The next morning, Georgia sat in her office as she prepared for Trey to arrive later that morning. She wasn't sure what there was to discuss, but she'd do her best to treat him like any other possible employee.
She dug into her purse and felt a piece of paper. She pulled it out and found the phone number that Phil wanted her to give to Lalie.
She pushed her chair out and left her office. She found Lalie sitting at her desk and walked up to her. "Hi, Lalie."
Lalie seemed to jump as Georgia greeted her. "Hi, Georgia!" Lalie exclaimed in a flustered tone.
"Where did you and Kevin go last night after you left Frederick's?" Georgia wanted to know.
"Where didn't we go, would be the better question," Lalie replied, sounding distressed. "It seemed like he was trying anything to make sure I wasn't thinking about-" she stopped abruptly.
Georgia noticed Lalie's abrupt halt. "Who, Lalie?"
"An old friend," Lalie replied. "It kind of made me question how much trust he has in me," she whispered.
"If an old friend came to visit, then why should that cause a rift between you two?" Georgia wanted to know.
Lalie sighed. "It wasn't just any friend."
"I see," Georgia replied, unfolding the piece of paper and handing it to her. "Is that your 'old friend'?"
Lalie looked at the paper for a moment. "Where did you get this?"
"From Phil," Georgia let her know. "He said you'd want to call him," she informed him. "Do you?"
Lalie folded the paper and put it in her pocket. "If I remember to take that paper out of my pocket before I wash these pants tonight, then... yes, I probably will call that number."
"I'm sure he'll be pleased," Georgia replied. "I have to get back to my office. See you later!"
Lalie watched as Georgia began to head back to her office. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the paper, trying to flatten any creases in it. She let out a breath as she saw the phone number with his name signed on the bottom, and then looked over to her desk to find her phone waiting for her.
Georgia turned the doorknob to head back inside her office. She let out a horrified gasp, as she entered her office.
Trey stood in front of the mirror in his hotel room straightening out his tie. 'With any luck, Georgia will be smart and give me that job,' Trey told himself. 'Otherwise, her family, as she knows it, will be changed forever.'
Trey winked at himself in the mirror, as a knock on the door interrupted him from doing that.
Trey opened the door and found Phil standing on the other side of the door. "Phillip, I'm getting ready for that meeting now."
Phil ignored what he said and made his way into the hotel room. "I hope I didn't make a mistake by giving Georgia that phone number."
"Why would you think that?" Trey asked him. "You have to be aggressive to get what you want," Trey paused for a moment. "What is it that you want, exactly?"
"Worry about your meeting," Phil advised him, not answering his question. "You have to stay focused if you want Georgia to give you that job."
"She will," Trey confidently replied. "She'll be sorry if she doesn't," he muttered.
"What do you plan on doing, Trey?" Phil wanted to know.
Trey turned around and made eye contact with him. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked, as he began to laugh.
Phil squinted his eyes, unsure of what to think of his plans. He was about to reply but then his cell phone rang. "I should take this," Phil told him, thinking it could be Lalie.
"I have to go, anyway," Trey replied.
Phil nodded as he watched Trey leave the room. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open. "Hello?" he asked in an eager tone.
Lalie briefly closed her eyes, hearing Phil's voice on the other end of her phone line. "Georgia gave me the phone number."
"When?" Phil asked.
"Just now," Lalie replied.
"Couldn't stay away, eh?" Phil asked her.
Lalie raised an eyebrow. "If you'd like to think that," Lalie muttered.
"Did you get a lecture from your husband last night?" Phil wanted to know. Lalie widened her eyes. "He's not... my husband."
"He was sure acting like it," Phil replied. "The way he threw your past in your face like that."
Lalie seemed upset as he reminded her about that. "I didn't really appreciate that."
"Let's meet somewhere in private so we don't have to worry about him finding us," Phil suggested.
"Phil!" Lalie yelled in a whisper.
"Great!" Phil exclaimed.
"I didn't say, 'yes'!" Lalie told him.
"Yes, you did," Phil let her know. "You're just afraid to say it."
Lalie paused for a few seconds, not sure how to reply to that. "If so, I don't see where we could privately meet."
"I'm sure we can think of something," Phil replied. "Let me call you tonight. What's your number?"
"No, I'll call you," Lalie told him. "Talk to you later," she nervously said, as Kevin walked out of his office. She hung up the phone, and took out a pen, pretending to write something on a paper.
"Who was that?" Kevin wanted to know.
Lalie looked up at Kevin with an uncertain look on her face.
Phil clicked his phone shut and shoved it back in his pocket. "I bet Kevin was there," Phil muttered. "It'll only be a matter of time before Lalie realizes who truly understands her."
Georgia placed her hand over her heart, as she tried to catch her breath upon seeing Rachel outside the window.
She let out a light laugh of relief, as she walked over to the window and opened it.
"Didn't mean to startle you!" Rachel apologized.
"It's okay!" Georgia yelled out. "It's just not everyday that I see someone outside my window."
"I do have a job to do!" Rachel reminded her.
"I think you missed a spot!" Georgia let her know.
"Oh, did I?" Rachel asked her. "Well, I'll take care of that, don't worry!"
"Talking to people outside your window, are we?" a voice came up from behind Georgia.
