Page 72 of Dirty Little Secret, Baby
Maybe I can still make some good money in the meantime with a few sales. There are a few holidays coming up before the eviction, when flowers are in high demand. That could plug the hole in my budget a little and help me get reoriented. I draw a little courage from the thought and spend some time putting together the most attractive online offers I can, hoping to get that part of the business back on track. I also add an apologyfor the outage to my shop's website, along with an honest explanation.
It occurs to me that I could hang that in the shop window, too. I start writing on a poster, but then I pause. What am I doing? Am I just fishing for a few pity purchases?
The jingle of the door's bell pulls me from my thoughts. I put on a smile to greet my customer, look up, and freeze. A man is standing in my shop. It's not Alex, but I know him. Isn't that his assistant? The watchdog in front of his office who wouldn't let me in?
Yes, it's him. I remember perfectly. The slicked-back hair, the arrogant demeanor. That dark look. It's him.
Why is he here? Is Alex sending his assistant now?
"I'm sure you're not here for a few flowers, but for something you want to tell me from Mr. Rodgers," I say, crossing my arms and giving him an icy stare. "Whatever it is, tell your boss that I..."
"I'd like to give you this." He cuts me off, completely unfazed, and holds out an envelope.
"What is this? What am I supposed to do with this?" I snap, snatching the envelope from him and feeling my hands tremble. "What's in it?" I tap the envelope.
"See for yourself. Have a nice day," he says, nods, turns around, and disappears from my shop just as quickly.
I take a deep breath and sink onto the chair in front of the computer, staring at the envelope in my still-trembling hand. A thousand thoughts are racing through my head, and for a second, I consider just throwing the thing in the trash, but I can't. The not knowing is eating me up from the inside.
So I tear open the envelope. To my surprise, it's not printed with his company's logo; it's from my landlord again. At first, I think maybe he managed to get the termination reversed, because I somehow thought it might have sounded that way before the hospital visit.
But the opposite is true. I skim the lines and can't believe what's written there. My landlord is terminating my lease without notice, effective immediately, citing several clauses I don't understand and something called a gross breach of duty.
I can't think straight; the air gets caught in my throat as I realize Alex must have a hand in this. Why else would his assistant hand me the letter?
Why is he doing this to me? Won't he be satisfied until he's completely destroyed me and his own son, leaving us to sleep on the streets?
Chapter 34
Alex
I stretch and blink, slowly coming to in my bed. A raspy, barking cough forces me to sit up, accompanied by a piercing headache from the amount of alcohol I drank last night and the night before.
"Shit, where's my aspirin," I mumble, fumbling around in my nightstand while rubbing my eyes, trying to somehow get a handle on the headache.
I finally find the small box, tear open the package, pop a pill in my mouth, and wash it down with a big gulp of water.
I stare into space, waiting for it to kick in, and let the last two days play back in my head.
After finding out I have a child, I was flooded with all sorts of emotions and could barely form a coherent thought. In fact, I nearly caused a rear-end collision twice on the way to the office because my head was simply somewhere else.
When I got to my office, Eric was waiting for me, looking at me with an innocent expression. I would have loved to just smash his face in for what he had undoubtedly done on Jake's orders. I had originally planned to catch him in the act and play a little game with him, but I wasn't in the mood for that anymore.
I didn't want to play games anymore. I had to face the truth. And the truth was: he had sold me out and betrayed me.
"You look terrible, sir. Rough day? Maybe you should take some time off," the snake in the grass said to me.
"I'm going to do just that, Eric. But before I do, I wanted to let you know that you're fired. Pack your things and get the hell out," I roared, pointing a finger at the door.
He just stared at me at first, then nodded, not the least bit surprised, and didn't even ask why. He knew. And so did I.
I called security and had him escorted out, then called Richard in accounting and told him in broad strokes that I wasn't doing well, that my assistant was the mole, and asked if he could hold down the fort for two or three days.
He's a true friend. I knew it was a lot to ask, but he agreed. Reassured, since Richard was the best man for the job, I left the company, went to the first dive I could find, and got drunk.
I remember the washed-up women who would occasionally hit on me and make advances, but I wasn't interested. I just ignored them and drank one whiskey after another, eventually waking up the next morning to realize I was out of aspirin and buying a large supply at the pharmacy.
Yesterday was the same story. I reached for the alcohol as soon as the thought that I was a father crept back into my mind. I was angry and sad that Beth hadn't told me anything. I would have been there for her, damn it. For both of them. Why did she want to...
