37. Theo
37
Theo
‘ T hank you, Jessica,’ Edwin said.
As Jess took her seat, I beamed with pride.
She’d knocked her presentation out of the park, and I was so fucking proud of her my heart could burst.
Right now, I wished I could scoop Jess up in my arms, spin her around and tell her how brilliant she was.
Although I was happy with how my presentation went, I had to be honest. After spending time in Sunshine Bay, deep down I knew Jess’s library would be a much better fit for the town. Especially as it’d mean Edwin could keep the building intact.
Ever since Candace had shared that info about this school being part of Edwin’s family history, I’d felt guilty about the fact that a company I worked for wanted to tear it down.
I’d lost count of the number of times I’d considered whether I wanted to go ahead with this pitch. If I removed myself from the race, Jess and I would no longer be competitors and the building’s legacy would remain .
I wanted Jess to win. And in that moment, everything became clear. I knew exactly what I was going to do.
Father wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t care. I was tired of the way he treated me. When he’d turned up unannounced to check on me, my blood had boiled hotter than a volcano. I’d already told him I had it handled. But, yet again, he didn’t trust me.
And the way he’d interrupted both our presentations was unacceptable.
‘So I trust you’d like to move forward with our proposal?’ Father stepped towards Edwin and I cringed.
‘Thank you for your time, Edwin,’ I jumped in. ‘We’ll leave you to gather your thoughts. Father, I need speak to you,’ I said sternly. ‘ Now . In private.’
‘I’ll be in touch either later today or tomorrow,’ Edwin replied, his expression neutral.
‘Bye.’ I turned to Jess, who was packing up her things. I was desperate to stay and speak to her, but I had something important to take care of first. ‘Follow me.’ I gestured to my father, leading him to the back of the building.
‘What was all that nonsense about voluntarily providing affordable housing?’ he snapped the second we stepped out into the corridor. ‘That would take up a considerable amount of land and will cost us millions!’
‘Not everything’s about money,’ I fired back.
‘Of course it is! We’re not running a charity. Your penthouse didn’t pay for itself. Nor did your education. Show some gratitude!’
I ground my jaw. I didn’t want to get into an argument, but it was inevitable.
‘You shouldn’t have come today!’ I thrust open the back door and stepped through it. ‘I had everything under control. And your presence has been a hindrance rather than a help.’
‘I had no choice. You refused to send over the presentation, so I had to come and make sure you sealed the deal.’
‘You don’t get it, do you?’ I blew out an exasperated breath. ‘Edwin asked us to stay here for a reason. He wanted to show us how important the community was to him. I told you that from the beginning. That’s why I included community elements in my pitch. But your reaction undermined everything.’
‘You took it too far! Sponsoring the local football team or throwing some money at a local charity would’ve sufficed. Suggesting we give up the opportunity to secure millions in profit with that housing idea was ludicrous!’
‘It’s irrelevant now anyway.’
‘Why?’ He frowned. ‘Surely you don’t think he’ll choose that girl’s juvenile pitch over ours?’
‘She’s not a girl . Jess is a woman. And her pitch was passionate, insightful and brilliant. A romance library will be a much better fit for this town. That’s why I’m telling Edwin that we’re withdrawing from the pitch.’
‘What?’ His eyes flew so far out of their sockets they could’ve landed on Mars. ‘You’ll do no such thing!’
‘Watch me.’ I turned my back, then strode inside. Just as I stepped into the corridor leading towards Edwin’s office, I spotted Jess.
‘Everything okay?’ She frowned. ‘I forgot my notebook and when I came back I saw you and your dad out there.’ She pointed to the playground, where I’d just finished arguing with him .
‘I told my father that I’m withdrawing. I’m going to tell Edwin now.’
‘What?’ Her jaw dropped. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t want to compete with you, Jess. And your idea will be better for the community. Your pitch was fantastic and you deserve to win. I don’t want anything or anyone to stand in your way.’
I knew withdrawing meant pissing off my father. If he wanted to be really petty, he’d fire me and cut me off, ensuring I’d lose everything. Not just my job, but the penthouse and the cars too.
But as irresponsible as it sounded, I didn’t care. I wanted Jess to succeed. Right now, her happiness was all that mattered to me.
Jess stood there, stunned into silence.
‘I…’ She opened her mouth, swallowed hard, then tried to speak again. ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m so grateful you’d even consider doing that for me. Especially when I know what’s at stake. But I can’t let you.’
‘I want to. I don’t give a shit about the stakes anymore. I know my father will fire me, but I don’t care. I just want you to be happy.’
‘I want you to be happy too. I appreciate you offering to withdraw, but please don’t. If I win this, I also need to know it’s because it was Edwin’s decision. Not because you did me a favour. Do you get what I mean?’
I squeezed my eyes shut and winced. I was so focused on wanting Jess to win that I hadn’t even considered how she’d feel about me stepping aside. She wanted to win on merit and I respected that.
‘Yes. I understand.’
‘Thanks,’ she said softly .
‘Tell me you haven’t done something stupid!’ Father’s voice boomed down the corridor.
‘Lucky for you I haven’t spoken to Edwin,’ I spat back.
‘Smart boy. We’ll talk about your little outburst later, but I was just on the phone to Harold.’ My blood ran cold. ‘He said that Penelope’s looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow and wanted to know whether you two planned to dine at the house in the country or if you preferred somewhere in town. Perhaps somewhere near your penthouse will be better. You’ll have more privacy. I know you two have a lot of catching up to do.’
