Chapter 44
Daniel
I decided to walk home from work, which was something I rarely did.
Armand was following close behind, even though I told him he could head home early.
I had no plans that night. I had every intention of holing up in my living room and ordering takeout, which was something that was becoming more and more common for me.
Ever since the tabloid came out with the story about Kiera and me enjoying a tropical vacation together, I felt more exposed than ever. I had dealt with paparazzi and lies from the press in the past, but this time it might have hurt the one woman I cared about.
Or maybe it didn’t hurt her at all. That was even more crushing.
There was no way she had avoided seeing the story, or the spins that came afterward. There were several photos that came out over the following week. Photos where Kiera and I weren’t even together, but the press cleverly pieced them together to look as if we were.
The night she came to my room, we almost were. I had almost let it get too far. It still went further than it probably should have, which was eating away at me. I felt like I had been unfaithful in some way, even though I knew I hadn’t. Heart and I weren’t together anymore, if we ever even were.
The press had placed a photo of my leaving the restaurant days before Kiera had arrived next to a photo of Kiera leaving the same restaurant after I had left back to New York.
A photo of me at the beach surfing was placed next to a photo of Kiera lying topless on a beach chair and looking out at the ocean.
It was all so predictable. I knew how it looked, even though I knew what was true.
To anyone else, we did look like a happy couple.
Stupid me didn’t even notice any photos being taken. The damn paparazzi were sneaky. It felt eerie looking back to know I was being watched, maybe from behind a bush or from a long lens from a boat. I should have been used to it.
I wondered what Heart thought when she saw the photos. If she saw them. Again, they were hard to avoid.
I figured it was better to stay home than risk being photographed and having those photos comprised into a story that fit the narrative of someone else.
It was a risk just walking these few blocks home, but I had to get fresh air.
I had to clear my head, which was covered with a Mets baseball cap in hopes it would help conceal me.
When I arrived home, I opened the drawer of takeout menus and blindly selected one.
I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for, so I left it up to fate.
It looked like fate had chosen Chinese. I dialed the number and placed an order for Mongolian beef, fried rice, egg rolls, steamed vegetables, and honey shrimp.
They said it would be about forty-five minutes.
I decided to take a shower and wash away the day, which had been spent mostly in my office, avoiding my brother.
Thankfully, most of my meetings were video calls with our associates in London as we moved forward with our deal.
The deal that Brody had landed on his own, while I was dropping the ball.
I knew I couldn’t avoid him forever. He was my CFO, after all. And my brother.
I knew my anger and resentment was wrongly placed on him, but he was the closest one to me right now. And for being the closest one to me, he knew absolutely nothing about me or the mess of my life.
After my shower, I threw on some black sweats and a large Mets tee.
I sunk into my couch and scrolled through my phone to see if my nights at home had paid off.
I didn’t see any new photos of me, and the story of Kiera and my engagement seemed to be dying down.
All they had were recycled photos from Bora Bora or photos from years back of Kiera and me at certain engagements when we were actually dating.
The buzzer on my intercom rang. The Chinese food must have gotten here early. I buzzed them up and listened to the whir of the elevator beginning to descend. I grabbed my wallet from the entry table and fished out some cash for a tip.
The doors opened and I was surprised to see Brody standing there with a pack of beer in his hands.
“What the hell?” I asked in surprise.
“Nice to see you, too,” he said, walking past me.
He went to the kitchen and set the beer on the counter. Make yourself at home, I thought. He opened the box and pulled out a beer and then another. He tossed it to me and I almost fumbled it before steadying the cold can in my hands.
“A peace offering,” he said, popping the tab of his beer.
I stood there, unsure if I wanted to kick him out or let him stay.
“Thanks,” I said, opening my beer and taking a sip.
I guessed it was time to stop being an asshole.
We stood there drinking our beers in silence for a moment. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but I was the one to blame for that. The past few months I had been in my own world and shutting everyone out.
“So…” Brody started, “I don’t know what’s going on with you, and not to be soft, but I care about you. You’re my brother, and I’m here for you.”
I took a deep breath before nodding toward the couch. “Come. Sit. Chinese food is on its way. I ordered way too much.”
“Junzi’s?” he asked hopefully.
“Where else?”
He smiled and followed me toward the couch.
We both plopped down and sunk into the large plush cushions that I had fallen asleep on more times than my own bed in the past few weeks.
“Well… I’m listening,” said Brody, taking another sip of beer and raising a brow.
I gazed out the large glass windows and thought for a moment. As I looked out at the skyscrapers towering nearby, I spoke about something I hadn’t thought about in years. Something I had blocked out.
“Remember Danielle?” I asked.
