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“This isn’t about that,” I said.
“No, you’re right. This is about the company and the fact that you’re throwing away everything we put into this. What makes you think we’re going to let this slide? We’re coming in tomorrow morning for an emergency meeting, and we’re going to make sure this goes away once and for all. Even if it means we need to get every penny we put into the company out before it all crumbles to the ground.”
I took a deep breath and shook my head even though Harper couldn’t see it. “Before you jump to conclusions, wait and see. This is going to affect the company, you’re right. But I don’t think it will be negative this time. Let’s wait and see what happens.”
“You want us to sit back and wait, potentially losing everything? The company might fall completely. Is that what you want? For a woman?”
I was sure that it wasn’t going to be the case. This time, it was going to have a positive outcome. But even if I was wrong, even if it all crumbled before me and I lost what was important to me, I didn’t care anymore. Erica was everything to me, and losing her was worse than losing anything else.
“Let’s just wait a little longer,” I said. “Let’s see how it goes by the close of the business day.”
Harper agreed, but he wasn’t happy. I understood the investors’ frustrations, but I was confident, if not in who I was to the world, then at least in my love for Erica. All I needed was for everyone not to freak out. We needed to keep calm and let this whole thing run its course. I had done everything I had been able to do. All that remained was to trust that it was going to work out. Whichever way it was going to go.
When I glanced at the notifications again, there were more and more articles popping up. The tabloids were especially running with the love story, and it was exactly what I had wanted. I grinned as I read the articles.
They had photos of Erica coming out of my building and me coming out of hers. They had photos of her that they had taken when she had tried to get by the press and photos of me trying to avoid them. But they didn’t have anything where we posed readily for the camera, and they had nothing of the two of us together.
That had to change. As soon as we were able, I wanted them to get a good photo of us together so it wouldn’t look like we were hiding. I wanted the world to know that we were happy together and willing to be like that in public.
A short while later, Shane walked into my office.
“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?” Shane asked. He stopped when he saw me. “Are you grinning at your phone?”
I looked up at him. “Did you see it?”
“What I saw was you losing your mind.”
I shook my head. “I did the right thing. We can’t hide anymore.”
“I’m not talking about the press conference. Since when do you fall in love?”
I laughed. Of course that was the part Shane would never understand. I shrugged. “What can I say?”
“She’s a nice person for sure,” Shane said. “She’s hot. So, I guess if that’s what you want, then I’ll support you.”
“She’s a lot more than just hot,” I said.
“No, I get that. I mean, it’s not what I would do, but if it’s what you want, then I’ve got your back.”
“Even if it might negatively affect the company?”
Shane pushed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “What are friends for?”
I hadn’t been able to relate to Shane lately with my new outlook on life. I couldn’t fuck around anymore when it was all he wanted to do. But he was a solid friend, and he proved that to me now more than ever. Shane really was my best friend.
“Thanks, man,” I said. “I know it takes a lot to do this.”
“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Shane said. “We have been through a hell of a lot together. I’m not going to ditch you because your outlook on life is different. If this is what makes you happy, then I get it. God knows you put up with enough of my shit. So, there you go.”
Shane sauntered out of my office again before I could wonder what I was going to say in return. We were men, we didn’t hug and get all teary eyed when we confessed how much we meant to each other.
