Totlandia: Spring (16 page)

To add insult to injury, Bettina spent the rest of the meeting rhapsodizing about Jade’s big get—some Nobel Prize winner who would be introducing the Fivesies to classical literature.

“And can you imagine? They’re starting with
Macbeth
!” Bettina clapped her hands with glee. When she did, the puppy she now carried with her everywhere (what was its name again? Something “Prince.” Or “Prince” something or other. What ev.) raised its head off her lap and yawned.

Tell me about it,
Kimberley thought.
Five-year-olds in kilts, butchering iambic pentameter? Make me barf now!

No doubt Jade was a shoo-in for Top Mom. Kimberley would rather die than sit in meetings with the wife of the man she loved to hate.

Or was it that she hated to love him?

In any event, he was unquestionably the one who got away.

Well, for now.

Back home, and with the kids safely ensconced in their beds, Kimberley’s pity party could begin in earnest. With a gallon-sized martini glass, forty percent of her Twinkies stash, and the latest Dildo-of-the-Month from Good Vibrations (the glass “Andromeda,” with an ad that claimed it could “coax any creature from the deep”), she searched the internet for some late night porn.

Alice in Wonderlust? Ha! That sounds interesting,
she thought. She clicked onto it.

When “Alice” came on the screen, Kimberley almost choked on her martini.
Jade Pierce was doing porn?

Well, whattaya know.

Kimberley reached for the phone.

But no. Better to wait until the vote for the Top Mom, and make a grand announcement then.

After all, it was only six weeks away.

In the meantime, Kimberley would get such pleasure watching Jade be set up by Bettina as her fair-haired girl, her Second Coming.

After she burned the downloaded porn onto a DVD, she watched it. For quality control, of course. With the Andromeda in hand.

The dildo more than lived up to its reputation, even if the movie did not.

Still, it helped that the Mad Hatter’s schlong was far bigger than a titmouse.

She wished her Jerry could make that same claim.

Thursday, 9 May

Brady had just pulled into the parking garage of Bracknell Industries when his cell phone beeped. The Caller ID came up simply as
A.

Ally was calling him.

He screeched to a halt. The car driving up behind him did so, too, nearly ramming him. In his rearview mirror, he saw the driver mouth the word “asshole.”

Brady smiled and waved an apology.

The driver, Ellis Conway, gawked at him, then slowly waved back.

Brady wasn’t stupid enough to mouth what he was thinking, “asshole yourself.”

He tapped his iPhone. “Hi! Good to…good to hear from you.”
I sound like a lovesick schoolboy,
he chided himself.

The tone of Ally’s voice was cold, distant. “I’m sorry to ask you this, but my assistant must be prepping for the board meeting because she isn’t picking up my line. Would you let Laurence know I won’t be coming? Zoe is sick with a fever.” She laughed nervously. “Angus Wickett must have given it to her. Mallory brought him to the meet-up yesterday, and he was rubbing his hands all over her. I’ve got to put her in a toddler martial arts class or something, so she can protect herself from being manhandled by little hellions like Angus.”

“Ally, seriously, don’t worry about it. I’ve got you covered.” He hoped he sounded casual, despite the fact his heart was pumping at the speed of a bullet train.

“Thanks, Brady. I…I truly appreciate it. Of the few times I’ve had to miss one of these shindigs, Barry has called in as my proxy. Unfortunately, he and Christian took off for a few days, so I have no one to cover me either at home or in the office.”

“Don’t worry. I mean it. Go take care of Zoe.”

“Thank you, Brady. Really…Thank you.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Had she hung up? No. The seconds were still ticking away.

Every minute we spend away from each other is a minute wasted,
he thought.

But before he could say that to her—or anything at all that would lead to even more pain—he hung up.

He sat in his car until he composed himself.

He hoped no one noticed his eyes were red from crying.

“…sadly, lower earnings for next quarter,” Laurence concluded. “That’s it folks, unless there are any further questions or any items that didn’t make the agenda, I’ll call this meeting to a close.”

