Mist & Fog 10

“You’re a new face,” a voice said as I entered the conference room.

            The voice was behind me and as I turned around to face who had spoken, I realized I was staring at Lincoln Walker, the man I’d spent last night reading over. From last night’s information, Lincoln Walker attended Stanford, but he never graduated. He left and came back home where he decided to join a band. After that failed, he decided he’d play by Daddy’s rules and go back to school. He enrolled at Columbia and finished his Bachelor degree in Business. After several failed business entrepreneurships, he decided to run his father’s company with him. But after he almost sent them into bankrupt, his father fired him and since then, he’d been working on a record label that was yet to go public. He was tall, towering over me by at least a foot and at least eighty pounds. He was wearing a blue suit and had his hair brushed back neatly. He was staring at me from head to toe. I felt naked even though I was sporting enough clothes to cover everything. He neared me and I could smell the cologne he wore. It powered over me and I stepped back from him. He laughed and raised both hands up.

            “I’m not going to bite you,” he said. “I’m Lincoln Walker. You must be Natasha?”

            I took the hand he extended out of politeness. “I am.”

            He released my hand, but as I drew it out of his reach, he reached over and grabbed my wrist. He took my wrist into his hands and then looked up at me. “You know, you have very beautiful wrists. I can tell by a woman’s wrist whether or not she’s worth pursuing.”

            “Please release me,” I said.

            He laughed and looked at me. Then he cocked his head. “You are one I’m going to aim for.”

            I pulled my hand free from his hold. “You’re aiming too high.”

            I heard voices and turned around to find Henry and Lincoln’s father, Adam Walker, walk in. I watched as Lincoln smiled at me and then turned around to walk out of the room. Adam, an older version of Lincoln, walked forward in a silver suit and shook my hand.

            “I am pleased to see a new face,” he said as he gestured for me to sit down.

            “Thank you, sir. I’m glad to be given the chance.”

            As Adam took a seat, Henry came forward and leaned in close to me. “Are you alright? Did he try anything with you?”

            I sighed and shook my head. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. Let’s seal this deal, shall we?”

            Adam Walker’s company, Walker Investments, was a large investment company that focused on the industrial side of business. For the past twenty-five years, Adam had spent his time marketing companies that were close to bankrupt and taking them apart, selling them for profit. He’d made millions selling other people’s companies that they had worked hard for. He was a stern and blunt man who spoke what was on his mind, no matter the situation. From the Google background I found on him, he’d had three failed marriages. Lincoln’s mother was his first wife; they divorced when Lincoln was six. He’d gone on having affairs with numerous women; most of them were half his age. At least he’d had the decency not to procreate; Lincoln was his only child.

            His company was adding another new division; Broderick’s company owned half the shares of the new division he’d recently bought. He wanted a new attractive ad label designed, that was where I came in. After listening to him talk, I already knew why Lincoln was the way he was. His father was as rude and cruel as his son was. I didn’t know how it was that Broderick and Henry could have missed the father while trying to warn others about the son.

            By the time the meeting adjourned, I was starving and as Henry and I headed out together to the lobby, it didn’t surprise me that Lincoln stood waiting for me to exit. He was wearing a smile on his face as he stared at us. As I walked past him, he reached out and grabbed a hold of my upper arm.

            “Let’s head to lunch,” he said as if we were old friends.

            Henry stepped forward. “I’m sorry Lincoln, but we’re meeting someone. It’s imperative that she’s there.”

            I wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not, but I played along. “Yes, I’m sorry; perhaps next time.”

            Lincoln laughed, but he didn’t let go of my arm. “I’ll have her there before you know it.”

            When Henry opened up to speak, a voice cut him off. A voice I hadn’t heard in a few days. “She’s with me, Lincoln. Take your hands off her.”

            I turned around to find Broderick walking toward us. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie. It made him look so delicious and after not seeing him for days, it made me ache in certain areas. I watched as he took my other arm and wrenched me away from Lincoln’s hold. Henry started backing away as Lincoln smiled and touched a finger to his chin.

            “So…is this your new muse?” Lincoln asked.

            “Back off,” Broderick said as he pushed me toward the exit.

            Once outside, Henry bid his good-bye as he hailed a taxi and Broderick shoved me into his BMW. He got into the driver side and roared the car to life. We didn’t speak a word to each other. I was too angry at him to say anything nice. I could tell he was heading toward my hotel and when he reached the front entrance, I opened the door and walked out. I marched into the lobby, into the elevator, and hit my floor. When the doors opened, I walked to my room and slammed the door hard. I removed my shoes and ran my fingers through my hair. What was he doing here? Didn’t he have another woman he was seeing behind my back?

            “Open the door,” I heard him order from outside my door.

            I scoffed and sat on the bed ignoring him. Then he opened the door using a key and walked in. Shocked, I stood up as he closed the door. He stood there as if he belonged and tossed the key on the table.

            “You’re invading my privacy. I’m going to call the manager and report him for giving you the key,” I said.

            He unbuttoned his jacket and slipped it off. Then he walked to me and crossed his arms. I watched him and then I looked around the room at the décor of the place. I turned back to him and gasped when something popped into my head.

            “Oh my God, this is your hotel, isn’t it? You made sure we stayed in one of your hotels so you’d have access to everything, didn’t you?” I asked.

            “It is mine, but that wasn’t the intention behind it. I wanted to have you near me.”

            I could have slapped him. I felt the anger boiling and it sent me on a rampage. I walked across to him and shoved him hard in the chest. He didn’t even budge.

            “You’re a lying sack of shit! You had another woman with you when you called me. What are you doing here in my room? After all that I opened up for you, you turned around and stabbed me in the back. I’m so stupid to believe that you’d be any different.”

            When I tried to push him again, he grabbed both my wrists and pulled me closer to him. “Are you done?”

            I didn’t answer.

            “If you are, I need to explain.”

            “Screw your explanations! I don’t want to hear them. I want you out of here!”

            He smiled. “I’m not leaving you, sweetheart. It’s been a long week for me without you and I intend to make up.”

            “You’re not coming anywhere near me, Broderick.”

            “You wanna bet?”