Epilogue
Dani
One Year Later
“ I won’t beat around the bush here, Danielle. You’re exactly what we’re looking for, and we’d love to offer you a job with Collingswood Harrison. I know you’ll be a tremendous asset to our Forensic Accounting department,” Jessica Collingswood, my apparent new boss, says to me with a grin.
I blink at her for a moment, not really believing that I heard her correctly. “Are you messing with me?”
She throws her head back as she laughs. “Absolutely not. You were at the top of your class, and the accounting firm you interned with has nothing but good things to say about you. We’d be fools to let you slip between our fingers.”
“Wow. I wasn’t expecting to be offered a job on the spot,” I admit. “Our professors told us we’d likely have to go through a lot of interviews and maybe take a regular accounting role. They were very adamant that none of us would find one when we’re still interning.”
Jessica shrugs. “Like I said, neither myself nor Gregory are willing to let someone with your kind of talent end up at another firm.”
Gregory? As in Gregory Harrison? The other half of the massive accounting firm that’s offering me a job?
I wasn’t even expecting to meet Jessica Collingswood today.
I was supposed to have my interview with someone else, so to say I was shocked when she introduced herself to me is putting things mildly.
“Okay. Wow. Yes. Obviously yes.” I laugh, shaking my head. “I would love to work here. Your firm was my first pick.”
Jessica nods. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ll send the information down to HR and have them write up the offer letter, but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in what we’re offering you.”
“I’m sure I won’t. Thank you, Ms. Collingswood.” I stand up, offering her my hand, which she shakes.
“No, Danielle, call me Jessica. There’s no reason for that kind of formality here. We may be a large firm, but Gregory and I like to think of this as our family. Yes, it’s bigger than most, but we both make sure we know each and every hire that’s made here. You’ll meet him on your first day.”
“In that case, please call me Dani. I’m actually working on getting my legal name changed, as Danielle has some negative connotations in my life.”
“Of course. Of course. I’ll make sure that your paperwork has you down as Dani so you won’t have to deal with it in the meantime.”
I just nod, unable to stop smiling at her. I’m sure I look like an idiot, but I almost don’t care.
Jessica hesitates for a moment before releasing my hand. “I’m probably going to make this really awkward, but I feel like I need to mention it.”
“Okay?” My smile falls slightly.
“My wife and I are big fans of yours,” she says, grimacing as a blush paints her cheeks. “Yeah, that’s really awkward, Jessica.”
My cheeks heat as I wince. “Ummm…I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
She shakes her head. “I definitely could’ve gone about this completely differently, and I’m sorry I didn’t. I just don’t like secrets. We were both subscribers to your channel. We even have the Behind the Lens calendar. Your image for August? Holy shit.”
I don’t know whether I should run away in embarrassment or thank her. But at least she has good taste because the image Chad chose was hot as hell. It was one of the moments he captured where we were all connected with looks of pure bliss on our faces as we fucked.
We have multiple copies of the calendar ourselves, and we’ve had them all turned to August the entire year.
“Thank you, I think?” I shrug, wondering if I’ve ever felt more awkward than I do right now.
“You’re welcome.” She shakes her head. “That’s why I brought it up.
Gregory is also aware of your prior employment at Behind the Lens.
I don’t know if anyone else in the company knows or not, but we want to assure you they won’t hear it from us.
And if you choose to return to that line of work while employed by us, your job will remain safe.
And none of us will subscribe to your channel. ”
I nod slowly. “While I appreciate that, my time as a camgirl is done. As for my partners, well, I don’t see them giving it up anytime soon.”
The two of us laugh together, the awkwardness melting away.
Jessica walks me to her office door, pausing with her hand on the doorknob. “We’re all really excited to have you here, Dani.”
“I’m excited to be here,” I assure her.
“Even though I put my foot in my mouth?”
I shrug. “Who doesn’t do that from time to time? I know I have. Thank you for the opportunity. You won’t regret it.”
“No, I don’t think I will,” she muses quietly before swinging the door open. “Nathaniel, if you’ll see Miss Williams out. When you get back, I’ll have some documents for you to take to HR for me since Dani will be joining our ranks.”
“Congratulations, Miss Williams,” her assistant says as he stands.
“Oh, call me Dani, please. And thank you, Nathaniel.”
“You should hear from HR by the end of the day, Dani. They’ll work out a start date with you, but you should be able to start as early as Monday.” With that, Jessica waves and shuts her door.
Nathaniel escorts me to the security desk before hurrying back upstairs. I shoot the security guard a grin as I make my way toward the door, pulling my phone out and calling Andrés.
“Well?”
I scoff. “Seriously? You’re not even going to say hello?”
“Hello, mi reina , the love of my life. How did the interview go?” he asks, and I snort.
“Yeah, come on, Dani, don’t leave us hanging!” Maya adds.
I head to my car, climb inside, and wait for my phone to connect. “Am I on speakerphone?”
A chorus of yeses answers me, and I laugh.
“At least that means I only have to tell the story once.” With a laugh, I tell them about the interview, the job offer, and then about Jessica’s comments.
“Hell, yes!” Jason crows. “Sounds like your boss has good taste.”
“Whatever. I’m on my way home now. I should be there in about twenty minutes.”
Victor chuckles. “Dinner will be ready and waiting.”
“This definitely means celebratory sex, right?” Jason asks, and all I can do is shake my head.
“I love you all. I’ll see you soon.”
I disconnect the call, turning up the music as I pull out into the light traffic.
The last year has been…interesting, to say the least.
It took me months to recover physically from what Gary did to me. I’m still not convinced I’ve recovered mentally yet, which is why I continue to see my therapist.
Well, that, and I’m not sure if Maya would continue to see her if I weren’t also going. She’s doing a lot better with her commitment and trust issues, but she’s far from ready to stop going to therapy. It’s good for both of us, I think.
I was able to finish my classes quickly since I couldn’t do much else, but I couldn’t start my internship until a few months ago. I just wasn’t ready to leave the house every day.
Gary is locked in a high-security mental facility, but it took me a long time to stop worrying that he was going to break out and come for me again.
Mental scars are much harder to deal with than physical ones. It gives me a whole new appreciation for Maya and everything she’s been through.
My relationships with Maya, Victor, Jason, and Andrés have really grown over the last year. We’ve all put in the work and effort needed, and I’m proud of how far we’ve come. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with them.
We’re discussing having a commitment ceremony since we can’t all be married to one another.
We’re also thinking about possibly having kids in the next few years.
We haven’t made any final decisions on that, but Maya and I are still young.
It’s Victor’s biological clock that seems to be ticking down since he’s the one who keeps bringing it up.
But I also know that if the two of us were to say we don’t want kids, he’ll be okay with it because he just wants us to be happy.
I also never returned to Behind the Lens, but thankfully, Lorna understood. During the investigation, the police found out that Gary was my very first subscriber on my channel, and I just can’t seem to unlink the two. Gary was able to see parts of me I wouldn’t have wanted him to.
It feels like he violated so many parts of my life, and that was one I could give up—so I did.
Maya, Victor, and Andrés are still going strong with the company, and that doesn’t bother me. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll even be able to appear on their channels.
It won’t be anytime soon, but never say never.