42. Pepper
FORTY-TWO
PEPPER
After the dinner, I booked an Uber to my hotel and waited. And of course, Jeff being Jeff, I spotted him walking towards me.
I held up my hand as he approached. “I’m not interested in talking.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” he snapped. “You’ve been avoiding me for days.”
“Because I don’t want to talk to you,” I said firmly. “I want nothing to do with you outside of work.”
He threw up his hands. “You’ve changed, Pepper. Is he manipulating you? Forcing you to act like this?”
My ears started to ring. “What are you talking about?”
Jeff rolled his eyes. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. The fucking punk tattooed kid.”
What the fuck?
“I reached out to that bass player he fired,” Jeff said. “And he told me how the two of you were together. And then seeing how he treated you last week, I knew it was true. What the hell is going on? What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. I was going to keep playing ignorant. “My ride is almost here.”
I started to turn away from him, but his hand shot out and gripped my arm, yanking me back to face him.
“I know the two of you are together because I saw your fucking text messages,” he snarled. “I saw what he’s been saying to you. Telling you to get on your knees and shit? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You read my text messages?” I asked, jerking my body away. “What the fuck is wrong with you ?”
“You’re the one that’s in trouble,” he said. “You’ve been fucking a client, Pepper?—”
“You fucked an intern!” I yelled.
“This is different?—”
“It’s not different,” I said. “Actually, it is different, because Salt isn’t signed yet. He is not a client yet. And the moment he is, I will follow through on my part and notify everyone of our relationship, but until then, I am not violating any of the contracts we have in place. But you know what did violate those contracts? Fucking an intern while married to the goddamn CEO.”
“That was forever ago,” he growled. “This is different. This isn’t like you.”
“You don’t know me, Jeff,” I spat. “You never did. And you’ve lost out on your chance to ever get to know me.”
“He has you under his thumb,” he said. “He’s manipulating you.”
“No, he’s not,” I argued. “I love him, Jeff. I love him and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He scoffed. “Well, I already did.”
Ice filled my veins. “What do you mean?”
“I doubt he’ll take you back,” he sneered. “I know I never would.”
“ Jeff ,” I rasped. “What the fuck did you do?”
The car pulled up and he took a step back, holding up his hands. “I’m done here.”
“What the fuck did you do?!” I yelled, but he was already walking away.
Fuck. What the fuck happened? I yanked open the passenger door and slid in. My heart hammered as I looked down at my phone. When I’d pulled up the app to call an Uber, I hadn’t seen any notifications. Had I missed something?
Something was wrong.
“What did he do?” I whispered to myself.
The car lurched forward as I pulled up my texts.
Salt’s messages were gone.
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to breathe. Jeff had gotten into my phone when I left it at the table tonight. My cheeks burned as I pulled up my phone book, scrolling to look for his name.
It was gone.
Fuck. Fuck.
Panic settled in and I called the only person who could get me the info ASAP.
Tommy picked up. “Pepper? Everything okay?”
“No,” I said. “No. I need you to text Salt right now.”
“What? Why?—”
“Tommy,” I growled. “I’m asking you as a friend to do this for me without any questions asked. Do you understand me? Please. If you can’t, then hand the phone to Dan.”
Dan’s voice was a soft grumble in the background. “I heard my name.”
“It’s Pepper,” Tommy said. “Okay. What do I need to text him?”
“Text him that Pepper called you. Jeff got into my phone and deleted his information. I don’t know what else he sent, but it was something bad.”
“What?” Tommy hissed. “What the fuck? Why would he do that?”
“Because Salt and I are together.” I was met with silence. “You can be mad at me later,” I said.
“I asked you. I asked you if you were, Pepper,” Tommy hissed. “I knew it. Damn it?—”
“You do not have the right to lecture me right now,” I snapped. “Put Dan on the phone.”
Dan must have snatched the phone away. “What’s going on?”
“I need you to text Salt and tell him that whatever I said to him wasn’t from me, it was from Jeff. Jeff got my phone. Also, I’m not as vanilla as both of you assholes think, and I’m in love with him. So please do this for me.”
“God damn,” Dan mumbled. “Okay, hold on.”
A sense of relief washed over me as I heard his thumbs going.
“Message sent. Darling, you have some explaining to do. I think Tommy is having a heart attack or something.”
