The Arrangement

Chapter 19

AnnaLeigh

I wake up with a start and my head is pounding. What time is it? Why was I still wearing my shoes? I slowly open my eyes, wincing at the light that filled my vison. After a moment of adjusting, I slowly tilt my head down till I was looking at my body. It appeared I was still dressed and wearing the oufit I had worn the night before. Now it was all coming back to me. Sarah and I at Indigo. The sweet, sweet cocktails. The mysteriously gorgeous man....and Christain. Coming to find me, ordering me out of the club. And then allowing me to walk home till I couldnt anymore, then he had hailed us a cab. The way he looked at me in the cab, like he was really seeing me for the first time. And the way he talked to me about the woman who had hurt him. He was so honest, so raw. I didnt remeber much after that but sonehow I had made it to my bed safe and sound. Assuming that I didnt get here by myself, which was more than likely, given how intoxicated I was - which was a whole other issue - Christain had gotten me into bed and left me clothed. Im sure if he had wanted to, he could have tried...or done...his worst, like I was one of his other girls. But he hadnt. I felt like I was seeing a different side to Christain, the side that Mr. Cartwright had promised me exisited.

I climb out of bed and hearing voices in the hall, I open my door. I begin to walk through the hallway with every intention of saying thank you to Christain when he hears my footsteps and suddenly turns around. He was fuming.

"And you." He yells. "You had me running around like your goddamn babysitter all night. It is not my job to take care of you."

"I was just coming to thank you." I say,

"I dont need your thank you. I need my wife to not run around New York City embarrassing me every day. What is so complicated about that?"

I was shaking now, willing myself not to cry. I was wrong. I knew excatly who Christain was. I was staring straight ahead, trying to not look at him directly, when he stepped closer to me. This time he spoke in a normal volume, in a softer voice.

"Is it not enough that you take my money and my name? But you need to take my image too and stomp it out?"

I couldnt listen to him anymore and I ran to the elevator, holding my sobs off until the doors shut and I could cry in peace. There had been so much venom in his voice. That I had thought it might actually poison me.

I really didnt know where I was going but all I did know was I wanted to get as far away from the penthouse and Christain as I could. I hadnt walked very far when my phone rang. When I glanced down I half expected it to be Christain calling to continue to yell at me but instead it was Mr. Cartwright. He wanted to meet me at the plaza as soon as possible. He said he had something very important to discuss with me. I agreed and hung up feeling really nervous about what he could possibly want to discuss. I quickly hailed a cab and headed to meet him. When I arrived I am beyond nervous. What was going on? What had I done now? I walked thtough the dining room looking for Mr. Cartwright and found him at his ususal table. When I arrived he stood.

"Hi, darling." He says, walking over to kiss my cheek.

"Hi." I say, actually feeling a little more at ease in his presence.

"Sit, please." I take a seat in the chair across from him. And I exhale. Here we go.

"So about what you said on the phone..." I begin.

"Mr. Landon has not done anything else, AnnaLeigh, dont worry. And after today he wont be someone you need to worry about."

I blink in surprise. "You know about him?"

He nods. "Yes. I do."

"So what do you mean, after today?"

"My team has put together a little plan to make sure justice is served. Mr. Landon is going to get caught this time. And the New York Justice Department will have a say in the consequences."

"Im not....Im not following." I say.

"We found another woman who is working for Mr. Landon, who is being subjected to the same harrassment you have known yourself. And she is willing to help us." He explained.

"And that way," He continues. "When the story comes out you will be far away from it. A distant side note, not the main heroine."

"Who is she?" I whisper.

"Im afraid I cant tell you that." He says. "We promised this young lady anonymity to the best of our control."

"How will you catch him?"

"I have had cameras installed." He answers smiling.

My mind was running in circles, it was like something out of a Bond movie.

"I want to see it." I say finally. I needed to see the man who had tormented me fall.

