Rude Boy USA (18 page)

“Think of it like this: we let Celia go, and you can have her to yourself or whatever. She will not be around John anymore, so there will not be any barriers between you two. I sense that you care for her,” Edina said. Ben did not want to admit it, but he had fallen for Celia hard; however, his ego would never let him show that to her or anyone else. “We
will buy them both out. It will be generous, I promise. I know it is not what you want to hear, but it is necessary, and it’s final. It’s already a done deal,” she said. “Just tell me that you are in. I promise you that you will be better off in this new system. Just give me your word,” she concluded.

Ben sat there for the longest quiet period since they arrived at the restaurant. Edina put her hand on top of his and rubbed it gently. She looked at him seductively. She wanted to make sure she pulled all the stops. Ben knew what she was trying to do and pulled his hand away. He felt bad, but then again, Edina sold him an excellent opportunity. This would remove Jerome and force John to share the wealth. Ben was at a point of desperation. “OK,” he told her. “OK, I’m in. What do you need me to do? And when does this take place?”

Ben’s decision thrilled Edina. “All I need you to do is keep quiet right now. I want to break the news to Celia myself, you know, have a powwow with her. I think this is something that another woman will have to discuss with her. We understand our wants and needs better than a man would. Just sit tight. I have taken care of everything. If I need your help with John, I will bring you into it. We help each other,” she said. Edina extended her hand to him, and he shook it. She gave him her number and address and told him to contact her when he needed to.

Pleased with herself, Edina went back to her residence. There she had money paid as a binder from the Ambrosino family. She had accepted a down payment of four million
dollars for the company and would receive another two million once everything merged. Edina felt that this was a great deal for all involved. She thought that she and John could branch off into something of their own and Ben would move up the ranks in the new family. She spent the rest of the evening calculating how much she should compensate Jerome and Celia for their time so that she could be rid of the both of them once and for all.

Back at the offices, everything seemed normal until Edina paid another unannounced visit to Chimera. She went there to see if Celia and Jerome were present so she could give them the news. Celia was there alone with her security detail. She had many invoices and payroll issues to address, so she was very busy. John and Jerome were out on the field with members of the Jet family. Ben’s whereabouts were unknown. Edina thought that this was even better. Remove Celia without an audience. Edina walked into Celia’s office once again unannounced and sat down in a chair that Celia kept in front of her desk.

“May I help you?” Celia asked tersely.

Edina took a deep breath. “I’m here to speak with you. It’s important, and I need your undivided attention,” she said.

Celia returned a deep breath. “I’m listening,” she said.

“We got off to a bad start, and I would like to acknowledge how unfortunate that was,” Edina said. “I came here
to give you news of changes in the company. We are growing! We are merging with a bigger group, and that will begin shortly. That’s exciting!” Edina said. With each word, her voice went a little higher. Celia continued to sit silently. “That means we had to do some trimming, as they did not need all of us. We do not need your position anymore. They have their people,” Edina added.

Celia cleared her throat, as she thought that Edina was testing her again. “So what you are trying to say is that I am supposedly fired again,” she said.

“No, we are eliminating your position. But I know how much the guys care about you, so here. This will make the transition go more smoothly for you,” Edina told her, handing her a check for two hundred thousand dollars. Celia looked at the check to see if it was legit. It was from John and Edina LeBlanc. Celia sat there in shock.

Celia rebutted. “Why isn’t John telling me this? He is whom I work for, not you.”

“John and I are a union. I know you have never been married before, but when that happens—if that happens—decisions are made as a couple. I do not always have to ask John permission about decisions regarding our family. I am sure you will experience that one day, sweetie. He’s busy right now and doesn’t have time to hurt your little feelings. There’s no need to talk to him. Take the check, start over, and live your life away from here. Two hundred grand is a lot of money, and you can do so much with it,” Edina said. “I will leave that here for you. I wanted to talk with your
cousin too, but I see that he is not here. You two are closer, and I think you would be a better candidate to inform him of our decisions. There is a nice send-off gift for him too and a letter in this envelope. Make sure he gets that. You can collect your things anytime today when you’re ready.” Edina stood up to leave.

“I’m not collecting anything,” Celia shot back at her.

“Well, you do not have a choice. It’s a done deal,” Edina said as she walked away. She paused and turned back toward Celia. “I do not know what it is with you people. You do not know how to be appreciative when someone helps you,” she said and walked away.

“I used to feel sorry for you. You are what he says about you!” Celia yelled as Edina was walking out. Edina took a cab back home feeling self-assured about what had just happened.

Panicked, Celia went to one of the guards and asked if he could locate John. She needed to speak with him urgently, as this could not wait. Her heart was in a panic. She could fight words, but she could not deny a check with both of their names on it. That was as legal as it got. She sat there a few minutes while tears rolled down her face. She had not felt this uneasy since she was fired from the Playboy Club. The similarities between the two situations could not escape her.
How could I have been so stupid?
She thought.

After an uncomfortable hour, John made it back to the office to see what was wrong with Celia. If she were ever in
a panic, John would always rush right over to her. Celia told him to come into her office and close the door. He had the security stand outside of it. “John what is this?” she asked, handing him the check Edina had given her.