“Well, he needs to put his business hat on, because I need to fire Jeff. I’m done with this. For too long, I’ve let him get away with his bullshit. I’m flying home early tomorrow and will be on your doorstep as soon as I figure out what Jeff said to Salt.”
“Finally,” Dan breathed out. “Okay. Have you checked your blocked phone contacts?”
“No,” I said. “Walk me through how to do it.”
Dan’s voice was calm and soothing. I could hear Tommy ranting in the background, but chose to ignore him as he walked me through how to unblock a number.
The moment the car pulled up to the hotel, I hopped out, paid the driver quickly and rushed into the building.
“We’re getting rid of the son of a bitch,” I told Dan as I stepped onto the elevator. “I’m not playing nice anymore.”
“Love to hear it,” he said. “It’s going to be good. And Pepper?”
“Yeah?”
“I know we give you a hard time, but we care about you. I’m sorry if I’ve ever said something that hurt your feelings in regards to being naive or innocent.”
I exhaled slowly, my eyes stinging. “Thank you. I’m sorry I haven’t been a good friend.”
“Well, we have time to make up for that. Get home, see your boy, and come over as soon as you can. Once Tommy finishes having his breakdown, he’ll jump into action.”
“Thank you.” My phone started to ring and I saw Salt’s name as I stepped out of the elevator. “I’ve got to go.”
“Okay. Be safe.”
We hung up, and I immediately answered Salt’s phone call.
“Simon,” I rasped. I stepped into my hotel room and locked the door behind me. “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. Whatever he said, whatever it was, it wasn’t me.”
He released a shaky breath. “Okay. One, are you okay?”
“Yes,” I said. “Are you?”
“No,” he said. “But I will be.”
“What did he say?”
He let out a gentle hum. “I don’t need to repeat it to you.”
“I need to know,” I whispered.
“The text said ‘ Simon, we’re done. When I return to Nashville, you’ll be nothing more than a client. You aren’t good enough for me. I deserve someone who isn’t like you. ’”
I leaned against the wall, my heart still racing. “He was wrong. He couldn’t be more wrong. I’m not leaving you, Simon.”
“I—” His voice faltered. “I didn’t react well to the text message. I’m at Nancy and Beth’s.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s not your fault at all,” he said.
“We’re going to fire him. I’m leaving tomorrow instead of Monday, and I’m going to meet up with Tommy. And Ellen. I need to text Ellen. And Scott, for that matter. We’re going to get rid of him. The fact that he sent you this message is crazy.”
Salt let out a soft hum. I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath.
“Did you believe him?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“And then you couldn’t get a hold of me because he blocked the number.”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “I don’t know if I’m right for you, Pepper. That’s the thing about that message. Maybe he wasn’t wrong. Maybe we are moving too fast. Maybe…”
“No. Jeff is too good at saying things that can unravel you,” I said. “He reached out to that bass player and confirmed his suspicions about us. And then he read our texts. But, he’s wrong. You are good enough for me. And I do deserve someone like you. I don’t care what the world says, we love on our own timeline and in our own way.”
“ Love .”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Can we switch to video?”
“I’m a mess right now, Pepper. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“Please?”
He hesitated for a moment, but then pressed the video call button, turning on his camera. I did the same, sucking in a breath as I looked at him. He was in bed, his eyes dark and stormy and full of so much sadness.
What Jeff sent had pierced through both of us like a sharpened arrow. My chest ached because I knew how Jeff was. He always knew how to rip open a wound and pour vinegar on it.
“I wish I was there,” I choked out.
“No, you don’t,” he whispered. “I don’t smell good. And I cried like a baby. And accidentally broke a mirror and cut my hands.”
“ Salt . Your hands?”
“I’m okay,” he said. “I’ll be okay.”
“I’m coming home to you tomorrow.”
“I’ll pick you up from the airport.”
“Yes,” I said. “Please. And please don’t listen to what Jeff said. He’s wrong, Salt. He’s so wrong about everything.”
“I will,” he said. “I promise.”
I could feel my heart finally starting to calm. I kicked off my shoes and flopped down at the end of the bed.
“Take off your clothes and makeup. Get ready for bed. Fall asleep with me,” he murmured.
“I think I’ll do just that.”