Dr. D Spills the Tea

Idle

There was no denying that George Whittiker was acting in a way that would probably be considered unlike him.

When Victoria had come on to him at the office just a few days ago, it had been a bit uncharacteristic of her. Sure, they'd had their fair share of fun but usually at her place, tucked away, safely out of view. Flirting and some light petting was as far as they'd gone in the office and for obvious reasons.

Diana's office was just across the hall.

The risk was high.

He hadn't thought anything of it then, though. Diana had already left and she'd made no plans with him, and so he'd relented to Victoria's lust. Thoroughly distracted by the woman who'd knelt before him, offering him something that Diana would never even dream of doing, he hadn't heard the door open. His reasoning for the affair was that his partner was a respectable woman and, capable as she may be, their s*x was often vanilla and bland. Victoria was the opposite, all heat and spice, she was a vixen in the bedroom but couldn't hold a decent conversation or win the approval of his family.

He thought he'd just have them both, one to satisfy his needs, one for his wants.

The best of both worlds.

At least, that's what he'd thought before he'd been caught.

There was no way to gaslight a prideful woman like Diana into ignoring what she'd seen. Worse, she hadn't even looked shocked, standing in the doorway, staring at his bare ass with this startlingly unimpressed look. "This . . . isn't going to work." That's what she'd said. Abhorrance had crossed her features but she'd hardly reacted at all, and then she'd excused herself, walking away from him, from his partnership, from the vast opportunities he had offered her.

And he'd thought, at first, that this might not be that big of a deal.

Losing Diana was definitely a blip in the radar, something outside of his plan, but he was George Whittiker. He was a big dog and there were other women just as capable of the one he'd scorned.

He'd thought he could just keep the damages minimal. Move past it.

That is, until he realized he was being blacklisted from business ventures.

Loyal clients had started going to a competitor, one that had only recently begun to establish a name for himself: Diego Hernandez. He had just recently moved to New York City from Pittsburgh and he too had studied at the University of Pennsylvania and had graduated just one year after Diana. That alone seemed like an odd coincidence but, during an unexpected rejection of the continuation of his services, George had pressed one of his biggest money-making clients about why they had decided to move their business from the his capable hands to someone who obviously couldn't compete. They'd just told him that Attorney Hernandez had been recommended to him.

"By whom?" George had asked through grit teeth.

"You should ask your ex-fiancee." And then the bastard had hung up on him.

There had been no announcement about the broken engagement.

No tabloid had touched the story, no reporter had scathed his good reputation.

Hell, George hadn't even told his own mother yet.

That meant Diana was behind this. Somehow, she was using some kind of political affiliation to cut into his clientele. He wanted to know who. How.

Grinding his teeth, he'd waited for her to show up to her apartment from wherever she'd run off to with Brent Holdings. He was another quick growing name, running his own show within Pennsylvania lines. George had felt irate when he'd seen that the man had graduated with her from the same university. Who knew he would manage to spurn a woman with important connections?

He hadn't even married the woman yet and she still managed to hurt his pockets.

Taking a hit of his vape, he blew a puff of sweet smoke out the window, noticing that the sun was starting to sink. How long had he been parked here? In the garage next to her apartment building, he'd found a spot in the corner and, if he squinted, he could keep an eye on the front of her building. Wait for her to show up, wait for the pest that was with her to leave.

She needed to fix this problem she'd created for him.

She should be mature and leave this pettiness behind them.

Talk to whoever it was creating this disturbance in his revenue before he came after her for defamation of character. Diana was a smart woman, one that knew him well enough to know that he had very little problem blurring the lines of morality if it meant making his case. Blackmail was just a part of the game.

If only, he thought darkly, he had something on her. He would use it in a hear beat. It was amazing, really. They'd worked together for years. You'd think he would've had something useful to use as leverage in this situation. The problem was that she was just so--

A light knock at the car window caught his attention.

What the hell could it be now?

Rolling his window all the way down, he saw that it was a pretty big looking guy dressed in black but couldn't see his face from his vantage point. Security, perhaps? He didn't have a resident pass and he was parked in a resident only parking spot. "Hello," he said, chipper despite his irritation at being bothered, "I was actually just about to move." The man's leaned down and his familiar features weren't lost on George. "Er, have we met before?" The man offered a smile and George stiffened, realizing they'd met before. Just once when he'd gone with Diana to visit her family last Christmas.

"Hello Whittiker," he stated smoothly, his hand unlocking the door and pulling it open in one smooth motion. Stunned, George watched as the man waved for him to get out of the car. "Let's talk."

"Theo Blackwell," George laughed, confused. "What are you--"

"I don't like crouching to talk, George," Theo stated, arm resting on the top of his door, body language one of complete ease. "It will be easier to talk during a smoke, don't you think?"

Clutching his vape, George hesitated but only for a moment before pulling his keys form the ignition and getting out of his vehicle. "What a strange surprise," George stated easily, shutting the door after himself, trying to size up the man that had a good three inches on him. Why had he approached him? And in the garage, no less? "Diana didn't mention you were in town."

"I'm here for business," the man stated, expression giving away nothing.

George couldn't get a good read on him at all. Did he know anything about their break up or not? "I see." His smile tightened as the man just stared down at him, hands in his pockets, green eyes cold. "Well, you can imagine my surprise to see you--"

"I'm surprised to see you here," the man cut in. Leaning closer to George, he felt himself take an involuntary step backwards, surprised by how threatening the man's stance had become. "Enjoying the view?"

George's eyes flickered out toward the front of Diana's building and noticed the brunette walking back to her building, escorted by her burly lawyer friend. So he'd been caught. Turning his attention back to the man in front of him, he grimaced. "I just wanted to--"

"Leave."

The man pulled the car door open in a jerky movement, purposely knocking George in his side. It was painful but he managed to keep his composure, glaring up at the problem before him. He'd done his research on Theodore Blackwel. The man was something of a real estate tycoon and spent all of his spare time wrestling about with men, both on a mat and within his bedroom.

Leave it to boring, suburban raised Diana to have overprotective gay best friends.

George scrunched his nose at the thought but took a voluntary step away from the brute in front of him. Regardless of his s****l orientation, his stature was an intimidating one. It was best to keep things civil. "Tell Diana I just want to talk," he said, getting back into the car. He'd barely pulled his leg in when the door slammed shut. He'd closed the door so hard it shook the entire vehicle. "Do you have any idea how expensive--"

But the man wasn't listening, already walking toward the elevator with his middle finger raised high.