Page 20 of Past and Present

“Hey, I gotta go do lawyer shit. I’ll see you Friday night.”

Marissa laughed and hung up the phone.

As Marissa turned to her computer to dive into a project, Kimberly appeared in her door looking distraught.

Marissa waved her in. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m so sorry about the tabloids. I tried to tell Lance he didn’t have to take me home, but he insisted.”

Marissa waved a hand at Kimberly. “Please. You have nothing to be sorry for. Please don’t stress over it.”

“Are you sure?”

Marissa nodded. “Of course I’m sure. The only thing I’m disappointed about is that you’re leaving us with Jill.”

Kimberly wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. I’m really sorry abut that. I offered to find someone else.”

Marissa shrugged. “I hope you don’t find it rude, but I’m looking forward to firing her.”

Kimberly clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. “I shouldn’t find that funny. She’s my friend, but I should have known she was not cut out for this job. That girl needs to marry rich and be a trophy wife.”

Marissa cocked her head to the side and picked up her desk phone.

“Yes, Miss Sullivan?” her assistant said.

“When did you first find the stories about Lance and I potentially breaking up in the tabloids?”

She waited while he looked up the date. “Looks like December eleventh is the first time I saw it. I can run some searches and see if there’s anything earlier than that.”

“Would you?”

“You got it, boss. I’ll call you back when I’m done.”

Marissa hung up the phone and smiled at Kimberly. “Sorry about that. I had an idea. Seriously. Don’t worry about the articles. They’ll go away soon. Just let us know if media is following you or anything. We can help with that.”

Kimberly took a deep shuddering breath. “Thanks. I just didn’t want you to think anything was going on.”

Marissa laughed. “No offense but if Lance wanted to sleep with you, he would have tried in the five years we were apart. I have nothing to worry about and neither do you. You have a husband who loves you and you’re good to Lance and you keep his head from exploding with too much information. You’re part of our team and we look after each other.”

“Thanks, Marissa. And Lance tells me you might be married by the time I get back, so congratulations.”

Marissa smirked. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.

“Thank you, Kimberly. I hope everything works out for your family.”

The woman left and Marissa picked up her phone to call Lance.

“Can you think of anything you said or did that would make someone think we were going to break up on or around the ninth or tenth of December?”

He was quiet as he thought about her question.

“I can’t think of anything, but that doesn’t mean someone didn’t take something out of context. Why?”

“I’ve been trying to figure Jill out. I think she might have it in her head that we’re going to break up so she’ll have a shot at you. Something Kimberly said about her needing to be a trophy wife made me think of it.”

Lance let out a short laugh. “She said that?”

Marissa laughed. “I know. It surprised me too.”

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