Chapter 30 – David
Friday came around all too quickly, but here we were.
Richard didn’t take his resignation letter the following day like he said he would, he hadn’t gone to HQ, and had avoided all calls with Vincent.
At one point, he was refusing to come to the press conference with me.
But I had needed him there, and so he agreed.
Vincent decided that it was best not to have the conference at HQ, and instead, had hired a room at a local hotel.
Mainly because there had been quite a demand to be there, and there wouldn’t have been enough room at HQ.
But the conference was this evening, and Richard said that he needed to see Vincent before we got there.
“Please, Rich,” I try again, as we head to Vincent’s office. “There is no need to do this.”
“Dave. I’m not going over this again. Please,” Rich replies.
For the past two days I have been trying to talk some sense into Rich about leaving the team, but it has been falling on deaf ears. I’m hoping that, once Rich is in the same room as Vincent, and face to face, that we are all going to work this out.
Rich knocks on the door, and is opening it before we’re called into the office. Richard looks around like he’s expecting more people to be in the room. But there’s only Vincent.
“Richard,” Vincent starts.
“Vincent. Where’s the lawyer?” Rich replies and I don’t miss how Rich uses Vincent’s full name. I hate that they’re in this state.
“I’m not getting the lawyers,” Vincent replies.
“That is not going to stop me from giving you this,” Rich says, and hands over an envelope. He’s wearing jeans, and one of the Montague racing shirts, but had put on a navy-blue suit jacket. I was wondering why he had put the jacket on, but now I know, it was so he could hide the letter from me.
Vincent takes the envelope, opens it up, takes out the letter, reads it and rips it up.
“No,” Vincent says. “I’m not letting you resign.”
“Vincent, that isn’t your decision,” Rich tells him.
“Will you stop with all the Vincent bullshit? You never call me that.”
“Why don’t we go sit down and talk,” I venture, trying to see if I can ease the tension between them.
Rich looks over to me and then Vincent before walking over to the couch in the corner and sitting down.
“I’m sitting down for you,” Rich says to me.
“Thank you. Vincent, come on,” I say. “Sit.”
Vincent walks over and sits on one of the chairs opposite the couch, so at least he’s looking at Rich, but I have no idea how to heal the rift between them.
Rich forgave me, but then again, we are married.
But these two have been friends for decades.
I kind of wish Jasper was here, I think he would know how to handle these two.
“Richard, please. You’re important to me, to this team. You can’t leave,” Vincent says and I can hear the hurt in his voice, but I think Rich doesn’t, or more likely ignoring it.
“So important that you want me to hide who I am. Yet, you are allowed to be out in the public with the man you love.”
So, that right there, is the problem. He’s jealous of the fact that Vincent is out.
“Rich, this isn’t a long term thing,” I say.
“You are right, there,” Rich confirms. “I only agreed until I find a new team.”
“Richard, you don’t need to find a new team. You have one. One that knows about you and David. One that doesn’t care that you’re married.” Vincent tries again.
“The issue is with you, Vincent, not the team,” Rich states. “Over the past few months, I have seen a side of you that I never thought I would see. You’ve been downright vile. I thought we were past it, but then you pulled this. I’m just done.”
Fuck. This is going much deeper than just us needing to keep our marriage hidden. This is not something I can help repair. This is something that they need to sort out themselves. They’re going to need to talk it out.
“Right, the pair of you need to talk. Vincent tell him what about our relationship bothers you and Rich tell Vincent what his words have done to you, and if you don’t sort this out. Then I’m going to quit, too,” I say to the pair of them, causing both of their heads to snap in my direction.
“Dave, don’t be stupid,” Rich starts.
“If you’re not staying, then neither am I,” I say to Rich, as I get to my feet. “Now, I’m going to go see Charmaine, and I will be back in an hour. The pair of you need to have sorted your shit out by then.”
All I can hear, as I leave the room, is Vincent calling over to Rich. “He wouldn’t, would he?” But I don’t hear Rich’s reply, as Vincent’s office door closes behind me.
I wasn’t really lying; Charmaine had asked to see me before the conference to go over some last-minute coaching. She wanted to make sure that I was prepared for any questions, so I wasn’t blindsided like I had been with Nicky’s interview.
After knocking on Charmaine’s office door, and as I open it, I hear a voice that I was only thinking about a few minutes ago.
