Chapter 17
Pepper
Thursday morning arrived, and the clothes from yesterday were crumpled in a heap on my bedroom floor, matching the state of my chest. I sat out by the infinity pool at the Airbnb, my legs pulled tightly against my body as I stared blankly at the water.
My phone sat face-down on the table next to an untouched glass of orange juice.
I had unblocked Aaron’s number for a fleeting three minutes at midnight just to see if he’d tried to text, but when the screen remained empty, a wave of fresh, humiliating anger crashed over me.
I blocked him right back. He didn’t even care enough to try.
Or, more realistically, he knew he was caught red-handed and his pride wouldn't let him crawl.
By noon, the click of the front door keypad signaled the arrival of my circle. Nia and Mars walked out onto the patio, both rocking casual athleisure, their faces serious. Nia had a bag of takeout from Speedo’s slung over her arm, but neither was smiling.
"Alright, Pep," Nia said, walking straight over and setting the food down with a firm thud. "Cal called me yesterday after Aaron lost his mind on the phone with him. What the hell happened in that boardroom?"
The second she asked, the dam broke. The icy, professional wall I’d been hiding behind since Wednesday morning fractured, and the burning fury spilled right out of my throat.
"What happened is that your boy Cal’s best friend is a cutthroat, deceptive corporate snake," I hissed, my voice shaking as I gripped the edges of my lounge chair.
"We spent our weekend building a raw, beautiful creative trust. We made a literal pact under the sunrise to step outside our comfort zones.
And the exact second I told him he should lessen his workload and hire an assistant, he took that advice, hired a guy on Monday, and spent forty-eight hours secretly constructing a solo, hyper-conservative studio pitch to edge me out. "
Mars’s eyes widened, her brow furrowing as she pulled out a seat and sat across from me. "Pepper, are you sure? Aaron isn't a backstabber. Jalen and Cal have known him since college—"
"Mars, his agency name was emblazoned across the bottom of every slide!
" I snapped, my eyes stinging with a sudden, frustrating wave of heat.
I blinked it back fiercely, refusing to shed a tear over a man with a clipboard.
"Elena played the presentation, and it was nothing but cold white backdrops, rigid stadium tracks, and strobe lights.
Every concept he mocked me for wanting to change was right there.
He used Saturday night, he used the pool, and he used his boyish act to lower my defenses so I wouldn't suspect a damn thing. "
"He tried to give me some pathetic, stuttering excuse about a tech mix-up," I scoffed, letting out a bitter laugh. "He cleared his throat, looked like he was about to pass out, and said his assistant must have grabbed the wrong master file from his server. Please. He’s the most meticulously organized, controlling visual strategist in the city. You really expect me to believe he accidentally let a multi-million-dollar presentation get sent to Jolt Headquarters without approving it first? He’s ruled by his handbook, Nia.
And his handbook obviously says that my high-fashion vision was a liability to his career, so he handled it. "
"If you didn't want to share the vision, he should have just had the balls to say it to my face," I murmured, my voice dropping into a quiet, deeply hurt whisper as I looked back out at the water. "But to play me like that... right after how safe he made me feel?"
Mars reached across the table, her hand finding mine and squeezing it tightly.
"I know it looks bad, Pep. It looks horrible.
And if he really did that to you, Jalen and Cal will handle him, trust me.
But we have to look at the timeline. Friday morning is the hard deadline to submit the combined deck to Elena, or Jolt is going to freeze the funding entirely.
And next Monday, you have to step onto that physical shoot location with him. "
I pulled my hand back, adjusting the strap of my tank top as my jaw clenched, my expression turning into pure, unyielding stone. The heartbreak was officially locked away; the fierce, unyielding Tokyo powerhouse was back in the driver's seat.
"Let them freeze the funding," I said, my voice deadly level as I looked at my girls. "He wanted total control of this campaign? He’s about to find out exactly what happens when you turn a live wire into a closed circuit."
I grabbed my phone off the concrete table, unlocked it with an aggressive swipe, and pulled up my contacts. I didn't dial Aaron. I dialed Tokyo.
"Hey, boss," Priscilla's familiar, efficient voice buzzed through the speaker on the second ring. "I was just looking at the Jolt schedule. Everything okay?"
"Cilla, I need you to listen to me very carefully," I said, my voice tight and completely hollowed out of any emotion. "From this exact moment forward, you handle every single piece of communication between Aaron Fields, his agency, and me."
There was a heavy pause on the other end, the sound of Priscilla’s keyboard instantly stopping.
"Oh, wow. Okay. Copy that. What about the campaign layout?"
"We are going with the raw, natural direction I mapped out at the park and the coffee lounge," I stated fiercely, looking out at the shimmering horizon of the pool.
"I don’t care what his agency tries to submit to Elena by Friday morning.
You are going to forward our high-contrast photography matrix directly to Global Creative Operations, and you are going to inform his team of our call times and set locations for next week.
We are doing this my way, whether Aaron likes it or not. "
"Understood, boss. Consider it locked," Priscilla replied, her professional composure snapping into place seamlessly. "I'll handle his agency from here. You just focus on the art."
"Thanks, Cilla," I whispered, hanging up the phone and setting it back down on the table.
I looked up at Nia and Mars, who were watching me in total, quiet awe.
If Aaron Fields wanted to play by a rigid, cutthroat handbook, he was about to find out exactly what happened when someone else rewrote the rules.