Something Wonderful (22 page)

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Shaw,” Jenna said, taking his hand.

“Please, have a seat.”

Thomas went around the large wooden table while I pulled out a chair for Jenna. She always smiled with appreciation with every small gesture from me. Crossing her legs, she leaned toward me and almost placed her head on my shoulder, but stopped, knowing this was not the right time. I wanted to give her a quick kiss to reassure her that everything was fine, but I refrained. Instead, I held her hand and rested it on my thigh.

Thomas opened a file and placed his elbows on the table. He took a glance at Jenna before he started to speak. “I’m going to cut to the chase. We have a good case against her, but things are going to leak out. She is accusing you of sexual harassment, which you already know, but she actually goes into more details.” Thomas cleared his throat, glancing at Jenna again. “A LOT of details.”

Jenna shifted her body, but still kept her hand in mine. Suddenly, I felt acid rise up in my throat. I wanted to know what the “details” were, but I didn’t want Jenna to hear.

“Babe, why don’t you wait in the waiting room? I need a minute with Thomas.”

Jenna nodded and stood up, but stopped when Thomas spoke. “Are you sure you wouldn’t want her to hear it from you, instead of from the outside source? That way you can explain…I mean…tell her what information is true or false. This is going to get out one way or another and it might be best if you two talked it out.”

Jenna turned to me and gave me a questioning look. I didn’t want her to hear what Thomas had to say. I knew it was going to change the way she looked at me, possibly our whole relationship, but I had no choice. He was right. It was better she knew now so she wouldn’t be surprised, like she was when she found out about the lawsuit from Crystal. That was a freakin’ nightmare. “Jenna, have a seat,” I said reluctantly.

After she nodded, she sat back down, but I could see the worried expression behind her faint smile. Instead of leaning into me like before, her back was straight against the chair. Holding her hand again, I prepared myself for what Thomas was about to expose and prayed to God it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it would be.

Thomas gave me that look that said ‘prepare yourself’ and started speaking. “Crystal is suing you and your company for two million dollars.”

I sank into my chair and tried not to make a sound or any movement to show Jenna how upset I was. What I really wanted to do was throw a chair out the window. Jenna, on the other hand, made a tiny gasping sound.

“She is accusing you of forcing her into sexual activities at work and at home. If she refused, she was told her job was in jeopardy.”

“I did no such thing!” I shouted. Blood rushed to my face as I burned inside with anger.

“Calm down, Max,” Thomas said quickly. “I know you didn’t, but I have to read what you are being accused of, so we can discuss our plan.”

Closing my eyes to calm down, and then opening them again, I agreed with a heavy sigh. If this one accusation got me this angry, I knew the rest would make me explode. I had to settle down for Jenna’s sake. She shuddered when I raised my voice and I didn’t like that I made her feel afraid.

“Max, let him finish,” Jenna said softly. That’s all it took for me to find that peace again. Her smile and her tender, angelic voice automatically made me surrender to her request. She was my anchor, my strength, and I would do anything for her.

“Alright.” I kissed her hand as I held it, and placed it down on my lap again. “Go on, Thomas.”

“It gets worse. She said you mentally and physically tortured her, using whips, handcuffs, other sex toys, and even blindfolding her. She’s claiming you mentally abused her by calling her names, and embarrassing her in front of her co-workers. She alleges she is no longer able to hold down a job, for fear any boss would do the same. She claims you threatened that if she did not comply, not only would she not get a recommendation from the company, and you would make sure she would never be hired anywhere else again.”

“This is absurd. I should sue her for causing me grief,” I shook my head with a small laugh. “Unbelievable. This woman did not think things through. All of this is false.” Almost all. I told Thomas we used sex toys, but they were her idea. She was the one who purchased them. As Thomas continued down his list, I wanted desperately to take Jenna out of the room; I saw the disturbed expression on her face. She had heard enough.

She couldn’t even look at me when I called her name. She looked anywhere else but my eyes. Maybe I was overreacting. I hoped I was, but I was sure I was right. I could read Jenna like a book. That’s how in tune we were. My gut told me things were going to change between us and at that moment, I wanted to hold her in my arms and never let her go.

“I think we’ve had enough for today, Thomas,” I said sternly.

“Max, I just have a couple more.”

Looking at Jenna, she already looked drained from information overload, not to mention the shock of hearing all the cruel things I had supposedly done. Hopefully, she felt like she knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t do those things. I wish I knew what she was thinking. It was driving me insane.

“Thomas, I thank you for doing your job, but I really think you and I should meet again tomorrow. I’m taking Jenna home. She and I need to talk this out.” Without his consent, I stood up and tugged Jenna out of her daze, helping her out of her seat.

“Max,” Thomas started again.

“No, Thomas. I mean it,” I said firmly. If he tried to talk me into staying, it wasn’t going to be a polite conversation. We were already near the door.

“There is something else.”

“What is it?” I huffed, feeling irate.

“I think it’s best if you and Jenna saw less of each other during work hours. Try not to be the source of any rumors. People are bound to talk, and we don’t need anyone making assumptions. The prosecutor will call Jenna to testify. I also need to set a date to meet with Jenna alone to help her get ready. This is my professional opinion as your lawyer. If you want to win this case, these are my suggestions.”

