Page 55 of Handling the CEO

Her lawyer tries to shush her, but she just puts her palms on the table and switches her legs around. A fake Sharon Stone giving us all a cringe sight, luckily hidden. I have to push all my anxiety aside and choose to be in control.

“What evidence would that be?” I assume a relaxed pose myself, arms open, surrounding the chairs next to me. “You are not by any chance mentioning a certain video of me holding something in Aspen a few years back… You do know marijuana has been legal in Colorado since 2012, right?”

“Ha—you admit it!” she pounces. “It’s not about the legalities, it’s about having my daughter around a known drug user! Probably it’s best to show everyone here, so there’s no doubt!” She pulls out a tablet and starts playing the video. Everybody watches it with great interest, but I watch just her, staring at her and not the footage, which causes her to falter from her confident stance.

“Not sure what is there to admit. I just stated some facts about the laws in that state,” I say honestly. “Where is the recording of me smoking whatever it is I’m holding? Hmm? Oh, you don’t have it? That is a shame. As I have one myself… this is from the same night.”

I turn DJ’s laptop towards the table and put the recording of me and the girl outside.

Miranda turns ashen at the sight of me refusing the joint, and it’s Ms. Pruitt who comments, adjusting her suit jacket, “Where is the proof that it’s from the same party?”

“Both of us are wearing the same clothes as you can see… It’s still winter. The owner of the house will confirm the security tapes’ authenticity,” I say, and she writes it down on her notepad while staring uncomfortably at her client. Ramsay, likewise, appears a bit less cocky than he was when he pranced in, loosening the collar of his polo shirt.

“Well, how do we know you didn’t find some more drugs later?” Miranda is scrambling for a comeback. “Also, you mentioned in the first one that you did MDMA in the past! I don’t think that is an environment for my daughter to grow up in!”

“Did I? Maybe I was just trying to impress a lady younger than me to assume I was cool.” I smile without admitting to anything. “And interesting you should speak of the environment. Let’s see a bit more about Tabitha’s situation.”

I put on a video from the luncheon, capturing exactly when she tells Tae off for having cake as they are both outside on the terrace, where the cameras captured the fight, and we observe my sibling running away crying.

Ramsay looks at his wife, slightly disgusted, and both attorneys exchange a glance.

I then hit ‘play’ on the recording from the brunch, where she grabs her arm, and my sister clearly cries out in pain and the people in the room here also gasp.

“You can’t use that! I didn’t agree to being filmed!” she yells, but her husband tells her off.

“Shut the fuck up Miranda, you just admitted the video is real, not what you told me the other day that his girlfriend fabricated it! What the hell!”

“As you all can see, I don’t think it’s my environment, which is the issue,” I conclude the obvious. “I will also address your other accusation, that I would take illegal substances now with Tae with me. But first, I want to welcome some other guests…”

I send texts to DJ and her brother. The door to the left opens first, and my girlfriend comes in, followed by her ex.

“What the hell is going on?” Richard asks, looking around the room, but before anyone can answer, another door opens, and Marcus brings another man in, then backs away, shutting the door behind him.

“What the actual f…? Who are you, people? This isn’t a tailor!” The young blond guy looks most confused of all of us then sees me. “Jon? What are you doing here? I was going to be fitted for a new suit!”

“Mm, you may be, but a different sort of outfit than you thought. How about you take a seat?” I point to a chair he quietly takes. Richard Simmons, however, isn’t so amenable.

“DJ—why are Miranda and Ramsay here? You told me you had the ‘Zephyr’ for me! Why is your boyfriend here?”

“Oh, you mean the boyfriend you tried to blackmail me for. And the software I have been working on for years on? How about you shut the fuck up and sit down as well,” Dahlia tells him, and I couldn’t be happier by the look on his face. Well, I would if I could smash his face in.

“I didn’t blackmail you! What are you talking about?” he tries to deny it, but by the way sweat gathers on his brow, he is worried.

“Maybe you should have checked if I didn’t have a doorbell camera, you asshole,” DJ laughs at him. “And a sign on the wall clearly informing you were being recorded! Here we go everyone—on how to be an idiot!”

She goes to the laptop, and we can all observe her ex showing up at her door. As they never left the hallway, we see and hear everything he tries to show her, including the obvious extortion attempt.

He now has at least the good sense to look contrite.

“McMaster, what is this shitshow?” Lexington intervenes and surprises me with his next comment. “I thought we are here to talk about Tabitha, not do a whole ‘the butler did it’ scene. I don’t care about your girlfriend’s little scuffle with her ex or your company’s issues.” His bushy eyebrows impatiently go up and down, and he runs his hand over his bald head.

“Well Lexington, you probably do care about the people your wife hires for the firm with your name on it, so this does affect you. But you are right, that wasn’t just about Tae. It’s also about clearing mine and DJ’s names. That’s whyhe—I point at the young blond guy who is making himself small—is in the room. Here is another video you may find interesting.”

I put on the porch recording, where I refuse to smoke what the guy is offering, and everyone is silent at the end. Ramsay stares his wife down; Richard looks at the young man sitting in the corner with ire and nobody dares say a word. My lawyer is the one who speaks first.

“As you can see, my client not only didn’t have any drugs on him. Unless this fellow deceived him, which by the way, is an offense punishable by a prison sentence. This shows Jon has a long-term commitment to his sister. Combined with the videos of Mrs. Lexington’s behavior, it gives us sufficient cause to ask for full custody to be awarded to Mr. McMaster, and I am sure a judge will agree when we present our case. Jon and Tabitha are willing to allow Miranda and Ramsay to have the young lady over every other weekend, however, holiday arrangements can be made as well.”

Ramsay just shakes his head, looking around the room. Miranda is trying to find something to say to the decisive points Eph made, but can’t seem to articulate anything, just closes and opens her mouth a few times.

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