Chapter 49

Chapter 49

"So, are we liquid enough to settle?" Harper asked, one hand on the hip, the other on the end of the board room table.

All eyes shifted to Cassandra.

She flipped through the papers. The air felt thick and we all held our breaths as the tension builds.

She looked up from the papers, "Yes."

The collective sound of our breaths was audible as we all heaved out a sigh.

"But it can potentially drive the company down," Cassandra continued.

Harper massaged her temples, "I knew this was gonna happen."

"According to projections, if we expend that huge of an amount, lump sum, we could go bankrupt in just six months."

"Six months?!" Dave exclaimed.

"That is our last resort, of course. We have to exhaust all other available options to save the company first," Cassandra explained.

Harper nodded. "Alright," her voice clipped. "We'll have to make do with what we have. I'll have to speak with the other partners. In the meantime, I want you to please not let this information out of the room. Understood?"

We all nodded silently.

"Okay, you're dismissed. This day has been enough, you can all go home now."

We picked up all our documents from the table and began dispersing.

"Lauren," Harper called.

"Yes?"

"May I speak with you in my office?"

"Sure," I replied and she went to her office. Dave and I exchanged glances, I just shrugged.

After clearing my papers, I went straight to Harper's office. I knocked on the open door, "You wanted to see me?"

She looked up from her laptop, "Yes. Please," she motioned to a chair "sit."

She closed her laptop as I sat in front of her. "I just wanted to know how it went with Axel."

"I spoke to him."

"Uh-huh?" her chin rested on her knuckles, interested in what I had to say.

"He'll talk to her."

She exhaled loudly, eyes closing in the process. She looks so stressed out and I can't blame her. I've been feeling the same lately. Imagine all your hard work – something that you have put all your effort into, something you have built from the ground up – just be taken away from you as if it was nothing.

"I don't want to say don't worry because I know full well it isn't possible, but I will call Axel later. I'll get updates from him. We'll try to make this work."

Her head raised to meet mine and nodded, "I hope you can both think of a solution of some sort. I hate to admit it, but from where I stand, our case is a little hopeless."

"It's not. Well, I know what you mean, but let's not lose hope just yet."

She let out another sigh and nodded, "Okay, but please let me know if you hear anything."

"I will."

Here I am thinking about myself and the career I'm trying to build, while Harper has to think of everything.

Whenever I look at her, I could see just how heavy the weight she has to carry on her shoulders. Her decisions not only affect her, but the whole company and everyone involved - the employees, clients, creditors, and other stakeholders. She has to think of everything, not just herself. And on top of that, she has to keep a cool and calm demeanor so that she wouldn't shake everyone up - that has got to be the hardest part of all.

I thought about quitting, of course. Especially when I see my co-workers who have bills to pay and families to support. Whenever I see them, it makes me realize that me losing my job doesn't sound so bad compared to robbing thousands of employees of their livelihood.

But then I'd remember Katie's words – about her blacklisting me from New York. If I leave, there wouldn't be another job left for me here. Katie is famous and she certainly has friends in high places. It wouldn't be impossible for her to do that.

Am I selfish? I don't know. Maybe I am, but I just want to try to fix it first. I would never dare give up without a fight.

* * *

I called Axel when I got home from work. He would come by later to plan how we're going to tackle the situation.

In the meantime, I'll try to find a solution myself.

I heated some ramen, opened my laptop, and got to work.

Mystery isn't something I can afford right now. To my advantage, celebrity lives are very public. It's time to do some research.

I googled Katie Swanson, Dean Harvey, Axel James, and even Clark Sawyer. Their information appeared, but I can't seem to find anything that's remotely useful.

I found that Clark is unemployed right now in his LinkedIn. But I doubt. He's working with Katie as her professional hacker.

He did well when we were undergrads. Tech genius, top of the class, multiple internships. But now, he is the perfect example of a downfall, the epitome of disappointment.

