldn’t take much for him to find out where she worked or maybe she told him in casual conversation.
I give up on that theory for now, instead typing in Rick Fein’s name in hopes there’s some dirt I can dig up to blackmail him with. Everyone has a few skeletons in their closet. I find his social media profile that’s full of photos. I start to click through them, looking at faces and names, none of which stand out to me.
My phone buzzes, the front office of my building calling me. I glance at my watch; it’s nearing ten p.m.
“Hello?”
“Evening, Mr. Vaughn. Apologies for the late call, but you have a visitor. Miss Flowers, should I send her up?”
I jump out of my chair. “Yes, please.” I run my hands through my hair, downing a glass of water and adjusting my shirt before darting to the elevator just as it opens.
“Where have you been?” I don’t mean to shout at her, but I’ve been beyond worried, terrified actually that something happened to her. She looks exhausted. She doesn’t say a word, just walks toward me and right into my arms. “Are you okay, baby? I’ve missed you. I looked everywhere for you; I was so scared.” She doesn’t respond. Her body collapses against me as she cries in my arms for several minutes.
“Oh, baby, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve ruined everything,” she finally says through a broken sob.
“No, you haven’t.” I reach down to hold her face, making her look up at me. ”You were scared and hurting, I understand. Wherever you were, whatever happened, it’s in the past. As long as I know you’re safe, that’s all that matters.” I wipe away a few tears that trickle down her cheeks. “Come on, let’s talk in here.” I lead her back to my office and close the door.
“I know about school. I actually just found out today. When did it happen?” I sit on the edge of my desk.
“A week ago. I didn’t know what to do so I went to Florida to be with my dad. I just needed someplace that wasn’t here. I just needed my dad. I turned my phone off. I didn’t even tell Xana where I was until she called my dad.”
“You could have called me. I would have stepped in and helped.”
“I know.” She nods. “I just, I felt like after what I said to you, I didn’t deserve your help. I was also ashamed and in shock honestly. I’ve never been fired or even written up at work and now I’m accused of…” She can’t finish the word, and her face scrunches up as she covers it with her hands.
“I understand,” I say, pulling her toward me again to hold her in my arms.
“It was Natalie, wasn’t it?” I pull back to look down at her. “Have you talked to her?”
“I don’t think it was.” I shake my head.
“It has to be. Nobody else knew or would have a reason to do this. Don’t protect her just because of your past with her.” She’s feeling defensive and I don’t blame her.
“Believe me, I’m not and I wouldn’t. She’s the first person I thought of when I found out what happened, but for as much as I do know her, I can’t see her doing something like this. She has far too much to lose with her job. She and I actually had a good talk. I finalized the Nile Logistics deal and she apologized to me for her behavior, for going to talk to you. She said she went to apologize to you but that you weren’t at school.”
“I saw her and Preston making out behind the school in her car not that long before this all happened. He actually texted me a few times asking me what happened and where I went. He said there were rumors going around but I didn’t respond. I thought maybe he was in on it. I don’t know.”
“Wait, what?” I laugh at the thought that she’s sunk her claws into Preston. He’s exactly the kind of younger man candy she would go after.
“The day she came to talk to me about you two, I went out the back because I didn’t want to run into her again in the hallway, but she was already outside. She was in her Range Rover and Preston was leaning in the driver’s side window, kissing her.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would she be fooling around with her son’s teacher, then tell on you for doing the same thing?”
“I dunno, to get you back?” She looks at me questioningly. “Are you—back with her?”
“What? No, never. I’m—Daphne I’m in love with you, you know that. I meant everything I said to you and while I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, it’s how I feel. That isn’t changing, it won’t change, even if you don’t feel the same.”
She sits down in my chair behind my desk, letting out a dramatic sigh. “I talked to my dad about everything with us. About how I was hurt by his actions running off with my mom’s nurse and moving on and how I wouldn’t let myself move on.”
“And? Did it help you gain clarity at all?”
“I think so, yeah. I forgave him. I met his new wife and she’s wonderful. I guess I wanted him to hurt and wallow in the pain of losing my mom like I did but that’s just not fair. I can’t expect other people to hurt or grieve like I do. He also helped me realize that it wasn’t grief I was holding on to; it was pain. I’d grown used to hiding behind it, using it to mask my real emotions. I was using it as a reason to not move on with my life… I was wrong. I was so wrong.”
“About?” I hold my breath, unsure what she’s about to say.
“You and my feelings.” She looks up from her hands that are folded in her lap. “I didn’t want to admit that what I felt for you was more than anything I’d ever felt before. I felt like I was betraying what I had with Carson, but the truth is that’s in the past. Moving on and falling in love again isn’t betraying him. I know he wouldn’t want me to stay in the past, just like if it were me who died, I’d want him to move on and be happy and find the person who was going to give him the life he deserved… the life he wanted and longed for.”
“I do understand that feeling. I had all those same thoughts myself early on with us. I knew what I was feeling for you was more than just a crush or wanting you and I fought with myself over it. It felt so quick, like I was falling and no matter what I did I couldn’t catch myself. But the bottom line is, we aren’t replacing people we lost in our past. We’re just creating our future together.”
She looks at me with big tears in her eyes that tumble down her cheeks as she jumps out of the chair and into my arms. “I’m so sorry. I love you.”
I spin her around in my arms, kissing her through her tears.
“So now what?” she asks as I slide her down my body.
“Now I take you to bed and we make up.” I back her against my desk, kissing her. Her hands dart out to catch herself and shit hits my keyboard, waking up my monitor.
“I didn’t take you as a social media kind of guy,” she says, looking at my computer screen.
“I’m not. I was just doing some research. Trying to find out who might be the source Rick claims to have.”
“Ugh,” she groans, looking at the screen. “Mr. Fein’s face is the last thing I want to see right now.” She’s about to turn away when she squints, leaning closer to the screen. “Wait, I know that guy next to him. Or I recognize him at least.”
“Him?” I say, pointing to the man to his right. He’s tall, much taller than Rick with a broad chest and thick arms. He has a baseball hat on. “How do you know him?”
She stares at it a little longer. “That’s—that’s Steve’s roommate, my neighbor.”
“What?” I slowly sink down in my chair, reading the caption on the picture. “I didn’t know Steve lived with someone.”
Happy Birthday to my little bro. You might have outgrown me, but you’ll always be the baby.
“Yeah, that’s Steve’s roommate. I’ve never officially met him. I don’t even know his name, but I’ve seen him in my building, going into that apartment. He moved in with Steve less than a year ago. He’s super reclusive, always has a hat on pulled down.”
“Wait… Your neighbor is Rick’s little brother?” I say it out loud, realizing the connection between him and Steve. “But why would they come after you?” I scroll down, reading the comments left by a few people, one in particular catching my eye, one that makes everything make sense.
Can’t believe little Kenny Fein grew up to be so fine.
There it is, right in front of me. Ken F. Ken Fein. They weren’t doing this to come after Daphne… they were coming after me.