Chapter 10 IDGAF #2
I spent the next couple of days holed up at home, plotting my revenge.
The moment Olivia called me to explain what was going on with the Starlight building, and that she needed my help, I got showered, dressed, and headed straight over there.
Today was demolition day. I’d planned to stay away, but Mr. Dorman was refusing to leave the building.
All the other tenants had vacated the property, but Mr. Dorman just wouldn’t go.
My plan to murder Thaddeus would have to wait.
Seeing how connected he was to the building was heartbreaking.
The Fitzgeralds saw a money-making opportunity, and he saw a home.
They were convinced that tearing down a community was the solution to a pileup of structural problems that, while desperately needed, could easily be covered by their deep pockets.
But who am I kidding? These were the Fitzgeralds, and as they said, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. They wouldn’t fork over a dollar if it meant people like Mr. Dorman got to stay in the building. All that mattered to them was profit.
Now that the town had granted the Fitzgeralds the sale and demolition permit, the police planned to drag the poor man from his home. Together, Olivia and I sat inside with him, trying to convince him to leave his world behind.
“I’ve got nothing left. They can’t take my dignity too,” he spat.
I got it. Totally. And part of me still toyed with the idea of standing in front of that wrecking ball myself, but no way would I allow myself to die and let Thaddeus live. I was still determined to kill the bastard before I left this planet.
“We’ll walk out with you,” Olivia reminded him, but Mr. Dorman only shook his head.
Our time was up. There was a pounding on the door, and it flew open. Two officers stood there.
I pleaded with them. “Try to understand; this is the only home he’s ever known.”
“So, you want him to die in it before his time?” a construction worker, who I hadn’t noticed, asked.
Ignoring his words, I looked at the cops.
“Mr. Dorman, please come with me,” I tried once more.
Defiantly, he shook his head.
I heard chatting among the reporters behind the policemen. “Fitzgerald is here.”
What? Which one?
In disbelief, I watched Thaddeus, in his expensive suit, step into the man’s home. The suit tugged on his muscles, flexing and bulging with every movement he made. “Mr. Dorman, I’ve come to talk privately,” he said.
“Who are you?” Mr. Dorman asked.
I was just about to explain that he was the reason for his situation when Thaddeus spoke. “I’m the sort of man who believes compromises can be made and talking is the best course of action.”
I snorted. Yeah, fucking right. Reporters, policemen, and construction workers all loitered in the hallway, watching the scene unfold.
Olivia stared at me and made space by her for Thaddeus to sit next to Mr. Dorman.
“My mother lived in this building, you know.” He spoke directly to Mr. Dorman, not looking at anyone else in the room.
“She grew up here and lived here until she married my dad. This building meant a lot to her. As did the people in it. It really saddened her to see the state the building had fallen into. It hurt her deeply that she couldn’t help the people here. ”
I scoffed.
Thaddeus didn’t look up.
“I want you to be safe, and this building isn’t safe.”
“I can’t leave,” Mr. Dorman muttered.
Thaddeus wrapped an arm around him. “I hear you keep saying you’re alone, but how about we safely collect all the memories you shared with the people who loved you? I don’t think you want them buried under the rubble. People should remember Miles, Heather, and Mariana.”
The use of Mr. Dorman’s dead family members’ names was a nice touch.
Clenching my fingers into a fist, I looked at everyone watching the scene unfold.
They all looked on affectionately. They were buying his bullshit.
I was the only one unimpressed. I sighed, and from his place next to Mr. Dorman, Thaddeus locked eyes with mine.
I lost the ability to breathe properly.
He wouldn’t break eye contact with me. I couldn’t look away.
Everything else melted around us. It was just the two of us, locked in a battle of wills.
Olivia’s words finally pulled my gaze from Thaddeus.
She wasn’t alone. All the others gathered were having a conversation, leaving Thaddeus and me to glare at each other.
Only after he broke eye contact did I feel like I could breathe again.
“Mr. Dorman, should we take those dishes?” Thaddeus asked. “Did your wife, Mariana, make delicious dinners on them?” Thaddeus rose up from beside him and gathered a few.
Mr. Dorman took the bait, slowly stood, and collected the rest. “She was the best cook.”
Olivia joined them in grabbing more items. Shit. Soon, even the officers were helping to arrange Mr. Dorman’s memories; like everyone else, they listened as he shared the stories of his family.
After they’d collected everything that was sentimental, and Thaddeus had decided to pay him a substantial amount of money to live out the rest of his days in a nearby house, Mr. Dorman left the building safely.
While I was happy that he was safe, anger that the Fitzgeralds had managed to pay their way out of another situation engulfed me.
Anger so fierce I could barely see.
Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm down.
I stood outside the building, trying to gulp down fresh air and center myself. It was almost working until I watched Thaddeus standing in front of the reporters and cameras, taking questions.
“There are many people unhappy with today’s outcome,” he said.
“They wanted that man stripped of his dignity for a press write-up. I suppose that’s why they called you respectable members of the press.
However, we at Fitzgerald believe in the human approach.
