24
JUST BUSINESS
Anger roared inside, Just business? Is he fucking kidding me right now? I rolled my eyes at him and tried to step out of his grip. He was willing to get a hefty sum to ruin my career and blacklist me.
“Business?! How much is this case worth Nate?” I was pissed that he could sell me out like that and I knew this was worth a lot by the way he avoided my gaze.
“A lot…” he sheepishly replied, “and a promotion to CEO." he added, making me gasp. Nausea consumed me, my stomach twisted and turned at the deal he would take. I couldn’t breathe, my chest tightened. I pulled myself out of his grip stepping back.
“Wow Nate. So, now I understand why you won’t be someone else’s person?” I spat. This was his escape hatch, to remove himself from a relationship he never wanted. I knew this was business but somehow this just became personal. That he was willing to sell me out, all for a title and extra cash flow.
“Gi, It’s not like that. I have worked hard in my career to aim for this kind of position. This isn’t personal.” It frustrated me that he couldn’t see that it was. My heart sank as he expressed clearly that work would always be a priority. I understood what it meant to him but surely, he could achieve his dream in a different way, one that wasn’t going to hurt me in the process.
“If you do this, we are done Nate.” I knew an ultimatum was risky right now, this early in our relationship, but I couldn’t be with someone who thought money and work was more important than a relationship.
“Gi, please. Don’t do this… I can actually help you and protect you, if you could just let me,” he pleaded. I watched him, waiting for him to continue, how in the hell could he do that? He needed to win this case for Cato, whether it was based on lies or not, I trusted him but at the same time I didn’t, not if a promotion was up for grabs and he could toss me to the side.
“What if I can get the client to agree to no names. To tell him he has more chance of winning going for the company rather than a separate employee? I’ll make him sign an NDA, never to speak your name again. I will protect you.” He stepped closer to me, rubbing his hand on my arm, he kissed my forehead. My anxiety simmered under his touch, but the anger in the pit of my stomach still roared. He placed a hand under my chin forcing me to look into his eyes, his eyes trying to read mine. Nate opened his mouth ready to say something.
“What's going on?" Angelina whisper-shouted as she stepped into the office, quickly closing the door behind her and Nate pulled back from me to create a professional space. Fuck another problem to deal with. Nate cleared his throat looking between Angelina and me like a deer in the headlights. Angelina was staring him down, arms over her chest waiting for an explanation.
“Mr Dalton was just leaving,” I spat, crossing my arms over my chest, raising a brow at him to leave. Regret and guilt were left from Nate’s final look, unspoken words lingered on his tongue.
“Think about it.” He composed himself professionally before grabbing his briefcase and slipping past Angelina.
“Same!” I snapped back, keeping my ground on the ultimatum I had presented.
“Miss Henley will fill you in,” he addressed Angelina,frozen in posture, as I watched the door close behind him. Then her attention flashed to me, anger mixed with confusion appeared in her composed state.
“What the hell is going on? And I don't mean the case." Angelina had a scary glare, that when you were on her bad side you knew to run and hide.
“It's complicated,” I disclosed, truthfully, because this whole twist of secrets and hiding was catching up to me so fast at this moment that I didn’t know which part to untangle first. She waited for me to elaborate on my answer and when I failed, she poked.
“How long, Georgina?” She asked using my full name, that hadn’t been used since I was a kid in trouble. She stormed towards me, not backing down. Fear consumed me, this was going to be the end of my job.
“Barcelona,” I replied, a little quieter than I wanted. Angelina just sighed and chuckled nervously, anger in her eyes as she met mine. That was months ago. The beginning of September to be exact. This didn’t look good for me. I tried to explain as best I could.
“I didn't know who he was when we met that night and then when he came here, we were already involved but it's more complicated than that." I looked at her, pressing on. “He is also my best friend’s older brother so the secret’s kind of got carried away.” I finally spilled the beans on the whole scenario and it felt good to get it off my chest even if it was to my manager. Angelina ran her hands through her hair.
“You do realise this is a conflict of interest for the case! Do you know how serious this is? Not just for us but for him as well. He could lose his job, Gigi. It’s none of my business for your personal affairs but this is something you should have made me aware of.”
“We don't discuss work, we never have. Angelina, I love my job and I wouldn't put it at risk.”
“But you are! And you’re putting Mr Dalton’s at risk too. If I make our legal team and the judge aware of this relationship, you have done exactly that. Do you know how much more money we would need to spend; the court case will drag on for more months. We will close permanently; this is a bigger deal than I think you are aware of!”
It was so much to take in that I felt overwhelmed. I was risking everything, not just for myself but for Nate, for my colleagues and the company itself. My eyes started to water a little and I tried to contain myself so I didn’t break down in front of Angelina. I then felt bad for going at Nate when he was trying to help me. Angelina sighed and her expression softened.
“I will keep your secret, but if they find out, I will protect myself. You will not discuss anything case related with Mr Dalton. Your relationship is your business, but make sure it doesn’t come to light before the trial. We can’t afford to go through all this again.”
“Thank you, Angelina, I promise that won’t happen. But now there is a new problem.” My attention shifted to the folder resting on her desk, she followed my gaze, sighing. She retrieved it and glanced over, eyes wide with the shit that was in front of her.
“That bastard!” She growled when she read over the name, the same reaction I’d had. “What does Mr Dalton know about this?”
“Just this. He doesn’t know about the… the sexual harassment. I haven’t told anyone about that.”
“Good, we can use this. Mr Cato doesn’t know this was filed with HR, they have our statements on the event. It’s stored on company records, so I will contact HR and the legal team tomorrow. Gi, I mean it, that you cannot, under any circumstances, disclose this. We will lose the company, our jobs and, if this is a personal vendetta, your career will be gone in a heartbeat. I don’t want Mr Dalton bringing anything related to the case to you again. I need you to step back from this. Everything needs to come to me and any meetings we need to have with him will be with me.”
I agreed with the terms, it was the least I could do with Angelina protecting my secret. I wasn’t happy about us using the harassment as an advantage to win the case, it made me feel sick that the most personal, sensitive moment of my life would be exposed. In all honesty, I didn’t want to discuss it with anyone. Angelina pulled me from my thoughts
“I will leave you to tell him that, as I don’t want this to become any more of a conflict. I trust you, so don't make me regret it. Go home for the day. I'll pop you onto offsite meetings for this afternoon and tomorrow. You can return in a couple days.”
I needed this, to go home and be by myself for a couple of days. I needed to deal with the can of worms that had opened up. I needed to throw up, shower multiple times to get the memories scrubbed off of me. I needed to pull myself together and lock all this shit back in its box. I grabbed my stuff and left the office for the day jumping on the tube home. The first shower, I cried, I scrubbed my body until it was red raw and the water burned my skin and I repeated until I felt clean.
The incessant buzzing of my phone continued as messages from Nate kept coming in. I ignored them, I couldn’t deal with him, not right now anyway.
The silence in my apartment was unbearable while my mind and my phone continued to simultaneously torment me. Maybe being home wasn’t the best idea. I climbed into my car and drove to my parents, where I would spend a couple of days off the grid and to reset. It was the one place I felt safe.