The Contingency Plan (The Lonely Heart Series) (21 page)

“Yes, they are mine,” Charlie answered.  Folding her arms across her chest, she sucked her teeth.  “Now, your turn.  How long have you been having an affair?”

***

Sully pushed the back door of the studio opening and loaded his kids in the back of the town car quic
k
ly.  A few media outlets were waiting on him with reporters holding out their tape recorders and screa
m
ing out questions about his relationship with Charlene Mendoza, but he ignored them as he slammed the door shut. 

“Go,” he said, as he loaded into the front passenger seat of the car.  “Take me to Sophie’s Choice.”

Charlize wiped hot, fat tears from her red cheeks and looked over at her brother, who seemed unfazed by the entire situation.  “Daddy, is it true?” her voice cracked.

Sully looked back at his children and clenched his jaw.  What a disappointment he had been today.  He could barely speak. “Yes, baby. It’s true.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Charlize asked, rolling her eyes.  “Now all my friends are going to see on TV and make fun of me.”

Sully frowned.  Kids were cruel and he knew it, yet in all of the hysteria, he had forgotten to remember that point.  “I’m sorry, princess. I really am.  Charlie and I were going to tell you.”

“Don’t call her that,” Charlize said angrily.  “If she is our mom then why didn’t she just say so? She told me that she loved me that night that she tucked me in.  She could have told me then.”

Sully bit down on his lip and humbled himself. It killed him to see his baby girl so angry. “She wanted to tell you,” he said, taking the bullet for both of them.  “I asked her to wait until after the benefit to keep things from being weird.”

“Well, they are definitely weird now,” Benny smirked.

Sully turned around in his seat and looked out of the window. “You’re right about that.” Digging in his pocket, he pulled out his cell and texted Charlie.  We’re coming up there.  We need to talk to you now. It’s an emergency, he typed into his phone. 

“I think it’s cool that she’s our mom. I like her,” Benny said, rolling down the window to see the street better.

“She has her own family.  She’s not going to come and live with us,” Charlize said with a scowl on her face.

“Is that what you want?” Sully asked, unsure if he should have posed the question to his daughter at that time, but he was shocked to hear her say it. 

“Does it matter?” Charlize asked, staring at her reflection in the rearview mirror.

Sully sighed. “It matters.”  He wanted to tell her that he wanted Charlene too.  He wanted to tell her that he had always wanted her, and hearing his daughter articulate it only made him want to fight harder to have her.  “How quickly can we get to that office?” he asked the driver.

“Ten minutes at most, sir,” the driver said, trying to sound as professional as possible, but was oh so curious about the conversation.

***

Frank was grabbing the mail from the receptionist desk when he saw the gold doors to the elevator open and two little people come walking out with Sullivan Orrin.  He had just pulled up the Norfolk Daily News story about his boss being the mother of Sullivan’s children and now here they were.  He couldn’t help but admire how beautiful they were right before he felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through him.  Alex Mendoza was still here and had made quite the scene in the process; now the founder of the feast was here to take his rightful place and the head of the debacle.

“Mr. Orrin,” Frank said, stepping up with the p
a
pers clutched to his chest.  “How can I help you today?”

“Don’t be coy,” Sully said, pointing over at the common area.  “Kids go and sit down.  Daddy will only be a minute.”  He looked sternly at Frank. “I’m going to see her now.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to wait a minute.”

“Frank, I’m not only a friend, I’m a major co
n
tributor to this organization.  And I’m not waiting to be seen unless Jesus himself is sitting in that office. Am I making myself clear.”  Sully’s voice rose an octave and the people in the reception area turned to see what the fuss was all about.  As soon as they realized who it was, they immediately began to whisper. 

“Sir, if I could just ask you…” Frank began.

Sully side-stepped him.  “Don’t bother.”  Heading down the hall toward Charlie’s office, he straightened his shirt.

Frank smiled at the children, who took their seat dutifully and then walked over to the receptionist.  “Call security,” he said under his breath.

“What?” the young lady asked, transferring a call.

“Trust me.  Call security now.”  Frank quickly fo
l
lowed behind Sully.

