Act Like A Child In Business And Expect People To Sneak Around With Your Rich Boyfriend
Act Like A Child In Business And Expect People To Sneak Around With Your Rich Boyfriend
Tales Of Week 16 Of The Andie Chronicles And Her Breakup
Day 106: Tales Of Deception Discovery And Full Frontal Text Messages
Black River Holdings.
Despite all my research, and what I thought was an extensive search, I couldn’t find that name. It was like it was this company that only the elite knew about.
And I was far from the elite.
I was an outcast in this business world. I was a shrub to trample upon on the way to the top. I wasn’t privy enough to know who the big players were or even what they call themselves.
It’s not like I didn’t know this was a cutthroat world before. But now, I’m not so sure I’m doing the right thing.
I stared at my computer. I hadn’t left my bed since climbing in sometime after six last night.
The drive home from the Yarra Valley felt like the longest hour of my life. It was enough to let every scenario I ever worried about materialise in my head.
My ex had never left me.
He was still lurking in my background. He was in the heads of the people who were meant to be on my emotional side. Douglas had his reach over everything in my life.
It wasn’t enough he had dumped me. He had to make sure I was cooked, done, put out to pasture. I would understand this if I had hurt him, cheated on him, or something like that.
They say men aren’t complicated but right now, I couldn’t understand this man for the life of me.
I opened up a new tab in Google.
There were already another thirty to go along with it. What was one more in the middle of my obsessive investigation? It was necessary. This was my entire life on the line. It was everything I had. I couldn’t stop. Putting every alternative into Google hadn’t proved any results.
Black River Holdings didn’t show.
But as I typed the words again I removed all the extra letters, leaving the search term BLH. And like I had cracked the secret code, the browser showed everything I needed to know.
The professional website, Douglas’s profile, and articles about the blossoming corporation. It only validated my assessment of codes and whispers; you had to know the right things to put into Google to even find out about it.
The secrets were killing me, but as I saw Highway’s name listed on the coming soon section of the BRH website, I felt like I was finding out everything I needed to know.
My phone began to chime.
It was nearly ten and there was little point staying in this prone position. I opened the message; it was Alex.
And it was all of Alex.
The picture was confronting, especially as I was still wearing my pyjamas.
He was hard, throbbing, holding his member proudly.
I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was this his way of getting my attention? Getting me to respond to his missed calls and unanswered messages?
Leaving my bedroom, I found James on the couch, laptop on his knees.
“Oh, you’re awake. Are you ok if I take the morning off tomorrow? Lawyers.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
The timing was impeccable. Without knowing it, James had shown his cards. Every man was letting their guard down today.
Naked in every way it would see.
Day 107: Tales Of City Confrontations And Telling Off An Ex
The rain was coming down, the sheets of rain pelting the city concrete with resounding thuds.
When I left home, the sun was peeking through the light cloud cover. Now, it was as if winter was well and truly here.
And it was only May.
Not that I was surprised, but it was entertaining to watch the smattering of tourists come to grips with Melbourne weather.
And as the rain paused, I watched James exit a Collins Street skyscraper. As expected, his appointment with lawyers was at the same listed address as Black River Holdings.
Once I knew the name, it was easy to figure out where James would be and who he would be with. I felt like a fool for having not figured it out sooner. I could have caught his lies a long time ago.
Sauntering from the building, I noticed James wasn’t alone.
There was Douglas by his side, intently talking to him, gesturing with his hands as he dominated their conversation. James could do nothing else but listen, gazing at the businessman with awe and wonder.
It made me sick.
Here was my best friend idolising a manipulator, a vengeful lover with an agenda to purely serve him. Though you needed a little grit to survive and thrive in business, you didn’t need to trample on ex-girlfriends.
I powered over to them.
I could feel Douglas spotting me first, but I didn’t care. My attention was fixed on James. Right now, that was who I had the problem with. James was the one who was hurting me, betraying my trust. I couldn’t give two shits about my ex right now.
As I made each step, I thought about what to say. Something witty, something cutting to make sure James knew he had been caught. What I came out with didn’t quite have the impact.
“What the actual fuck?”
James hadn’t seen me, but as my cursing echoed under the awning of the building, he quickly knew I was there.
