Page 84 of The October Arrangement

“You aren’t going anywhere come October 31st.” I tore the paper in half.

“Simon.” Her eyes widened.

“You’re coming to work for Montclair Living.”

“Huh?” She frowned.

“We’re starting a new division at MDG because of you. You, Bella. And my father and I want you to be the face of it. So, you’ll continue living here with me until you save enough money to move out into your own place.”

“Simon, I don’t know what to say.”

“Give me your phone.” I held out my hand.

“What? Why?”

“Just do it, Bella.”

She unlocked her phone and handed it to me. I scrolled through her contacts until I found Geneva’s name, hit the call button, and put it on speaker.

“Hello, Bella.”

“This is Simon Montclair of Montclair Development Group.”

“Oh. Hello, Mr. Montclair. I assumed it was Bella since this is her number.”

“You thought wrong, Geneva. I’m calling to let you know that effective immediately, as in this second, Bella Castle no longer works for you or Ever & Oak.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Montclair. Bella has two weeks left.”

“No, she doesn’t. I won’t allow her to work for a company that doesn’t appreciate or support her talents.”

“Of course, we do.”

“No, you don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t let her go in two weeks. You’d offer her a permanent position with your company. You told her the company is having its best quarter yet, and you can’t keep up with sales since she launched your fall campaign. Yet, you insist on bringing back someone who obviously wasn’t doing a good job before. Your loss is my gain.”

“Well, I don’t know what to say. But I will need the rest of her fall shots and lifestyle images.”

“That won’t be possible. She no longer works for you.”

“The products she has belong to us, Mr. Montclair. I would hate to have to take legal action against Bella.”

“That won’t be necessary. Because if you do, my company will bury yours so fast, you’ll be in the gutter before you know it. I will bury you so far in legal fees, you’ll have no choice but to file bankruptcy. Here’s my email address,” I rattled it off. “Send me an invoice for what all the products you sent cost, and I will personally reimburse you.”

“Fine. I’ll send it in a few minutes.”

“Thank you. I’ll be on the lookout for it.” I ended the call.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Bella said.

“Why? You should know me by now.” I winked. “Besides, you start at MDG Monday morning, working on Montclair Tribeca. That will be your first project. I need those units sold. And you can’t be doing two jobs at once.”

She stood from her chair and threw her arms around me.

“Thank you for believing in me.”

“I always believed in you, Bella.”

She laughed and broke our embrace. “No, you didn’t. You lectured me about my bad life choices and how I wouldn’t be in this predicament if I had stayed in college and not toured the country in an RV.”