"Trey," Georgia acknowledged, as she turned around, looking embarrassed. "I was just... well... she missed a spot!"
"That's so tragic," Trey commented, as he reached into his briefcase. "Should we talk about why I'm here?"
"I don't even know why you're here, Trey!" Georgia exclaimed, sitting down at her desk. "Why don't you fill me in?"
"Well, I-" Trey began, as he looked toward the window with uneasiness. "Do we always have an outside audience?"
Georgia turned around and waved at Rachel. "Oh, don't mind her," Georgia assured him. "She's just the window washer."
"Well?" Kevin wanted to know, as he stood over her desk. "Who was that on the phone?"
Lalie looked down at her paper, and held it up. "It was just someone calling for business reasons. Who else would it be?"
"Is there anything that I should be aware of?" Kevin asked.
"Aware of?" Lalie repeated in question form. "That call had nothing to do with you."
Kevin accepted that. "We had fun last night, didn't we?" he asked. "We should go for a long drive tonight... get away from here."
"I can't go tonight, Kevin," Lalie replied, as she shook her head.
Georgia folded her hands and looked at Trey as she asked the last question of the interview. "Now, if I should hire you, what could you bring to this office?"
"My smile isn't enough, I take it?" Trey shrugged. "Well, I think I could bring about a great deal of honesty and integrity in my work... and you know all of this, Georgia!"
"You're right, I do," Georgia replied, as she closed his folder and handed it back to him.
Trey smiled as he put the folder back in his briefcase. "When do I start?"
"You don't," Georgia replied.
Trey's smile turned into a frown as Georgia leaned back into her chair. "After I just proved what an asset I'd be to this office, you turn me down?"
"You wouldn't be satisfied being an office worker, Trey," Georgia began, as she leaned forward in her chair. "Once you'd start, you'd think that we were business partners again and that just isn't happening."
"I could-" Trey began.
"No," Georgia cut him off. "Someone who could steal money from a company and then fly halfway across the country to try and manipulate their way back into a partnership is pretty brazen, I must say."
"I'm not manipulating anybody!" Trey exclaimed.
"Get out, Trey," Georgia ordered. "I'll see to it that you're on the next plane back home."
"If you do that," Trey began, as he stood up and fixed his suit jacket. "Then, you'd be making a very big mistake."
Lalie sighed, as she stood up and headed over to the copy machine. "I just hope you understand. Any other night would be fine."
"I don't understand," Kevin began, following her over. "Why not tonight?"
"There is somewhere that I need to be," Lalie replied.
"Where?" Kevin wanted to know.
Lalie turned around, looking a little angry. "Somewhere."
"Since we're engaged, I thought we could open about our plans," Kevin explained. "Why can't you tell me why you are turning me down?"
"It's a little embarrassing so that's why I don't want to say," Lalie whispered, running her fingers through her hair.
"Is it serious?" Kevin asked.
"All these questions are sure making it seem like you don't trust me for some reason," Lalie accused, as she pointed to the copy machine. "Make sure those copies come out of that machine," she finished, as she walked away.
Georgia looked at Trey with surprise as she made her way around the desk to face him. "A mistake?" Georgia asked. "Are you questioning my judgment?"
"I'm not questioning anything," Trey let her know. "I'm just informing you that it would not be in your best interest to turn me down."
"Because you're just so wonderful, right?" Georgia sarcastically asked. "Agreeing to this meeting was a mistake, yes, but turning you down? Not a mistake, not one bit."
"See, you don't know what I know," Trey told her. "If you did, you would reconsider in a heartbeat."
"I'll be the judge of that," Georgia replied in a serious tone. "Tell me what you know."
"It has to do with your family," Trey vaguely replied. "You don't want your family name to be ruined, do you?" he asked her. "That's exactly what will happen if I walk out of this office unemployed."
Georgia took a step back, as she gave him a frightened and enraged look. "I should have known you didn't come here on honest terms," Georgia angrily scolded herself. "What the hell do you know about my family?"
"I can't divulge right now," Trey replied with a grin. "You'll never be the same after you find out... but then again, you won't have to find out, if you make us a partner again."
Georgia ran up to him and grabbed him by his collar. "The hell I will," she told him.
Trey unlocked her hands from his collar and set them back down at her sides. "I'll give you twenty-four hours to think about this, if you reach a decision that I don't approve of, then I will let you... and everyone else, in on the secret."
"Then, you listen to this," Georgia hissed. "You tell me what you 'know' first, or else I'll send a formal letter to every company that you try and get employment with in the future, and tell them how you pocketed corporate money from us."
"That won't be necessary," Trey told her. "You will change your mind, and when you do... perhaps, I'll consider telling you... I'll be in touch tomorrow."
"You're bluffing!" Georgia shouted.
Trey laughed, obviously knowing something to contradict the bluffing comment. "Believe me, I'm not."
Georgia angrily watched as Trey headed to the door to leave. He bumped into Lalie as she was trying to enter Georgia's office, and he was trying to exit.
Georgia fixed her earring as she weakly walked back over to her desk, Lalie followed her and sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.
"I think it's almost over," Lalie vaguely muttered, a few tears in her eyes.
Georgia took in Lalie's statement before replying. "I think it's over for me, too."
Chapter 6
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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