Before I spiral down the rabbit hole of stalking my ex, I switched up to Katie Swanson's website, scrolled through her photos, and true enough, there was that picture dated five years ago.

How do we prove that this is just some good hack work? Clearly, she's the one who copied and now she's reversing the narrative – playing the victim to support her manipulations.

I slurped on some noodles still staring at the screen when a knock on the door caught my attention.

I set the ramen aside and stood.

The knocks became continuous and urgent.

"Coming!"

"Hey," he went inside as soon as I opened the door.

"Come on in."

"I'm already in."

"You don't say." I closed the door. "I heard you the first time, by the way."

He was sporting an all-black get-up, complete with coat and hoodie on.

"Some creep was looking at me in the hallway."

"Are you sure you didn't just pass by a mirror?"

"Haha, very funny," he removed his coat and placed it on the rack near the door. "Alright, what's your plan?"

"Uh, nothing yet. Well, nothing concrete, at least. I thought we'd both come up with it. Have you thought of anything?"

"Well..."

"What is it?"

"I have some ideas but I'm not sure how you'll feel about it?"

"You know I'll always be skeptical of your ideas, but I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice now, don't I?"

He shrugged.

"Alright then, ideas are a good way to start, I guess. Come on, let's write it down." I headed back to the kitchen where my laptop was.

I minimized the open tabs and opened a spreadsheet, "Okay, let's start," I raised my head only to find Axel examining the cup of ramen in his hand.

"Were you eating this?"

I took it from him. "Yeah, I was having dinner when you arrived."

"Dinner? You're having cup noodles for dinner?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with it?"

"Oh, a lot of things."

"Okay, okay! No need to lecture me about how unhealthy it is. Not all of us has time to prepare a proper meal." I spun noodles around the fork and ate a mouthful.

He smiled.

"Don't judge me."

"I'm not," he shook his head with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Come on then, let's start," he moved next to me.

"Right," I placed the cup down the counter and we started working on the plan.

"So, I was thinking we annoy the heck out of her."

"Won't that add fuel to fire?"

"Oh, it most definitely would."

"Then why would we do that?"

"Because I know Katie. If she's annoyed, she'd be too distracted to make her next move. That way we can buy ourselves some more time."

"Okay. And then?"

"And then..."

He stared at me, brows raised, mouth parted.

"You have no idea, don't you?"

He exhaled, "I was hoping you'd say something."

"Well, I did say something, but it wasn't helpful."

We stayed silent for a while, thinking of a good plan.

He glanced at me arms crossed against his chest. "You got anything?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

He straightened his spine, "Alright, why don't we plan out how we'll distract her first? Then we could go from there."

"Okay," I leaned closer to the laptop. "That's better than nothing. What do you suggest we'll do first? As you said, you know her better."

"Right, I did say that. Okay, I was thinking Instagram."

"Instagram?"

"Remember when you didn't accept my follow request because people would know?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, let's let them know."

"I don't like the sound of this."

"Accept my request and we'll let them talk."

"Uh-uh. That's a huge reach. That's more than Katie."

"Well, yeah, because she doesn't know we know part of her plans."

"Which means?"

"Which means our actions should not direct her."

"I don't follow."

"I mean not obviously at her. Subtle attacks. Something like that."

I exhaled loudly, "Fine. I'll put it in here." I typed it out on the spreadsheet. "And then?"

"And then your turn."

"Wait, that's your whole plan?"

"Well..."

I raised a brow at him.

"We also need to act cute on the DMs."

"Excuse me?"

"You know because your ex-boyfriend knows a lot about IT. He might hack into our accounts. You know how dirty the two of them operate. We have to one-up them."

My upper lip curled up. "Define quote-and-quote acting cute."

"Well," his head rolled back. "On the top of my head, we can start with no fighting. No snarky replies to simple good mornings or goodnights."

"And why would we do that? Why would we greet each other good morning?"

