Chapter 19
CHAPTER
AS I WALKED to work the next morning, I tried calling Jenna again.
This time it didn’t even ring—her voicemail picked up right away.
Frustrated, I shoved my phone back into my bag just as I reached the office.
Where the hell are you, Jenna? You dropped a bomb and then vanished.
Maybe she was visiting her mom again, and her phone had died, or she’d lost it.
As the elevator doors opened, I practically collided with Sam. He looked frantic.
“Hey, Sam—how’s it going?”
“Oh, Savannah—good, you’re here.” He grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me along with him. “Listen—Meredith is about to call everyone into the conference room. She has important news.”
My eyebrows popped up. “What kind of news?”
“New client. Big client.” He was clearly enjoying the secrecy.
“I just want to warn you—you need to be at the top of your game, Savannah. You need to be perfect going forward. Perfect. Don’t give her any reason to doubt you.
I think this could really work in your favor, if you play your cards right. ”
My mouth fell open as he walked away.
I quickly set my things down at my desk. I could hear Sam making his way through all the cubicles, calling everyone into the conference room. I grabbed my notebook and a pen and followed everyone down the hall.
Meredith was waiting inside, pacing in front of the long table. “Please take your seats quickly.” Once we were all sitting, she said, “I have some exciting news.”
Meredith gave what passed for a big smile—for her, anyway. I sat up straight in my chair, pen poised over my notebook, trying to look eager and attentive.
“We got a call from Chef Pedro Torres’s team. Apparently, they’re unhappy with the job DigiMark has been doing for them, and they’ve decided to part ways.” She gave a satisfied grin as she let the news sink in. “Since we were a close second, they’re officially bringing us on instead.”
She briefly met my eyes. I tried to look composed and confident, even as it felt like fireworks were going off inside my head.
“This is a big deal for us, perhaps even more so now than it was before,” said Meredith.
“They are announcing to the world that they have more confidence in us than in DigiMark. So hopefully it goes without saying, I need everyone’s best on this.
” She threw intense, pointed gazes around the table, finally landing on me.
“The soft opening of Chef Torres’s restaurant is only five weeks away—so we don’t have a lot of time.
We need to hit the ground running with this, right away.
I’m most likely going to need to pull some of you off other accounts to work on this. ”
The room buzzed with energy. Meredith clapped her hands to call for silence.
“The Torres team will be here in the office for a meeting Monday, and they want to see a proposed schedule of promotions leading up to the soft opening. I want to see each of our account managers for a meeting in five minutes so we can determine who to pull and how to make up for those holes to ensure our current clients continue to get exemplary service from us.”
Back at my desk, my head was swimming. Of course, it wasn’t ideal that I had so much going on in my personal life. But Sam’s words echoed in my mind—You need to be perfect going forward. Don’t give her any reason to doubt you.
I wanted to believe it was meant to be, that I should get a second chance at a promotion I deserved, but another part of me dreaded it.
What would Madison do this time to try to ruin it for me?
Or, perhaps even worse, what would I do to screw it up entirely on my own, proving once and for all that I just wasn’t cut out for success?
Was I really as irresponsible as Madison wanted everyone to believe?
I buried my face in my hands as anxious thoughts washed over me.
No. Snap out of it, Savannah. It’s time to take charge. I forced myself to sit up straight and take a deep breath. I had Robert in my corner now—and the police. Everything was going to be fine as long as I didn’t self-sabotage.
I pulled out my notebook to start putting together my ideas for the Torres pitch.
I was confident I could come up with something that would help create a massive buzz in time for the restaurant’s opening.
If Meredith didn’t pull me off the Sampson account on her own, I would approach her myself and show her my ideas.
I would make it clear she would be making a big mistake by not at least including me on the team, if not tapping me to run it.
Time to get my life in order.
By the time I left the office around six, I was mentally exhausted, but in a good way. Nothing sounded more appealing than relaxing on the couch with a mug of hot tea and some mindless TV.
Just as my teapot started to whistle, my intercom buzzed.
“It’s Max,” came the voice through the speaker.
Another unannounced visit?
Irritation needled at the back of my brain as I poured hot water over my tea bag, waiting for him to walk through the door. What is it this time?
When he did appear, the look on his face was sad, almost pleading. I eyed him warily. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to check in on you and … talk.” He sounded hesitant—almost nervous.
I dunked my tea bag several times, avoiding his eyes. “Okay.”
“Is it true?” he asked.
“Is what true?” I could already tell I wasn’t going to like where this was going.
“Did you meet with a lawyer?”
My heart thumped. “How did you know that?” I was pretty sure Robert hadn’t sent the certified letter yet. Did she have me followed again?
“So it is true?”
I would have thought he’d look angry, but he looked hurt—which, it turned out, pissed me off even more. If you’re surprised by this, it’s because you haven’t been listening to me! I wanted to scream. Instead, I worked hard to keep my voice calm.
“Yes. It is.”
“Why would you do that, Savannah?”
I couldn’t help it—a sarcastic chuckle escaped my lips. “Really? You have no idea why I could possibly feel the need to consult a lawyer?”
