Losing Pieces of Me (13 page)

Chapter Twenty

   “You look fine, Mireya, stop worrying so much.  Just be yourself and everything will be perfectly fine,” he says as he smiles down at me.

   We are standing outside his office right now, the place where I stalked him for days.  Someday I’m going to have to tell him the truth about how we met up that day we ran into one another.  I don’t know if he would ever look at me the same knowing that I stalked him like a crazy person so I could get closer to him.  If someone told me I would be in married and in love with Jayden, I wouldn’t have believed them.

   I smooth my hands down the front of my black slacks and make sure my purple blouse is still in perfect condition.  I look like a million dollars, but right now I feel anything but that way.  I’m scared they’re going to take the company from him and he’s going to lose everything.  He will be devastated if he loses his business and I don’t know if our new found relationship would survive a loss that catastrophic.

   I look up at him and smile as he stares back down at me.  Today his blonde hair is slicked back and he’s wearing an expensive charcoal gray suit and new shiny black shoes.  He looks like the billionaire I first met.  Dressed like this, he’s not the man I’ve come to know and love, he’s in his element here and that just further makes me falter on us making this work.  He’s not the simple guy I’ve come to know and love,
this
is Jayden Leopold.  Businessman, leader, CEO.  He belongs with someone like Vanessa that can look and act like they belong here.

   I don’t dare tell him what’s going through my mind right now.  The last thing he needs is my insecurities to drag him down on a day like today.  He needs me to remain intact and in one piece or everything will fall apart.

   “I’m ready,” I tell him, putting on a brave face and nodding once as I turn to stare at the building before me.

   Today, it’s empty, there aren’t hundreds of people running to and from the building trying to keep meeting dates and deadlines.  There are only board members here and myself, Jayden’s new wife.

   Stepping out of the elevator and into his office for the first time, I stop to have a look around the luxurious space before I follow behind him and towards the boardroom.  The second he opens the door and steps through, everyone stands to greet him.  This is the first time I get my first real look at the board in investors and directors that control Jayden’s future fate.

   I flinch when I notice that not only are Hayden and his mother here, but Vanessa and Francisco are here as well.  Shit, now standing there with his fresh suit, Francisco looks just as powerful as Hayden and Jayden do.  Now I see why Jayden said I need to stay away from him.  Standing here today and watching him move around the room, I know I’m going to stay the hell away from him at all costs.

   “Welcome everyone be seated,” commands an older gentleman.  His suit doesn’t look as nice as Jayden’s but he looks just as powerful as he does.  When everyone is seated, he continues, “We’re here today to determine if Jayden is in the right state of mind to continue to run this company.”

   “We’ll open with arguments against why Jayden should remain CEO and then we’ll hear from Jayden himself and anyone he wishes to speak on his behalf,” says the older man as he gestures to Hayden across the room and seats himself in his chair.

   The second Hayden stands from his chair and adjusts his tie, I hate him even more than I did before this moment.  He looks so sure of himself that he’s going to get rid of Jayden.  Not if I get my way he won’t.

   “While my brother has run this company successfully for the past few years, you should all be aware that my brother has not made wise business decisions.  He’s made several trips down to Seattle on the company's dime all so he could find women to occupy his time with,” to my horror he throws down a pile of photos of Jayden embracing different women. My eyes fly up to meet his and he looks ashamed of his past behavior.

   “You see board, he’s not stable enough to remain in power.  He’s making business decisions that are impacting the company and he can’t keep himself away from women long enough to get any real work done.  Just ask Ms. Toleo, he even dropped her without notice so he could run off with another woman,” he looks pointedly in my direction and I force myself to remain strong and not remove my gaze from his.  He thinks he’s going to intimidate me, well that’s not going to work.

   “Is that all, Hayden?” asks the old man as he stands from his seat.

   “Yes Carl, that’s it,” he says as he seats himself back down in his chair.

   Several people take their turn standing up and giving their reasons as to why they think that Jayden should be forced to step down as CEO, all of which state similar things, that they all think he’s unstable and that our marriage is a sham.  So this is why he said we needed to be prepared, I haven’t even spoken a single word and they already don’t believe our marriage is the real deal.  Maybe at first it wasn’t, but now it is.

   Then comes the worst testimony of all.  I always thought that Vanessa was on Jayden’s side, but now that the time comes for her to really step up and be there for him, she’s completely turned against him.

   “Mr. Leopold is unstable,” she states without hesitation.  I sit back in my chair and withhold the eye roll.  This is the same crap we’ve been listening to for almost an hour now, she can’t possibly have anything else to say at this point that we haven’t already heard.  “Just the other day, he was telling me how he was bored of his wife and wanted to come over for some real fun.  She can’t even satisfy him and they just got married, the fact that he called me and asked me if he could come over proves that he hasn’t changed his ways at all.  In fact, he wants to come back to me, he begged me to take him back.”

   I try to hide my mortification, she has to be talking about that night on the beach, he was on the phone right as we were leaving to return home.  My eyes meet Jayden’s and I let the hurt I feel pour out of me as I beg him to deny it.  Obviously, since Vanessa is still talking, he can’t interrupt, but he can give me some sort of sign that she’s lying, right?

   Only he’s not looking at me, he’s too busy shooting daggers over in Vanessa’s direction.  When I hear a throat clearing, I realize everyone in the room is staring at me.

   “I’m sorry Carl, did you say something?” I ask in chagrin.

