Unlikely Venture (The Venture Series Book 1) (29 page)

“You have to appreciate how it must look to James. He gets the picture, confronts you about it and finds out you conveniently forgot to mention you knew Paul and oh by the way, slept with him. If the tables were turned, would you be so willing to listen to him?”

Jessica’s eyes widened. “You even
agreed
I shouldn’t say anything! Are you on his side now?”

“No, no! Of course not. I think you were right not to say anything. I knew it would be ugly if you told James the truth, but I never imagined it would come back to haunt you like this if you kept it quiet.” Lisa shook her head. “But maybe now, since a little time has passed, you could try to reach out again. Isn’t it worth another shot? I never saw you happier than when you were with James and I want you to think about that before closing the book on him forever.”

“Look, Li, I’m really not sure why you want to open up old wounds, but the bottom line is, I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me and whatever relationship I thought we had was just rubbish. I didn’t do anything wrong here! I withheld information, hurtful information yes, but I didn’t have a malicious intent, nor did I
cheat
! So, screw him if he doesn’t want me any more. It’s his loss, not mine.” Tears stung her eyes and she looked at her watch. “I have to go. Justin wants to meet with me in half an hour and I need to finish up my documentation.” She picked up the cup and gave Lisa a rueful smile. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

Jessica stepped into the crisp afternoon, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall.
Lisa’s right. I’m an emotional wreck.
And even though he crushed me, I miss him so much.

Work can’t fill this void anymore. I don’t care about the promotions or the accolades. None of it matters if the one person I want to share it with doesn’t want me around. James changed me, gave me hope when I really needed it. He made me feel happy, fulfilled and inspired. He didn’t care about my MS or the challenges it posed. He promised we’d work through it together.

But he lied. He said he loved me and then he walked away, just like Drew.

JESSICA HUNCHED OVER the desk with a pocket mirror attempting to repair her smudged eyeliner. She ransacked her drawers in search of some concealer and breathed a sigh of relief. The tube was about three years old and it looked a little cakey, but it would have to do.
Never know when your roommate is going to initiate a line of questioning that will drive you into hysterics before a meeting with your boss.

She dabbed on some of the liquid and evaluated her appearance.
Not too horrible.
At least the concealer erased all physical evidence of her anguish.

The phone rang, jolting her from a series of unpleasant thoughts. She wrinkled her forehead when Justin’s name appeared on the display.

“Hi Justin, what can I do for you?”

“Jessica.” Panic was evident in his voice. “Can we push our meeting up? I need you to come down here right away.”

“Of course.” Jessica grabbed her notebook. “I’ll be right there.”

She bolted out of her office and opted for the stairs in light of the apparent urgency. Gritting her teeth, she flashed a bright smile at Pam as she passed.
Bitch can’t even smile back? What the hell is up with that?

Justin hung up the phone as soon as she walked in. “Thanks for coming down so quickly. We’ve got a problem.”

She sat in a chair and waited for the bombshell to drop.

Justin sighed. “There’s an issue at Barclay Investments. The consulting team over there is really screwing up the engagement.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Charlie’s handpicked team has done a fantastic job of alienating the very people paying us to reengineer their systems. I’ve gotten a boatload of complaints in the past two days and I just got off the phone with Michele Hanson. She wants you out there as soon as possible to manage the rest of the engagement or they’re going to pull the plug.”

“How can I possibly go out there right now? We’re in the middle of budgeting for next year and I’m still—”

“I know, I know. The timing isn’t ideal. But Barclay is a huge client and you were the one who landed the account. Michele knows you can turn things around and she specifically requested you to come on point.” Justin smiled. “You
have
to rescue this engagement. Everyone is counting on you.”

Jessica’s eyes widened with alarm.
Can’t go back there…too many memories, too much hurt…need to stay away.

Justin shot her a questioning look. “Are you okay with this plan of action?”

She cleared her throat and forced a small smile. “I just don’t feel comfortable walking away from all of the work I’ve prepared over the past couple of weeks. We have a strict timeline for submitting forecasts for next year and I—”

“Don’t worry about it. You won’t need to stay out there for the length of the project. Take a week, get things back in order, make Michele and her team feel comfortable with our direction and then head back. If needed, we can look into you doing periodic visits. We’ll figure that all out later. Right now, I need you to do damage control,
asap
.”

Jessica nodded, defeated. “Okay. I’ll leave as soon as I can.”

“I’ll have Pam make your travel arrangements.
Really
appreciate it, Jessica. Let’s touch base when you’re out there. I can hold off on sending anything to Finance until we finalize everything.”

“No problem.” She exited the office in a daze.

“Jessica, I’ll make sure your tickets and confirmations are emailed to you before the end of the day so you can prepare to leave first thing tomorrow.” Pam addressed her in a clipped tone and Jessica stared at her, open-mouthed. “How did you—”

Pam gave her a curt smile. “Justin already informed me of the immediate need for this trip. I’m making arrangements now.”

“Thanks, Pam.” Jessica slinked back to her office and collapsed into her chair.

So much for moving forward.

PETER CLASPED JESSICA’S hand as Dr. Martin flipped through her chart. “Whatever it is, we’ll get through this, Jess.”

She leaned into him, her pulse racing.
What do the results say? Are my worst fears about to be confirmed?

Dr. Martin folded his hands. “Jessica, as you know we did two additional tests to track the progress of the MS – a spinal tap and the evoked potentials test that measures electrical activity in the brain. I’m afraid both confirm the disease has progressed since your initial diagnosis. There are new lesions causing the migraines and numbness. Sometimes the lesions don’t appear in the MRI and we need to use these other tests to get an accurate diagnosis. I’m so sorry.”