“Andie,” he screeched.
“I’m surprised you even know my name. I thought you would call me chump behind my back now. That way you could talk about me without me knowing too, right?”
James looked at me and then at Douglas then back at me. “I just bumped into Douglas in the lobby.”
More like fucking in the toilets, I thought. How dumb do they think I am? That’s where trust got you nowadays. You’re the idiot for trusting people.
“You’re my roommate. You’re my best friend. Well, you were my best friend. You should know better than to lie to me.”
Douglas opened his mouth. “Andie, you have no idea what you’re saying.”
I turned to my ex. “Shut the fuck up. For once in your miserable life, stay out of my business.”
Day 108: Tales Of Acting Like Children And Friendship Interventions
“How could you say that to him?”
Of all the things that happened in the city that day, James scolding me for telling off my ex in the middle of a busy Melbourne street was the last thing I expected to happen.
We had got home, ten minutes apart, almost in comical timing. As James laid eyes on me, he exploded with fury.
I didn’t know what to say but it felt like having an argument with a sibling.
“How could you embarrass me?” he asked, again.
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t hold my tongue, and I certainly didn’t want to enter into this juvenile conversation with him.
Walking away to my bedroom, I wanted to slam the door and never reappear. A prisoner in my own home. Uncomfortable in my own sanctuary.
How had my relationship with James made it impossible to love 1 Lovelock Drive?
The next morning I retreated to the gym before James was awake. By the time I returned home, I noticed familiar cars in the drive.
Sophia’s.
GG’s.
They were all here, and I felt a foreboding as I put my key in the door. Waiting for me at the dining room table, it felt like I was walking into an intervention.
Not for the first time since my break up, too. Of all the things I wanted to repeat in my life, this was not it.
“What the actual is this?”
Containing my disdain was impossible.
“Sit down, Andie,” James said, sternly.
There was a spare chair with a glass of water in front of it. Like a conference, like in a meeting room. Like something that happened in the towers owned by a Gallo brother.
“I don’t think so.”
James stared at me. “Andie, sit down.”
I didn’t unlock my gaze.
“Perhaps I’m not making myself clear. No.”
I went to move away from the dining room, get on with my day, but James stood, his temper flaring.
“Andie, stop acting like a goddamn child.”
Walking away was no longer an option. Turning, I felt my voice wanting to match the intensity and heat of James’s. Yet, I wasn’t getting into a yelling contest with a man I didn’t agree with.
This wasn’t how we did business, how we agreed to do business when we started Highway. And it wasn’t how we built our friendship. We were a team.
There was never a dictator or even space for someone in charge, but now there was someone seizing power.
As calmly as possible, I addressed his assessment of me.
“Children talk behind backs. They bitch and moan and whisper when their friends leave the room. They plot immature scams to cut people out. You, the three of you, are the ones acting like children.”
I paused. No one said anything.
“And when you start acting like adults, I’ll talk to you.”
Day 109: Tales Of Good Wine And Brotherly Love(Confessions)
“GG did call me after you, shall I say, spoke to them.” Staring at him, in his casual, end-of-day dress down, I almost forgot who he was.
“Oh yes? I bet she was mad.”
“Mad? I wouldn’t say that. Perhaps a little pissed off that she missed half a day of work for no reason.”
Taylor reached across his dining room table and topped up my glass of pinot. It was a Colleen’s Paddock, 2015. A casual red for a mid-week glass in his world.
“But between you and me, she was impressed by how you handled yourself. She admitted to admiring your ability to tell James off.”
I couldn’t contain my smile. Reminiscing about chastising my friends didn’t exactly give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, even if it did leave the impact I desired. I wanted them to realise I wasn’t someone they could trample on.
Though I didn’t have the money and resources they did, I at least had some gumption.
“Do me a favour. Don’t tell her I spent an hour after that moment balling my eyes out.”
I looked at Taylor who was delivering me a sympathetic head tilt.
“Don’t give me that look. It was all shit. And I’m so over it.”
Taylor raised his glass.
“Well, the point is that you stood up to them, even my girlfriend, and you didn’t take it lying down. You have more guts and determination than you think. I’m proud of you.”
