Forever and Always (12 page)

“
He probably didn’t tell
you because he knew how mad you would be.”

“
They never found out it
was Sean?”

“
No,” she said. “Carl
questioned me when he came back to work, but I denied any knowledge
of him, and said I had never seen him before. That’s when the
assaults began.”

I stared at Janice. “Carl came after
you?”

She nodded and averted her gaze. “As
punishment for hiding Sean’s identity.”

I shook my head. “I’m so sorry,
Janice. This is all my fault. If I had stood up to Carl, this never
would have happened.”

“
Don’t blame yourself,”
she said. “Please don’t do that.”

“
Is that why you’re here?
Are you running from him?”

“
No,” she said. “But I had
to tell someone. I have no one to turn to. All the girls in the
office turn a blind eye because they don’t want to be the next
victim. You and I were the last girls in the office he hadn’t
propositioned, so after you left the company, I was
next.”

“
We have to do
something.”

“
But what?” she
asked.

“
I don’t know,” I said.
“But this is bullshit. He can’t treat us like this. I’m glad Sean
beat the shit out of him.”

“
I am too.” She smiled.
“Are you two still together?”

“
No,” I said
quickly.

“
Last time I talked to
him, he told me that he loved you.”

“
Well, he left me because
Penelope wanted him back—she’s having his baby.”

Janice grabbed my hand and squeezed
it. “I’m sorry, Scarlet. I had no idea.”

“
It’s okay,” I
whispered.

The front door opened and Ryan and
Cortland came inside. They both stopped when they saw Janice
sitting in the living room. They stared at her for moment,
particularly Ryan, and then finally came into the sitting
area.

“
This is Janice,” I said
to them. They approached us on the couch and I turned to her.
“Janice, this is my brother, Ryan.”

Janice stared at him with a smile on
her lips. Her cheeks were slightly red. They shook hands and Janice
said, “I’m normally not this skinny.”

Ryan nodded with a smile. “Okay. Good
to know.”

Then, I introduced her to Cortland.
The men sat on the other couch and looked at us.

“
What’s going on?” Ryan
asked. “I didn’t know you had any friends.”

I rolled my eyes. “I used to work at R
and R with her. Apparently, our boss is assaulting her now. We are
trying to figure out a way to bring him down.”

“
It’s impossible.” Janice
sighed.

“
No,” I said. “We are
going to do this. I was a coward before, but I’m not anymore. We
are going to fight this time. This piece of shit is going
down.”

“
Can we help?” Cortland
asked.

“
I don’t know,” I said.
“We need proof that he is sexually harassing her at
work.”

“
Aren’t there cameras in
the building?” Cortland asked.

“
No,” I said. “Not in our
office.”

Cortland shook his head. “This pervert
covers his ass,” he said. He thought for a moment. “What if we
catch him in the act? I’ll bring my camera and record your boss in
action then we’ll upload it to their server so it will infect their
entire network and everyone will see it. This guy won’t get off
with a warning—he’ll be fired.”

My lips stretched into a smile. “That
a great idea!” I said. I got up and hugged Cortland tightly.
“You’ll help us?”

“
Of course,” he said.
“Ryan and I both can.”

Ryan cleared his throat. “Well, in
order for this to work, we are going to need bait. Since Scarlet
doesn’t work there anymore, Janice will have to do it.” He turned
to her. “Are you comfortable with that?”

Janice thought for a moment. “Will I
have to go through with it—all the way?” she asked
apprehensively.

“
We would never let that
happen,” Ryan said quickly. “This is what we’ll do. Cortland will
hide and videotape the whole thing. Scarlet will get me into the
building and I’ll hide around the corner. When he starts his
attack, I’ll come in and stop him so Cortland can get the entire
interaction. We’ll show him assaulting you while you continue to
say no. There will be no room for misinterpretation. The cops will
even be involved, especially if the other girls come forward and
admit the truth—that he assaulted them too.”

“
Then I’ll upload it the
next morning on their servers,” Cortland said. “The fucker will be
sitting at his desk when I upload the whole video, watching it with
a look of horror on his face.”

The plan sounded feasible. I realized
it was actually going to happen. Retribution was coming our way. I
grabbed Janice’s hand and she started crying. I felt my own tears
fall at the sight, knowing how much pain Carl had caused both of
us. I hugged her and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth.
“We are going to get him,” I whispered.

“
I know,” she said. “I’m
so happy.” She turned to Cortland and Ryan. “Thank you so
much.”

Ryan stared at her. “Of course,” he
said.

Cortland nodded. “It’s the right thing
to do,” he said. “When do we leave?”

“
My plane leaves
tomorrow,” Janice said.

I turned to Cortland. “Can you get the
time off?”

“
It shouldn’t be a
problem,” he said.

“
Good,” I said.

“
I can’t believe we are
actually doing this,” Janice said.

“
It’s been a long time
coming,” I said.

I opened my laptop and bought the
tickets online for Ryan and I. Cortland paid for his own ticket and
Janice already had her return flight booked for early the next
morning.

Ryan shifted his weight on the couch.
“Would you like to go out to dinner?” Ryan asked us. He was looking
at Janice, but I knew he was addressing me as well.

“
You must be hungry,” I
said to Janice. “The food in coach sucks.”

“
Yes, I’m
starving.”

We rose from the living room and
walked out the door then made it to the street. Cortland drove us
to Pike’s Market, and we went to the Italian restaurant that
Cortland and I had visited a few weeks earlier. Cortland sat
directly across from me and Janice sat across from Ryan.

