Chapter 18
Ethan
After the board meeting with our investors goes south that afternoon, every board member leaves the conference room except for Nelly and Julia, who was there to represent George.
Nelly’s eyes are pinned on mine like she’s about to say something, but Julia rushes forward first. She tries to touch my hand as she speaks, but I move away from her. “It’s going to be alright, Ethan. We’ll find another way.”
My eyes stay on Nelly even as Julia tries consoling me, and the only thing I can think of is hearing what Nelly has to say.
“Julia, excuse me a moment,” I say, when Nelly turns to walk out of the conference room. I peel Julia’s hands off me, then rush out after Nelly.
“Nelly, wait.”
I catch up with her in the hallway, take her arm, and spin her around to face me. Tears shimmer in her eyes and seeing them breaks my heart.
“Nelly …”
“I was going to say … I think Joe is engaging in corporate espionage,” she begins, her tone flustered as she looks up at me.
“He cornered me this morning and talked about side-lining you and getting a contract to work with the Department of Transportation. He was talking about the same project we put together, Ethan. He stole it from us.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
She hands me the flash drive. “Joe gave me this. I don’t know what it contains, but he was trying to get me to switch sides and partner with him. This isn’t over, Ethan. Something tells me there’s more to his plan.”
I rub a hand over my face, sighing exasperatedly before sucking in a deep breath. “I’ll handle this and—” A thought suddenly pops into my head and shocks me to the core.
Only two people knew of the exact details of the plans I intended to pitch to the investors today. Nelly and me. I definitely wasn’t talking to Joe, so was it Nelly?
No. Nelly wouldn’t betray me like that, and she definitely wouldn’t bring it to my attention that Joe had sabotaged me. If she was helping him, she would cover her tracks.
Julia suddenly calls out, “Ethan!” She walks towards us, and Nelly rolls her eyes, an impatient look crossing her face.
Julia hooks her hand around my arm and cocks her head to one side. “We should head out for lunch,” she says with a smile.
“I’m talking to my wife, Julia,” I reply in an icy tone.
“Ethan—”
I interrupt her. “Our deal was to spark rumors about us, and I’ve done that. I’m not your chaperone, and definitely not your boyfriend.”
“But…”
“Not now, Julia, okay?” I interrupt before she can protest.
I slide my fingers around Nelly’s and pull her with me so that we head to my office together. Julia’s staring at me the entire time, but it doesn’t matter.
Once the door closes behind us, I face Nelly, and she leans into the door, pressing her back against it.
“There are only two people who knew about these plans, Nelly. It’s just you and me, and I didn’t tell anyone. Did you tell Joe? Perhaps hint it to him or—”
“That’s a stupid question,” she answers with a laugh, but when she meets my serious gaze again, the flush on her face slowly fades. Nelly stares wide-eyed at me as she blasts. “You think I did?”
“I’m just saying…”
“You think I’d betray you? Why would I come to you with this drive if I did?” She shoves past me before I can say anything else and walks towards my table. “You’re such a jerk. I came to you, Ethan. I didn’t have to, but I did it because we’re friends and you don’t trust me?”
“I do,” I answer quickly, but my words seem to have little impact because her eyes still reflect her hurt.
“I trust you, Nelly, but I’ve been betrayed by the people closest to me before, so I had to ask. Julia and Joe didn’t just betray me. She passed off my business ideas to him. It’s how he started his company. He was nothing before that.”
“I’m not Julia, Ethan,” Nelly whispers in a broken voice and shakes her head. “You can’t treat me like I am.”
“I know that and I’m sorry,” I say, rushing towards her to take her hands in mine. “I trust you. I’ll figure this out and find out where the leak came from.”
The door bursts open, and Julia strikes a pose at the doorway, one hand on her hip.
“Why don’t you ask your girlfriend?” Nelly throws at me, her voice calm even though the tempest brewing in her eyes shows her annoyance.
“You went to her for help and shared your plans with her grandfather to convince him to back you, right? She probably shared that information with Joe.”
“Why would I do that?” Julia asks from the doorway.
