Laurelin Paige - Forever with You

She sat, as I’d imagined, on the couch, a manila folder in hand, her brow furrowed. Her hair was up, as usual, and her nose was bandaged. Black and blue bruises extended underneath the tape.

I couldn’t help but smile at her injury.

Her eyes widened and her head shot up to look at Hudson whose back was to me. I sat down quickly, not wanting to be seen.

“How did you…?” she asked.

“Very sneakily.” He was proud; I could hear it in the edges of his even tone. “I’ll admit, it wasn’t easy. I had to convince another company to purchase a portion of the stock, and then I bought out that company—you don’t really want the details, do you?”

The deal he’d been working on. It had to do with Celia?

“The contracts are signed now,” he continued. “That’s all that matters. I’m officially the majority owner of Werner Media Corporation.”

I gasped, then slapped my hand over my mouth too late. Fuck! Had they heard my gasp? Had they heard my slap? And now my heart was beating louder than it had the whole time I’d been trapped in his bedroom—surely they could hear that?

But if they did, they gave no indication.

“And you said you’d quit playing the game.” Celia’s words were low and heavy.

“I had one final move to make,” he said.

And what a move it was. Werner Media Corporation—Celia’s family’s business—Hudson had bought it? This was…this was big.

She let out a long, slow hiss of air—or I guessed it was her, I couldn’t see for sure. “It’s checkmate, is it then?” she asked.

“You tell me.” Triumph hung in the texture of his words.

“What are your plans for Werner Media?” She fought to the end. Some people might be impressed with her dedication.

I imagined, once upon a time, that Hudson had been one of those people.

For me, it was Hudson that impressed me.

“At the moment, I have no plans. The company’s doing well as it is. Warren Werner is definitely the right man to be in charge. However, if there were any reason that I felt his presence was no longer needed…” He let his threat trail off.

“He’d be devastated,” Celia said softly.

“I imagine he’d be devastated just to learn he no longer holds controlling interest. For now, the fact is still hidden. He has no idea that he’s no longer in charge. Would you like that to change?”

“No,” she said.

“Do you plan on doing anything that might cause me to alter my current business plan?”

Defeat clung to her simple one-word answer. “No.”

“Then yes, it’s checkmate.”

We sat silently, all of us, for several minutes after the game was declared finished. My skin tingled as Hudson’s victory settled in the air. A smile graced my lips and a mixture of many, many emotions swept up and over me, very few of them sinking in with enough clarity to cling on to for long. Some, I could name—surprise, gratitude, relief, triumph. Others were more difficult to discern through the blanket of heartache that still covered me from head to toe. Was there some forgiveness toward Hudson in there? A touch of hopefulness, perhaps?

Love, there was love. There was always love.

“I guess it’s time for me to go,” Celia said eventually.

“It is. I’ll walk you out.”

They weren’t going back through the office. The realization sent another stab of panic through me—was Hudson not leaving? And my duffel—it was at the door.

Once again, I held my breath as they crossed the floor. I heard the door open. If they were at the entrance, their backs would be toward me. I had to see what was going on.

I moved up to my knees again and peered around the frame. Hudson was holding the door open as Celia walked past. He started to shut it behind her—dammit, he was staying—then his gaze fell on my bag.

He paused there for half a second. Then his eyes rose to scan the room.

I didn’t move—did I want him to find me?

He did.

Our eyes locked, and the intensity of his expression—it was all-consuming. Maybe I couldn’t read all of my own emotions, but in his gaze I saw three with clarity. Surprise, elation. And, clear as day, I saw love.

If he came to me at that moment, I was certain I’d fall back into him.

But he didn’t.

“Hold the elevator,” he said to Celia without looking away. His lip ticked ever so slightly, delivering me a half-smile. Then he left, shutting the door behind him.

Nine in the morning came awfully early after working until three a.m. I peeked from under my lids at the sun that suddenly filled the room.

“Hey,” I groaned. “I had the curtains shut for a reason.”

“Too bad. You got your fashionything.” Liesl poked at my foot sticking off the bottom of the futon. “Get up.”

“But, Mom, I don’t wanna.” I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I glanced at the time. It was actually after nine. I must have pushed the snooze button on the alarm clock a couple of times. “Why are you awake anyway?”

I’d worked a short shift but Liesl had stayed until close. That meant she’d probably only been home a couple of hours. Funny, she hadn’t woken me when she came in.

Then I realized, her coming in was what had woken me.

“Got a ride from one of the regulars.” She waggled her brows. “And when I say ride, I don’t mean in a car.”

Sex looked good on Liesl. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes bright. Part of me had always been jealous of her ability to sleep with random people and not get attached. This morning, thinking about sex just made me sad.

My face must have given away my thoughts because next thing I knew, Liesl had crawled onto the bed and wrapped her arms around me in a giant girlfriend hug.

I sighed into her embrace. It felt so good to be touched, to be cared for.

She kissed my temple. “Are you going to be okay today?”

I shrugged against her arms. “Hudson’s not supposed to be at the show. So yeah.” Saying his name made my heart simultaneously flip and sink. After he’d left the loft, I’d expected him to come into the club during my shift. Or to call. Find me somehow. There was so much to say after all I’d witnessed. Maybe he wasn’t interested.

Liesl released me and bopped me on the nose with her finger. “What’s that frown about then? You’re wishing he was coming, aren’t you?”

Did I wish that? “I don’t know.” While I didn’t want to see him, I wanted him to want to see me, if that made any sense.

I hugged my knees to my chest. “Why do you think he hasn’t tried to talk to me?”

“Maybe he’s respecting your space.”

Memories washed over me, times Hudson had bullied his way into my life when I’d tried to push him away. “Hudson’s never been one to respect my space.” Maybe that hadn’t been the real Hudson Pierce. It was preferable to think that than to believe he’d really given up on me so easily. “I guess I thought he’d fight for me. Especially after what he did yesterday. After he saw me.”

Liesl tilted her head. “Wanna hear what I think?”

“Probably not, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me anyway.”

“I am.” She tucked her legs underneath her. “I think that it’s probably still too soon to figure out whether he’s going to fight for you or whether you even want him to.”

“I don’t want him fighting for me.” Except I sort of did.

She wagged a finger at me. “Uh-uh. Too soon.”

Maybe she was right. A myriad of emotions had enveloped me in the past week. Which of them would endure? In a month from now, which feeling would dominate? In a year? Betrayal? Pain? Or would it be love?

Liesl was right. It was too soon to know.

She reached her hand out to squeeze mine. “I’m proud of you though. You made it through this week. And through work last night. And you’re going to his sister’s thingamabob. And you only had one obsessive breakdown. I think you’ve done pretty good.”

It was amazing how she made just living sound like an accomplishment. Truthfully, it did feel like a success. A little bit of pride filled my chest.

But that ever-present ache didn’t go away. I bit my lip. “I miss him.”

Liesl leaned forward and kissed my hair. “I know. That might get worse before better.”

“Yeah.”

* * *

Mirabelle’s Boutique was crazed when I arrived, even though the event wasn’t due to start for more than another two hours. The place swarmed with florists and caterers and models and new employees. It took me a while to find anyone I knew in the crowd, but eventually I spotted Adam sampling—or stealing rather— a chocolate-covered strawberry from a Saran-wrapped food tray.

He paused to finish chewing. “Laynie, good to see you.”

He gave me a hug, which was a little weird since he’d never been affectionate with me.

“I’m so glad you’re here. Please, get Mira to stop running around, will you? She needs to sit and put her feet up. I swear to god, after today, if she doesn’t start taking it easy, I’m going to chain her to the bed.”

“That sounds a little personal,” I teased. “Where is she now?”

Adam directed me to the workroom in the back. There I found even more models, more employees, and Mira fussing over everyone.

“You’re here!” she exclaimed when she saw me. Though her expression and smile were bright, the bags under her eyes gave away her exhaustion. “I was afraid you’d bow out at the last minute.”

I’d been a little afraid of the same thing. “Nope. I’m here. Do you have time to give me a tour?” Maybe getting her distracted would keep her blood pressure from spiking while she worried about the details of the event. “Or would you prefer I get dressed first?” I wouldn’t want her stressing about that either.

“Get dressed first and then it’s on.”

The dress she’d chosen for me looked stunning with the alterations she’d had done. Looking at myself in the mirror of the dressing room, I couldn’t help but remember when I’d first tried it on. It was the day Stacy had sent me the video. That had been the beginning of the end, hadn’t it? If only I hadn’t let my curiosity get the better of me.

I shook my head, tossing the thought aside. Today, I wouldn’t be sad. It was Mira’s day, and I didn’t want to ruin it for her. Even though I had waterproof mascara on, crying didn’t go well with makeup.

Besides, I couldn’t wish for anything to be different. Sure, I’d been happy with Hudson, but it had been a lie. The truth would have come out eventually. Better now than later.

When I was dressed, I found Mira, this time seated in a chair as she yelled at people. Adam must have forced her to sit.

She jumped up when she saw me, though, her eyes wide. “Oh my god, you’re so beautiful! You are definitely going to be the finale. Dammit, I wish Hudson could see you.” She clapped her hand over her mouth before I could scold her. “Sorry. It slipped out. It’s going to take a while to get used to the new situation.”

“Yeah, I get that.” I was still adjusting myself.

She wrapped her arm around mine. “Let me show you my baby. Well, one of my babies.” The new addition was beautiful but simple. There was more space to display clothing, a few more dressing rooms, a bigger workroom for the staff and a small runway.

“The stage is where we’ll do today’s show. In the future it will be for private fashion selection,” Mira explained as we finished up. “Some of these rich bitches are too lazy to try on their own clothes so we have models hired to do it for them.”

I laughed. Mira was a Pierce—she was probably richer than any of her clients, and she was neither lazy nor a bitch. I could certainly see her mother being one of the women she was referring to, though.

“Speaking of Sophia,” I said, looking around the shop, “where is she? Isn’t she coming?”

“Um, no.” She bent to pick a piece of lint off my skirt. “I banned her along with Hudson.”

“What?” Not that I was disappointed about Sophia’s absence. With as out-of-control drunk as she’d been the last time I saw her in a public situation, it was probably a good idea she wasn’t here.

Mira straightened but kept her eyes down. “I took your advice. We staged an intervention.”

“Oh, my god, Mira!” I reached my hand out to touch her arm.

She slid my hand into hers instead. “It was hard, but Hudson and Chandler and Adam and even Dad were there. We all sat her down and told her she needed to get help.” She met my eyes and flashed a somewhat forced smile.