Father raised his eyebrow suggestively, as he stared at Jessica.
Bastard.
I’d completely forgotten that my father had set up that date with Penelope after the presentation, because I had no intention of going.
‘Who’s Penelope?’ Jess asked and my chest tightened.
‘A friend of the family,’ I said quickly.
‘ Now, now ,’ Father said. ‘Don’t be coy. Penelope’s more than just a friend of the family. She’s my future daughter-in-law.’
Jess’s face dropped and bile rose in my throat.
‘That’s not true!’ I protested.
‘I’m… gonna go.’ Jessica turned swiftly and made her way to the exit.
‘What the fuck are you playing at?’ I snapped, torn between wanting to run after Jess and having it out with my arsehole father.
‘I should be asking you that question! I cannot believe that you slept with a competitor. Never mind a woman like her. ’
I froze.
‘What? Why would you—’
‘Don’t insult my intelligence by attempting to deny it,’ he hissed. ‘It’s obvious. Why else would you threaten to put the success of this deal on the line? I expected more from you Theodore. Prioritising pussy, and cheap, unrefined pussy at that, over business is unforgivable. Have you learnt nothing? You’re supposed to sabotage the enemy, not sleep with them!’
‘I’m not you , Father. I don’t use unsavoury tactics just to seal the deal. I believe in integrity.’
‘ Integrity? ’ He shook his head. ‘Don’t make me laugh. Integrity is not crossing professional and personal boundaries by having discussions about visiting a competitor’s bedroom in the middle of the night.’
My eyes widened. How the hell did he know about that?
‘I…’ I stuttered.
‘I’m not an idiot. I saw your emails. Reading bedtime stories! It’s pathetic . That’s one of the many reasons I was so insistent on seeing your presentation and attending the pitch. I knew you’d been distracted and didn’t want your failings to put this deal at risk. And I was right.’
Fuck. He read our emails. Snooping bastard.
‘I did what I came here to do. My presentation was sound.’ I clenched my fist.
‘Your presentation was subpar. You should never have made those ludicrous community suggestions. Whatever Edwin’s decision, after the stunt you just pulled, there’s no way I can recommend to the board that you take over. You’re not ready.’
‘ What a surprise ,’ I said sarcastically. ‘Always pushing the boundaries. Even if we won this pitch, you’d still find another excuse.’
This wasn’t the first time he’d dangled the carrot of taking over in front of me only to rip it away at the last moment. I was so tired of his bullshit.
‘Enough of your lip, boy. If I didn’t need you in Paris, you’d be out of the company.’
‘Paris?’ I didn’t like the sound of this. At all.
‘Yes. I’ve decided. You’re going there on Sunday for at least a month. Or however long I tell you. I need someone to manage the project there. And seeing as you don’t care about whether we win this pitch or not, you won’t be needed here.’
I didn’t even stay to argue. Trying to reason with my father was like trying to negotiate twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep with a newborn.
My priority right now was to find Jess and talk to her.
After storming out of the exit, I headed back to the B&B. I knocked on her door several times, but there was no answer.
When I headed back downstairs, Glenda was there.
‘How’d the pitch go?’ She beamed.
‘Have you seen Jess? Did she come back here?’
‘I haven’t seen her since she left this morning. Is something wrong?’
‘If she comes back, could you call me or ask her to? Please? It’s really important.’
‘Course, love.’ Glenda’s face creased with concern.
I walked around the town for almost an hour, hoping to find her, but I couldn’t. Then something told me to go to the beach .
Not caring whether I got sand in my shoes or damaged my suit, I ran along the shore searching for her.
Then in the distance I spotted Jess on our bench, staring out towards the horizon.
Thank God.
I sprinted over and when she saw me, her eyes popped.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said, her voice solemn.
‘Looking for you.’
‘I thought you’d be back in London by now, meeting up with Penelope . I don’t understand why you didn’t just tell me about her. I asked you. When we sat here together. After you made me come on this bench. I asked if there was someone waiting for you back in London. Actually now that I think about it, you didn’t say no. You avoided the question. Silly me.’
‘Jess.’ I sat down beside her and reached for her hand. She pulled it away. ‘There is absolutely nothing going on with Penelope. Yes, Father wants us to get together. He’s been harassing me to go on a date with her for ages, but I’m not interested. The only woman I’m interested in is you .’
She studied my face for several seconds.
‘For some reason, I believe you.’
‘Thank you.’ I blew out a sigh of relief.
We sat there for a few minutes before Jess broke the silence.
‘Your presentation was amazing, by the way.’
‘Thanks.’
‘And personally, I think your suggestion for affordable housing was great. I’ve no idea how Edwin’s going to decide, but I don’t envy him. ’
My phone pinged and I groaned. It was probably my father. Whatever he had to say would have to wait.
A notification on Jess’s phone sounded seconds later, and after staring at the screen, she jerked her head in my direction.
‘Looks like we won’t have to wait long to hear Edwin’s decision. Check your phone.’
I pulled out my phone, and as I tapped the screen, a message appeared.
Edwin
Please return to Seaview High in half an hour. I’ve reached a decision.
The moment of truth had arrived.
Shit.