***

Alex was so angry until he could barely see straight.  Holding on to the back of one of Charlie’s office chairs with both hands, he bent over and looked down at the ground.  “I can’t believe that you didn’t tell me,” he said, heaving a frustrated sigh.  “We lived together for eleven years.  You could have just me
n
tioned it.”

“I wasn’t sure if he had even done it.  We decided not to communicate anymore after I did the proc
e
dure.  It was supposed to never be brought up again,” Charlie said, looking out the window of her office.  She couldn’t bear to look at him now, and it wasn’t out of shame for what she had done.

“He knew what he was doing when he showed up that night to the gala.  He said that he wanted you to talk to Dane Withersby, but he had plans that night to ask you.  And if I had not been there, he would have probably asked you for a hell of a lot more than that.
”  Alex’s chin came up
.  “And where is he?  Huh?  He
punked
out and went hiding behind his kids.”

“He’s not
punking
out.  He didn’t do anything wrong.” Charlene said before she knew it.

“That’s right.  Take up for him,” Alex growled.  “I bet you wouldn’t want me to take up for Lola.”

“I’m not taking up for him,” Charlie said, hating that he had actually spoken her name. 

“If he were here right now, I’d beat his ass,” Alex promised.  “We’d see what the pretty little rich kid had to say after I put my fist down his throat.”

Just then, the door flung open and Sully came bol
t
ing inside.  His eyes locked with Charlie first.  “I need to talk to you,” was all that he could get out before he saw Alex.

“Thank you, God,” Alex said, throwing the chair out of the way.  

“Now is not the time,” Sully said, putting up a fi
n
ger to quiet Alex.

“You fucked my wife, had children with her b
e
hind my back and then humiliated me in front of the world. Oh, you’re going to make fucking time,” Alex said, before he swiftly grabbed Sully by the collar of his shirt and rammed him into the wall, knocking down at forty thousand dollar painting. 

Sully grabbed Alex’s wrists and tried to push him off of him, but Alex was quick.  Releasing his right hand, he balled up a fist and punched Sully dead square in his left jaw.

Spitting blood, Sully snarled and grabbed Alex by his shirt.  Twisting him around into the wall, he returned the punch and pushed his forearm under Alex’s throat.  With a quick knee to his stomach, Alex doubled over and then picked Sully up by the waist. 

“Stop it!” Charlie said, running over to break them up.

Frank ran in quickly and pulled her back. “Are you crazy?” he asked her, pulling her out of the office.  As he grabbed her, the two men came barreling across the room onto Charlie’s desk where the scuffle escala
t
ed. 

Papers and files flew everywhere.  Alex was on top of Sully throwing punches and Sully was under him blocking.  The two men fell on to the floor behind her desk, locked to one another, exchanging punches and grunting.  Sully was then on top, punching Alex in the face with one hand and holding him down with the other.   

No words were spoken, only sounds of two angry men trying to kill each other.

Two security men ran down the hallway towards the fight as Frank grabbed Charlie, who was frantica
l
ly screaming, and picked her up off the floor.

“Let me go, Frank!” she yelled.  “Let me go. I have to stop them!”

He ignored her and carried her into his office. “There is nothing that you can do,” Frank said, closing his door. He pushed her against the corner and wrapped his arms around her and she screamed out and cried.  “I’m sorry, sis. I am,” he whispered into her ear.  “Just calm down. Everything will be alright.”

Employees came out of their offices and crowded the hallway as they listened to the security guards try to break the men up. 

One of the smaller security guards fell out of the door of Charlie’s office, but it was not clear who had thrown him.  Getting up off the floor dazed, he picked up his hat and headed back in.

“Fuck you!” Sully screamed.

“No, fuck you!” Alex screamed. “This is my family you’re fucking up.”

“This is my family too!” Sully screamed.

The two security guards walked the bloody men out in handcuffs - with their clothes torn and their faces starting to swell - through the crowded hallway of onlookers to the front reception area.  Quietly, with their hands down, they were sat on opposite sides of the room, awaiting the police to arrive.
             

“Daddy,” Charlize cried, “why are you in han
d
cuffs?” she asked as she walked over to her father. 

