Coming To Reason (A Long Road to Love) (9 page)

“How do you even know this stuff?” Trent demanded. “Besides,
it may not be mine. She has a husband, you know.”

Dan didn’t answer his question. He knew the devastated
novelist who was married to Trent’s pregnant mistress. Jon had gotten a
vasectomy after the fourth child they couldn’t afford. Trent had offered to let
the family stay in his penthouse for free and gave Jon a well-paying job as
marketing director so they could earn enough to buy a home in the suburbs of
New Jersey. Unfortunate
ly
, Trent’s generosity didn’t end there. He kept showing up
at the penthouse to taste Jon’s wife, who evident
ly
thought she could slide another
baby into the family without Jon being the wiser.

His stomach ached with disgust. “I want to be clear. I am
not firing Carrie. She’s going to need a safe place to recover when your debacles
blow up. But every day you let this lie continue, the worse it’s going to be
for her.”

“I’ve got it handled if you’ll just fire her! If she’s
working in New Jersey, she won’t find any of this out.”

“Well, it’s not happening, because Hell will freeze over
before I let her go.”

“Then I’m not paying your bill.”

“Fine. My lawyer will be in touch with yours…no, wait,
yours quit.”

“Are you stalking me? I’m getting a restraining order.”

“Why don’t you get a brain and a fucking conscience instead?”
Dan slapped his cell phone closed and jumped when a timid knock sounded on his
door.

He took a moment to calm before saying, “Enter.”

His round-eyed daughter scurried in, placed the tape on his
desk, and hurried out. Damn, he hated she’d heard him yelling through the door.

He wanted to call her back in and apologize, but he needed
to listen to the damn tape so he knew what to do about Carrie.

He pulled out his ‘antique’ tape recorder as Destiny called
it and placed the cassette inside. He inserted the earplug in his ear. No way
would he risk the conversation being overheard.

He turned the machine on and listened. Carrie sounded so
happy, and Trent so damned abusive. God! Why did she put up with such mental battering?

Although he’d already decided his next step, he listened
through what Carrie assumed was a porn movie. If he hadn’t interrupted the
‘one-sided phone sex’ she would have learned the truth last night. The woman
called out Trent’s name several times. Part of the self-centered ass must know
he needed to break it off with Carrie. Why else would he make her listen to him
having sex with another woman?

But what a cruel way to deliver the news.

It made his decision easy. Still, he hated the pain his
next phone call would cause Carrie, but better the knife come from a third
party rather than Trent. To be so vicious
ly
stabbed by the man she believed loved her could scar her
forever.

He dialed the number for
Gossep
and asked to speak
to Roberto. Once the publisher came on, and niceties were exchanged, Dan got to
the point. “I thought I’d give you a heads up, since I know you’ve got a girl
at Lancaster Chairs. Someone’s about to break the story.”

“Shit! When?”

“Soon, but if your girl doesn’t have sufficient information
by now, then she’s forgotten her job.”

“Thanks, I’ll get right on it.”

“I have a favor to ask…”

“Sure, what?”

“Can you leave Carrie Hanson out of the story?”

“Who’s she?”

“A nice person who doesn’t deserve to have her name dragged
through the mud.”

“I’ll talk to Angela. If she’s not critical to the story, we’ll
leave her out.”

“Thanks. She’s not critical.”

He hung up and closed his eyes. He’d pulled the trigger that
would send a bullet headed right though Carrie’s heart. He pinched the bridge
of his nose, trying to hold back unwanted tears. He wished Trent would have let
her down easy, but the phone call left no doubt he intended to destroy the very
thing he claimed to love—her beautiful spirit.

By pushing
Gossep
to publish their story, Dan hoped to
prevent Trent from delivering the fatal blow. Then Carrie would
only
have to deal
with the bastard’s selfish infidelities and lies, but be spared from knowing he
went out of his way to hurt her with the ug
ly
truth.

Dan knew from painful experience the difference mattered. When
your partner slipped and betrayed you, it hurt like hell. But when they deliberate
ly
stabbed you
in the heart with the cold truth, just to see you fall, the pain exceeded
forgiveness.

His ex-wife’s act of needless brutality had left him gun
shy ever since. He kept his heart well-guarded, or had until the day a very
small, enchanting woman entered his office and declared she had expected better
of his firm and she’d be going elsewhere. Her eyes held such honesty, such
sincerity, and determination. His walls fell in an instant.

He glanced at his watch and frowned at the hour he’d wasted
on Trent. According to his schedule, he had a half-hour before his first client
showed. He decided to go downstairs and find Carrie something to eat for her
mid-morning snack.

Not certain what to buy her, he called Dr. Lenard. “I know
you can’t discuss patients, but if I wanted to feed a person with an
underdeveloped stomach a mid-morning snack, what would you suggest. And how
does a stomach turn out underdeveloped?”

“Buy a pack of trail mix. And in one patient I examined,
the young woman’s stomach had failed to extend to a normal size. Instead, it’s
more like a narrow tube with a bulb at the bottom. Rather looks like a new
variation of a stomach bypass. However, this patient’s size leaves no doubt
this occurred natural
ly
. She has an identical twin who is 5’8”.

“Trail mix. Any particular brand?”

“Why are you asking me? Shouldn’t you be asking her?”

“I needed some time to walk off my anger. I lost an hour
trying to talk an ounce of decency into Trent.”

“Ah…well, given he’s a major financial contributor of this
hospital, I can’t comment on the matter. But, I’m glad you’re looking after my
patient. I’ve grown fond of her.”