You wanted a story, but we wanted to save a life. ”
The reporters began to bark questions at him. He ignored them and walked away.
When I realized he was approaching me, my hands curled into fists.
“Summer, it’s been almost a week. You disappoint me.” Amusement tinged his tone.
Genuinely confused, I stared and waited.
“After that sad excuse of a murder attempt, I’ve been expecting you. You haven’t jumped out from behind one pumpkin or bush with a knife in your hand. Never even tried to run me over with your car.” He paused, smirked, and said, “Wait, have you done the impossible, forgiven me?”
“Fuck forgiveness,” I hurled at him.
Thaddeus looked delighted. “Welcome to the fucking club.”
I couldn’t stand around and watch the building I loved being torn down like it meant nothing. I left Thaddeus there to bask in his heartless victory.
Thaddeus
I stood there, observing my latest victory: the team preparing to knock down the Starlight property. A knot formed in my throat. I’d managed to do Summer’s job for her and convince Mr. Dorman to leave. When she hurried away, she looked on the verge of tears. Anger or sadness? I didn’t know.
The foreman handed me a hard hat.
“We’re all set. In minutes, there will be nothing left of her,” he said.
A pit grew in my stomach. Nothing? Since I was a child, my father had taken me to these sites, celebrating each demolished building whenever they’d given Fitzgerald the opportunity to build better structures. This was the first time I had felt uncomfortable.
“Go ahead and do what you have to do. I’ll be off.
” My voice wavered, and I looked down at the ground.
Shit, this wasn’t the time to let emotions get the better of me.
I cleared my throat, hoping it’d sound like I’d just inhaled dust rather than appearing to be straying from the firm boss I was supposed to be.
“No need, they’re counting down now. If you blink, you’ll miss it.”
I almost turned my back but managed to hold strong. I didn’t want to see the building where I’d promised Summer we’d get married crumble before my eyes. What the hell was wrong with me this morning? One damn night of amazing sex, and my thoughts were all over the place.
Behind me, the press gathered, pointing cameras at the building. They made my blood boil. Earlier, their hope was to make Fitzgerald look bad, to get a sob story about how we’d forced an old man from his home. Well, fuck that, and fuck them.
The foreman pointed in the distance. Beneath me, the ground shook briefly.
A loud boom and a burst of dust, and the building folded into itself, crumbling to the ground.
That’s it. It was over in a matter of seconds.
With only smoke and ash rising in the air.
I’d won. I’d taken something that Summer loved away from her.
Why didn’t it feel good?
The pit in my stomach turned into a rock. This is what you wanted, the voice in my head reasoned. From the start, I’d been waiting for this moment. Dying to see Summer’s hopes get crushed. To get the payback I deserved.
I wanted this result.
How did we find ourselves in this place?
I wasn’t satisfied or proud, just confused.
I’d loved her more than anything in the world once.
Since my return, I’d been so focused on knocking the place down.
But now, I felt off. My intention was to make Clive pay, and I had.
What she’d done ten years ago had grown within me into something toxic.
What excuse did I have now? I was in my thirties.
A grown adult. The minute the building fell, I realized what I’d done.
I’d stooped to a childish level, rivaling with Summer like we were twenty-one again.
And in doing so, I’d destroyed a historic building along with the homes of so many people.
“Mr. Fitzgerald, do you like?”
The foreman’s words interrupted my thoughts. “Yes,” I said hurriedly and returned to my existential crisis.
I turned to walk back to my car but paused.
“I want the new building to have some history,” I said to the foreman.
“Have your men get a few bricks and stones from the pile, and we can repurpose them in the exterior walls of the new structure.” It didn’t feel right that nothing would remain of a building that had once stood so proudly.
As soon as I got back to the office, I’d have the team get to work on how to incorporate bits of the old building into the new one.
Once I made it to my car, I phoned my father to tell him my new plan. “We need to have a few units in the new building for low-income families.”
“Why the hell would we do that?” he barked at me.
I knew my father well enough to have an answer ready. “PR. You want good press, don’t you? When we reveal the new structure, we’ll announce our plans.”
“Fine.” He sighed. I was about to hang up when he said, “Wait, what’s this I heard about the Cohen girl trying to kill you?”
I laughed. “Summer is upset, but don’t worry, they took her away in cuffs.”
“You had her arrested?” he barked.
I shrugged. “She tried to kill me.”
“But she didn’t. She’s hardly a threat.”
“Yeah, well, too late now.”
“Thaddeus, that was—”
I hung up the phone, unwilling to hear another damned thing.
Distraction from the project was the last thing I wanted.
A strange sense of urgency came over me.
I was eager to get to the office and start redrawing blueprints.
This project had finally got interesting.
For once, it wasn’t about winning (because I’d already won).
It was about doing something I was passionate about.
Who’d have thought that I needed a purpose that didn’t revolve around beating Summer?
Going forward, I wanted to see as little of her as possible.
The woman I’d once loved died long ago, and I’d been dealing with her immature ghost since.
She might still behave like we’re kids, but I sure as hell wouldn’t anymore.