Cortland and I shared glances,
silently communicating with each other. Ryan kept starting at
Janice, but then he would look away when she noticed his stare.
They continued to sneak glances at each other. They were acting
like they were in high school. I knew Janice was very forward when
she had a love interest, but she was being shy. I wondered if it
was because she really liked Ryan, or if it was because he was my
brother.

“
So, are you seeing
anybody?” I asked Janice.

She smiled at me. “No.”

I nodded. “Cortland has a
girlfriend—she’s Brazilian.” That was my way of saying Cortland was
off limits, leaving Ryan for the taking.

She laughed. “That’s
interesting.”

“
Ryan owns a tattoo shop,”
I said. I knew I was doing most of the talking for my brother
because he was being particularly quiet, not his normal self at
all. I assumed that meant he really liked Janice, even though
they’d just met.

“
But it doesn’t look like
you have any tattoos,” she said as she looked at Ryan’s
arms.

Ryan smiled. “Well—I—yeah just don’t
really—want one,” he mumbled incoherently. “Yeah.”

Cortland covered his face while he
laughed and I tried to swallow my giggles. My brother was making an
idiot out of himself. He wasn’t the charming stud that he usually
was with girls.

“
That’s cool,” she said
apprehensively.

I tried to break the awkward moment.
“When I came to Seattle, my brother took care of me. He let me live
with him rent free and even gave me an allowance. He’s very
sweet.”

“
That was so nice of you.”
Janice smiled at him. “I wish I had a brother like
that.”

Ryan cleared his throat and didn’t
look at her. “Thanks,” he said. He looked down at his menu and
ignored her stare.

I covered my face with my hands,
embarrassed for my brother. “He normally isn’t like this,” I
whispered to her. “He’s just nervous around you for some
reason.”

“
I think it’s cute,” she
said loudly.

Ryan’s cheeks turned red and he
continued to look down, avoiding her look.

“
Anyway,” I said, more
embarrassed by my brother with every passing second. “So how are
things with you? Other than the nightmare at work?”

Janice laughed. “It’s okay,” she said.
“I’ve missed you a lot, Scarlet. The truth is I’ve been pretty
miserable without you.”

“
I missed you, too.” I
smiled.

“
Promise me you won’t
ignore me like that again,” she said. “Even if I really piss you
off.”

“
Okay.” I laughed. “I’ll
yell at you next time.”

“
What did you do?”
Cortland asked.

I spoke before Janice could answer.
“She borrowed one of my outfits and never returned it.” Since Ryan
was interested in Janice, I didn’t want him to know she’d slept
with Sean. It wasn’t a fair first impression.

Cortland raised his eyebrow for a
moment, confused that I would cut out a friend over something so
petty, but then he nodded and didn’t comment.

After we finished our dinner, Cortland
tried to pay for the whole check, but Ryan convinced him to split
it with him. Normally, I would just pay for our meal, but since
Janice was there, I let Ryan do the check dance.

When we got back to the apartment,
Ryan went into his room then came out a few moments later. “I
changed the sheets and got the bed ready,” he said. “You are
welcome to sleep in my room.”

Janice smiled. “I don’t mind sleeping
on the couch.”

“
I insist.” He
smiled.

“
Okay,” she said after a
moment. Her cheeks were turning red as she looked at him. Janice
and I went into my room, and I gave her a change of clothes to
wear.

“
Can I ask you something?”
Janice said.

“
Sure,” I said. “What is
it?”

“
Would it bother you if I
asked out Ryan? I know he’s your brother, so I don’t want to make
you upset or uncomfortable. If I am crossing a line, just say
so.”

I smiled. “He’s all yours,” I said.
“It doesn’t bother me in the least.”

“
Really?” she asked
happily.

“
Really. I can’t imagine
him dating anyone better.”

She smiled. “That’s sweet.” Janice
left the bedroom and closed the door behind her. I wondered if she
would go into the living room and start talking to Ryan. Hopefully,
he wouldn’t make such an idiot of himself when no one was around. I
loved the idea of Janice and Ryan together. I was worried that he
would never find anyone. If things worked out, Ryan would be happy
with a partner and I would still be single. I would die
alone.

12

The next morning, we grabbed all our
gear and headed to the airport. We traveled light since we knew we
would only be there for a quick trip. I brought one bag with me,
with just two outfits. Janice and Ryan were more talkative than
they were the night before, and I suspected something had happened
between them after I went to bed. Janice didn’t say anything and I
didn’t press her on the subject.

When we got on the plane, I sat next
to Cortland on purpose so Janice and Ryan would have to sit
together in a different row.

“
We are so sneaky,”
Cortland said.

“
I know.” I smiled. “Has
he said anything to you?”

“
Just that he likes
Janice—that’s about it.”

“
Did he say why? He just
met her.”

Cortland shook his head. “He said
sometimes you just know. It’s like an instant chemistry. He’s
totally smitten with her.”

“
I’ve never seen him act
this way,” I said. “He sounded so stupid yesterday.”

Cortland laughed. “I know,” he said.
“That was hilarious.”

“
Well, Janice must think
he’s cute because she said she wanted to go out with
him.”

“
Poor girl,” Cortland said
as he shook his head. “She doesn’t know what she’s getting
into.”

“
I hope it works out,” I
said. “I want Ryan to be happy with someone.”

“
We’ll keep our fingers
crossed,” he said. He leaned back in his chair as the plane took
off. Soon we were gliding at a higher altitude. “Are you worried
about seeing Sean?” he asked.

“
Why would I see
him?”

“
He lives in New York,
right?”

“
Have you been to
Manhattan?”

“
No.”