CHAPTER 22
Evie leaves for work the next morning, and I laze around for a little while before getting up and heading to the gym. I keep hearing Evie's voice in my head, whispering Leo in her sleep. I still don't know what to think about it. Does she still dream about me? What does that mean? Is there something inside of her that still holds on to the boy that I once was? Is that going to make it easier or harder for her to hear the truth about me?
I work out for a couple hours and then head home. I’m also keyed up because I know that Lauren is meeting with the board today – and I don’t know why. Whatever it is, I can pretty much guarantee that her only motivation is to have something to control me with, and that knowledge alone fills me with a sickening anger. How long am I going to have to deal with her crazy shit? How can I ask Evie to deal with any of this? It never f**king stops. And I know for a fact that if Lauren realizes that Evie is back in my life, it will only get worse. A lot worse.
Dealing with Lauren today or any day is about the last thing I want. But I have to know what she’s up to. My personal feelings aside, I owe it to my company to know what she’s planning. Best to meet her in public before I leave to pick up Evie. If I didn’t want to know what board business she thinks she has, I suppose I could avoid her call like I usually do. But then she’ll try to show up while Evie’s here and, oh Christ, now I just have a headache. I sit at the bar in my kitchen with my head in my hands for a few minutes, just considering this mess. Then I get up and take a shower, shave and work at my desk in workout pants and a t-shirt for the remainder of the afternoon.
I have Lauren’s number programmed to go straight to voicemail, so I check my phone every so often until I see that I have a message. When I listen to it, it’s Lauren and I call her back.
"Jake, I’m on my way up." She doesn’t even wait for me to say hi.
"What the f**k, Lauren? I didn’t tell you to come to my condo. Who let you up anyway?"
"The front deskman let me up – I told him who I am. Of course he did."
Ah hell – I forgot to talk to Joe. I’m going to ream his ass when I go down there.
I step out into the hallway just as the elevator dings. Lauren steps off, giving me a huge grin. I don’t smile back.
"Still a moody teenager, I see," she says, breezing past me into my condo.
She looks around. "I love it, Jake." She goes over to the window and looks out at the view. "You know I’d move here if you want me to. I’d prefer you move back to San Diego with me but–"
"Lauren, why are you meeting with the board? Why’d they have to sacrifice a Saturday for you?"
She sighs, stepping closer. "Jake, I met with the board today to let them know that I’m contesting the will. Phil wasn’t in his right mind when he left the majority of the shares to you. My lawyer has advised me that I have a very good case. I made an appeal to the board to halt all financial decisions until I reclaim ownership of the company, which I will."
I stare at her for a couple beats. I wondered if she’d try to make this play. "It’s not going to happen. Phil’s will was ironclad, and he was very much in his right mind. You have all the money you’ll ever need. You know the only reason you’re doing this is to try to control me. Life was pretty good for you when you had control over me, wasn’t it?" I grit out.
"Oh, Jake," she sighs. "What this is about is me getting what is rightfully mine. I was married to that workaholic for twenty years. Do you know how much I sacrificed? Until you came along, I was lonely all the time. You need to let go of the unnecessary guilt. Phil being gone makes it easier for us to be together. It’s the truth. It’s just how it happened. You don’t need to feel badly about it. It isn’t possible for two people to be as attracted to each other as we are and it not be right."
"Lauren, this is a waste of my breath because you hear what you want to hear, but I was never attracted to you – at least not for more than twenty very confusing, ultimately horrifying minutes eight years ago, during an episode that was the beginning of the end for me. The most f**ked up part of what happened between us is that a part of me complied with you because I didn’t want to disappoint you. I had been a disappointment all my life and I thought… I thought I was finally going to have a family who cared about me. A very f**ked up, very confused part of me just wanted you to like me, under any circumstances. And somehow, I think you knew that, preyed on it even. When you talk about what’s "rightfully yours," I get the feeling you’re referring to me more so than the company, Lauren." I’m practically spitting the words at her, my jaw tight. She won’t hear me, but maybe I needed to say that anyway, not for her, but for myself.
She looks defeated for just a second, and I wonder if maybe my words penetrated, but then she comes closer to me, and tries to put her hand on my cheek. I block her, moving away. "You don't have to act like this. Let me make it better, honey." Then she leans up on her tiptoes and tries to press her lips to mine. I step back, and put my hand up in front of me. Done. It always comes to this.
"Don't start this shit. I explained to you in San Diego the nature of our relationship and that is that there isn't one, okay?"
"You lie to yourself, Jake. You can't just make this go away. You can't just make me go away."
"The f**k I can't. Get out."