    “I said your time has come if you would like to speak on behalf of your husband, if not, we are ready to vote,” he states.  I look around the room and everyone looks like their minds are already made up, they’ve already decided to take the company from Jayden and only my testimony will have any shot at getting them to change their decision.  I look over at Jayden one last time, preparing myself to stand and tell them I have nothing further to add.  But when I stand and look in his direction he’s smiling at me sweetly and mouths, ‘I love you’, in my direction making my decision for me.  Vanessa is trying to turn me against Jayden.  Jayden said that was the best night of his life, so she has to be lying.

   “Do I think Jayden is stable enough to run this company?  Yes, I do.  When I cry he comforts me, when I’ve needed a friend, he’s been there for me, and he treats me like I am the most important thing in the world to him,” I stop talking and smile over at him before turning my attention back to the board.

   “I believe that Jayden treats every single one of his clients the way he treats those closest to him, with love and respect.  I may not have been married to him for very long, but I can tell you that he treats every single person close to him with care and compassion.”

   A cough and giggle across the table stop me as I glare over in the direction of Hayden and Vanessa, they think this is all a joke.  But as I turn my attention towards his mother, I see tears in her eyes as she offers me a watery smile.

   “I love Jayden more than anything else on the planet.  I don’t care how many photos of this man you show me, I know the real person, the one in here,” I touch my hand to my heart as I speak.  “He’s the best person to run this company and if you can’t see that, then you are all a bunch of fools.”

   I get several claps from people seated at the table before I take my seat once more and wait for what is to happen next.

   I don’t wait long as Carl stands from his seat and moves to the front of the room so he can address everyone.

   “Has everyone made their decision?” he asks clapping his hands twice so everyone will stop talking.

   There are several people that respond yes.  Here is where I will learn his fate, but I know that no matter what, whether he loses his company today or gets to keep it, we’ll get through this together.  If he’s willing to have me, I’ll never leave his side.

   “All right, let us begin.  As you know Jayden, you are allowed to vote, however your wife is not since she is not officially a member of the board,” he says as he gestures in my direction.  Crap, I didn’t even think to ask him if I could join the board, that would’ve given us two votes for him to remain in power.  He puts his head down when Carl says this and I know he’s realized the same thing I have.

   Everyone votes starting with Jayden and as we move around the table, I start to get hopeful that Jayden might just stay in power.  There are a total of eleven people voting here today including Carl and right now things are going great.  That is until we get to the three people that want to destroy Jayden more than anything.  All three; Vanessa, Hayden, and Francisco vote no, followed by the two people seated next to them.  Now the vote is five for him to remain in power and five for him to step down.  The last vote is up to Carl and I’m not very hopeful that he’ll vote in Jayden’s favor.

   Carl clears his voice when it’s his turn to speak, “I’ve been doubtful of Jayden’s intentions towards this company for a long time, you all know this, that is why I told him that he needed to prove he was stable enough to continue to do this.  But, I wanted more than that, I wanted Jayden to learn compassion and understanding towards other people.  I wanted for him to change the person he’s been for such a long time.  Then he brings Mireya here,” he pauses to look in my direction.  “I’ve had my doubts about your marriage since it was announced to us, but now that I’ve met you and seen the positive changes in Jayden over the past two months in addition to the way you speak of him, I have to say that my mind has been changed.”

   There are several startled gasps that arise in the room, but Carl holds his hands up for quiet, “This is my decision, I’ve decided for the time being, Jayden will remain in power instead of the company moving to Hayden’s control.  He’s shown me how much he loves his company and the people in it, so things will remain the way they are.  Not to mention in the process, he’s managed to find what so few of us are able to find, true love.  Cherish her Jayden, she’s a real keeper.”

   I stand from my chair to go and embrace him, but his mother beats me there and throws her arms around him.  I was surprised she voted in his favor, she seemed to not like the choices he was making the last time I saw her.

   Everyone is crowding him now and I’m starting to feel out of place as the three people who hate Jayden the most shoot daggers at me from across the table.  I decide to go and use the bathroom as I wait for Jayden to be done talking to everyone.

   I step out of the glass doors and head towards the bathroom across the hall, but I don’t get more than five feet before Vanessa’s voice stops me dead in my tracks.

   “You may have won for now, but Jayden will come back to me, he always does, and someone like you is never going to be able to keep a man like him satisfied.  Just because he gets to keep the company for now doesn’t mean that we won’t find some way to bring him down when the opportunity presents itself,” she says stepping right up in my face as she talks.

   When the door to the boardroom closes behind her, she steps around me and heads out towards the elevator.  I turn to watch her go, enjoying her defeat as she leaves the building.

   Clapping behind me has me turning back to the boardroom.  Hayden is standing there leering at me.  “Bravo, I must say you are good Mireya.  Almost as good as your sister,” he declares as he takes several menacing steps in my direction.

   “Where is Katrina, Hayden?  What have you done to her?” I cry as I fight to control the tremors moving through my body.

   “Don’t worry about her for now, I’d be more worried about your position at Jayden’s side if I were you.”

   “What do you mean by that?” I ask as I watch him slowly circle me.

   “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about our family.  Things that will rip your world apart, Mireya.   You see, your sister was only the beginning of the plot we’ve been planning to execute for years now.  Now I have the leverage to get you to agree to whatever I want,” he states as he steps right up into my face.

   I hold stock still as he leans right up in my face and tilts his head to the side as he sniffs me.  I want to gag so badly right now, but I’m not sure what will happen if I do that.

   “You see, if you don’t follow whatever I say right now, your sister will die,” he declares as he bites my ear.  “She will die a slow and evil death.”

   “There’s nothing you can say or do that would make me agree to it,” I tell him flinching away from him.

   “What’s going on here?” Jayden asks, stepping up to us and dragging Hayden away from me.  I breathe out my first sigh of relief as my husband comes to save me.