“Sorry Charmaine, I thought we had an appointment,” I say. “I can come back.”
“No, it’s fine. Actually, it might be helpful. I was giving our friend Jasper here some extra training, due to him being in a room full of journalists later,” Charmaine explains.
“I’ve told her that I’m going to behave,” Jasper replies.
“Jasper, my friend, I have never known you to behave.”
“Thanks for the support there, my friend,” Jasper replies.
“We might have something else to discuss for the conference too,” I say, more to Charmaine than Jasper.
“Which is?” And there is no mistaking the edge to her voice.
“Well, I just told Vincent and Richard that if they don’t sort their shit out, I’m going to leave with Richard.”
“Hang on, Richard is leaving? When the fuck did this happen?” Charmaine demands.
Shit. I thought that Vincent would have warned Charmaine what was happening, but then again, thinking back to his reaction in his office, and how he had no intention of accepting his resignation, then he probably wouldn’t have.
“Richard called Vincent after our meeting the other day. He isn’t happy about what was discussed that day.”
“If he feels that strongly, then we tell the fucking world. We cannot lose Richard.” Charmaine says, getting to her feet.
“Where are you going?” I ask over to her.
“Vincent’s office.”
“Don’t, I think there is more going on, that the two of them need to sort out. Let’s give them some time,” I say.
Charmaine stops, looks over to the door of her office, before retaking her seat. “We don’t have much time. We’re going to need to move to the hotel soon.”
“I gave them an hour.”
“Will that be enough time?” Jasper asks.
“I have no idea. But I hope so, because I will be true to my word. I will follow Rich.”
“No, you fucking won’t,” Charmaine pipes up. “If you think I’m letting either of you go, you are very much mistaken.”
“Fuck, that’s hot, don’t you think? It’s like full Dom mode, you need to show me how you talk like that,” Jasper says over to Charmaine, giving me a wink.
“Jasper, I have no idea what that means, so shut up,” Charmaine says, and I can’t help myself.
“Yeah, she is. We really should take some notes.” Both Jasper and I are laughing, which only gets harder when we see Charmaine scowling at us. Then the tears are falling down our faces, and it’s exactly what I needed to relieve some of the tension.
Walking back to Vincent’s office an hour later, worry fills me. I have no idea what I’m going to be walking into. Either they will have talked, and sorted out their differences, or I’m not only going to be telling the world that I’m married to Rich, but that I’m leaving Montague Racing too.
Knocking on the door, I walk into silence. There are two glasses on the coffee table, one in front of Rich, and the other in front of Vincent. Both empty. Which I want to take as a good sign, but it’s the silence that gets me more worried.
“Charmaine said that we need to get going,” I say over to them.
“Okay,” they reply together as they get to their feet.
Rich comes over to me and connects our lips, and I can taste the whiskey on them, so at least I know what was in the glasses on the table.
“I’ll see you at the hotel,” Rich says over to me.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, looking from him to Vincent.
“We’re staying,” Rich replies, before he looks over to Vincent. “For the moment.”
I’m not sure if I need to be pleased with this statement, or not, but I decided that it’s probably best not to push it. Rich said that we’re staying, and I need to accept that.
“Are you okay to drive?” I ask, not sure I’m happy with Rich driving, even if he only had one.
“I’ll be okay, but I’m going to ask Jasper to take me,” Rich replies.
“Okay, see you there.”
Rich leaves the office, and I just stand there looking at Vincent.
“I hurt him more than I thought,” Vincent says, quietly.
“We both did,” I confirm.
“I have no idea how to make it up to him. I’m not sure how I can do this without him.”
“Well, I have an idea, due to something that Charmaine just said,” I state, and hope that Vincent is behind me, as I explain about Charmaine’s reaction on hearing the news of Rich leaving.
“So, you’re saying we tell the world?” Vincent says.
“Yes. It’s the one thing that Richard wants. So, let’s give it to him. But we need to leave it as a surprise.”
“How?”
“Richard will be standing with you at the back of the room. Regardless of what he’s feeling, he will show a united front. When the time’s right, send him up.”
“Will that work?”
“No idea. But he only agreed for his name not to be given out. He wasn’t happy about it. So, let’s not deny him. I think he will stay then.”
“I hope you’re right,” Vincent says, and I don’t say it out loud, but I hope so, too.