“That’s quite the speech,” Veronica said.
“Trust me when I say I’m just getting started. Every embarrassing or terrible thing you’ve done, I know. And if you leak that tape, I will hound you for the rest of your life. It will be my new hobby. Leave it alone and I’ll forget about all of this. I’ll pretend none of this ever happened. All you have to do is make one little promise not to release the tape.”
Veronica looked at Callie for a moment, like she was deciding whether or not to take a swing at her. “I underestimated you. I really didn’t think you had the balls to play dirty.” she finally said after a long silence. Her eyes widened a bit as she tilted her head and nodded. “We should be friends.”
Was she serious? There was no scenario in which they could be friends. Callie cleared her throat. “Are you saying you won’t release the tape?”
“I’ll have a hit record without it anyway. Remember that when you hear me on the radio.”
Callie would have been more than happy to never hear Veronica again. “If we’re done, I have to go. Goodbye Veronica.” Callie turned around and marched back to the elevator. She had done it. She had crossed the line to do so, but she had taken care of Veronica’s threat once and for all. So why didn’t she feel good? Callie felt a hollow pit of loneliness inside. She just wanted to call Logan and tell him what she had done. She wanted to see that conspiratorial smile of his as she told him how she never knew she could do something like that. He was free to start his life again. She just wished that he’d do so by her side.
Twenty Five
Callie tried to acclimate herself back to work and the rhythms of life in DC, but she couldn’t get comfortable. She felt like she had spent her entire adult life not knowing that a piece of herself was missing, and now that she had met and lost Logan, she was painfully aware of its absence. Everything felt different, slightly out of place, like someone had broken into her apartment in the night and moved all the furniture a few inches to the left. Of course, some things were out of place. It had been two weeks since she had gotten back, and still everything just felt off. As she stood in the break room of Haven Communications, she tried to figure out how a shiny silver espresso maker had appeared on the counter overnight. Callie stood there shaking her head in disbelief.
This was the new addition to the office that Amy had been talking about? An espresso maker? This had to be a joke. Callie had told her one anecdote about her time in Newport, and Amy had responded with a taunt. Great. Good to know we’ve reverted back to childish games. Callie closed her eyes and took a moment to collect herself. The company had been short staffed before Amy went on leave, and now things were even worse. Callie needed an assistant, not some coffee maker that she couldn’t figure out how to use. Suddenly, she realized she wasn’t alone.
“How did you know?”
Callie whipped around. “I’m sorry?” she asked
Rich leaned against the wall and took another bite of donut. “The espresso machine. When you said you’d make it worth my while to dig up a little dirt on Veronica Jones, I didn’t know what to expect. This is really above and beyond.”
Callie shook her head. “As much as I’d love to take credit. This one wasn’t me. I was just going to add a new member to the team to take some of the work off of everyone’s plate.”
“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Rich added, “your new assistant is waiting for you in the conference room.”
“Assistant?” Callie asked. “You hired someone?”
“Yeah, remember how you said you needed someone? Well, Amy and I vetted candidates and picked someone. Consider it a welcome home present.”
“I thought the espresso machine was the new addition.”
“I think it was a package deal,” Rich said.#p#分页标题#e#
Callie laughed. “Hopefully I’ll have more use for the assistant.” As she walked over to her office, she shouted back to Rich. “Otherwise I’ll have to get rid of them both.”
As she stepped into the office, she heard a familiar laugh. Before she could place it, her heart started racing, and she felt like her chest had tightened in around her lungs. Then, she heard his voice. “I was hoping you’d keep both of us around,” Logan said.
“Logan?” Callie stopped. Logan. Her entire body went numb. She searched for the words to describe her shock. “What are you doing here?” she mumbled.
“Amy didn’t tell you?” He said. “I’m your new assistant.”