Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Chapter 38
FREYA
I KNEW THAT seeing Drew again was going to be uncomfortable, but seeing him for the first time surrounded by my family was excruciating. He was working on a patch as we four sat in one of the offices with the lawyers. I had been summoned to Dynasty Games for a meeting. The lawyers wanted to talk to the family together about where we stood in relation to bringing a lawsuit, and how things had been ‘complicated somewhat’ by the arrest of Keegan Callahan. His name seemed to come up a hell of a lot. Every time they said it, I had to try not to visibly wince. My conversation with him two days earlier had confirmed everything I needed to know; there was more going on than the theft of a stupid game, and I had meant nothing to him. In fact, he thought I was part of the reason he was in trouble. I had been a complete fool. I had listened to his story, comforted him, and – yeah, why not admit it – I had fallen head over heels in love with him. What a pathetic idiot. I looked up and saw everyone looking at me. Clearly, I was supposed to say something.
“I’m sorry,” I said, not even able to think of an excuse for my total ineptitude.
“There’s nothing you need to add?” asked Beatrix. “Nothing you feel is important to share?”
“No,” I smiled. “Nothing.” What happened between Keegan and me didn’t need to be aired and made public.
“All right then,” said one of the lawyers; I hadn’t caught her name. “Then essentially, we wait, and try to get to the bottom of what is happening at Clover House and specifically with Keegan Callahan. There is clearly something a lot more serious going on, and until we know, we will hold off. But let me reassure you that everyone is well aware that we have a case to bring. It’s not a case of if, it’s a case of when.”
My dad tapped the table gently with both hands. “I think this sounds positive. It was a case of giving the guy enough rope to hang himself, really. These things catch up with people in the end.”
“We don’t know he has done anything yet, Dad,” I said, and Beatrix gave me a look that I knew from experience was meant to shut me up.
After the lawyers left, I went to talk to Drew as we needed to clear the air. He wasn’t at his desk, so I went out to the garden and found him sitting there, having a cigarette.
“Since when are you smoking again?” I asked, and he flinched in surprise at seeing me. “Calm down, I’m not your mom,” I laughed.
“It’s just the occasional one,” he said, and stubbed it out. “I’m going to stop. Just, stressed, you know?”
“I know,” I said. “Look, Drew, I’m sorry. I know I was unfair to you.”
“I shouldn’t have tried to control you,” he shrugged. “I got carried away.”
“We both did,” I said, sitting down beside him. “Hey, it looks like you were right after all. About Clover House. It was a bad idea.”
“That was your choice to make,” he sighed. He seemed so down, and I felt responsible.
“I was enjoying being friends again,” I said.
“Me too.” He smiled now, and I felt relieved to see it.
“I want us to be able to work together, even be friends, without all of that other stuff complicating things,” I said, trying to be as open as possible, even though my face was flushing with embarrassment.
He paused before replying. “You’re right, we should never have gone back there.”
“Friends?” I asked, nudging him with my shoulder.
“Friends,” he nudged me back.
“Thank goodness for that, I was fucking dreading this conversation,” I said, and he laughed.
“Me too.”
My parents were calling me back into the studio, so I went back inside and spent the next few hours listening to their plans for recovering from the loss of Animagic.
“We have to continue as if the lawsuit wasn’t going to happen. We cannot guarantee that anything will ever come of it, so we don’t have time to sit around doing nothing and waiting for it to be sorted,” my mom was saying. I could see, not for the first time, where Beatrix got her can-do attitude.
“The money situation is bad. There is a loan we can take to get us through, but we need some new irons in the fire, and we need them fast. Day-to-day running costs are covered, but we want to be able to keep Drew on. Paula is happy to have unpaid leave for a while, as her mom is moving and needs help with the packing.”
“And there’s this,” I said, pulling an envelope out of my handbag. “It’s not a lot, but it will help.”