Ellis raised his hand. “I hate to bring up a sensitive subject, but I feel it’s one that needs to be addressed immediately. Over the past quarter, one of our companies, Foot Fetish, has taken on quite a few losses. It can be attributed to over-inflated projections, coupled by poor purchasing judgment on the part of our chief buyer.”

Brady couldn’t believe his ears. Ellis was trying to pin his own ineffective managing on Ally. And he was succeeding. The wan smiles that most of the board members wore were flattened with the weight of their concern.

Laurence shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Since these concerns are under Ms. Thornton’s purview and she isn’t here to answer your questions, why don’t we shelve this for the next board meeting?”

“Frankly, that’s part of the problem. I’ve tried on several occasions to ask her about it. She ignores all my emails. Further, she’s never around to question in person. In all honesty, the number of board meetings she’s missed have put her in violation of her contract.”

A hum of concern rumbled through the boardroom.

“We all know Ms. Thornton well enough to consider the possibility that there is some oversight here,” Brady said calmly. “Laurence, if you’re motioning to wait until Ally is here to defend herself, I’ll heartily second it.”

“In truth, we all have lives outside this room.” By the tone Ellis was using, he could have been talking to a kindergartener. “But most of us—the rest of us, in fact—don’t take our roles here for granted. Foot Fetish has lost its edge. That’s the reality we’re facing.”

A female board member, in her mid-fifties with deep auburn hair, raised her hand. “I have to say that I’ve personally been disappointed with their recent product lines. The company isn’t a part-time hobby for a socialite. It needs a trendsetter on the helm, full-time. Someone who has her finger on the pulse of what the consumer wants today.”

Brady wasn’t positive, but he was sure he saw Ellis wink at the woman.

“Perhaps her new pie shop venture is taking away what little available time she has,” Ellis declared.

Brady couldn’t stand it anymore. “Make up your mind, Ellis. Is she a socialite hobbyist, or an over-achiever?”

“You’re a good friend to Ally, Brady. But you of all people know that our loyalty is to our stockholders, first and foremost.” Ellis turned to Laurence. “I’d like to motion that we buy out Ms. Thornton’s contract before her half-hearted decisions cause Bracknell another quarterly loss, which will precipitate another hit on our stock price.”

“I second the motion,” the redhead piped up.

Only Brady and Laurence opposed the motion.

Brady was out the door the moment Laurence gaveled the meeting to a close.

He was standing at the elevator when Laurence caught up to him. “Your loyalty to Ally is admirable, Brady. I know you’re here because of her, but I hope this change in direction doesn’t discourage you from staying on with us.”

“Ellis is lying about her. Ally cares deeply about Foot Fetish. Laurence, you need to hear this from someone who doesn’t have anything to lose by saying it. She’s made a lot of sacrifices, professional and personal, to ensure that the company succeeds.”

Laurence shrugged. “I’ve always appreciated her diligence and her drive, no doubt about it. And I’m not blind. I know Ellis has an agenda. But he’s right about one thing. Ally has taken herself out of the game. And if Ellis’s agenda is a better one for Bracknell, it’s the one we have to go with.”

Brady knew he was right. If it were Brady’s company, he’d feel exactly the same way.

And he would have done exactly the same thing.

To anyone but Ally.

Ally answered Brady’s knock in her pajamas. Her nose was red, and her eyes were glassy.

“You’ve been crying,” he declared. “So, you’ve already heard?”

She sneezed. “I think I must have caught the same crud that has Zoe down and out. Whatever it is, it’s got me too so if I fall asleep, just prop me up against the wall.” Before another sneeze could escape, she blew her nose, hard. “Yuck! Sorry…What did you say? What was I supposed to have heard?”

“You better sit down.”

She shook her head and stood her ground.

“Ellis made a case for voting you off the board tonight and removing you from your job. Worse, the board bought it.”

“What?” She sat down hard. “You mean I got canned?”

“You’ll still get whatever golden parachute Barry wrote in for you. But yes, essentially, quote unquote, your services are no longer required.”

“Well, isn’t that just dandy?” She sneezed again. Then she reached for a Kleenex.

The box was empty. She held her nose with one hand and threw the box up against the wall with the other.