“Danielle, Danielle? From college?” asked Brody, a note of surprise.
“Yeah.”
“God, yes. That was a fucking mess.” He shook his head.
“I know. I feel like ever since then…”
“Ever since she tried to completely screw you over?”
I gave him a look.
“Okay, okay,” he said, putting his hands up.
He was right, though. Danielle was my girlfriend through college and I thought she was the one .
We had been together for four years. She was beautiful, bubbly, and fun-loving.
I really thought I had our lives all figured out.
But then I found out she was cheating on me with the teaching assistant in one of her classes.
I was crushed. Pissed. Sick. She said I never had any time for her, which was partially true because I was trying to get my tech start-up off the ground while juggling my senior year.
She had always said she supported me. She was rooting for me.
But I guess she got tired or lonely. She found comfort with someone else.
I broke up with her and threw myself into my start-up even more.
I had a vision for AI long before AI had even become what it is now.
Some say, I was the founder of artificial intelligence.
After graduation, my start-up got noticed.
Major tech giants wanted to get their hands on it, but I refused.
I never wanted to sell it. I wanted to be one of those major tech giants.
By me holding onto it and the buzz surrounding it, the value shot up and I eventually landed where I am today.
I lost Danielle in the process, but I couldn’t say I regretted it.
Especially after what she did to me. Months after our breakup, when the buzz around my start-up becoming a full-fledged company was all over the press, she called me.
She told me she was pregnant and that it was mine.
I was shocked. We had broken up months ago.
I was scared to death, but I was also ready to step up and do whatever she needed. But Brody wasn’t convinced. He said things weren’t adding up and to be cautious. He insisted I take a paternity test. Danielle was pissed, but legally she had to allow me to.
It turned out, the baby wasn’t mine. She was actually only a few weeks pregnant, so it couldn’t possibly be my baby.
I never found out who the father was. I didn’t care.
I wanted to get as far away from her as possible.
To know that someone could lie and use someone for their own personal gain was scary, but when it was someone you once loved.
That was a whole other level of fucked up.
“Well, since everything went down with Danielle, I feel like I’ve had a really hard time trusting people,” I said.
“Rightfully so,” said Brody.
“I thought I had blocked that part of my life out, but I think deep down it’s always been there. Maybe that’s why I haven’t settled down yet. Maybe I used this whole playboy lifestyle as a way to protect myself. You know, never letting anyone get too close.” I shrugged.
“Then what’s my excuse?” Brody smirked.
“You’re young. It’s what you’re supposed to do.”
“And you’re, what? A grandpa?”
I hesitated a moment before speaking again. “No, but I was going to be a dad… for real.”
“What?” asked Brody skeptically.
“I was involved with someone for a few months. It started off as a one-night stand, but then she got pregnant.”
“What are you talking about? When was this?” asked Brody, his voice jumping an octave.
“A few months ago. I never told anyone. Well, except Freddy.”
“Freddy?!” Brody’s voice raised an octave. “You told Freddy and not me?”
“I know. I just got scared. I’m your older brother. I should be a good influence…”
“Ha. Hardly.” Brody laughed. “So, what happened?”
“I was scared at first. Scared shitless. Once I got past that, I felt like we could be the real deal. You know, the whole shebang. I was really starting to see myself as a dad.”
“And you believed her? After everything…”
“Yeah, for some reason I did. I still do. But I messed it all up.”
“Okay, then fix it.”
“I can’t. She overheard something I said that was misconstrued. It was bad. And then all this stuff with Kiera came out.”
“So, that’s why you were so pissed,” said Brody, putting it all together.
I nodded.
“Well, I can explain it to her…”
“No,” I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter now. The baby is gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“I don’t know. She either lost it or… took care of it.”
“Wow…” said Brody softly.
“I’ve been really torn up about it.”
“Well, it all makes sense now. Fuck. I’m so sorry, bro.”
He put his hand on my back and we sat in silence for a moment.
“Baby or no baby, it sounds like you have feelings for this woman.”
“Heart,” I said.
“What?”
“That’s her name.”
“Fitting.”
I laughed softly.
“Well, get Heart back. Just talk to her.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“I had all these gifts sent to her apartment. Everything she could need for the baby. I even wrote her a check that would set her up nicely for a few years.”
“I missed the part where you talked.”
I gave Brody a questioning look.
“Money isn’t everything, Daniel. There was a time you didn’t have it. You used to have to actually use your words. It sounds like Heart needed to hear you.”
I chewed on my cheek. Brody was right. I had tried to fix everything with money. I should have known Heart didn’t want that. She was different, I knew that, so why had I treated her like everyone else?