“Are you trying to keep my child away from me? I thought we were going to keep this friendly. Be good co-parents together?” He looked scared.
“Max, that is all I’ve wanted since the day I found out I was pregnant. But you and Madison have made that impossible.”
“What do you mean? Why?”
I laughed again. “You can’t seriously be asking me this after everything Madison has done.”
Max winced. “I know you two have had your difficulties, but—”
“Difficulties? We’re well past difficulties, Max!”
“Savannah, please. At least let me try and fix this so we can keep things amicable.”
“No. You said that before. You said you would talk to her, and things only got worse.” This time I was the one with pleading eyes. As maddening as Max was, I didn’t hate the guy—but he was clueless. “Look, I know the truth—you’re married.”
Max opened his mouth, but I held my hand up to stop him. “Don’t try to deny it.”
He closed his mouth and looked down at the ground, his eyes full of regret.
“Madison is trying to replace me as this baby’s mother. She’s trying to make me look like an unfit parent so the two of you get to have this baby all to yourselves. If you think I’m going to roll over and let her do that, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“Savannah …” He took another step toward me and gently grabbed my arms. “I guess … I’ve been blind.
I didn’t realize just how much she’s been upsetting you.
” His eyes traveled down to my stomach, then his hands followed.
He gently cupped my belly and started stroking it with the tips of his fingers.
“Look at you—you’re being so strong. Managing this all by yourself.
And somehow … you’re even more beautiful at eight months pregnant than you were the night I first met you.
” He looked me in the eyes intensely. His right hand reached up and brushed a lock of hair out of my eyes, tucking it behind my ear.
The whole room seemed to go hazy. What is happening?
Just a moment ago, I had been staunchly on guard.
But the closer Max got, the softer he touched me …
Max had always been irresistibly gorgeous.
His eyes pulled me in. He was close enough now that I could smell his aftershave, and it was intoxicating.
His head slowly bent toward mine. His lips brushed the side of my face so softly, I almost thought I imagined it. My body flushed with heat.
It was undeniable that I was still attracted to him, physically. But I needed to pull myself out of his spell. Be real, Savannah—nothing can happen between the two of you, no matter how much you want it. Not with Madison in the way.
I met his eyes again as I struggled to raise my guard back up. “What are you doing, Max?”
His eyes got sad again. “I’m sorry … I know I shouldn’t.
I just can’t help it.” He sighed. “I’m realizing that I haven’t been fair to you.
I’ve left you alone, to deal with all of this by yourself.
I should have been by your side, helping you.
I’ve only been worrying about Madison’s feelings.
” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “She’s not …
reacting as well to all of this as I thought she would. ”
“I wish you’d told me you were married,” I said. “Why did you lie about that, Max?”
He raked his hands through his hair—his signature nervous tic. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. We were separated for a while. I honestly thought my marriage was over at the end of last year.”
“And now?” I asked. “How do you feel about your marriage now?”
He stared back at me. “I don’t know,” he finally said.
My eyes narrowed. “You don’t know?”
He gave me a helpless look.
“Max, we’re having a baby. You need to figure out how you feel before there’s a child between the three of us and things get even more complicated. I don’t want my child to have to go through what I’ve been going through.”
“You’re right. Things can’t continue like this.” He paused. “What did you talk to the lawyer about?”
The remaining chunks of my guard snapped back into place. Do not mention the certified letter.
“We spoke about taking legal action against Madison if she doesn’t back off.” I was trying hard to look stern and confident.
His eyes filled with sadness again—and fear.
God, I wish I could tell if this side of him is real!
“Oh, Savannah—don’t.” He pulled me into a hug. “Don’t worry. Please. Nothing else is going to happen. You don’t need a lawyer. I’ll take care of everything.”
If only I could believe that. I allowed him to hug me for a moment, then gently pulled away.
“Well … I guess I should probably go,” he said.
I cleared my throat. “Okay.”
“I promise I’ll check in with you again soon.” He shoved his hands back into his pockets. “Goodbye, Savannah.”
As I closed the door behind him, I covered my face with my free hand, kneading my forehead. I had no idea what to think.
Then something else occurred to me. Dammit … Max never did say how he knew I’d met with a lawyer.
Despite how exhausted I was, I tossed and turned my way through the night. I hated that Max’s soft kiss and tender touch had gotten under my skin. He is the last person I should be thinking about.
Of course, part of me—a lot of me—wanted to believe that he was finally recognizing how crappy this whole situation had been for me. How cruel Madison was. But I don’t know if I can trust him.
I dragged myself out of bed the next morning, feeling tired and heavy.
I have a job to save—and maybe, a promotion to earn, I told myself sternly as I applied my makeup with extra care. No time for moping around about Max.
On my walk home from work later that day, my phone rang. I was surprised and confused when Ellie’s parents’ number showed up on the caller ID.
“Hello?”
“Savannah …” Mrs. Parker’s voice sounded shaky.
I stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
“There’s been an incident. Ellie … she was attacked.”
The blood in my veins went ice-cold.