Quickly, he grabbed a cloth diaper from one of the two laundry baskets on the table and handed it to her. After blowing her nose on it, she threw it after the box. “Double yuck! I think that came out of the dirty laundry. But my nose is so stuffed up, I can’t smell anything, so I may be wrong. Take a whiff and let me know, okay? No, never mind. I really don’t want to.” She threw up her hands in disgust.

“Who knows, maybe Bracknell’s buyout will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Ellis is sure to run the company into the ground, and you will have gotten your money out before he does it. And your goal was to be a stay-at-home mom, right? Besides, if the pie shop takes off the way we think it will, you’ll have the entrepreneurial success you deserve, and on your own terms.”

“Maybe you’re right…Oh, I don’t know! With this bloody fever, I can’t think straight! And I’m so tired.” Despite the fact that her tears were falling fast and furious, she closed her eyes. Shielding them with her hand, she added, “To top it off, I can’t even call Barry to get his opinion. Those two wanted a romantic getaway, so he made it a point not to carry his cell phone with him.”

Brady couldn’t stand it anymore. He sat down beside her and nudged her into his arms. “You’ve got me. Ally, you know I’ll always be here for you.”

Her answer was a gentle snore. She’d fallen asleep.

He could feel her heart, pounding against his chest. Soon their hearts were beating in unison.

He wished he never had to leave her side.

That was his last thought before he too fell asleep.

Jade was still awake and sitting in the armchair facing the front door when, right after sunrise, Brady walked into the house.

“You were with Ally, weren’t you?” Her question came out in a whisper.

“It’s not what you think. She had a crisis. Bracknell voted her off the board.”

She shrugged. “What does that have to do with you?”

“I felt I should break the news to her in person.”

“And you wanted her to know you were there for her.”

He nodded.

“Well, isn’t that convenient.”

“Jade, you don’t understand. They tore into her like a pack of hyenas. It didn’t matter that she’d started the company and grew it into a huge success. They dumped her because profits slipped one lousy quarter for God’s sake!” He paced the floor angrily. “It’s just not fair.”

He really cares for her,
she thought sadly.
Everything is about Ally.

She had to ask him. “She let you fuck her, didn’t she?”

At first, he didn’t answer. When finally he did, he might as well have cut her heart out with a stiletto. “You don’t get it, Jade.
She’s nothing like you
.”

Disgusted, he went up to his room and slammed the door behind him.

You’re right,
Jade thought.
She’s nothing like me. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would’ve kept my promise to her. Instead, when she was down and out, she let you sweet-talk her.

I know how to make her believe me, too.

Oliver’s cheery morning babbling had her running up the stairs in no time. She dressed him quickly and headed back down the stairs with him so Brady wouldn’t hear them take off.

It was time to pay Ally a visit.

Friday, 10 May

“I came the moment I heard what happened.” Jade gave Ally a quick hug. “I can’t believe it! Those jerks! My goodness, I hope you fight them over it.”

Ally shrugged. “Thanks, Jade. It means so much to me that you’re here. As for Foot Fetish, I’m so sick right now, I can’t think straight. But yes, I’m pissed off.”

Jade nodded sympathetically. She looked around the kitchen. Noting the tea kettle on the stove, she murmured, “Let me make some tea for us.”

“That sounds nice.” Ally laid her head on the tabletop. It felt cooler than her feverish forehead. She heard Jade walk over to the stove, then to the sink. As the water ran, Jade continued, “Ally, from the bottom of my heart, I want to apologize for Brady’s role in your dismissal. I can’t believe he’d be so cruel, so…
selfish!
”

Ally raised her head to face Jade. “What do you mean?”

Jade turned off the water. She sighed heavily before turning to face her friend. “I overheard him this morning, talking to someone at Foot Fetish. Is it Elton?...No, I remember now, Ellis. Brady said something about hating to see his chunk of stock in Bracknell losing value, and that he’d thoroughly understand if Ellis felt the need to—well, push you out. He even said he thought he could make you accept it as the best thing that could ever happen to you.” She sighed. “I guess he’d rather have you focus on the pie shop. Or as he put it to Ellis, ‘She thinks she can do it all, but let’s face it. Being a mom is really where her head is at now.’”