28. Ella #2
“I figured as much. Do you have an idea of what you’d like to do?”
I shrug. “Not sure yet. This happened much sooner than expected.”
“Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
He gives me one last kiss before striding out of his office.
I head back to the conference room, practically floating, but the vibe of the room, with everyone clustered into groups and speaking in low tones, instantly brings me back down to earth.
“So, what do we do now?” Heather asks Emily.
Emily sighs. “I’m not entirely sure. I assume Ella and I need to discuss moving forward with the smaller PR team.
So, as Mr. Langford instructed, let me know your preference regarding staying on the team or returning to your previous positions.
At this point, I don’t know what the numbers look like and how many of you would stay on; I’ll have to speak to Mr. Langford about that. ”
“I don’t want to go back down to the marketing and PR floor,” Daphne complains. “Would the team still work up here on the executive level?”
“I don’t know that, either.”
“Uh,” I inject, hesitantly. “Probably not. I just informed Asher that I won’t be part of the new team.
I don’t want to do my own PR since it’s now my real life, and that feels even more weird than this situation already has been.
Anyway, the reason we’re all up here is because of the .
. . unwanted attention I got downstairs.
Without me on the team, that’s no longer an issue. ”
Daphne huffs. “So, what are you going to do then?”
“I’m not sure. Asher and I are going to discuss it.”
“Must be nice. You just snap your fingers, and your CEO boyfriend gives you whatever job you want.”
“Daphne,” Emily warns.
“I’m not demanding Asher give me a job, I just don’t want to work on my own PR team. I’m qualified to work in other positions, plus I’m not even from PR, I’m from marketing.”
Daphne’s face contorts into anger. “It’s just really convenient how well everything worked out for you.
” She shoves up from her seat, still glaring at me “You weren’t even supposed to be on this team, and then Emily insisted on adding you.
Then you somehow magically become the candidate chosen, and now you’re Asher Langford’s girlfriend with all the perks. It’s not fair!”
Everyone is quiet, looking back and forth between Daphne and me.
“Daphne, I would stop if I were you,” Emily warns again.
“I’m getting really tired of the narrative that I somehow wormed my way into this,” I say, snapping back at Daphne. “Emily added me onto the team because she respects my work. Matthew suggested me as a candidate to Asher. And the rest just happened because of all that.”
“Oh yeah, Matthew just happened to suggest you after you leeched yourself onto him!”
Anger races through me, but I also want to laugh. “Matthew and I became friends organically. That’s how friendship works. It sounds to me, Daphne, like you’re sore you weren’t the one chosen. But if you remember correctly, none of us were supposed to be chosen.”
“And yet, you were!”
After weeks of putting up with Daphne’s snide remarks, I finally let go and tell her everything I’ve wanted to from the beginning.
“What do you want me to say? Sorry? Sorry that Asher didn’t want to choose any of the women the board suggested?
Sorry Matthew noticed that Asher and I have a natural chemistry?
It’s not like Asher’s options were limited to the women on his PR team and you were slighted by not being chosen.
His options were so vast he could have practically picked any woman in the world.
But he chose me. And not that you deserve an explanation, but what Asher and I have, what we are to one another, is not something you can manufacture.
It might have started that way, but it didn’t stay that way for long. ”
Someone coughs pointedly from behind me, and I turn around.
“This is an exciting turn of events,” Matthew says, wearing a smug grin. Three executives from the board stand behind him: Janet, Henry, and Alan. “As much as I live for drama and want to wholeheartedly grab some popcorn and watch this play out, I can’t.”
Daphne scowls at him then glares at me again.
“Don’t get me wrong, sweetie,” Matthew says to Daphne in a condescending tone, “it’s not Ella I’m protecting—it’s you.
I was just in the board meeting where Asher referred to Ella as his future wife and threatened everyone on the board within an inch of their lives if they disrespect her again.
If he’s willing to toss threats like that at his board members,” he tosses a casual thumb in Janet’s direction, “what do you think he’ll do to some PR girl who disrespects his future wife? ”
Daphne’s nostrils flair, then she swallows hard.
I flinch. Future wife? Did he really say that in front of the board?
Everyone looks at me, but I don’t know what to say.
No matter that I’ve been with Asher for two months, I’m still not used to constantly being the center of attention.
I knew I would get attention from agreeing to date Asher, but I didn’t think I would practically have a spotlight shined on me in my everyday life.
In my work life. I grew up performing under spotlights on a stage, but this isn’t a stage with practiced choreography or a public appearance with pre-determined expectations—this is an awkward spotlight, and I don’t really know how to react.
You’d think I’d be better at it by now, but I’m not.
Everyone continues to stare at me as if they’re expecting an explanation, but I don’t know what to tell them. Asher is a bulldozer who gets what he wants and asks questions later. The fact that he referred to me as his future wife at work is not something I could have anticipated.
“I know this turn of events is abrupt,” Matthew says, drawing their attention away from me.
“It might seem like it’s coming out of nowhere, but it was obvious to anyone close to Asher and Ella that this was an inevitability.
So, abrupt or not, you all need to get on board with this.
As of today, Ella is no longer your coworker.