"Because we're friends?"

"We're not friends."

"Well, then we're acquaintances. Come on, Lauren, give me something to work with here, it's called acting. We have to act. And you have to participate if we want to make this work."

"Okay, I'll trust you in that department since you've proven yourself to be good at that."

He exhaled through his nose. "Can't we move past that?"

I just shrugged.

"Look, Lauren-"

"Okay, okay, I don't want a rehash, let's just move past it, okay? What's next?"

"Um, uh," he snapped his fingers, "Oh! The, uh,"

I rolled my wrist, "Get your words out."

"The photos."

"What photos?"

"Have you seen the photos?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, why?"

"Can I see them?"

"I don't have them side by side, but I saw Katie's on her website."

He made a face, "Nah, I don't want to look at her website. Can you describe it?"

"Okay. Well, it's in a grand staircase."

"Uh-huh?"

"Outdoor. Very editorial. Her upper body was resting on the railings and she's reaching out to the camera. It was very similar – the angle, the location? they're all the same. They're just wearing different make-up and dresses."

"Huh," he said rubbing his chin.

"What are you thinking?"

"I think I have an idea how we can render her powerless."

"And that is?"

"I'll take a picture just like that and then I'll post it." He looks so serious and I'm trying so hard to hold my laughter in.

"What?" he asked.

I snorted, trying to hold in the burst of laughter.

"What?" his voice annoyed.

"Respectfully," I took a deep breath and waved my hand across. "You'd look stupid."

"Are you kidding me?"

I ignored his rhetorical question, "And wouldn't that create more friction?"

"How so?"

"Because you are under MGC's care, in case you forgot."

His brows raised, challenging for further explanation.

"I mean you are under contract with the agency. It could backfire. It could, most probably, backfire. Katie's lawyers could say that was motive enough. And you can't deny that you didn't know about the lawsuit."

"I can lie."

"You can't perjure yourself. You'll end up in jail. Do you not know about these things?"

"Well, I'm sorry, I've never had to deal with that kind of stuff before. I've never been in court."

I exhaled loudly, defeated. "I'll just take that as something good."

"What if I ask my friends? What if they post it all the same time?"

"It will still pose as a vendetta. It'll be obvious and she can trace it back to you. You know, mutual friends and all that."

He groaned loudly, "Ugggghh, why is this so hard?"

"Tell me about it."

He paused for a while then his eyes lit up like Christmas day. "I know! Let's make it a trend. That way they couldn't trace it directly to us."

"I'm listening."

"I can call Oliver. He knows a lot of influencers. I think he can make it work."

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess that could work. I'll put it on the list. We'll consider it. I mean, great idea, pretty solid, but we still have to think this through and we're still gonna need backups."

"Of course."

"Let me think." Then I remembered the article I read about Katie a while ago. "There were rumors about being admitted to a mental institution. Do you know anything about that?"

His face paled.

"You do, don't you?"

He looked away, "Yeah, but it's not my story to tell."

"So, it's true? It happened?"

He exhaled loudly, contemplating if he would confirm or deny.

"Okay, don't tell me."

His eyes shot back at me.

"I don't need to know. I don't need to go there. If she went to a facility, good for her for trying again, for making herself better. I don't know what I was thinking asking that. Maybe I just thought it could be grounds for voiding the lawsuit. Whatever. Yeah, let's, uh, let's move on."

My fingers tapped on the keyboard, but not exactly pressing any key. It's just to distract myself. What was I thinking? That was way over the line.

"Hey," he called my attention. I raised my head to find him smiling at me.

"What?"

"You're perfect."

"What?"

"I mean, uh, perfectly right! That was, um..." he cleared his throat, "That was very mature of you. Highly commend."

I grimaced, "What's wrong with you? Let's get back to this."

"Okay, okay."

I handed him the laptop and he began reading what we've listed.

"You can put in some things if you like."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's a rough draft. Go to town."

