Chapter 44

After Hugo leaves, I’m left thinking about the best way to approach Miles to ask him for an interview.

Miles doesn’t know that I’ve gotten this new job, but I don’t want to approach him under false pretenses. If I ask him out to lunch and then spring this on him, he’d be understandably upset with me. He might even want to end our fragile friendship, if that’s what it is.

I won’t do that to him. Or to us – to this whatever-this-is that connects us. I need another way. Maybe if I tell him about the job first…

As I’m thinking, the landline phone on my desk starts to ring and I nearly jump out of my skin in surprise. I don’t even have the number to this phone. Who could be calling?

It must be work related!

In my chair, I shake out my surprise and straighten. Then I lift the phone.

“Hello, this is Esther.”

“There’s my wife. Did you get my flowers?”

My stomach coils up into itself. Ug. That voice is Garnar’s.

“What do you want, Garnar?” I ask.

“Those flowers cost a pretty penny. Some gratitude would be nice.”

“I’m sure my sister would be more appreciative,” I say flatly. “Maybe you should have sent them to her.”

“Maybe,” Garnar says. “But it was important for your work to know that you are married to such a loving husband.”

I haven’t forgotten the card that came with the flowers – the one that is now crumpled up in the trash can. The flowers, I moved to the coffee table for everyone to enjoy. They are beautiful, even if their purpose was malicious.

The card read…

Congratulations on your first week back after ten years at home. Your husband, Garnar Graham, CEO.

Garnar’s intent with the flowers and the card was to tell everyone I’ve been out of work, as well as to flash his own CEO title. That card was the first of many setbacks for me in the eyes of my co-workers. Now, they don’t take me seriously. They think I’m here on some lark to get out of the house.

Garnar knows that. That’s how he wants it.

I’m not allowed to have any joy for myself.

“I don’t hear a thank you,” Garnar presses.

“And you won’t,” I tell him. “I will never thank you for trying to undermine my position in my first week.”

“You have no right or reason to be there, Esther. I am guilty only of telling everyone the truth. You were born to be a housewife. As soon as everyone there knows and understands that you are so desperately needed at home, they will drop you.”

“You are living in a fantasy,” I snap. I hate how easily he can get under my skin. After so long of marriage, he knows all the right buttons to push to hurt me the most.

“Am I? Or are you the one in fantasyland, Esther? You’re pretending you are some kid out of college again, ready to take on the world. In reality, you are a washed-up old hag. You need to face the truth. It’s embarrassing watching you try to be more.”

I don’t want to hear anymore. “How did you even get this number?”

“I had a lovely chat with the receptionist,” Garnar says. “She was willing to patch this lovely husband straight through to your desk.”

“Go to hell, Garnar,” I tell him.

He laughs as I hang up the phone.

In the silence that follows, I tremble slightly with my rage.

Calm down, I remind myself and take a few deep breaths. Upsetting me was his intent. I can’t let him win.

I’m at work. I need to focus on that.

With that in mind, I shake away thoughts of Garnar from my head. I want to speak to the receptionist and ask her not send through any more calls from Garnar, but I stop myself. What if something happens with the girls and he legitimately is trying to reach me?

For them, I must continue dealing with this creep. I can’t hand him any more ammunition against me in the divorce and custody battle.

Work, Esther.

Okay. I take another breath and concentrate.

I still need to think of a way to convince Miles to accept this interview.

I frown for a moment, then take my phone out of my purse. Maybe I’m making this more difficult than it needs to be. What would happen if I just called and asked him? Miles might appreciate the straightforward approach. And if I tell him upfront that I’m working for Hugo…

Remembering the way Hugo and Miles glared at each other at the country club, I begin to doubt this approach would be enough. Miles must have reasons for not wanting to give an interview here. Prying into those reasons really isn’t my business and could land me into more hot water.

To learn Miles’s secrets, I’d rather he tell me himself. Prying seems an invasion of privacy, especially if it’s only really to help me advance at my job.

I won’t do that to him. I need another way.

Looking at Miles’s contact in my phone, I consider what I know about him. Handsome, charming, sexy as hell, great in bed…

My thoughts wander again, this time to a nice hotel room and Miles slotted between my thighs…

I quickly shake my head, pushing back those thoughts. I’m at work!

Besides those things, Miles is also confident… and ambitious…

Yes. That could be the way to win him over. I just need to find something he wants. Something that only an interview with Harbinger would give him…

“That won’t work,” Amber says from over my shoulder.

I startle slightly. So lost in thought, I didn’t hear her approach.

“You can’t just call and ask,” Amber says. “Trust me. If it were that easy, I would have landed an interview with him a long time ago.”

“Thank you for your insight,” I say and place my phone screen down on my desk.

“I’m just trying to help.”

“You aren’t,” I say. “If you were, you wouldn’t have tried to humiliate me…” I cut myself off. Having an argument with Amber is pointless. She’s never liked me.

“It’s all a joke,” Amber says, entirely unashamed. “Lila only gave you this challenge because she knows it’s impossible. She set you up for failure.

I ignore Amber, hoping she’ll go away.

“Hugo and Miles don’t get along,” Amber says. “They never have. Miles is a stone wall on the subject, totally unmovable.” She laughs. “If I, as his childhood friend, can’t convince him to give our company an interview, what hope does anyone else have?”

As much as I don’t want to admit it, she does have a point there. If influence alone were to convince him, Amber would have surely found a way by now.

That she’s failed, presumably for months, shows both how stubborn Miles is, as well as how it will take more than talk and friendship to win him over in this.

“You should give up,” Amber says.

“I won’t,” I quickly reply.

“You are guaranteed to fail, Esther. Lila is taunting you. Can’t you see that?”

I refuse to be bullied out of my dream job just because someone thinks I’m not capable.

“If I fail, I fail,” I say. “But I won’t give up without trying.”

“Don’t say I didn’t try to warn you,” Amber says as she saunters away.

I don’t need her warning. All I need is my own perseverance… and access to Harbinger News Company’s many, many resources…