Page 35 of Property of Max
Will Gumphrey come after me, thinking I posted it?
There’s really only one way to fix this.
No one stops me as I walk through the building, across the parking lot, and out the slightly open gate. My ride is waiting. After double-checking the license plate and driver, I slide into the back seat and pull out my phone.
I scroll to the last message, tap the number, and press call.
“You’ve ruined me,” Gumphrey answers, venom dripping from every syllable.
Guess that was one way to confirm it was him. I should’ve just called back earlier.
“It wasn’t me,” I say evenly. “How could it have been? I don’t have access to that security feed.”
“You’re pissed that I fired you.”
“Yes,” I admit. “I was good at my job. It paid well. As a single mother, I depended on it. But I didn’t post that video. Why would I willingly humiliate myself?”
There’s a beat of silence. Then a heavy sigh. “Fuck.”
“I have an idea to fix it,” I say, though the words taste like ash.
Of course, it’ll humiliate me even more. But it might also save my life.
“Do tell,” he says, suspicion curling around the words.
“We make another video,” I explain. “We say the first one was just foreplay. That it was private, meant to be fun, and we forgot the cameras were on. Someone posted it out of jealousy of you not paying attention to them. I’ll laugh, I’ll smile, I’ll play along.”
Tears burn my cheeks, but I keep them out of my voice.
“Why would you do that?” he asks, wary now.
“Because I don’t want to spend the rest of my life afraid you’ll retaliate against me for something I didn’t do,” I tell him honestly.
A pause. Then, flatly: “What do you want in return?”
“My job,” I answer, wiping at my face with the back of my hand. “Nothing else. I want my same responsibilities, my same tables, my same pay.”
“That easy, huh?”
“That easy,” I repeat. “What do you say?”
Chapter Ten
Max
Foster sets his tablet on the table, thumbs tapping. The screen flickers, and then there she is.
“It was all in good fun. I can’t believe we didn’t think about the camera,” Lila says, laughing. But it’s wrong. Too high, too forced. Her hand curls around that bastard’s arm like she belongs there.
My jaw tightens.
“I know,” Gumphrey answers, smirking as he leans down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “We still don’t know who posted it, but at least the world knows we like a little spice.”
The laugh that follows is like broken glass in my ears. Hers doesn’t sound real. His does.
“Yeah, but next time, let’s keep it someplace a bit more private,” she says. There’s a smile on her lips, but her eyes…they’re dead. “Alright, well, I guess that’s it. We just didn’t want people to freak out thinking I was in some sort of danger.”
They both laugh.