I knew Thomas meant well, but I didn’t like anything he said. What happened next was something I could not have expected or prepared myself for. For the first time, Jenna’s hand slipped away from mine and she walked out the door without waiting for me to open it for her. It felt as though she was saying goodbye. At that moment, a dagger twisted in my heart and all I could do was hope I was misinterpreting her reaction.

T
AKING MY HAND AWAY
from Max’s hold, I pushed the door and walked through. Max always opened doors for me, but this time, I was in control. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him with me. I was just deep in thought and only wanted to get out of there as fast as I could.

We didn’t talk much during the drive back to my apartment. In fact, it was the first time being around him, he hadn’t made me smile. When we got to the front of my apartment building, two men that looked like secret service stood their ground. They were the men Max had hired to ensure the paparazzi would stay away. With a nod to them, we headed up to my place. As soon as we got to my door, Max stood in front, preventing me from entering.

“Jenna. Talk to me, please” he said softly.

If this were another day, I would have jumped into his arms right then and there. He looked so alluring and tempting, the way he leaned against the door in a natural pose, but I had to remain strong. Smiling, I gazed into those welcoming eyes that looked so sad. “Max, I’m fine. We should do what Mr. Shaw suggested. I can even work from home.”

“Babe….” He leaned into me, but thoughts of what Crystal threatened to tell the whole world made me sick. My poor Max. His reputation and the company his family worked so hard for would crumble, just because of one crazy, vindictive bitch. It wasn’t fair!

When I finally looked at him again, he continued. “Get some rest. I know this is a lot for you to deal with. I didn’t want you to hear all those things about my past with Crystal. I was young and naïve. I certainly didn’t want to give you all this stress. I wouldn’t have brought you into my life if I had known this would—”

“Shhh.” I whispered as I placed my finger on his lips. “It’s okay. I’m stronger than you think.”

Max slipped my finger inside his mouth, teasing it with his tongue. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long, but you haven’t been biting your finger,” he mumbled in between suckling it.

If he continued, I would have no choice but to surrender and yank him inside with me. My self-control was non-existent around him. Pulling my finger away, I mouthed, “Max.” As tears welled up in my eyes, I gave him a quick peck on the lips and somehow managed to unlock the door.

“We’ll get through this. I love you, Jenna,” he said, turning me around, placing his forehead against mine.

I took a moment to take in his words, the words I only partially believed. What if we couldn’t get through this? I told myself I wouldn’t make a big deal of it, but I couldn’t help it. “Why didn’t you tell me?” My words came out soft, but he could tell how upset I was.

“I was going to tell you about the lawsuit after the New Year’s party. But instead, you ran into Crystal, of all people,” Max sighed heavily.

“Not just that. Why didn’t you tell me about the things you did with her before we met with your attorney? You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry. Yes, you’re right, but I really wasn’t thinking. I was worried about the lawsuit but I still should have spoken to you before I brought you to Thomas. That will never happen again. More importantly, I promise you, I did NOT do all those things Crystal has accused me of. You believe me, don’t you?”

“I want to, but part of me doesn’t.” I could not believe I just told him that. My anger got the best of me, and besides, I was hurting. The look on his face told me I had hurt him too, but I knew that what I was about to say would hurt him even more.

“You told me I could trust you, but yet you kept things from me. It’s because…you…don’t…trust…ME.” I emphasized “me.” “I have some thinking to do. I’ll talk to you later.” The words came out fast. I entered my apartment and shut the door behind me even faster.

Leaning my back against the door, the tears streamed down my face. Everything was happening so fast. So much had happened in the short time we’d been together, that I just needed a minute to de-stress. Max and I would get through this if we truly loved each other. Looking through the peephole, I could see Max’s hands planted on either side of the door and his head was down. I felt his pain, but it couldn’t possibly be the same degree as mine.

Seeing him hurt like that made me miserable, and I was almost certain he had heard me crying. My resolve was weakening, and I was just about to open the door when he started to walk away. Max walked away! The Max I thought I knew would’ve broken the door down to get to me. That made my heartache deeper. Tears ran even more as I slid down the door. Letting it all out, I sobbed until there was nothing left of me.

A
S SOON AS
I walked through the door of my home after leaving Jenna’s place, the air seemed colder. Though I’d been here alone many times before, it felt so empty without her, especially tonight. I’m not sure what part of our fight, if I could call it that, got me more worked up: me not telling her everything beforehand, her shutting the door on me, or the fact that she said I didn’t trust her. Which was worse, I didn’t know.

I headed for the bar, poured myself a drink, and then sat on the sofa. All the “should haves” popped into my mind. I was trying to protect her, but I ended up hurting her instead. I guess between our age difference and Jenna being as innocent as they come, I felt a great need to protect her. That was just the way I was.

After taking a sip of whiskey, feeling it burn down my throat, I took out my cell phone. I had missed calls from Matt, Dad, and Thomas. That was it. I re-read Jenna’s last flirty text, where she told me she would have something fun for me. Though my dirty mind thought of a few things, I couldn’t imagine her having the same thoughts.

Jenna was the most innocent woman I’d ever dated and if I could have it my way, she’d be the last, but we couldn’t get there if we didn’t get through this. I had expected her to call me to say goodnight at least. It was something that she had done every night, since she went to bed first, but as I sat and stared at the phone, it never rang.