Quinn (The Waite Family) (13 page)

“Mother. What do you want? I don’t have the time or the patience for your theatrics today.”

Shannon was so stunned by the venom in her daughter’s voice that it took her several seconds to remember what she had called for.
Shannon picked up her list with shaky hands. “I would like to come and see you about more money. I simply can’t—”

“No.” Alyssa cut her off.
“Now if there isn’t anything else, I have things to do.
Oh, and don’t call in here again and demand anything of my employees.
Especially never say that it’s a matter of life or death unless it actually is.
We both know that you think everything is when it concerns you.
If you do, I will simply have your phone shut off. Do I make myself clear?”

“Alyssa, you can’t expect me to make appointments to see my own daughter when you let every piece of trash off the streets come in to see you.
I’m not going to stand for this treatment much longer.” Shannon stood up as she continued.
“You’ll start to treat me with the respect I deserve or I will—”

“You’ll what?” The pause wasn’t long enough for Shannon to form an answer.
“You know, I don’t care. And as for treating you with any kind of respect?
I lost all that for you when you drugged me and decided that you’d let me get knocked up by my own uncle so you could control me. Do not call here again. If you do then it is well within my rights to take whatever generosity I’ve been giving you away and let you live on the streets were you might have to work for a living.”

The phone slammed down so hard that Shannon had to jerk the receiver from her ear.
She sat back down with the phone still in her hand.
It took her several minutes of listening to the dial tone before she put the handset back into the cradle. Then she picked up the entire thing and threw it against the wall.

How dare she? How dare she treat her as if she was nothing more than an irritant?
Shannon began pacing the little office.
She wouldn’t be treated this way, not by anyone and certainly not by Alyssa. She’d brought the brat into this world and she would get the respect she deserved for all the suffering she’d had to endure to do that and the shit she’d put up with since she’d come back to the business.
It was time to take action.

Knowing she was going to regret it, Shannon went to the desk again and then had to go to the living room to make a call. Another thing she’d have to purchase on her own because of Alyssa now was a phone.
Damn girl was going to pay; Shannon refused to play by Alyssa’s rules any longer.
She found the number and dialed.
When it was answered on the other end, Shannon launched right to it. No point in waiting around any longer.