I had never heard Taylor talk to me like this. Like a friend, like someone who cared about me, not someone they had to be nice to.
“Thank you,” I replied, holding up my glass to his. “I’m proud of me, too.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. I stared at Taylor and he stared back at me.
“You know, we can’t keep sneaking around like this,” said Taylor.
“Are we sneaking around?”
“I’m not telling GG you’re here. Only the doorman knows you’ve been sneaking into my apartment and sneaking out. And if my lawyer knew about this, he would have a fit.”
The way he spoke about me, it sounded like I was a good-time girl, like a woman he was having an affair with.
“I know we hadn’t been advertising these catch-ups. I guess — I didn’t, I — ”
There was no explanation. I had been so wrapped up in my own bullshit, I didn’t know what was happening right in front of me.
“Us catching up is no different to them sneaking around, huh?”
Taylor shook his head. “It’s not as bad as what they did. Don’t beat yourself up.” I watched the Gallo brother squirm in his seat. The Gallo brothers never did that.
“I can’t keep doing this. For me. Personally.”
For GG? I didn’t understand.
“I can’t be around you and pretend this doesn’t confuse my feelings.”
Day 110: Tales Of City Hot Spots And Drinks With The Enemy
I walked into QT, teetering on my heels. It was the first time I had taken these Louboutin shoes for a spin.
They were a gift from Douglas for Christmas when we were still together. For all these months I was saving them for a special occasion. Maybe the launch of our business.
A party to celebrate all our hard work. When I saw them sitting in my walk-in this morning, I couldn’t think of any celebration I would need them for.
The future looked bleak.
And as I stood in my walk-in, dressed only in a towel, I heard my phone ringing from my bedside table. It wouldn’t stop, the desperate caller anxious to get onto me.
Alex.
Dropping the towel, I answered the call. I wasn’t sure why. I had resisted bringing him back into my life ever since he uncovered the billboard with me.
The logical woman in me knew it was still a bad idea. But the lonely, scorned and tormented businesswoman couldn’t stand another night in this confusion.
“Will you meet me for a drink?”
I didn’t hesitate to say yes.
Get me away from this house.
Get me away from my own thoughts.
et, the moment my designer heels stepped foot inside the decadent nightspot, Alex came rushing towards me, trying to push me out the door.
“Babe, we can’t stay here.”
I looked at him with confusion. I had to ignore why he was calling me babe. We weren’t lovers, we weren’t at that stage. Or at any stage.
Shit, had I already given him the wrong idea?
“Why can’t we stay here? What’s going on?”
I tried to push past him but he held my shoulders and I was unable to move under his strength.
“Can’t you trust me?”
“Alex, quit playing games. I’ve had enough of these stupid games.”
I didn’t mean him, but he of all people knew what I was enduring. He shouldn’t have inflicted this upon me when he knew I was at my limit. It wasn’t fair on me.
“That’s the point. Douglas is here. By the bar. With some girls and, what I can only assume are his ass kissers, men in identical suits.”
I felt my body freeze. The other day I had this ferocious demeanour around my ex. There wasn’t anything he could say or do, I was ready for him. Now, unexpectedly in his presence, I was like a mouse about to run away.
Part of me wanted to stay and prove to everyone in the room, especially Douglas, that version of me wasn’t a fluke.
The other part of me couldn’t, wouldn’t entertain this. Not tonight. Not when I was trying to forget I had this mess of a life to clean up.
“Take me somewhere. Anywhere.”
“My house?”
“Sure. Fine.”
Day 111: Tales Of Penthouse Confrontations And Confused Jane
“I’m here to see Douglas Gallo. Penthouse.”
The doorman was new. And I was very old. Old news. No one to remember. Not someone the doormen of his building should remember. In reality, I didn’t want him to remember me.
I had no intentions of returning, either.
Today was a once-off.
“Yes, Mr Gallo says you can come up. Do you know the way?”
I nodded and felt myself beginning to roll my eyes. I quickly stopped. Withholding my sass for this poor man, I remembered who I was truly frustrated at.
Ascending the lift, I had to keep reminding myself why I was there. Poor Alex.