“It’s okay, baby,” Sully said, trying to comfort his daughter.  He looked at his son.  “Do me a favor and take her over there until I get this situated, okay, champ?”

Alex looked over at the small family and suddenly felt guilty for losing his cool.  He would have never fought the guy if he had known that his children were there, but it was too late for
woulda-shoulda-coulda
now.  They both were going to jail.

Charlene pushed her way out of Frank’s office and came running down the hall to find both of them.  Looking at the security guards, she wiped her face and pulled down her shirt. “Release them,” she said, clearing her throat.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” the senior security guard said, standing beside Alex.

“Release these men and escort them separately out of the building,” Charlene said, looking over at her children who watched her attentively.

“But we’ve already called the police,” the security guard said, trying to understand her relationship to all of these people.

Charlene put her hand on her temple and closed her eyes. “I don’t care!  Release Mr. Orrin and Mr. Mendoza from those cuffs now and let them go on their way!”

“Yes, ma’am,” the security officer said, shocked that one of these men was related to her. 

The entire office was now looking on as the men stood up to get their handcuffs removed.  Charlene looked around completely embarrassed and still shaking.  “Everyone, please go back to work,” she said, in a low shaky voice.

No one moved.

“Get back to work!” she yelled, stomping her feet. 

The people quickly began to disburse, whispering as they did.

Sully walked over to his children and hugged them.  “Let’s go home,” he said, putting his hands on their shoulders.

“Charlie,” Charlene said with tears running down her face. “I’m so sorry, baby.  Benny…” 

Charlize wiped her eyes and hid her face in her father’s chest. 

Looking over at Alex, Charlene shook her head and turned to walk back towards her office.

“Baby,” Alex pleaded, following after her. 

“Just leave, Alex,” Charlene said, snapping at the security guards. “See them out in separate elevators, please.”

211

The Contingency Plan

Chapter 14

Before one o’clock that afternoon an anonymous employee had uploaded the part of the debacle that they could record on their phone to YouTube, another had tweeted about it and one more had posted pictures on a Facebook page.  On top of the story being run by the Norfolk Daily Press regarding Charlene’s conne
c
tion to Sullivan Orrin, it had been picked up nationally and was being discussed on radio stations and telev
i
sion stations across the country.

The entire situation was out in the open and it was a seriously hot topic. 

Dazed and confused, Charlie sat in her busted up office with her head down on the desk as her phone erupted with phone calls.  Too embarrassed and sick to answer her husband or Sully’s texts, she sat sniffling and listening to the television across the office as New York One ran the story again. 

Frank sat across the desk from her checking her emails on his laptop and just serving as support.  He had never seen her like this, but he knew that she had reached the end of her rope.  Charlie didn’t cry.  In all the years that he had worked for her, he had never seen her so frantic, and he worried now for her own well-being.  She wouldn’t say a word to him or anyone else.  She just raised her head every so often and wiped her eyes.

One of the major gift officers, Ilese, tapped on the door and hesitantly stepped inside.  Looking around the office at the disarray, she bucked her eyes and then walked over to Frank.  Bending down, she whispered something in his ear and tapped on her watch. 

Frank looked up at the woman and nodded. After she had left the room and closed the door, he walked over to Charlie and put his hand on her back. “Honey, the board wants to call an emergency meeting in thirty minutes,” he said in the most soothing voice possible.

“Conference call or in the board room,” Charlie said, raising up in her chair.  Wiping her eyes, she took a deep breath.

“In person for most. Some of them will be confe
r
ence in,” Frank said, shaking his head.  This was bad.  Really bad. 

“Prep the room,” Charlie said, pushing back from her desk.  Standing up, she pulled down her suit jacket and grabbed her purse. “I’m going to the restroom to freshen up.”

***

Alex had called Charlie over a hundred times, but she didn’t answer her cell phone, her office line or even email.  Knowing that tonight they would need to be alone, he had already asked his brother and his wife to watch the kids and dropped them off hours before.  Now, he just waited.  And it was a miserable, torturous, agonizing wait. 

As nightfall, set in, he sat at the dinner table alone with a bottle of wine and his laptop browsing the hundreds of online posts regarding their situation.