Jessica’s eyes welled up. “Oh my God…”

Peter looked at Dr. Martin. “Geoff, what can we do? She’s in a lot of pain right now. Do you have any idea how long these symptoms will last? What’s the long-term prognosis?”

“I know this is really difficult for you. Unfortunately, there’s no way to predict any future disability resulting from the disease. We can try different treatments to relieve the symptoms but unfortunately, I can’t tell you much more than that right now.”

Jessica sniffed and she wiped her eyes. “I want to find out more about these treatments. I need something that can make the symptoms more manageable. I have a job, I can’t be incapacitated all the time.”

Peter put his arm around her shoulders. “Is it safe for her to begin the medication right now? What are the options?”

Dr. Martin folded his hands. “There are injections you can take. The drugs won’t cure you, but they will reduce the frequency and severity of attacks. They can also prevent new brain lesions from forming. Basically, the drugs slow the progression of the disease. At this point, I recommend we proceed with this form of treatment.”

Peter looked at Jessica. “What do you think, Jess? Are you good with this?”

Jessica nodded and let out a shaky breath. “Yes, I’m ready. I’ll do whatever you think is best, Doc.”

“JAY, WE HAVE to give them our answer in three
days
, enough of this bullshit! It’s over, okay?”

James slapped his hand on the desk. “I know you don’t understand this, Chris. But I can’t do it. I can’t be around him, much less
look
at him. I don’t want his money. If Blue Coat has enough faith in LazerShark to offer us that investment, I’m sure we can get the same from another firm.”

Chris gaped at him. “Are you fucking
kidding
me? We aren’t walking away from this! You aren’t calling the shots here, Jay. Remember, we’re partners! We have a responsibility to the company and to our employees. It isn’t all about you!”

James forced his chair back and stood up. “You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that? Don’t you get it? I can’t separate myself and make it all about LazerShark. Maybe it would be easy for you, but it isn’t for me. I’ve tried to move on, but it’s killing me. Not having her in my life is
killing
me! All I think of when his name even comes up is what she did with him, what she did to
us
.”

“Look, you need to get your damn priorities straight. You have a responsibility, as a principal of this company, to all the people who’ve been working their asses off for a chance to live the dream. They’ve given up a hell of a lot to be here, working ridiculous hours for barely any pay. Now we actually have a shot to give back, to make that dream a reality, and you want to walk
away
?” Chris glared at James, his eyes steely. “You don’t get to make that choice, Jay. I’m not letting you take this opportunity away from everyone.”

“You don’t understand anything. But how could you? You’ve never gotten close enough to someone to care. Maybe that makes you a hell of a lot smarter than me, but it doesn’t give you the right to dictate how I should run my life!”

Chris looked taken aback by his acidic tone. He narrowed his eyes. “I’m actually looking out for your wellbeing, you jackass. I told you how selective Blue Coat is—nobody else can give us the same things. It goes well beyond the money.” Chris put his hands on James’s shoulders and his voice softened. “I know you’re hurting. I’m not trying to be difficult, but I don’t want you to throw away a once in a lifetime opportunity. Please think about what you’ll be giving up. Do you really want to lose everything?”

James was silent for a minute, his anger fading to sadness. “I feel like I already have. I’m sorry.” He grabbed his laptop bag and stomped out of the office.

What the hell have I done? She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I fucked it all up because I was jealous and insecure. Those are my issues, not hers. I broke my own promise to never walk away. No wonder she hasn’t returned my calls. I ignored every attempt she made to contact me those first few days. I knew how much she wanted to make things right between us and I rejected every effort. I’m the reason why she left California. I destroyed everything and if there’s a shot to make this right, I have to take it. I don’t care what’s at stake. Nothing is more important to me than Jessica.

The afternoon traffic was light and James maneuvered the Acura into a parking spot flanked by cars that cost three times the price of his. He rushed into the office building on Sand Hill Road and punched the up button next to the elevator, heart pounding. His phone buzzed again. It was Chris, for the fifth time.
He’d kill me if he knew I was here.

Bursting into Paul’s office unannounced would not bode well for LazerShark, but James was too blinded by his own anger to care. He didn’t want to work with that jerkoff anyway. Jessica’s pained expression flashed in front of him, making his heart ache.
I’m not leaving until he knows how serious I am about Jessica and that I’ll do anything to win her back.

He strode through reception in the direction of Paul’s office. He paused long enough to announce himself before continuing down the hallway. “James Callahan, here to see Paul Emerson.”

Paul’s assistant Alison jumped out of her chair. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just go back there!”

James ignored her. Alison’s frantic voice alerted Paul of his arrival. “I’m calling security!”

The corner office door was open. James found Paul standing behind his desk, arms folded. “It’s fine, Alison. No need to call anyone.”

“Callahan.” Paul regarded him with a cool stare. “I don’t normally take impromptu meetings. I take it you’ve made a decision about our offer?”

James glared at him. “I’m not here about the offer.”

“That’s unfortunate, since there
is
a looming deadline. Why don’t you tell me what’s so important that you have to barge in here without an appointment?” Paul raised an eyebrow but gave no other reaction.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you and Jessica Latham but I’m here to tell you I’m not letting her go. I won’t lose her to you. Whatever happened the night of that cocktail party is inconsequential. Unfortunately, I came to that realization too late.” He narrowed his eyes. “I love her and I won’t give up. She’s everything to me.”

“Paul, your next appointment is here.” Alison’s voice filled the room, reminding James he was on borrowed time.