THREE DAYS LATER
I nervously twisted the plastic straw in and out of my coffee cup. The noise it made was aggravating, I was sure, but it barely even penetrated my ears. I was praying that my little meeting went well and that this would be the first step in turning things back around for myself.
As angry and as hurt as I was by Jabari’s actions, I could understand why he moved the way that he had. He genuinely thought that I had betrayed him with the hopes of putting his story out there to gain leverage for my expansion.
In addition to putting me out of the building and blocking every opportunity for me to relocate and getting my equipment taken, he had also caused every person I had lined up for my reporters to interview to back out, citing “conflict of interest” as their reason.
Each day, I was getting that much closer to breaking down and calling my father for help.
I knew that he could squash this little game easily, but besides not wanting to ask for his help, I didn’t want him in my business.
Going to my parents for any assistance was like admitting failure, and I just couldn’t do that. Besides, I also didn’t want Jabari to feel like I had to run to my parents to fight my battles.
I glanced at my watch for the sixth time and blew out a breath.
My stomach was a tangled ball of yarn, and I wanted to be past this.
As much as I hated rushing my life by, I wished that it was next year this time.
At least, I would know the outcome of all this, and my life would be settled in some position one way or another.
By the seventh time I looked at my watch and was jiggling my knee and leg, not out of caffeine jitters but nervousness, I was ready to get up and walk. Just as I balled my straw paper up to discard along with my cup, the bell tinkled over the doorway.
I glanced up, and my shoulders sagged in relief when Mike Sullivan stepped inside and waved a brief hand at me. He pointed to the counter to let me know that he would be placing his order before sitting down and talking with me.
Five minutes later, Mike joined me at the table with a cup of coffee and a bagel.
“Want some?” he asked, shoving his plate in my direction.
I shook my head and held my hand up. I couldn’t eat if I wanted to. The way my nerves were built up over this meeting, I would choke on anything that wasn’t liquid.
“No thanks,” I muttered.
I pinched my bottom lip and folded it while he applied cream cheese to his bagel and chatted about how he hadn’t eaten since this morning.
“Mike. Time is a commodity that I don’t have. Can we please get on with this?” I asked, pointing my fingers between the two of us. I scooted my chair around to his side of the table and sat close to him.
“Sure. What do you want to discuss that we couldn’t talk about over the phone?”
“Did you have a personal ambition against Jabari Blackwood? Did you use me as a tactic to uncover personal issues that you knew he was hiding in your personal vendetta against him?” I asked in a soft and intimate voice.
“Listen, I hired you to do the job. My reasoning should not be in question, only whether you can do the job,” he argued.
“Your investment firm was the top investment firm in all of the state of Georgia. You were doing well and expanding into the southeast region all along the eastern seaboard. When a young upstart financial services firm stepped in and upset your strategy with their lower prices, aggressive strategies, and relentless persistence, you found that you weren’t as strong as you thought you were.
You thought they would go away in time, but ultimately you couldn’t compete, and you lost much of your client base to the competition.
Now, do you want to be honest with me about why you involved me in this mission of yours, Mike? ”
He chuckled softly, leaned back just a little, and eyed me up and down. “You’re going all Barbara Walters on me.”
“Don’t try to distract me or play mind games with me, Mike.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I turned sideways in my seat to stare into his face while I propped an arm on the table.
I shared with him everything that I learned from Jabari that I knew about their competition and the conversations and threats that had been issued between both men over the years, along with the fact that since Jabari started winning, he hadn’t stopped.
“Why weren’t you honest with me from the beginning?
I thought this was about a story of one of the wealthiest CEO’s in this country, and definitely on the East Coast. I thought this was going to be something he would be proud of, but it never was, was it?
You always had nefarious purposes, didn’t you, Mike? ”
“I knew from the beginning that you were hungry enough to support my plan and take on this mission. It didn’t matter what your interest was; I knew that the further you dug, you would find something, and that’s all I cared about.”
“You’re a selfish bastard, Mike Sullivan. He’s a good man and an even greater businessman than you will ever be.”
“What all did you learn, Camilla? I’ve heard what you said, but there’s a lot you’re not saying.”
“How about I say this—I’m not here to further your personal vendetta. I was on a mission to expand my business, you took advantage of it, and because of that I’m on the brink of losing everything.”
“If you’re worth your salt and if your magazine is as reputable as you claim, you should’ve been able to get the job done without losing anything,” he countered.
“I was never in this to sabotage anyone, and you knew that. You promised me funding for expansion if I could do an article like my other ones on a larger scale for national companies like Blackwood Realty and Blackwood Investments.”
“What did you learn about him in your investigative research?” he asked.
I leaned back slightly, but kept my posture relaxed and my face impassive. “Nothing that anyone cannot learn during routine research on the internet.”
“There’s not much on the internet about him.”
“Just basic research, mostly things about his company. That’s what you wanted, right?”
He narrowed his gaze at me as if he didn’t believe me. Mike sat back in his chair and draped an arm around the one beside him.
My skin crawled when he pointed his fork at me and smirked.
“I’m sure that you would have uncovered something on Jabari Blackwood because a man like that doesn’t get to where he is without burying some bones.
I want to know what those bones are, and I’m willing to pay premium dollars to expose them. ”
“I would never do something like that.”
“For the right price, you will. The only reason you haven’t is that you haven’t discovered anything. Or you have, and you’re hiding something from me.”
“Why would I hide anything from you, Mike?”
“Because it’s become personal with you. You’re in too deep, and you’ve caught feelings for this guy.”
I scoffed and tried to play it off to no avail. In the past, I was good at bluffing, but something about Jabari had left me off my game.