He was trying to keep me occupied, distracted from this jerk. But the more the night went on, and I found myself waking in the morning sandwiched under Alex’s arms, naked, the less I felt right about Douglas. My friends were acting like shit, granted.
But why my ex?
Why?
And when a man is holding you, pleasuring you, and you can’t be in the moment with them, something is very wrong.
The lift opened and standing there, guarding the entrance, was Annabella Anderson. Fresh out of an Instagram post, her hair was in neat blonde waves draping over her skin-toned skivvy, with equally matching flared jeans.
All she needed was the filter and she was in her own private social media.
“What are you doing here?” I looked at her.
“Sorry, Jane. Didn’t Douglas tell you?”
“My name isn’t Jane.” It ought to be, I thought.
“Lay off,” I heard Douglas say, walking towards me. “Andie, what are you doing here?”
He was dressed in loungewear in a not-too-dissimilar colour to Annabella’s. It was not his style. Not his usual designer chic fit for a man of his age and status in the city.
“I have questions. About Highway and why you’re involved and why,” I paused, looking at Annabella. “Why you won’t stay out of my life.”
“I don’t know what you mean. You’re the one showing up at my doorstep.”
“You’re the one buying a controlling stake in my business. The one you had no interest in? The one you didn’t care about when I was starting it. You kicked me out of your life, fine. I get that. So why on fucking earth have you invited yourself back in?”
Annabella put her hand on Douglas’ arm. She looked concerned like she was worried her new man was going to begin balling his eyes out or something.
How wrong she was.
“Andie, it’s business. Nothing more, nothing less. If you were a good business woman you would see that.”
He reached for the call button for the lift.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to do.”
I turned and got into the lift. It was clear Douglas had me seized up. Oh, how wrong he is.
Day 112: Tales Of To-Do Lists And One Night Stand Grovelling
To do today:
Call Taylor.
Message Alex.
Find James.
Update notes.
Wash hair.
Call Taylor.
I thought about what I would say when he picked up. If he was with GG, I would have to have some brilliant reason for calling her boyfriend considering we were on sour terms.
But even more pressing, if he was alone, what would I say to him after he confessed his feelings to me? His fledging feelings I should say. Sorry for leading you on.
Sorry for leaning on you.
Sorry, I can name you as one of only three people who I can seem to trust, along with Sophia and Alex.
Though Sophia was feeding me breadcrumbs after the fact. Not exactly trustworthy. And Alex’s interest in me seemed borderline obsessive for the wrong reasons.
I don’t think we will ever be on the same page with what we want from this friendship.
Taylor didn’t answer. He messaged though.
I said I just wanted to make sure we were good. He replied quickly.
“We’re good. At least I think we’re good.”
I said we were too. Putting the phone down, it didn’t feel resolved. Yet, part of me wondered if it ever would be.
Message Alex.
I thanked him for Friday night and apologised for acting so weird. Again. For acting like I didn’t care about him.
For having my head up my ass.
He didn’t respond.
I saw that he had read it pretty quickly and, from my guesses, ignored it. I couldn’t blame him.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have any relationships right now. It would seem I can’t even handle casual sex. Or maybe the problem is I don’t like Alex that much.
Or, more than likely, Douglas has a chokehold on my life.
Poor Alex. Poor me?
Find James.
Finding my housemate and best friend shouldn’t be that hard.
Yet, it did prove a waiting game. He wasn’t there when I woke up, but I saw his runners were missing. James wasn’t what you called an exercise person, so I knew he wouldn’t be gone long.
When he walked through the door, I told him to rally the troops. Tomorrow night we talk about this problem.
He nodded.
Update Notes.
Suddenly I had a deadline on my hands.
Lately, these conversations have always been a little stunted. One-sided. They know more things than me. I couldn’t go into this meeting looking like I was the chump, the dope without a clue.
It was bad enough Douglas put me in my place with his frank assessment of business skills. I couldn’t give my “friends” any more confirmation bias they already had.
Better add get vodka to my list of things to do. The cheap stuff.
I don’t have the money for Belvedere right now.
You’re reading a recap of The Andie Chronicles, the 2023 romance-fiction series from the 1 Lovelock Drive (1LD) universe.
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