Nelly breaks her hand free from mine and walks out of my office without another word.
Julia maintains her position as I turn to glare at her.
“We had a deal, Ethan. I helped you convince my grandfather, and in turn, you were to help me.”
“I’ve fulfilled my end of the deal, Julia. You wanted me to stage an outing with you that night so you could feed the rumors to your journalist friends, and I did. I’ve paid my debt.”
“But—”
“Stop,” I cut her off, then take slow, menacing steps towards her.
“If I figure out that you betrayed me again, or that you’re working with Joe, then I’ll make sure your grandfather knows the truth. Do you think you’re so special? Let’s see how he’ll handle the news of his precious granddaughter being a self-serving, selfish femme fatale instead.”
She holds my gaze with contempt for a second longer, huffs, then pulls back. “Fine!” Julia storms out of my office without another word, and I glance down at the flash drive before walking over to my desk to plug it into my laptop.
***
Three hours later, I had figured out enough to have my insides twisting into a tight ball of nerves. Joe had stolen my contract and tried offering Nelly a position in his company. The details were in the files on the flash drive she gave me.
Nelly is alone in the living room when I get back home that night. She barely spares me a glance as I shrug out of my tie.
“Nelly—”
“We need to talk, Ethan,” she says before I can finish my sentence. I take the spot beside her on the couch, and she angles her body so she’s facing me.
“I figured it out,” I whisper to her. “Joe and Julia are definitely working together. I made a mistake, thinking I could trust her this time. Either way, what’s done is done. We have to come up with something new. Start afresh.”
Nelly is still quiet as she listens to me, and when she still doesn’t reply, I ask, “Is there something wrong?”
“No, it’s just—” she trails off, then shakes her head. “You thought it was me. You thought I’d betray you with Joe, and I don’t know if I can continue, knowing that you don’t trust me, Ethan.”
She gets on her feet, and an erratic rhythm makes my heart pound against my ribcage when Nelly turns her back to me. “I don’t know how we can do this if we don’t trust each other. You should have told me about your deal with Julia. You didn’t trust me enough to handle it?”
She turns around and looks into my eyes. I feel faint for a moment. I’ve thought about the way she makes me feel, and I’ve wondered if I can let myself indulge.
“It’s not that I didn’t trust you … I wanted to protect you from everything, Nelly. All I think about is making sure you’re okay, and I thought that if I told you about Julia’s request, you would want us to figure out some other way. If I lost the CEO seat, you would have blamed yourself. I didn’t want that.”
“Why?” Her question makes me pause, and for the first time, I’m forced to really think about my actions. She walks over to me and places one hand on her chest, her eyes searching mine deeply.
“Why, Ethan … You don’t owe me anything.”
Why do I feel the need to protect her? And make everything better?
I would do anything for Nelly. I know that deep down, and I’ve never wanted anything in return.
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I just …”
“You confuse me, Ethan, and make it so difficult for me to stay mad at you. You don’t want love or a relationship and yet you …” She stops and nibbles on her lower lip. “I can’t let you do that to me again. You’re not going to hurt me again, Ethan.”
Watching her walk away from me after that makes me realize how special every moment I’ve spent with Nelly is. Until now, I didn’t realize how content I was with having her in my life.
Our memories together come rushing to my mind while I’m standing there alone. The merry sound of her laughter drowns every other sound around me.
An image of her smile and how it brings her eyes alive also pins down in my memory. I realize I can spend hours watching her smile and listening to her talk.
Even Julia never made me feel this intensely.
My palms turn sweaty from the whirlwind of emotions consuming me all at once. I recall the grief that overcame me after Julia’s betrayal, how that ache had pained me for months.
I’ve stayed away from relationships all these years because of that one experience.
But Nelly. Am I in love with her?
A shudder wracks through me after the question pops into my mind.
It can’t be. Nelly’s a beautiful woman, and I’m attracted to her, yes, but love?
Falling in love with anyone has been out of the question for years now. Besides, Nelly is family, so it’s only natural that I would feel strongly protective of her, right?