“He’s shutting the place down, and pushing everyone out. He doesn’t want to risk anyone getting information in or out until after my time to file is over.”
“Seems that way, Julia. I’m sorry. I’m not ‘on the inside’ anymore. There is no inside. But, if you or Mark find a way, I can help. Let me know. I talked to the staff. Everyone agreed to wait until it’s really true and the time to file is over, and then most plan to quit.”
“I gotta go,” I say, my voice trembling as the first tears start to form. I hang up without even a goodbye. Janice will understand. I sit down on the couch and stare at the stacks of documents from the lawyer. It’s over. It’s really over. My job. My pride. My Lynx. It’s all gone.
I pick up my keys in a haze and head to the car. Mark needs to know what’s happened, and I need to be to be held by Mark.
~~~
While driving to Mark’s, my mind shakes out of its haze and anger takes the place of shock. Why would Blake shut down and lock everyone out? He must have been tipped off. We still have a week before the filing deadline and that’s a lot of time to work. But how did he know? My mind instantly goes to Mark. Maybe’s he’s been stringing me on all along. But, I can’t think that, and I don’t want to believe it’s true.
“Miss Conway?” the doorman asks, wondering why the cleaning woman is showing up at nine o’clock at night.
“Mr. Stone called for me to come. Apparently he made quite a mess in the kitchen and now isn’t sure how to clean the specialty stove up without scratching it. Can you believe that crap? I’m like ‘Really, Mr. Stone?” But you know how it is with these folks.” I hope the lie is enough not to cause suspicion. I’m so mad about Blake I don’t even really have to act upset. And since I doubt we’re going to save Lynx anyway, what do I have left to lose.
I step off the elevator and see Mark lying on the couch with the TV on mute talking on the phone. He jumps up when I see him like he’s been caught with his hand down his pants.
“You won’t f**king believe this!” I shout.
“HEY! Julia. Wow. What… um… what are you doing here?” He puts his hand over the receiver. “I need to let you go. Someone’s on the other line. No, no… I will talk to you later.” Mark gets off the phone and runs around the couch to where I’m standing.
“Who was that?” I demand as if it is any of my business. He puts his hand on his hip, clearly agitated by my unexpected presence.
“You should call, Julia,” he says severely. “I might actually have other interests besides you. Lynx might have run your whole life but it doesn’t run mine.”
“Oh, I’m an interest? Is that all I am?” I need to calm down. This isn’t a good way to start this discussion.
“No, of course not.” He sits down. “But this is my home, and I do have other things besides Lynx to handle. Now tell me why you’re here.”
“You won’t have to worry about handling Lynx very much longer,” I say glumly. I start to hold back the tears, but I also remember the lesson of the spanking. Holding things in is what got me to this point. My voice quakes and a tear starts to fall.
“What’s happened?” he asks gently.
I explain all that Janice told me. The tripwire thing, the shutting everyone out, and the section of Ladies World all add building blocks to the huge stone wall between us and our goal. He nods as he listens and then gets up to think.
“I didn’t know what to do when I heard it. I started blaming you in my head.”
“Me? I didn’t have anything to do with this.” He chuckles, shaking his head. The tone of his voice sets me off again. It’s like he’s saying, “Julia, you idiot.”
“Of course you did, Mark. Someone tipped off Blake that we were looking. Maybe your little fiasco in his office was not as smooth as you thought. Maybe Valerie James found out you were snooping through her company’s files at work. Maybe your IT person gave Blake a freaking full account of you interviewing him about the program. You act like you’re so perfect but more and more I’m starting to see this as your f**kup. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“This wasn’t my f**kup.” His jaw locks, and his posture clearly shows his unhappiness even though his tone retains the same volume and control. “This is just an unexpected turn of events and we will overcome it.”
“Well, if it wasn’t a mistake, maybe it was on purpose. Maybe you’ve been working with Blake all along and this whole thing was just to keep me busy and waste my time until the month had passed.”
BAM! He slams his hand on the coffee table and I jump.
“I have had it, Julia. I’m done. I’m done with you. I’m done with Lynx. I’m done. Go figure this out yourself, and good luck to you.” He points at the door. “And be aware tomorrow I am telling the doorman that Lucy Conway was fired!”
“Wait,” I say, stunned by his reaction and realizing I’ve been a lot less than grateful or giving to Mark. “I’m sorry. Don’t give up on me, Mark. I need you. I need you to help me with Lynx. I need you to help me… well… with me.”
“I’m sorry, too. I don’t mean to threaten. I just…” He shakes his head and lets out a big sigh. His eyes are so beautiful, and sad. “I am tired of being accused every time something doesn’t go your way. I know trust is a huge issue, but you’ve got to get around it. I’m not helping Blake or Val and I don’t ever intend to betray you to them. I don’t control the world, Julia. I just control how I respond to it.”
“I know, I know.” I nod in agreement. He’s right, of course. “But now, more than ever, we need a response.”
I turn and lean back as he puts his arms around me. I regain my sense of security, comfort, and hope in his embrace. He hugs me tightly and starts ruminating quietly about the situation.
“I’ve got my own notes from when Lynx was my account, the affidavit from Howard, Janice’s print-out from your IT guy, the bank records I snagged from Intrend, the info from Val’s office and some memo’s—”
“Intrend? Memo’s? What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been doing a little more than sitting on my hands and planning your retirement from journalism, Julia. I’ve had investigators doing a lot of extra chores.” He squints his eyes just enough to tell me that’s all the info I am getting about that.