“I barely know the man. How could I possibly catch feelings for him?”
“You moved into his building.”
“Which I had no clue was his when you referred me to the building and informed me that they had vacancies.”
“It was the perfect setup to help you get inside, and I didn’t want you messing that up by accidentally sharing that with anyone.”
“Well, it didn’t pan out the way that you wanted it to now, did it? I just wanted you to know that this isn’t going to work for me anymore. I simply wanted to have a conversation with you today about the way that you used me. It doesn’t feel good, Mike.”
He gulped down the last of his coffee and shrugged. “I’ll find someone who can take him down.”
“Don’t do anything stupid. I’d hate to see you get hurt behind a personal vendetta,” I warned.
“Is that a threat, Ms. Valentine? Or have you learned something about him that you’re hiding?” Mike asked.
I glared at him, but I remained silent. Jabari was capable of destroying this man if he wanted to, and while I framed it like my concern was for Mike, it was genuinely for Jabari.
I didn’t want him to do another thing he would later regret.
I kicked myself for giving a damn about a man who clearly didn’t give a damn about me.
I watched as Mike Sullivan got up from the table and walked out of the coffee shop without so much as a backward glance or thank you.
***
I left the meeting shortly after Mike did, and I headed straight to Courtney’s place. I had called Shana on the way and asked her to meet us there.
After we were armed with a good bottle of wine and some cheesecake, I told them everything that happened from my first meeting with Mike Sullivan to my last one, and everything in between that entailed Jabari Blackwood.
“He’s trying to destroy my business. That bastard is ruining my career and reputation, and I won’t let him. I promise y’all that I won’t go down without a fight!” I fussed.
“I get that you don’t want to let go of your business, and you’re right; that’s not fair. But can we be honest here? He’s doing the same thing, sis. He’s fighting his battle with the weapons he has. He’s not letting you destroy his life either,” Courtney pointed out.
I dropped my face in my hands. “It’s not fair though. This isn’t fair.”
“You need to come clean with him about your original intentions, Cami,” Shana advised.
“You also need to share with him the recording of this conversation you made of you and Mike,” Courtney chimed in.
“He won’t believe me. He’s so angry at me that I can’t get close to him now. The man won’t even give me the time of day.”
“Can you blame him? You played with his heart to get a story, Cami.”
“But I didn’t,” I denied.
“But you did. The only thing that changed was that you caught feelings for him. Had it not been for that, you would have run with your story, Cami,” Shana declared.
“Where’s the lie?” Courtney asked with a tiny shrug before she poured all of us another glass of wine.
“It doesn’t matter anymore anyway. He wants nothing else to do with me. I wish that I could at least get him to ease up on the restrictions he’s placed on my name that kept people from signing a lease with me or doing interviews for my magazine,” I lamented.
“Call daddy.”
I shook my head emphatically. “I won’t,” I replied, slicing another piece of strawberry turtle cheesecake for my dining pleasure.
I knew that I would have to work extra hard over the next few days to burn off the calories. I had eaten three slices already and had two glasses of wine.
“Why not? What do you have to lose?” Courtney whined.
“My dignity,” I answered.
“You’re being stubborn.”
“No, I’m not. You and I both know that he’s never been there when we’ve needed him.”
“People change, Cami. They mature and grow, and it’s a wonderful thing—so is forgiveness.”
“Oh, and I guess you’ve forgiven them?” I crossed my arms.
Shana licked the back of her spoon and looked back and forth between us as though she were at Wimbledon watching one of the Williams sisters.
“I’m working on it,” Courtney confessed.
“Nothing beats a failure but a try. At least you can say you gave it your all,” Shana declared.
Courtney held her phone out to me. “Just call.”
I stared at my sister and my best friend before I eyed the phone like it was some evil entity. “Fine.”
I took the phone from my sister and rolled my eyes when I noticed she had already pulled my father’s contact up in the phone.
“He’s been waiting for your call—hoping that you will call him.”
“What did you tell him, Court?”
“Just that you could use some parental love right now.”
I sighed and pushed the dial button. When his voice came on the phone with a tenderness that I had never heard, my heart softened just a bit, and my eyes grew moist. I stood and walked out onto my sister’s balcony for some privacy.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Pretty princess. How are you doing? It’s been a while. I’ve missed you.”
I sighed. “I know.”
“What’s going on? How can I help, pretty princess?”
I hadn’t heard him call me that name since I was little. The tears that gathered in my eyes spilled over, and I had to clear my throat several times because I had gotten choked up, and my voice was wobbly.
“Anything for you, pretty princess,” he stated when I finished.
I cleared my throat again. “Since when, Daddy?”
“Your mother and I failed you and your sister by not being there for you the way we needed to. We put our careers first, and we thought that sending you to boarding school would set you both up for a beautiful future and successful life. We thought we were doing what was best until years after your graduation, when both of you refused to return home for the holidays, and you seldom visited us. I’ve been waiting for the first opportunity to prove to you that I love you, I screwed up, and there isn’t anything I won’t do for you. ”
I broke down crying and replied, “Thank you, Daddy.”
We talked for a while and said things that needed to be said. My mother joined the call a little while later, and she apologized too. After I ended the call and returned to the living room with Courtney and Shana, I told them everything, including the change in Daddy’s attitude.
“Yeah. I had a similar conversation with Mommy and Daddy a couple of weeks ago,” Courtney shared. My little sister pulled me into her arms, hugged me, and kissed my forehead. Shana jumped in and hugged us. “I didn’t want to be left out,” she stated with a giggle.
We all laughed, and I felt infinitely better.