“I’ve found the trail mix. Guess I’ll buy one of each and
she can take her pick.”

Doing something nice for Carrie eased his conscience and
put him in a better mood when he entered Jeff’s office. He dumped the bags on
the desk. “Snack time. Choose one.”

Jeff smiled and selected one.

“Hey, ladies first.”

Jeff put it back.

To his surprise, Carrie selected the one Jeff wanted. First
act of selfishness he’d ever seen her make.

Upon handing the pack to Jeff, she chose another and smiled
at Dan. “Thank you for thinking of us.”

She returned the others to the plastic bag and gave it back
to him, all the while radiating with happiness. When the next publication of
Gossep
came out, she wouldn’t be smiling.

He handed the bag to Jeff. “She requires food every two
hours.” As guilt overwhelmed him, he hurried from the room.

Carrie’s second day went nonstop, which meant she never had
a chance to purchase a new phone. Thus, she couldn’t call Trent until she got
home at nine.

When she called, Mars said he had not returned.

“Has he said anything about work? I’m worried. I fear my
departure has stressed him. He became a complete bear when I spoke to him
yesterday.”

“I advised against it,” Mars reminded her

“Yes, you did. And had I realized he’d returned to channeling
his father, I might have listened. But with this change in his behavior, I’m
worried about all our…his employees. If he treats them half as horribly as he
treated me, then they’ll
probably
all quit. Maybe I should come back.”

“No!” Mars exclaimed. “You should stay where you are.
Master Trent has set himself upon his path and he’s determined to follow through.
And if his company fails, so be it. It is time for him to grow up and take
responsibility. You cannot continue to save him. The job is no longer yours.”

“You’re right, of course. Otherwise, I’d be enabling his
weaknesses. But it’s hard to watch him flounder.”

“You are far too generous. Focus on your new job, make new
friends, and get on with your life.”

His advice worried her. “Mars, are you under the impression
Trent and I have broken up?”

Dead silence told her he was.

“We haven’t! We’re still together,
only
we’re both
focused on our jobs right now.”

Again, dead silence.

“Mars, are you there?”

“Yes, I am here.” His words sounded clipped and the anger
in his tone unmistakable.

“Did Sam tell you we broke up? Don’t be mad at him. Trent made
him take my phone and laptop, not remembering the phone belonged to me.”

“Yes, Sam mentioned his error. If you will send me a
receipt, I will reimburse you.”

“I haven’t had the time to get a replacement.”

“Then, perhaps I can order you one.”

“Would you? I’ll pay for it.”

“No, you will not. You are owed a phone.”

“But not from you.”

“I assure you, this will not come out of my pay.” He
sounded angry again.

“Well, if it’s not too much trouble, I would appreciate it.
I bare
ly
get time to breathe at work.”

“It will give me great pleasure to do this for you.”

She smiled. “Thank you for solving my phone problem. And
tell Sam he’s not to steal anything else from my house.”

“I have already spoken to him on the issue, and I can
assure you, it will never happen again. There are times when Master Trent must
be ignored, and this particular order should have been one of them. Which
reminds me. You left clothes here. Shall I send them to you?”

Why couldn’t Mars remember she and Trent had not broken up?
What if his poor recall was due to those Europa turtles she’d made three months
ago?

She
wished she’d never borrowed the expensive chocolate in
Trent’s kitchen to make her chocolate and caramel turtles. The delicious stuff contained
a new variation of the drug Europa. Not
only
did the Russian cook almost kill Sam for stealing his
chocolate, but Mars and her systems guy, Jack, ended up in the hospital, having
both overdosed on narcotic turtles.

“Mars, you have more than enough to deal with. I’ll take
care of getting a new cell phone.”

“No, I will have it sent to your new workplace.”

“I can pick it up.”

“I will have it delivered. I have to go now. I am pleased
you are doing so well.”

“Bye, Mars, and thanks for your help”

She hung up and went straight to bed, exhausted beyond
words.

***

When she woke in the morning, and went downstairs to make
breakfast, she noticed her answering machine blinking. She pressed ‘message
play’ while she prepared her oatmeal.

“Carrie, it’s Trent. Where are you? And don’t say you’re at
work. I had Sam drive by and the lights are off.”

“Carrie, Trent again. Where the hell are you? Are you with
Dan? You need to stay away from him. He told me yesterday he intended to tell
you a bunch of lies to break us up because I won’t pay his outrageous bill.”

The next message, Trent sounded worried. “Carrie, you
didn’t believe Dan, did you? Tell me you didn’t. God, after all we’ve been
through, I can’t lose you over a lying, vindictive jerk. Carrie, please pick up
the phone.”

She had enjoyed her uninterrupted sleep, but felt terrible
for Trent. He’d forgotten she didn’t have a phone in her bedroom and she
couldn’t hear the ring from the bottom floor.

Eighteen short breather calls followed his last message. Then
the answering machine grew tired of the whole nonsense and stopped recording.

She called Trent.

Mars answered. “Mr. Lancaster’s line.”

“Mars, it’s Carrie. Trent left me a ton of messages last
night. Any chance he’s awake?”

“None, whatsoever.”

“Then could you tell him when he wakes that Dan and I don’t
discuss him, we’re all good, and remind him I don’t have a phone in my bedroom,
so I slept through all his messages.”

“He called you?”

“Many times, each one sadder than the last.”

“I see. I will relay the message.”

“Thank you.”

She hung up, devoured her tiny bowl of oatmeal, walnuts,
and blueberries, then rushed out the door. To make the train she had to jog the
whole mile.