Page 71 of The Bargain

Heather looked back and smiled at me the moment she noticed I hadn’t moved with her. It was all I could do to paste a matching smile on my lips. She had no idea that this was all a farce. It wasn’t her fault that her boss was pulling some shady shit to make my life hell.

We walked in to encounter Danielle’s assistant, who rose from her desk.

“Good morning, Mr. Graham. I’m Mrs. Courtland’s assistant, Chloe. Mrs. Courtland is ready for you.”

Heather reached out and gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll do great. We can chat again after your meeting.”

I wanted to tell her that there wouldn’t be a chat and there was no way I was going to be great, but I swallowed the knot in my throat and nodded. I followed Chloe through the lobby to the nearby office with the door standing open.

Unlike Sebastian’s and John’s offices, Danielle’s was sunny and cheerful, with beautiful flowers in cut crystal vases thatreflected the light coming from the wall of windows behind her. She rose from behind her desk the second Chloe stepped into the doorway, not even giving her a chance to knock on the door.

“There you are! Byron, you must hate me for calling you so last minute, but I refused to wait a minute longer. Come in! Come in!” She waved at me with both hands as I stood frozen in the doorway.

This was not the enraged Momma Bear I’d been expecting. She appeared genuinely welcoming and happy to see me. What the fuck was going on?

“Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Water? Tea?” Chloe inquired as I stepped into the office.

“No.” I stopped and cleared my throat when that single word got caught. “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

“Chloe, could you make some hot tea for us? The one with lemon. Byron is looking a little pale to me.”

“Right away, Mrs. Courtland.” Chloe zipped out of the office, leaving me alone with Danielle in her shining, posh domain.

“Mrs. Courtland…”

She waved at me again, beckoning me to a sofa and two chairs around a coffee table, like we were going to have a chat. She settled in one of the white chairs, but I remained standing beside the sofa.

“Mrs. Courtland,” I started, managing a firmer tone. I understood she was probably upset over her son being hurt by me, but she needed to recognize that Sebastian wasn’t the only injured party in all this. My hands balled into fists at my sides, and I gathered up the last shreds of my courage. “I wish you would have contacted me directly rather than going through this farce of calling me in for a nonexistent job. I would have been willing to meet with you to discuss anything you wish, but when I agreed to this meeting, no one told me it would be with you. Itis rather cruel to have gotten my hopes up about nothing, and I didn’t take you for someone who was cruel.”

Danielle blinked at me. “Nonexistent? Byron, do you really think I’m the type of person to mix business and personal?”

“I…” Everything in my brain became a muddled mess, and I didn’t know what to say next. While I didn’t know her well from our one meeting, I didn’t get the impression that she was the type to use her work to settle a personal feud.

“There is a job, I promise. I just told them to not mention my name or the Courtland name. I was afraid you wouldn’t consider it because of my link to Sebastian or even John.”

“I think…I’m confused,” I whispered, feeling very lost at sea.

“Sit down, please.”

My knees gave out, so I wasn’t exactly graceful.

Danielle’s smile remained bright and gentle as she continued, “We didn’t get the chance to talk as much as I would have liked at the fund raiser, but in the time we had together, I was so impressed by all your creative ideas and suggestions. I kept thinking, ‘Here’s a guy who was coming up with all these things off the top of his head with only a moment’s notice. What amazing things could he do if he had days, weeks, or even months to plan?’”

“Thank you,” I murmured, still in awe of what she was saying. “But I know nothing about working for a charity.”

She gave a shrug. “It’s the same as running a business in a lot of ways. Of course, there’s more legal paperwork and tax issues, but that’s why we have a legion of experienced lawyers and accountants on our payroll—to keep us protected.” She leaned forward and grinned. “Do you know why I started the Rainbow Counseling Network? Sebastian came out to his father and me as gay, and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even understand it. Was there something his father and I had done or didn’t do when he was young? I tried to say theright things and be supportive, but I wasn’t even sure if I did that correctly. That bothered me. Not him being gay, but that I didn’t know how to support my child. Before my husband and I came into our money, I worked as a nurse. A nurse with a college degree and countless years of training, and I didn’t know how to help my son.”

“That must have been very painful for you,” I said.

“It was, and I was disappointed in myself. So, I began doing research. I talked to social workers and therapists. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and even pediatricians. Even with all these professionals, there was a lot of bad information out there. I could only do this because I have the privilege of money and time, but there were a lot of families out there without the same resources who are asking the same questions I was.”

A smile spread across my lips while my eyes burned. “So, you created the counseling network?”

She nodded. “It was designed to help people of all ages who are questioning their sexual identity and need mental health help dealing with that. Or even if they just need general information, such as safe places to live and work. Even doctors who are allies of the community. We also offer training and support to families of LGBTQIA+ children, giving them the skills they need to support their children.” She sighed and lifted her hands. “But once we dug in, we uncovered so many other underserved areas. Particularly homeless kids who’d been kicked out after their parents discovered they were LGBTQIA+. So, I created the Hope Bastion and Stanton Law Group.” She paused and winked at me. “Stanton is my maiden name. Stanton Law Group specializes in assisting LGBTQIA+ people who have been discriminated against. We focus mostly on the local level and state, though we are doing a bit of lobbying on the national level.”

“This…this is all amazing, but I’m not sure why you believe I am a fit here, other than the fact that I’m a gay man.”

Danielle made a dismissive noise. “Being a gay man only helps you about this much.” She lifted her hand to show her thumb and index finger held about an inch apart. “It gives you real-world insight that a straight man wouldn’t likely have. No, the main reason I’m interested in you is your college education combined with your experience at Courtland Enterprises.” She leaned forward and picked up a piece of paper that looked like it was a copy of my résumé, but I couldn’t imagine how she’d gotten her hands on it. “You got your bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati with a double major in business management and marketing. Then got your master’s from Xavier University. Both times, you finished with a GPA of 3.8. You had a couple of other jobs for smaller firms working in their marketing department before getting hired on at Courtland Enterprises, where you worked for just over three years. Why don’t you tell me about this proposal that Courtland is implementing to save its ass?”

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