Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Simon
I stepped into the foyer and set the bag of Thai food I’d picked up on the island. Harold was sitting in the center, staring at me. Raine jumped on the island and rubbed against Harold. Traitor. I ran my hand across her back.
“Where’s Bella?” I asked.
She meowed and rubbed her body against my arm.
“I don’t understand cat language.” I smiled.
“Are you talking to the cat?” Bella walked into the kitchen.
“No.”
“Liar.” She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.
“I brought home Thai for dinner.”
“Oh, thanks. I didn’t get a chance to cook.” Something sounded off in her voice.
“I didn’t expect you to cook.”
“Good. Not in the mood anyway.”
Now I knew something was definitely wrong.
“Sit down. I’ll grab the plates,” I said.
She took a seat at the table. I picked up Raine from the island and set her on the floor. After grabbing two plates, I set the table and brought the containers of food over.
“You never told me what happened yesterday with Geneva,” I said.
“She sang my praises. Sales doubled since I did the fall campaign. Views are up, and they can’t keep up with the orders fast enough. She said so far this is the best quarter they’ve ever had.”
“That’s great, Bella. But I don’t understand. Why did you have such a shitty day yesterday?”
“Because she told me Hattie is coming back November 1st, and she’ll be doing the Christmas campaign. I’m so stupid.” She shook her head.
“No, you’re not. Why are you saying that?”
“Because I really thought Ever & Oak would hire me for a permanent position. I knew this was temporary, but in the back of my mind, I believed that I would do such a good job that they would have no choice but to hire me. October 31st is approaching quickly, and I’m no farther ahead than I was when I came to New York. I suck.”
“Stop it. You do not suck. You’re incredibly talented.”
“Then why can’t I get a permanent job?”
I stared at her as she sat there, feeling defeated with tears in her eyes.
I hated seeing her like that. And the same feeling washed over me as it did in the conference room this morning.
The need to protect her. I stood up from my chair, walked over to the refrigerator, took the ten-rule list off, and brought it to the table.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You aren’t going anywhere come October 31st.” I tore the paper in half.
“Simon.” Her eyes widened.
“You’re coming to work for Montclair Living.”
“Huh?” She frowned.
“We’re starting a new division at MDG because of you. You, Bella. And my father and I want you to be the face of it. So, you’ll continue living here with me until you save enough money to move out into your own place.”
“Simon, I don’t know what to say.”
“Give me your phone.” I held out my hand.
“What? Why?”
“Just do it, Bella.”
She unlocked her phone and handed it to me. I scrolled through her contacts until I found Geneva’s name, hit the call button, and put it on speaker.
“Hello, Bella.”
“This is Simon Montclair of Montclair Development Group.”
“Oh. Hello, Mr. Montclair. I assumed it was Bella since this is her number.”
“You thought wrong, Geneva. I’m calling to let you know that effective immediately, as in this second, Bella Castle no longer works for you or Ever & Oak.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Montclair. Bella has two weeks left.”
“No, she doesn’t. I won’t allow her to work for a company that doesn’t appreciate or support her talents.”
“Of course, we do.”
“No, you don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t let her go in two weeks.
You’d offer her a permanent position with your company.
You told her the company is having its best quarter yet, and you can’t keep up with sales since she launched your fall campaign.
Yet, you insist on bringing back someone who obviously wasn’t doing a good job before. Your loss is my gain.”
“Well, I don’t know what to say. But I will need the rest of her fall shots and lifestyle images.”
“That won’t be possible. She no longer works for you.”
“The products she has belong to us, Mr. Montclair. I would hate to have to take legal action against Bella.”
“That won’t be necessary. Because if you do, my company will bury yours so fast, you’ll be in the gutter before you know it.
I will bury you so far in legal fees, you’ll have no choice but to file bankruptcy.
Here’s my email address,” I rattled it off.
“Send me an invoice for what all the products you sent cost, and I will personally reimburse you.”
“Fine. I’ll send it in a few minutes.”
“Thank you. I’ll be on the lookout for it.” I ended the call.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” Bella said.
“Why? You should know me by now.” I winked. “Besides, you start at MDG Monday morning, working on Montclair Tribeca. That will be your first project. I need those units sold. And you can’t be doing two jobs at once.”
She stood from her chair and threw her arms around me.
“Thank you for believing in me.”
“I always believed in you, Bella.”
She laughed and broke our embrace. “No, you didn’t. You lectured me about my bad life choices and how I wouldn’t be in this predicament if I had stayed in college and not toured the country in an RV.”
“That was then. This is now.” I brushed my lips against hers. “Forget that even happened.”
“Does this mean I get to keep all the fall products from Ever & Oak?” She grinned.
“Yes.”
“Let me know how much the invoice is for, and I’ll pay you back.”
“There’s no need to pay me back. If I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t have offered.”
She turned to the island, walked over, and picked up Harold.
“Did you hear that, Harold? You’re all mine now. You get to stay here with us.” She held him up.
I stood there, shaking my head.
“Can I ask you something?” She walked over and ran her fingers down my arm.
“You can ask me anything.” I smiled, gripping her hips.
“Can we go to the pumpkin farm tomorrow morning and get a couple of pumpkins to carve for Halloween?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No. I saw online that they’re having a fall festival with crafts, different foods, and pumpkin picking.”
“Bella, I am not—”
“That’s okay.” She walked over to the table and grabbed her phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She hit a button and put it on speaker.
“Hello, darling.”
What the fuck? That was my father’s voice.
“Hi, William. I was wondering if you and Mary would like to go to the fall festival tomorrow morning for some fall festivities and pumpkin picking?”
“Now that sounds fun. We’d love to go with you and Simon.”
“Oh, it’ll be just me. Simon won’t go.”
“For fuck’s sake. What the hell is wrong with him? Is he there?”
I clenched my jaw.
“He’s standing right here. You’re on speaker.”
“You listen to me, son. You’re going tomorrow, and you’re going to like it. There’s no reason why you can’t have a little fun in your life.”
“Have you forgotten that tomorrow is the charity event?” I asked.
“No, I haven’t. But that doesn’t start until six-thirty. It won’t kill you to spend a couple of hours at a fall festival.”
“It just might, Dad.”
“Only if I don’t get to you first. You’re on the way, Bella. We’ll swing by and pick you two up. How is ten o’clock?”
“Ten o’clock is perfect. See you tomorrow, William. Tell Mary I said hi.”
“I will, sweetheart. Thank you for inviting us. It’s going to be fun.”
She ended the call with a big grin on her face.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” I said.
“Why? You should know me by now,” she smirked.
“You know what?” I started walking toward her.
She took off running.