“Hello, Guinevere. It’s Shannon Howard. I’d like to speak to you about what you suggested the other week in the restaurant.”

~~~

Quinn started making lists. She was good at making them and better at following them. She’d learned from her ex-husband to do that.
He would leave her a list of things to do before he left for work and she’d be expected to have them done plus the daily things before he returned. If she didn’t, then hell would have to be paid.
He’d beaten her until she couldn’t stand, then he’d still expect her to finish the things he’d told her to do anyway.
It had taught her a habit that she couldn’t break no matter how hard she tried.

The first list was to find a replacement for Alyssa’s secretary. She put on this one all the qualifications that the new person would be required to do.
On the list was the willingness to shoot first and ask questions later if someone, anyone, tried to harm her.
There were other things there as well, but that was the most important.

Her next list was of things she had to do to leave. She’d already been hoarding cash. Sin had told her that she should always have a mode of escape.
A car no one knew about, cash and lots of it, and also another identity.
The false ID had cost a fortune, but had been well worth it.
Quinn had been making “deposits” into her black bag for years, long before Carl had left her, and since working for Howard Corporation, she’d been able to put away a great deal more than she’d hoped for.
She knew right to the last penny how much she had and knew it was going to finally be put to good use.

Quinn didn’t want to disappear, not really. But she did want to be on her own for a while. She loved her family very much, but knew they’d never understand if she told them she needed some time alone.
She looked down at her third list and started to cry.

This was not so much a list as it was a letter in the making. She wanted to apologize to Drew and making a list of things she’d done wrong, things she’d said to him, seemed important in that she needed to make sure he didn’t hate her forever.
She figured she had two weeks to get it finished. More if he stayed where he was for a bit longer than the two weeks he’d already been gone.

When someone knocked at her door a few minutes later Quinn slipped the lists under the blotter and told them to come in.
She wasn’t surprised to see Alyssa come in.

“I don’t know why you can’t just stay my secretary and be done with it. That last woman was an idiot.”
She went to the little refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of water, and tested it before opening it.
“I think that one was really a man dressed up as a woman just to get a job.”

“No, she wasn’t. She’s a retired FBI agent and she is really good at the job. Her last employer said she had saved his ass twice in the ten years she worked for him.”
Quinn waited until Alyssa took a drink and sat down before she continued.
“Your next appointment is in an hour. This one is a man so if he comes in with a dress on, don’t say anything.”

“Will he?
Good heavens, Quinn, where do you get these people?”

“No, I’m trying to make a joke.
His name is Clarence Keller.
He’s been working for different charities for about ten years and has recently decided to…” She realized she was talking to herself.
“Alyssa, are you listening to me?”

Alyssa had her phone out and was looking at it oddly.
Quinn looked down at her own phone and wondered when the last time was that anyone had called her on it, and then tried to remember if Jazzie had told her if she’d paid the bill or not. Taking out a sheet of notepaper, Quinn started another list marked “bills” and put phone at the top of the list.

“That was Drew,” Alyssa said with a heavy sigh.
“He just texted me that things are not going as well as he’d hoped and he may be in Paris for another two weeks at the very least.
He said that talks are not going well and that he may need to bring over some employees from other hotels to run the Howard until he could get things worked out.”
Alyssa looked worried.
“Do you think I should go over and see if I can help?”

“I don’t know, Alyssa. What does Cain say?
I’m sure that Dre…Mr. Miller can handle it.”
Quinn decided to ignore the strange look from her sister-in-law.
“I have other appointments for you today, but if you want, I can interview potential people and then send to you the choices I make.”

Alyssa stood. “No, you just hire someone. I’m sure if you like them, I will. I have to go and call Cain. He has this thing going at work and I want to be there for him.” Alyssa was nearly to the door when she turned back to her.
“Quinn, I’m still here if you need me.”

Quinn nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak right now.
When Alyssa left the office a minute later Quinn laid her head on her desk and cried. She’d been doing that a lot since Drew had left.

Two weeks and not a word. She didn’t know what to say to him if he called, but she had missed fighting with him.
She missed…well, she missed him. Quinn sat up. She had two more weeks at the minimum and she needed to get going.
She pulled out her lists again and started making phone calls.

“Yes, this is Quinn Waite. I need to make an appointment with Mr. Carmichael.
I have some things I’d like to change in my will and I need to do so as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Miss. Mr. Carmichael is available tomorrow if you can be here at nine in the morning.
He has an hour.
Do you currently have an attorney or are you looking for something else?”

She wanted to tell the woman that her attorney was in Paris and that she was too in love with him to ask for his help. Oh, and then there was the fact that she’d accused him of raping her, so she was pretty sure he’d not want to represent her in this.
Unless her demise was something he wanted, maybe she could get him to make her final arrangements…well, final.

“No. I have—had one, but he’s no longer able to help me.
I’ve made some changes in my life and want to make sure things are complete.”

“Of course.
We understand.”

Quinn wanted to cry again, but held on. She made the appointment for tomorrow then set about making her list complete for the next phase of her leaving. Her letter of registration was already typed up and she had set up the payment plan for Jazzie in getting bills paid on time.
Her phone had been shut off, but was back on within ten minutes after she’d called in a payment. She was showing the next potential employee a seat when she remembered her physical for her insurance that the company provided.
Making a note, she interviewed Mr. Keller.

Four hours and three interviews later, Quinn was exhausted and ready for a hot bath and a glass of tea. She finally had someone she thought that Alyssa would like in Mr. Keller, the first man she’d interviewed. He’d been both personable and very funny. He’d even asked her out, which she’d declined.
She was cleaning up her desk when her phone rang. Groaning, she answered.

“I don’t have time, nor the energy to talk to you, Mother. State your business so that I can say no and move on.”
She wished everyday she had the strength to just have her number changed and not give it to her, but she couldn’t.
“I was just going out the door.”

“I wanted to talk to Cain, but he’s had me barred from his office. Jazzie won’t give me her number and I can’t find your other sisters to speak to them.
I don’t like being treated this way by my own children, Quinn Susan.”
Quinn was hurt that she’d been a last resort, but let it go.
“I would like to meet you for dinner. You’ll have to pay, of course.
Since that woman your brother has attached himself to killed my Roscoe, I have no income.”

Quinn had had a shitty day and a really crappy week. She snapped.
“First of all, her name is Alyssa and she’s his wife, not some woman.
And she didn’t kill your Roscoe. He killed himself when he kidnapped me and was willing to kill me for money.
Secondly, and most importantly, I’m sick and tired of you blaming every one of us for your problems.
If Father left you broke, take it up with someone who might give a shit. I no longer do.”

For as much as she wanted to slam the phone down, she gently laid it in the cradle.
She sat back down at her desk and burst into tears.
She was so sick of her mother and her ways.
After ten minutes of feeling sorry for herself, she got up and closed down her office. It was Friday evening and she was going home to a nice comfy bed and her lists.
Fuck ‘em all.

His plane was late. Drew hated commercial flying, but if he wanted to surprise his grandda on his birthday then he had to do it this way. He paced the lobby once again and then stopped when the little girl sitting next to him started crying. He guessed he should stop frowning too.