Hello everyone, i'm sorry for the long wait. I am hoping to string along a few chapters in the upcoming weeks. Thank you for your patience and your continued support. Enjoy!
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I was sitting outside of Cole's office. He had been inside talking with Demi for the last 20 minutes. I was in one of his chairs, feeling completely exposed. Everyone who walked by seemed to stare at me. I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket over and over again. I choose to ignore it. Too scared to see what was waiting for me.
After the video had leaked, Kara grabbed her purse and quickly left the building. Marty had been trying to reach her to no avail. I had promised to bring Demi, to make her feel more comfortable about this meeting with Cole. That was before it was revealed that all this was because of me. Before I knew that Cole was seeing Alex. Yesterday morning felt almost like a lifetime ago.
The door to Cole's office finally opened. Demi walked out first and gave me a weak smile.
"Thank you very much Ms. Lovato. You have no idea how helpful you've been." He told Demi as he walked towards us.
"It was no trouble." Demi answered, before Cole set his eyes on me.
"Duncan, may I speak with you for a minute?" He asked politely. I nodded, before telling Demi that I would be right back. I followed Cole into his office. I took a quick glance around the room. The office wasn't big by any means, it also didn't help that the entire place was crammed with book upon book. Some were heavy Law tomes, others were well known books such as "The art of war", "Chaos Theory." Adding to his military records, his good looks, seeing that he was well read to boot clearly didn't help to dismiss the feeling of inadequacies he had brought on.
"Let me start by saying." He began as he sat behind his desk. "I'm sorry about last night. I thought about telling you when I was by your office, but Alex wanted to tell you. We didn't expect.."
"It's fine." I cut him off, sitting in the chair across from him. "Don't even give it a second thought." I told him trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"Okay. It's just since we'll be working together, I really don't want this to come between us."
"It won't." I said with as much determination as I could muster. "Is that all?"
"I wanted to ask you what you planned on doing." He said leaning back in his chair. "About the video and the threats."
"I'm not entirely sure. It's not an easy situation. I love what i'm doing, but I can't let my clients get hurt." I answered.
"I appreciate that. I would expect nothing less from you after all i've heard about your character. I know it may not be my place, but could I give you my two cents?" He asked staring right at me. I nodded. "I think you should stand up to them. Don't give in. Whoever is behind this, we will catch them eventually. We have some good leads."
"Well then I can close the agency until you do. At the very least the leaks will stop."
"Are you sure?" He asked now leaning over his desk. "What makes you think that whoever is behind this will keep their word?"
"I don't. But I also know that the longer we stay open, the more leaks come out, more careers are hurt, my clients will blame me. All the goodwill i've accumulated, will quickly go out the window." I responded solemnly.
"Or you may garner even more respect for standing your ground."
"Maybe." I answered unsure. We stayed locked in silence for a few moments. "Can I ask you a question?" He nodded. "Why does it matter so much to you?" I asked trying to keep my voice level. He took a beat to look at me, almost as though he was trying to figure out if I were worthy of the answer. A confident smile crossed his lips.
"I told you I grew up here right?" I nodded once more. "What I didn't tell you was that my mother was a makeup artist. I spent most of my childhood on movie sets. My dad left before I was born, so it was just my mom and me. The thing is back then, there was this lack of let's say respect. People were rude to each other and treated those of a lesser station with what I could only call contempt. You wouldn't believe some of the things that were said to my mother." For the first time I saw anger in him. It wasn't obvious, but little shifts in his demeanor that gave it away. He was clearly a man who had incredible control of himself.
"But since i've returned, since you've started your company, I can already tell a difference. Even the pictures that were leaked, sure there are a lot of perverts and asshole having a laugh, but there are also quite a number of people standing up for the actresses. They're beginning to be viewed more as people and less as objects. The more they feel that way, the better they treat everyone. I have no doubt, that this is in some part due to your influence, and it would be a shame to see that go away."
I couldn't feel anything other than touched.
"Thank you." I finally said.
"I know you're under a lot of pressure, but don't rush to a decision. Think it over. And know that whatever you decide to do, i'll have your back and will do everything I can to help."
"I'll remember that." I said standing up and reaching across the desk to shake his hand.
"I heard through the grapevine that you box." He said as he stood and shook my hand.
"Well I try not to get hit." I replied with a smile.
"How about we meet up tomorrow. I was pretty good while I was with the military, I'm sure I could show you a thing or two." He asked genuinely.
"I'd like that." I responded. I headed out of his office to find Demi.
"Everything okay?" She asked hugging me while looking at me with worry.
"Everything's fine. You were great." I told her.
