NOT YOUR GIRL

Chapter 5

My phone buzzes before Miranda reaches the elevator.

Call me now, Elena’s message says.

I step into the empty conference room and call. She answers on the second ring.

“Eva, I’m sorry. Charles filed an emergency request to freeze the estate.”

The glass walls make the room feel smaller. Through them, I can see employees collecting their bags and heading for the elevators. I take a deep breath and try to compose myself. “Can he do that?”

“He can ask. The court hasn’t ruled yet. Samuel is preparing a response, but we need to move quickly.”

“What does he say I’ve done?”

“That you might sell or move assets before the will is settled. It’s a standard argument when someone challenges an estate.”

And that’s also typical of Charles. I’m not even surprised.

“I haven’t even seen the will.” I defend.

“I know. We’re trying to get you a copy. Charles has asked the court to appoint him as temporary manager.”

My fingers press into the edge of the table. “He wants control of everything.”

“That’s what it looks like.”

I look through the glass at Damien’s office. He’s standing by his desk, phone to his ear, one hand rubbing his forehead. “What do you need from me?”

“Don’t sign anything Charles sends you. Don’t discuss the estate with him. And please come to Samuel’s office tomorrow morning.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Good. I’ll text you the address.”

When we hang up, I stay in the conference room for a few seconds. The board meeting is over. Damien has left the papers I prepared in a stack by his chair, the old agreement on top. I pick it up and put it in his folder.

I should go home. I should call Ava and tell her what happened. Instead, I return to my desk and finish the notes from the meeting.

Just one thing at a time.

At seven, the office is almost empty. At eight, I’m still checking the lender’s figures. At eight thirty, I hear the front door open and Ava’s voice carry down the hall.

“Eva Reyes, if you’re still in there, I brought food. If you’ve gone home, I’m taking it with me.”

“I’m here.” I reply so she knows my location.

She appears at my desk with a paper bag in each hand and rolls her eyes. “Of course you are.”

“I had work.”

“You always have work.” She mocks.

She puts one bag down and looks at the screen. “What are you doing?”

“Checking the lender’s numbers.”

“At eight thirty at night?”

“I need to finish.”

Ava pulls out the chair beside me and sits. “You’ve been doing this for three years.”

“I like my job.”

She gives me a look. “You like being good at your job. That’s not the same thing.”

She’s right, but I don’t tell her that. Instead, I turn back to the screen. “I’m not having this conversation.”

“We’re having it. You spend your whole day fixing everyone else’s mess, then you come home and tell yourself Damien will notice you one day.”

My fingers go still on the keyboard.

“I don’t think that.”

Ava lifts an eyebrow.

“Not anymore,” I add. Liar.

“Eva.”

“What? He’s my boss. I know how this works.” Another lie. I forget how this works.

“Do you? Because you still take his coffee exactly how he likes it. You still know when he’s had a bad meeting by the way he takes off his watch. You’ve spent three years learning every little thing about him, and he can’t even remember when your birthday is.”

“I don’t need him to remember my birthday.” I think I’m on a roll with my lies today.

“You deserve a life that’s yours, too.”

“I have a life.”

“Name one thing you’ve done for yourself this month.”

I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.

Ava slides the food toward me. “Eat first. We can argue after.”

“I’m not arguing.”

“Great. Then chew quietly.”

I take a bite. She’s brought dumplings from the place near her apartment, the good ones with the crisp bottoms. I eat two before I notice she’s watching me.

“What?” I ask.

“You look tired.” She states sadly.

“I am tired.”

“Then stop acting like this office will fall apart if you leave before midnight.”

“It might.” This one is true. I actually believe everything within these four walls might fall apart without me.

“It won’t.”

My phone buzzes. Damien’s name appears on the screen. I answer.

“Eva, are you still there?”

“Yes.”

“Our assistant is sick. I need someone to come with me to the charity dinner tomorrow night and keep the schedule on track.”

I glance at Ava. She shakes her head before I can reply.

“I can do it,” I say.

“Thank you. I’ll have the details sent over.”

The call ends.

Ava leans back in her chair. “You know there are other people who can do that.”

“I’m his assistant.”

“You’re also a person who was supposed to go home an hour ago.”

“I’ll go home now.”

“After you finish the numbers?”

I close the laptop. “After I finish the numbers.”

She sighs, but she doesn’t push. That’s one of the reasons she’s my best friend. She knows when to keep talking and when to let me get there on my own.

The charity dinner is held at a hotel downtown. It’s a fundraiser for a children’s hospital, with a silent auction, a long program, and more place cards than I can count. I arrive early with the event schedule and a list of Damien’s guests.

The usual aide is home sick. Damien has brought a junior staffer to help, but she’s never worked one of these events before. I take over the check-in table and start matching names to seats.

“Mr. Denson’s assistant says he’s bringing a guest,” the junior staffer tells me.

“His table is set for two.”

“He says the guest is Lana Hayes.”

I look across the lobby. Damien is speaking with the event chair. Lana stands beside him in a silver dress, her hand resting on his arm. He smiles down at her.

“Add her to the table,” I say. “I’ll ask the hotel to bring another chair.”

The staffer starts to move. I stop her. “And make sure the place card says Ms. Hayes. Not Mrs. Wolfe.”

She smiles. “Got it.”

The evening goes smoothly for the first hour. I help a donor find her table, replace a missing name card, and send a driver back for Damien’s speech folder. He’s busy greeting board members and hospital staff. Lana stays close to him, laughing when he says something under his breath.

I’m carrying a tray of auction booklets when I hear Miranda’s voice behind a tall flower arrangement.

“The quarter is worse than the report suggests,” she says.

A man answers. “The board already knows the numbers.”

“They know what Damien chose to show them. The lender has more detail.”

I stop beside the arrangement. The tray feels too heavy in my hands.

“Are you asking for a vote?” the man says.

“I’m asking them to consider whether he can lead the company through this.”

“And the committee?”

“If they approve the review, we’ll have what we need.”

I know that voice. It belongs to Mr. Caldwell, one of the board members who voted for the special committee that morning.

Miranda continues. “He’s distracted. His decisions are getting worse, and now he’s bringing his ex to every public event.”

Lana laughs across the room. Damien smiles at her.

I back away before Miranda sees me. The booklets are still on my tray. I deliver them to the auction table, then try to find Damien. He’s by the stage, talking to a hospital director. I wait for him to finish.

Lana reaches him first.

“Ready?” she asks.

“Where to?”

“I have a car waiting. We can get a drink before the traffic gets worse.”

Damien glances toward the ballroom. “I should stay for the auction.”

“You’ve done your part. You gave the speech.”

He looks toward me. I take one step forward, ready to tell him what I heard.

Then the event chair approaches with a question about the next speaker. Damien turns to answer her. Lana touches his arm and says something close to his ear. He nods.

They head for the doors together.

“Damien,” I call.

He looks back. “Send me the final schedule tomorrow.”

“Wait. I need to tell you something about Miranda and the committee.”

His expression tightens. “Can it wait until morning?”

I glance at Lana, already outside. “I don’t think so.”

He pauses, but his phone rings. He checks the screen and steps away to answer. Lana waits by the car.

My own phone buzzes in my hand. A message from Elena.

The court granted Charles’s request. Your inheritance is frozen until the hearing.

I read it twice. The ballroom lights blur, then sharpen again.

Another message appears.

Eva, he’s asking the court to give him control of the estate. We have until tomorrow to respond.