In hindsight, he should have handled the entire thing a lot differently.  Mason had warned him, but it didn’t matter.  Emotions had gotten the best of him.  Hindsight was twenty/twenty.  Now, he wondered what his premature actions had done to his wife’s career.  She had the opportunity the night before to ruin his life by creating a scene at the firehouse, but she had not. 

She had a chance to air his dirty laundry in front of his co-workers, but she had not.  She had a chance to make him feel like the scum of the earth, but she had not.  And how had he repaid her?  When given the first opportunity, he had done all of those things and more to her. 

His guilt consumed him.  It ate him up from the inside out and made him sick with disgust at himself.  Eleven years of devotion and he hadn’t even given her the respect he would have given Lola, a woman he had just met. 

Pouring the last of the Merlot into his glass, he gulped it down and then ran his hands over his head. “Shit,” he growled.  “Where are you?”

Picking up the phone, he began to dial Charlie again, when he heard the garage door open.

Standing up quickly, he almost fell over himself as he ran to the kitchen door and flung it open. 

Charlie got out of the car slowly and looked up at him. Closing the door to the car quietly, she lugged her briefcase and coat up the stairs and into the house.

His heart raced.  “I was worried,” he said, moving out of the way for her to get into the house.  Words couldn’t express how relieved he was to know that she was at least physically alright. 

“I had to sit in on an emergency board meeting,” she explained in a low voice as she passed him.  Even in her state, she recognized that he had not changed clothes since that afternoon and still wore the bloody shirt and pants that he was hauled out of her office in. 

Alex immediately began to explain.  “Charlie, I’m sorry. I know I overreacted.  I know that I messed things up…”  Shaking his head, he rubbed a hand through the stubble growing on his chin.  
What could he say to make things right?
  “If there is any way to make this up…”

Charlie walked over to the kitchen table and put her things down.  Looking at the wine bottle, she groaned. “Do we have anything stronger?”

Alex was caught off guard.  “There is some gin up in the cupboard,” he said, looking at her shaking hands. “Charlie what’s wrong.  Are you alright?  Did we hurt you?”

“We need to talk,” Charlie said, sitting down at the table. “Make me a glass of that gin, please.”  Her eyes were still red when she looked at him. 

“Sure,” he said, going to the cupboard.  Quickly, he poured gin into a crystal goblet and brought it to her.  Sitting across from her, he put his bruised elbows up on the table and clasped his swollen hands together waiting for her to say something – anything – to him.

Charlie took the glass in her hands and took a large gulp.  Swallowing gratefully, she closed her eyes and tried to get her thoughts together.  The burn felt good to her throat, and she hoped it would numb her senses.  “Where are the children?” she asked finally.  Her eyes opened and she locked on him.

“They are at Mario’s house,” he said, watching her face.  Her makeup had run and tear stains were visible on her cheeks.  She looked a mess, but on the verge of losing her, he realized just how beautiful she was. 

Great
, he thought to himself,
you’ve driven the poor woman mad
. 

Charlie went into her briefcase and pulled out a document.  Sliding it to him, she put her hands under her chin.  “I want a divorce,” she whispered.  Tears started to form at the side of her tired eyes. 

Alex was lost for words. 
A divorce?
  Pulling the document to him, he looked down and read it.  When he was done, he put his head on the table and began to cry. 

“I’m sorry,” Charlie said, feeling her heart break more as he sobbed.  “I just can’t do this anymore.”  Getting up, she walked over to him and knelt by his side.  Putting her hand on his muscular back, she rubbed him. “You’ve been a great father and a great friend.  And you never deserved what I did to you.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said, raising his head.  He looked at her and took her face in his hands. “I’m so sorry, baby.  God, I’m so sorry,” he cried.  “I tried.”

The tears burned Charlie’s eyes.  “I’m sorry too, but I’m grateful for you.  These eleven years have been beautiful.  It’s just that we can’t continue on anymore.  We’ve taken different paths.”

“I know,” Alex said nodding. “I just…what about our family?”

“We’ll make it work,” she assured him.  “We a
l
ways do.”

Alex pulled her close to him and kissed her lips gently.  Their tears mingled together as they held each other tight.