Eruption - Chapter 27 #2
The rest of the morning I spent laughing and bonding with the other marketing interns. They were all really nice. Extremely nosey, but nice. And I didn't blame them. I kind of did have the inside scoop on their boss.
Before lunch, Andy stopped by with an ad idea he wanted us to go over.
They were teaming up with Mason and Bee's advertising agency for it, and it was fun going through the idea knowing that we'd be handing it over to Bee afterwards.
Although, I'd be on my honeymoon when it was passed on to them. The afternoon flew by as well.
I was just about to shut down my computer so that I'd be in time for my dress fitting, when I got an email alert. I clicked on the box that had popped up:
You only have half an hour until I give James the pictures.
I deleted the email and shut off the computer. My heart was racing even though I knew the threat was empty. The pictures didn't matter. I didn't even talk to James about the pictures Isabella had sent me of him, and we were fine. It was just creepy that she knew my email.
"See you in a few weeks, guys." I stood up and grabbed my purse.
"I still can't believe you didn't invite us to your wedding," Tavon said and put his hands behind his head.
"I didn't know you when I sent out the invites. And we already gave them a headcount. I'm really sorry."
Tavon sighed. "It's fine. Want to go out with me on Saturday?" he asked Sierra.
"I don't think so." She turned to Zach. "Would you like to hang out Saturday night?"
Zach smiled. "I'd love to."
"Asshole," Tavon said. "I called dibs."
Zach shrugged. "Our bromance isn't strong enough to honor your dibs. Besides, Sierra clearly doesn't like you."
"She's just playing hard to get."
Sierra laughed. "No, I'm not. Congrats, Penny. And I hope your dress fitting goes well."
"Good luck," Zach said with a smile. I was glad that he had finally let go of his theory that James was abusive.
"Break a leg." Tavon laughed. "Just kidding. I don't know what to say. You're too young to get married?"
"Thanks for the support, Tavon."
"Don't listen to him. He's just jealous that you found your person. And he can't even get a date," Sierra said.
"Bye, guys," I said with a laugh. "Take care of James' company while we're gone.
" I felt a little guilty walking away from them.
If I hadn't been such a mess when I first started the internship, I would have bonded with them sooner and could have given our wedding planner an updated headcount.
I tried not to think about it as I made my way toward James' office.
I wanted to say hi before I went to my fitting.
Right before I grabbed the handle my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my purse and looked down at the text I had just received:
"If you go to James I'll leak all the photos."
Jesus. How did she have my phone number? This was crazy. I needed to tell James right now. He'd know how to handle her. I didn't want to deal with this alone anymore.
I reached for the handle again as another text came through. This one was a picture. But it wasn't one of the ones she had sent me this morning. It was of James and I having sex. On his desk in his office. Holy shit. Another one came through. And then another. And another.
I put my face in my hand. What was wrong with me? Obviously she had planted a camera in there if she had gotten that picture of her kissing James last week. I was such an idiot. I didn't think at all. My phone buzzed again, but this time there was a message:
"You thought I was talking about the other photos from this morning?
Aw, Penny. You underestimate me. These photos will be leaked to every sleazy tabloid if I don't see the money in my account in 20 minutes.
And don't you dare run to James. If you do, I'll leak the photos.
If you call the cops, I'll leak the photos.
We're ending this right here, right now.
And there's more pictures where that came from. You're quite flexible."
You sick fuck. This wasn't just some petty game.
She'd ruin James' reputation. My hands were shaking.
James was the C.E.O. of a huge company, he was well respected, he was a freaking philanthropist. He was a good person.
These pictures would make it seem like he didn't have control.
I stepped away from James' office and looked back toward the cubicles.
I had tossed out the envelope that had Isabella's account information in it, but I could dig it out of the trash.
Would she really leak the photos if I went to James?
I had already tarnished his reputation once.
I didn't want that to be on my hands again.
My phone buzzed again.
"Step away from his office. Here's my account number again. You're running out of time." The account number was written at the bottom of the text.
I turned around. How is she watching me?
I could feel tears begin to well in my eyes.