"Can you handle it?" He looks at me, every bit the father figure. I knew what my own dad would say....absolutely not. I was too delicate to see something like that. But deep down I knew that was not true. I needed to handle it. Watching Mr. Landon get caught was the only way I could move on from everything he had put me through. And it was now or never. So I took a sip of champagne, immediately feeling a buzz of confidence circle through my mind. And I looked at Mr. Cartwright and replied, "Yes. I can handle it."

Mr. Cartwright

I was not sure that bringing AnnaLeigh along was the right thing to do. I could tell she was a sensitive young lady and this man had humiliated and belittled her for a substantial period of time.

The young lady that had agreed to help us came through one of my assistants, who had found her complaints against Mr. Landon filed two years ago. But they had been swept under the rug, of course. Reviewed and dismissed in technical terms. So I had reached out to the woman myself and explained the situation, that another woman, close to me, had been affected by the same man in the same ways and he wouldnt hesitate to ruin other lives if he was not stopped. I had wanted to offer her something more, something like money, but knew that would not look good in court when he was tried. So instead I played on her heartstrings and it worked. Like any humane person with a conscience, the woman had agreed to stop the monster who had put her and others after her, through pain. I told her to come to the hotel at seven p.m to a suite and gave her the whole royal treatment. It felt like the least I could do.

When I walked into the suite that night I had to admit that the young lady looked radiant. The dress she had picked out was perfect. It was alluring in its sophistication and I knew the bastard would not stand a chance.

"You can do this." I say to her by the door. "You are the difference between him getting away with his actions and him having to pay."

She nodded at me, looking calm and collected. "I know. I have this."

I put my hand on her shoulder and kiss her on the cheek. "Im proud of you." I say. "Thank you."

She nods at me and then opens the door and walks down the hall, about to take on what would surely be the scariest evening of her life.

AnnaLeigh

Mr.Cartwright had told me to meet him at the hotel at nine p.m. but I was so anxious I arrived early and walked circles around it. It was the hotel I had gotten married in, but tonight I was nervous about being there for a whole other reason. Finally I enter the lobby and casually peer into the hotel bar to my left. But I didnt see any familiar faces. I rode the elevator to the tenth floor and walked to the room. I knocked on the door and it opened on the second knock.

"You ready?" Mr. Cartwright asks. I give him a swift nod and he lets me in.

Inside the room there was a buzz of activity. The large suite comfortably fit all the screens set up to display different angles of two different places: the hotel bar and an empty hotel room. Behind the screens were three men, each wearing black and each wearing an earpiece. One sat behind a laptop, where it looked like he had some sort of audio control. Now it really felt like a Bond movie.

"Are they cops?" I ask quietly.

He just shook his head. "My go to security team." He explains. "They do intel work too."

I nod again, at a loss for words. I couldnt believe he had done all of this for me, to destroy the man who tried so hard to destroy me.

"Thank you." I say earnestly. He takes my hand in his and I can see the softness in his eyes.

"We are ready." One of the men in black all but shout to the room.

Everyones eyes are focused on one of the screens where a woman in a black dress had just sat down at the bar. The bartender walks over to her and she says something we cant hear. And a few moments later he brings her a martini.

"Here we go." A different man says and all eyes go back to the screen. And my heart stops. There he was.

Mr. Landon, all five feet nine inches of him, dressed in a black suit. And he was making his way straight to where the mystery woman sat.

"But we cant hear anything." I say as Mr. Landon taps the woman on the shoulder and smiles.

"We can." He says motioning to the earpieces. I was the only one not wearing one.

"I want one." I say.

Mr. Cartwright's eyebrows went up again. "I dont want you to relive..."

"No. I need to see and hear everything. If she is going through it, I dont want her to be alone."

After a second, he nods. He walks over to the table and picks up another earpiece, helping me put it on. And then he presses the on button.

Instantly I hear him saying, "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course." She says.

"Thats quite a dress." Mr. Landon whispers.

"Thank you." And as she spoke her voice sounded familiar. Then she turned toward the camera and my breath caught. It was Alice. The woman who had met me in the coffee shop. Who had warned me that Mr. Landon was out to destroy me. She was so brave. Not only had she helped me but she was here tonight putting herself on the line for the both of us. There must be something I can do....