Page 75 of Catalyst
Adam cracks first, his laugh filling the room and making both me and Matthew follow suit. The stress of everything that’s happened has finally caught up to us, and the giggles don’t stop until we’re wiping tears from our eyes.
“You’re an idiot. You know that?” Adam asks, shaking his head.
“I’m aware. But for real, what are we going to do for the next hour because, at this point, I’m not getting anything else done.”
An idea pops into my head, and I grab my purse from my desk, pulling out a pack of cards. “How about poker?”
* * *
Adam, Matthew, and I walk into the conference room, giving off the vibe of a united front. It feels as if we’ve banded together and are ready to take down an army. I guess playing poker to distract us from our nerves gave us a sense of camaraderie we haven’t had since Adam said those disastrous sentences.
The lawyers are already at the table, and ten minutes before the meeting is to start, we get a chance to prepare a quick agenda.
Linda and her husband, Ralph, enter the room at two on the dot, and I can tell Ralph is only further confused about why he’s attending this meeting. I’m honestly surprised they’re showing up together. I expected Linda to show up alone, not wanting her husband to witness what is about to go down.
But then again, maybe she’s delusional enough to believe she hasn’t gotten caught.
“Linda, Ralph, thank you for joining us today. Let me quickly introduce everyone, and then we’ll get down to business.” Adam goes around the room and says everyone’s name. Mostly for Ralph’s benefit, but I’m not sure Linda knows who the lawyers are.
“Okay, with that out of the way, I’m going to jump right in. Linda, we know you have been providing inside information into how our business is run to the media.”
Ralph’s head whips toward Linda, who’s glaring daggers at Adam.
“There’s no point in denying it as we have the proof of your emails to Danica atCelebrity Weeklyconfirming your interviews. Here’s the deal… If you end this crusade and provide no further information to any media source and cease all threats, whether that be by email, phone, text, or any other form of communication, then we will not seek any further legal actions.”
“What the hell is going on, Linda?” Ralph asks.
She lifts her nose in the air, her demeanor turning catty in front of our eyes. “I worked my ass off for this company for six years, and my reward was getting fired because of the two-bit whore fucking the boss. I won’t stand for it.”
“Linda!” Ralph gasps. He looks at Adam for an explanation.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Ralph, but we let Linda go two months ago.” Adam shuffles through his paperwork and pulls out the transcript from our meeting with her a couple of months ago. It details every vile word she spewed that day and very obviously explains why they had to let her go.
As Ralph reads it, his posture changes until he no longer resembles the docile man who walked in here. “This isn’t my wife. This isn’t you, Linda.” He stares at her as if he’s trying to figure out what’s become of the woman he married. It’s breaking my heart a little as I watch him try to read her body language.
Ralph looks back at Adam. “She won’t do anything like this again. I’ll make sure of it.”
Adam nods his head and slides the legal paperwork over to the two of them. It takes about ten minutes for Ralph to get Linda to actually sign the papers, but she finally does. I wish there was more we could do for him. It can’t be easy to find out that the person you’ve been in love with isn’t actually the person you thought they were.
I glance at Adam to find him stone-faced as we watch Ralph lead Linda out of the room. When they’re gone, he looks down at the table, and his façade cracks for only a second. But in that second, I see the man I fell in love with. The one who was willing to take on my family in order to protect me. Someone I can rely on when I’m feeling overwhelmed, and it’s in this moment that I realize, I’ve finally forgiven him.
I won’t ever forget the way his words made me feel, but I know he isn’t a bad man. He isn’t the guy who says shitty things, tries to apologize for it, and then never changes.
He’s inherently good, and it’s time to tell him I’m in love with him.
CHAPTER35
Ellie
I had the best intentions.I really did.
I was going to tell Adam how I felt after that meeting, but we were all celebrating, and it wasn’t the right time to say anything, so I decided to wait until after work. Then Matthew snuck Adam out of the office before I could get in there, and I missed my chance.
Now, I’m sitting at my house, alone on a Friday night, without a single thing to do. I pathetically texted Adam, telling him that I hoped he was out celebrating his win in an effort to find out what he was doing, and I haven’t heard anything back from him.
To add to the pathetic, I’m feeling left out. If he is out celebrating, I wasn’t invited to the party. I can’t blame him, though. I made it very clear I needed space, and I haven’t gone back on that wish yet. Why would he invite me when I’m sure he doesn’t think I’d even want to be there?
My phone vibrates on the coffee table in front of me, and I’m not proud of how fast my hand reaches out to grab it. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I groan.