"Alright," he said and continued to focus on the document – typing some stuff from time to time.

I went to the other side of the counter and continued eating the ramen.

He stopped typing and peeked from the side of the laptop. "You're still eating that?"

"Yeah? So? I'm hungry."

"But that's-"

"Mind your own business."

He raised his hands, "I'm not saying anything."

"You were."

"Yeah, but I changed my mind. I'll just shut up."

"Well, that's something you don't hear every day."

"Lauren, I'm just saying-"

"I thought you said you'd shut up?"

"Alright, I'll shut up about it. Why don't you go accept my IG request already?"

My brows raised. "Right now?"

"Yeah, I mean it makes sense, right? Maybe if we do this now, the next step would just," he snapped. "Go like that."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, what's the harm in trying?"

"A lot of things. I thought we're only going to do that after we know what's going to happen next."

"Well again, that's the problem. We aren't sure what we want to happen next. Why not just let this one thing happen and we'll know from there?"

I paused to think.

He's right, we're not going anywhere with our sorry-ass plans.

"Alright, let's do it."

He inhaled, heaving his chest up. "Okay, hand me your phone."

"I wouldn't. I'll do it myself."

"Or that, yeah, whatever works."

I shot him a grimace and began scrolling through my phone. I opened Instagram and I saw him peeking from the side. I stopped and looked at him. His brows raised innocently and I opened my palms up in a what-do-you-want manner.

"Fine," he grumbled and moved away.

I clicked on accept and his phone dinged, "See, I did it."

He opened his phone, checking if I really did accept his Instagram follow request.

"Now what?" I demanded.

"Now we wait."

"That doesn't convince me. Let's sort some plans out, okay?"

"Okay."

I was typing on the laptop, switching from tab to tab, looking for any information we can use to our advantage. Every once in a while, I catch Axel staring at me from the side, but when I look at him, he's looking at the screen. I brushed it off for the first few but it has become very annoying.

I scratched my brows and flipped the laptop close. "What?" I spat.

"What?" his doe eyes looking every other way.

I cleared my throat and smiled at him sweetly, "Okay, I know you're infatuated by me, but it has to stop."

He backed away, "Oh, wow, wait a minute. When did you become so big-headed? Where did that confidence come from?"

I clicked my tongue on the roof of my mouth, "I guess I learned from the best."

His brows raised.

"Just don't stare at me because we need to focus, okay?" I opened the laptop again.

His eyes squinted, "Uh-huh." He tilted his head forward. "So, you're saying it affects you?"

"Of course! We need to concentrate. I can't think with you staring at me all the time."

He took a step closer, "So that means I distract you."

I took a step away, "Oh, no, now mister, I'm saying we need to focus on the task at hand."

Another step, "This should be fun."

"What is?"

Another step. "I want you; you want me."

I scoffed, "I'm sorry, what?"

"But you're too afraid to admit it to yourself."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard."

"Is it?"

Another step and my back hit the corner. Shit.

I laughed nervously, my right foot taking a step to flee but his left foot blocked it. His eyes threw intense stares down at me. I moved my hand but he pressed his palms on the counter, leaving me cornered.

He's so close now and the tobacco notes of his cologne filled my senses. I darted my eyes away to distract myself but it only landed on the lavatory on my left. The same lavatory where we made out after I punched his face.

He glanced to where I was looking and let out a low chuckle. "So that's why you're red. Wanna recreate it?"

The doorbell snapped me out of the trance. He exhaled loudly, "Saved by the bell. I'll get it, it must be the food."

He took long strides to the main door.

"What food? When did you find the time to order food?" I asked, but he's already there.

I shook my head and tried to calm myself down.

He walked back to the kitchen. Tight-lipped with his hands on his pockets.

Something shifted in the air and I can read it from his face.

"Well, where is it?" I asked.

Then a figure came from behind him. Dark and looming and utterly pissed.

Dean.

"We need to talk."