I couldn't risk it. James could lose everything.
20 million dollars wasn't that much to him.
And maybe we could get it back later. She didn't say I couldn't tell him afterwards.
I didn't have time to think right now. I was running out of time.
I ran toward the elevator and called Ian.
He picked up on the second ring. "Hey, Penny. I'm waiting outside to take you to Kleinfeld's."
I stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors. "No, Ian. I need you to drive me to the bank."
"Okay, which bank?"
Shit. I knew James had set me up with my own account when we moved to New York despite my protests.
I had never accessed it before. Every now and then I used the credit card he gave me to buy expensive dresses for functions I went to with him.
But I had no idea how much was in the account.
Hopefully it would be enough. What bank was it? "Just the normal one."
"United Bank? The one that James uses?"
"Yes." I tried to hide my sigh of relief. "Yup, the normal one."
Ian laughed. "You got it."
I hung up the phone when he came into view. He was parked right outside the office building and the door was already open for me. "How long will it take to get there?"
"It's just down the street."
"Thank God."
He gave me a funny look, but closed the door.
As soon as the car was moving, I felt even more nervous.
Was I doing the right thing? James wouldn't want those photos all over the internet.
I didn't have a choice. We pulled up outside of a building that said United Bank.
"Thanks, Ian," I said and got out the second the car stopped.
I ran up the steps and into the bank. It was insanely fancy inside.
It looked more like a hotel than a bank.
There was no line, so I walked directly up to the teller. "Hi, I need to transfer some money."
She stared at me for a second. "Yes, Miss..."
"Taylor. Penny Taylor. I have an account here, but I don't know the account number off the top of my head." Or at all. I hope this is the right bank. I had a couple thousand dollars in my own bank account. That wasn't going to appease Isabella.
"Okay, hold on one second. Penny Taylor..." She stared at her computer screen as she spoke. "And you're looking to transfer money?"
"Yes, just to a different account."
"How much are you looking to transfer?"
"20 million." I had lowered my voice slightly. She was going to think I was crazy.
The woman's fingers stopped and she looked up at me. "Let me just get a manager for you to sit down with. Excuse me."
"I'm in a bit of a hurry."
"Okay, Miss Taylor. Just let me go get him." She disappeared through a door.
I pulled out my phone. I only had twelve minutes. It felt like I was having a heart attack. I put my hand on my chest.
"The manager will be right out," the teller said as she came back up to the counter. "If you don't mind taking a seat." She gestured toward a group of plush chairs. This was taking too long. I sat down and tapped my foot nervously. A few minutes later a man emerged from the back.
"Hello, Miss Taylor. You must be James' fiancée." He put his hand out toward me. "I'm Ed and I'll be helping you out today."
I immediately stood up and shook his hand. "Yes, hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm kind of in a rush. I need to get this done before the wedding."
"Of course. Right this way." He took me to his office and sat down behind his desk. "So, James added you to several of his bank accounts when he updated his will a couple of years ago, in addition to the one that is just under your name."
"Mhm." I sat down across from him. I had no idea that James had done that. He trusted me with his money. And I was here giving it away to Isabella. My stomach seemed to flip over. Was I doing the right thing?
"And you understand that all of your joint assets are not liquid. You don't have 20 million dollars sitting in the bank. A lot of your money is currently tied up in investments. Properties, stocks..."
"Yes, of course." I hadn't even thought about that. No one had 20 million dollars just sitting in the bank. That wasn't financially responsible. "Is there any way to liquidate some of those assets?"
Ed scratched the back of his neck. He was starting to look uncomfortable. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
No. "Yes."
"James' portfolio is very diverse, but if you're looking for liquid assets immediately, the best way is probably through stocks.
I'd advise you to call James' broker to get his take on what stocks are best to sell at the moment.
How about you come back tomorrow? The stock market closes in several minutes as well as this bank and. .."
"Could you just do it for me? Just take your best guess on which to sell?"
"Miss Taylor, I'm not a financial advisor. I'm just the manager of the bank. And I don't have access to your stocks."
My phone buzzed and I looked down at the text that had just come through: