Chapter 198
“But this time’s a little different. There’s actual solid evidence now,” Dominic said. Vespera saved her silence. “Yeah, evidence you kind of created yourself,” she thought. The time she stepped out of the elevator, she felt a decade older. Dominic tried to tease her. “Don’t stress. If things get out of hand, and you can’t deal with it, I’ll handle it.” Vespera didn’t ask how he planned to “handle” it. It kind of sounded like a trap.
Back at her desk, she rubbed her temples twice. She thought that if Samuel had already heard the rumors and hadn’t called her in to talk, then maybe he didn’t take them seriously. She hadn’t received any kind of invitation to chat with Samuel. Instead, she got a call from Fawn.
That afternoon, she didn’t…
Fawn’s voice was smooth and warm over the phone—pleasant and polished. She made a bit of small talk at first, polite and graceful. She could tell right away that this was a woman with great poise. Then, she got to the point. “Ms. Gilden, did he have any plans for this evening?” Vespera glanced at his schedule and replied, “No, nothing tonight.”
“Right, then go ahead and add one. Let him know that I’ve arranged a blind date for him tonight. I’ll send you the time and place. Just make sure he remembers,”
Vespera responded, “Of course, Mrs. Reld.” This wasn’t a reminder for him. It was a warning for her.
She sighed. So, it was happening. It looked like Samuel and the rest were taking the rumors seriously now. After hanging up, she got up and walked to the president’s office. It was locked, but no answer came from within. A glance at the clock reminded her it was probably his usual naptime. So, she turned and headed back to her office.
When it was almost nighttime, Vespera called Gerard to check if Dominic was awake. But on the other end of the line, Gerard said, “You’re screwed. I’m out right now. You’ll have to wake him yourself tonight.”
“What? Don’t do this to me, Gerard!” Vespera screamed internally. Gerard seemed to pick up on her incoming breakdown. “Just… be careful.”
There was a heavy, soul-crushing silence. With the mindset of someone walking into a minefield, Vespera made her way to the president’s office. This was only the second time she’d had to wake him from a nap since the Seloria incident. And last time? Let’s just say it had been… an adventure.
But then again, Gerard did this every day. So, she took a breath and steadied herself. She survived last night; what was waking up one company president compared to that? She pushed open the door to the breakroom, fully intending to just call out to him from a safe distance, and saw that he was wearing earplugs.
She wondered if he seriously had to do this. Did he put those in just to avoid being woken up? Vespera could only pause and silently pay her respects to Gerard’s daily suffering. She tiptoed over, bent down, and carefully removed one of the earplugs. Her fingers brushed the edge of his ear. She placed the earplug aside gently, as if it might detonate.
Remembering her traumatic first attempt at this task, she kept her face a safe distance away from his and called out in a louder-than-average voice, “Mr. Reid, time to wake up!”
Sleeping Beauty, the company president, remained blissfully unconscious. Vespera stared at Domlair. Her volume had to be loud enough for anyone next door to hear it. But her boss was completely unfazed. How was it even possible for someone to sleep this soundly? She called out again—twice—each time louder than the last. Still nothing. She was starting to think he wasn’t asleep at all; he was just refusing to get up.
Her eyes scanned the room and landed on a lapel pin on the nightstand. She wondered if she should stab him with it. Would that get her fired?