John took the check from her and looked at it. “It’s a check,” he said. He examined it further and realized that this was a personal check taken from his joint marital account. It had Edina’s handwriting, and he noted the amount. On the
notes
line, it said
severance
. “Bunny, I don’t know what this is. I did not write it.” He crumbled it slightly and tossed it in the wastebasket.

“She told me that we were merging and that that eliminated my position. She fired Jerome,” Celia said.

“What are you talking about?” John asked her. “I don’t know anything about this, and I didn’t let anyone go. We are not merging. I don’t know anything about this.”

Celia became frustrated. “Who do I work for?” she asked. “She’s always here now. She’s insolent. I can’t fight her.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. She will never be here anymore,” John said to reassure her.

“But you said that before, and she keeps showing up. John, do you know how hard it was for me to come here, to give up my pride because I needed to work? I had to look at a man who I thought I had but who belonged to someone else, and to now have her come here and taunt me…And all I keep thinking is that there is nothing you can do about it; you’re stuck!” she said.

“You are not the only one who is being tortured around here. You think I like hearing about you and Ben? How does
that make me feel, Bunny? Do you like spreading yourself among the group?” John said.

Celia was stunned. “John, there is a difference. I am not even with him now. That was one time. That was nothing. Not only do you have a wife, but you sleep with everybody. You can’t put me in the same category as you. I have never thrown that in your face,” she interjected. “The threatening calls here from them. Everything makes sense now.” She added, “I have to go. I am not feeling well.” She started picking up papers and removing others from her board. One of those papers included the Jamaica advert that she pinned up the very first week she started working there. She bent over to pick up the check.

“Bunny, wait,” he said while trying to stop her. She left the envelope for Jerome on the desk. “Bunny, I’m sorry, I did not mean that.”

She replied, “I have to go home.” Bunny left John in the office. The scene reminded him of when she had left him in the park.

An enraged John told a Jet guard to find Jerome and Ben and make sure they got back to the office immediately. John unlocked his office and went straight to his phone. He went to dial Edina, but the phone rang before he picked it up. It was Enzo Ambrosino.

“Hello, Mr. LeBlanc. I like how you are running things without Papa Bernard. Wise choice. I look forward to doing business with you. You have a lovely wife there,” Enzo said.

John replied to him, “Fuck you, fuck her, fuck your family. We are not doing business. Oh, and enjoy your charbroiled brother!” John slammed the phone. He quickly dialed out to their marital residence. Edina picked up. “What the fuck is wrong with you!” he screamed into the phone.

“John, lower your voice,” Edina responded.

“What the hell is going on? What the fuck did you do?” he asked her.

“John, this was necessary. Calm down,” she said to him.

“Do you realize what you’ve just done? Ambrosino does not want to do business with us. How fucking stupid can you be?” he yelled.

“We are now bigger than ever. Thank me, John,” Edina said.

“No, fuck you, Edina. They do not like us. They are our enemies. They want our business, our money, our people. They want what we have, and you sold it all. You sold our legacy! You just had them pay us to kill us all off one by one! We’re screwed!”

Edina was quiet for a moment, and then she responded. “John, I did this for us,” she cooed.

“No. You did this for you! When you go behind my back and change shit, disregard any authority I have, like you always do, that’s not for me. You’re trying to hurt me. That’s sabotage. You’ve been undermining me since day one,” John told her.

“Really? And who told you this? The trollop you work with?” Edina responded.

“Don’t interrupt me while I am talking. It never fails. You really are a disrespectful piece of trash,” John said to her.

“I can’t believe you just called me trash. You were a lout when I met you. You had nothing. You don’t listen, and you are a cheater,” Edina said.

“Well, I guess it takes one to know one, doesn’t it? Did your fiancé feel that way about you before? How about your old boyfriend? Even he didn’t want to be bothered with you,” John said.

“Fuck you, John,” Edina yelled.

“And that’s why you are here, isn’t it?” he responded.

“Fucking blue gum,” Edina said. This put John over his limits.

Jerome came in with a guard to see what was going on. He overheard John yelling on the phone.

“Enough of this. We’re done! I don’t give a shit if I lose everything; we’re done. I’m done with you. I’m done with this farce. I regret ever meeting you!” he screamed. “This is your problem. I am not doing shit with them. You fix it!” he said and slammed the phone. He kicked the chair. John had turned red from all the yelling. He saw Jerome.

“What’s wrong in here?” Jerome asked, looking at John.

“We have to get everybody here from Jet. We’ve got to clear the safe, and we have to move these papers out of Bunny’s office and mine now. Burn them, move them, or whatever. Swap them out for blanks. We’ve got to move before they get here,” John said in a panic.

“Who?” Jerome asked.

“Ambrosino,” he responded.

“Shit! Wait, why are they coming here?” Jerome asked.

“She fucked us all,” John said.

“Who?” Jerome said.

“Edina. The biggest mistake of my life.” Jerome shook his head. The guards, John, and Jerome, proceeded to clear the office of all paperwork containing company info, contacts, addresses, phone numbers, bank account information, and more. “Where in the fuck is Ben? Can’t ever find his ass,” John said.