She is no longer your team member. She is now Mr. Langford’s official girlfriend, and per his words, his future wife.
You’d do well to treat her as such if you value your jobs.
“We have amended your NDAs, which need to be re-signed. If any of you break any part of that NDA, Mr. Langford will send the wrath of his legal team down on you with such force you’ll never recover.
You’ll be so buried in legal fees and woes that your grandchildren will be in debt.
So, I suggest you get over any petty jealousy you’re harboring and learn to keep your mouths closed—for your own sakes. ”
“Thank you,” I mouth to Matthew. He winks at me. Matthew may not have the overbearing, intimidating presence Asher does, but he can be just as effective at getting people to fall in line. General Matthew, kicking ass and taking names, per usual.
“We expect you all to be cleared out by this afternoon,” Janet pipes in. “We need our conference room back.”
Matthew rolls his eyes but otherwise ignores Janet. “Ella, Emily, let’s meet in Asher’s office in fifteen minutes to discuss moving forward.” He turns and exits, shooing Janet and the other board members away in the process.
Emily clears her throat. “Everyone, take thirty minutes to collect yourselves and think about your preference. At the end of that thirty minutes, I want you to email me what you decide.” She looks at Daphne.
“No need on the preference from you. I think we can all agree it’s not a good fit.
At this point, you’ll be lucky to return to your previous position, but only if you can pull yourself together and be professional from this point forward.
You might as well pack up your desk and move back downstairs after you’ve signed the new NDA. ”
Daphne bursts into tears, and everyone unconsciously moves away from her as if she has a disease. Part of me feels bad for her, blame my always bleeding heart, but part of me is indifferent. She brought this on herself. No one made her lash out with petty jealousy at work. That was her choice.
While everyone is signing their new NDAs and quietly mulling over their decisions, a few men from maintenance show up with boxes and hand them to each of us. I walk to my desk and wonder what to do with my things, but just as I’m about to start packing them, one of the men beats me to it.
“You don’t have to do that,” I say to him.
“Pardon, miss. I was told to gather your things and take them to Mr. Langford’s office. He said you’ll be working there for now.”
Well, that answers that.
Ten minutes later, Emily and I are in Asher’s office with Matthew, and the box of my desk things sits on the table in the corner. Just as we start to sit, a knock sounds at the door. Matthew opens it, and a sullen Daphne stands at the threshold.
“Yes?” he says, not hiding his annoyance.
“I wanted to apologize before I head downstairs.”
Matthew moves aside and allows her to enter. Emily and I stand to meet her near the door.
“I’m sorry, Ella. Matthew was right. I was being petty and jealous, and I was out of line. I’ve enjoyed our time working together on this team, and I wish you the best moving forward.” She doesn’t sound all that sincere, but I thank her anyway. I don’t want any bad blood.
“Here,” she says, holding out a stack of papers for me. “These were left on your desk.”
I take them and thank her again, then Matthew, Emily, and I return to the couch.
I shuffle through the stack of papers Daphne gave me. It’s another batch of fan mail.
“So, who do we think is a good fit for the new team?” Matthew asks Emily.
“Heather,” she answers quickly. “And possibly Michael to give us a male perspective. But no one else really stands out.”
“I’m good with them, and I think the three of you would be sufficient for what we need,” I say to her, still glancing over the mail.
I’ve tried to answer some of the letters I’ve received in the past. It’s still strange that people would want to hear from me, but I also don’t want to alienate people who have gone out of their way to write to me, so I do what I can.
“Well, that was easy,” Matthew says. “I’ll send an email from Asher’s account this afternoon so there’s no room for complaining.”
I open a blank envelope, and my stomach sinks.
I haven’t seen a letter like this since the first one, back when one of Asher’s stalkers sent me a threating letter that called me a whore and warned me to stay away from him.
Ever since my mail has been vetted. The page is blank except for one phrase made of magazine clippings pieced together in the middle.
I warned you
“Shit,” I say, reading the line over and over again.
I drop the letter like it burned me.
Emily snatches it up. “What the hell? This isn’t supposed to happen! Who let this slip through the cracks?”
She stands, furious, and storms out of Asher’s office. Matthew and I follow her as she hurries to security and forensics on the floor beneath us.
She bursts into the office, waving the paper.
“I need to speak to Thompson, now,” she hisses at the guards sitting and watching a myriad of screens that the cameras all throughout the building feed.
“What’s up?” a man, presumably Thompson, says a moment later, walking toward us from a back room.
“What’s up is that Ms. Hale received another threatening letter! Your department is supposed to take care of this. So, tell me why this letter ended up on her desk!”
She brandishes the letter, and Thompson looks at it, eyes wide.
“Fuck,” he hisses.
“Fuck is right. Someone’s head will roll when Mr. Langford finds out about this.”
The blood drains from Thompson’s face.
Emily starts to yell again, but her voice fades, and she sways on her feet. A second later, the letter slips from her hand, and she collapses. Thompson barely manages to catch her before she hits the floor.
“Emily!” I shout. I lean down toward her, but then the room starts to spin. My knees buckle, and I crumple to the ground. I feel a burst of pain as my head slams into the tiled floor.
Everything goes black.