Chapter One #2
After he purged the contents of his stomach, he turned on the shower and climbed in.
His wobbly legs were incapable of holding him up, so he sank to the shower floor and emotion overtook him.
William cried hard. How could he have fallen for that?
He thought he and Sebastian had something real.
He had no idea that he was just a good-time fling for the engaged man.
It hit him that he was something he never thought he’d be, the home-wrecking other man.
William’s heart ached and a wave of fresh tears came on.
Realizing that he couldn’t spend the whole day in his shower crying, he reminded himself that Sebastian was nothing but a lying asshole, and he stood.
Besides, he had to get to work and do some damage control.
He got out and went back to his bedroom to dress.
Scarlett had suggested going incognito, but that just wasn’t his style.
He pulled on a pair of black slacks and a light-blue dress shirt, put his press pass around his neck, and grabbed his briefcase.
He left his apartment, locking up behind him, and made his way to the stairs that led to the garage.
It was still early, and the overhead lights cast an eerie glow over the space.
Quickly, he made his way to his sports car.
“Mr. Harper?” A voice came from the shadows behind him. “William Harper?”
William turned, thinking it was just one of the parking attendants, but there stood a man he’d never seen. “Who’s asking?”
“Taylor Chase with the Sun.” He extended his hand, but William declined to take it.
“What do you want?” William asked through gritted teeth.
“There are three sides to every story, man. Yours, his, and the truth. I’m here to get yours.” Taylor pointed at him.
“How did you even get in here?” William wondered. He did not need this. He thought he’d be safe until he got to the office, that he would at least have the drive to get himself together.
“I get asked that question a lot.” Taylor smirked. “The same way I got into Sebastian’s. Money talks, man.”
“You’re the one who wrote that piece of shit article, I’m guessing.” Taylor nodded smugly. “You can go to hell.” William turned and walked over to his car.
“Hey, wait.” Taylor jogged over to him. “If you think it’s a piece of shit article, tell me your side and I’ll make sure you get heard. If you don’t talk to someone, people are just going to believe what he said. So, tell me what happened.”
“No comment.” William opened the car door and got in. Taylor stopped him from closing it.
“Come on, man.”
“You want a quote? How about this one? Screw you.” William pulled the door closed and started the engine. Fuck. This is going to be a really, really bad day. Taylor knocked on his window. He ignored it and dropped the car into gear, getting the hell out of there.
It was exactly eighteen minutes from his apartment to his office, and those eighteen minutes were hell.
William’s stomach was in knots. He had a hard enough time dealing with one reporter, let alone the masses that Scarlett had described.
Then once he managed to get through that, he had to go to Martha’s office.
That was never a good thing. She mostly came by their various desks.
Someone had to really mess up to get asked up to hers.
He knew he was about to get the ass-chewing of a lifetime and who knows what else.
He made it to the office to see three news vans and a few reporters milling around the entrance.
William parked and took several deep breaths, trying to brace himself for the onslaught.
It started the minute he got out of the car.
“Mr. Harper, what were you doing with Sebastian Evans?”
“Mr. Harper, were you drunk like Evans claims?”
“Mr. Harper, were you having an affair with Sebastian?”
“Mr. Harper, we need a quote.”
“No comment,” William said, head down, passing them as quickly as possible. The security guard at the glass doors stopped them from following him into the building. “Thanks, Eric,” William told the man.
“Good morning, Mr. Harper.” Eric nodded at him.
William slowly made his way to the elevator, which was at the end of a short hallway, and pushed the button for the third floor.
He had never been someone who suffered from claustrophobia, but as the door closed, fear clawed at his chest, and breathing became a little more difficult.
It was all he could do to hold himself together.
Thankfully it was a short ride and the doors opened before he totally lost it.
The whispering started as soon as he got off the elevator and it was all eyes on him.
“There you are.” Scarlett rushed to his side. “Martha has been in a mood waiting for you. This is bad, Will.” She squeezed his hand.
All William could do was nod and force himself to continue to Martha’s office. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before knocking.
“Get your ass in here, Harper,” she shouted.
William closed his eyes and swallowed hard over the lump in his throat. He crossed the threshold, and holy hell did his boss look pissed. “You wanted to see me?” He did his best to keep the quiver out of his voice.
“Close the door,” she said harshly, and he did.
“Sit.” Martha pointed to the chair on the other side of her desk.
William again did as instructed. For a long while, she just stared at him.
Her look was one of disappointment, disgust, and anger.
He withered a little under her gaze. “What the hell, Harper?”
“I know it looks bad, but—” William started.
“Bad is an understatement,” Martha cut him off. “You’ve single-handedly thrown the credibility of this entire paper into question. To have one of my reporters featured in a story in the Sun is unacceptable.” Her distaste for tabloids was well-known throughout the company. “Unforgivable, really.”
The fear he’d felt in the elevator was nothing compared to what he was feeling at this moment. “Please just let me explain.”
“What’s there to explain? Either one of two things happened. Either you were drunk on the job, or you were sleeping with a source. Both are grounds for termination.”
“Termination?” William’s palms were sweating, and he felt light-headed. This couldn’t be happening. “What are you saying?”
“That you’re fired, Harper. Take your pick of reasons.”
“But—”
“There is no but.” Martha shook her head.
“It’s obvious that you don’t understand the severity of this situation.
Not counting the gossip rags, there’s not a serious newspaper that will touch you right now, I’ll see to that,” she sneered.
“I hope it was worth it because you just ruined your career. Collect your things and I’ll have security escort you out. ” Her tone was dismissive.
William rose in a daze. He couldn’t believe that this was real, and he froze. What the hell was he supposed to do?
“Was there something else?” Martha asked coldly.
“No, ma’am,” he managed.
“Then get out.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head before picking up her phone.
Scarlett was right outside the door waiting for him, everyone else watching from their desks. “You’re completely pale, sweets.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward his desk. “Don’t you people have work to do?” she snapped at those they passed. She pushed him down into his chair. “Talk.”
“I got fired,” William said softly.
“Oh, Will.” Scarlett pulled him up and hugged him. “What are you going to do?”
“I have no idea.” Will shook his head.
“Mr. Harper.” Eric was suddenly next to them. “I need you to come with me please.”
“Give him a second to process,” Scarlett told the guard.