Tyrese appeared at the control room door on Wednesday morning. "I'm scheduled to work today. That cool? Or you still want Jared?" he snarled.
"Yeah," I waved Tyrese in.
After the confrontation with Callie on Monday, I'd changed the schedule back. Since Jared had decided not to see Callie anymore, there was no reason to continue punishing him. It wasn't his fault after all. It was hers.
Tyrese slumped down in his chair and started to boot up the computers. I felt like I should say something, ease the tension.
"Look, it was never nothing personal. I had some problems with a bitch. Lost my head for a bit. But I'm over it," I said. "You know what I'm saying?"
Tyrese turned and glared at me. "Some bitch?"
"Yeah. You know how it is," I shrugged. "Hey I heard you and Ayesha split. Sorry man."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Tyrese yelled, his fists clenched.
Why was he getting angry? I was apologizing!
"Yo, chill dawg!" I said. "I'm tryin' apologize for messing with schedule!"
"Oh. Right," Tyrese muttered.
With a nod, he turned back to the soundboard and queued up some beats. I stared at him. This breakup must really be stressing him out. I'd never seen him so quick to anger.
Twirling in my chair, I zipped up my hoodie. It was cold in here this morning. Callie would love it, since I'd accused her of living in an igloo on more than one occasion. She said it was an excuse for me to keep her warm. Like I needed an excuse. I rose to adjust the thermostat. Then Tyrese and I got to work, falling into an uneasy rhythm.
A couple hours later Paul texted, asking to see me in his office. I told Tyrese I'd be back soon and headed upstairs.
Walking in, I flopped down on the chair across from his desk. "What's up?"
"The electronic trap is ready. As soon as he tries to leak something again, we've got him."
"So the mousetrap is ready. Now we wait for it to get sprung? Cool," I said, raising an eyebrow. "Any reason you couldn't have told me this over the phone?"
"No. But I wanted to ask you about this," Paul said, picking up a piece of paper. "I got a letter from Callie Walker today advising she will no longer work with the Marshall Mathers Foundation. Another lawyer from the firm will take over. Do you know anything about this?"
"What the fuck?" I asked, stunned. "She quit?"
"Yeah. It's too bad, she was excellent," Paul frowned. "Did Royce say anything to you about Callie having problems?"
"No," I said, looking away.
"Alright. I'll speak to him. Hopefully he knows why she quit and we can get her back."
"First priority is the rat bastard. Let's find him, then worry about her," I said, before hurrying out and down the hall to my own office.
I slammed the door and began pacing back and forth. Why the fuck did she quit? What the hell was she thinking? This complicated everything.
And if Royce ran his mouth about the scene I'd had with Callie at Heaven Studio...Paul would be pissed and demand to know what was going on.
What a mess! I didn't fucking need this shit. Why was Callie ruining everything? I wanted to shake the woman until she agreed to return. Bottom line, Callie had to come back. Both to work and me.
Glancing at my watch, I saw it was a little before noon. I was furious and wanted to sort this out now. Enough screwing around. Walking to my desk, I called my assistant and asked for the address to Callie's law firm. Scribbling down the information I thanked her and said I was heading out to take care of something.
A young woman named Gemma introduced herself as Callie's assistant and led me through a maze of offices. Gemma knocked on the open door. "Callie, Mr. Mathers here to see you."
Gemma waved me into the office as Callie looked up. Walking in, I settled in the chair across from her. Barely containing my anger, I waited for the assistant to leave.
"Close the door please Gemma," Callie said as she moved a half eaten sandwich to the side. Gemma nodded, closing the door behind her.
"What the fuck did you do?" I started in.
"I'm guessing this is about my passing the Foundation file to another lawyer," Callie said, folding her hands on the desk.
"Why'd you quit?" I demanded.
"You know why," Callie said.
"Look, I wouldn't really have fired you. I just wanted you back!"
"Why?" Callie asked, tilting her head to the side.
"What?"
"Why do you want me back?"
I didn't know what to say and waved my hand impatiently. "The sex is good."
"As you pointed out Marshall, there's plenty of sluts begging for your dick. Go fuck one of them," Callie said. "I'm sure some are very good in bed."
"No," I shook my head. "I want you."
"Why?" Callie asked again.
I stared at her, unsure what to say. She was right. There were lots of sluts good at fucking I could have. But ... I wanted Callie. It didn't matter why.
"What do you want from me?" I asked frustrated.
"Nothing," Callie said. "Absolutely nothing."
"Then why can't things go back to the way they were?" I said.
"Because you wouldn't see past your narrow views and I deserve more."
"You want nothing from me because you deserve more?" I repeated, trying to make sense of what she'd said. "What the fuck?"
"It's over Marshall. Move on," Callie said, looking down at her hands.
"No!" I snapped, glancing around the office. "I could still ruin you here. Bet Dickwad would love the story of how we met."
"I'm sure you guys would get along great, now that you're just like him," Callie said.
My mouth fell open. "How - how can you say that? I'm nothing like that sick fuck!"
That she'd compare me to that douchebag hurt deeply. He'd drugged her, planned on raping her! I'd never hurt Callie. And I'd never rape anyone. She had to know that.
"You're using your position of power to elicit sex. Same as him," Callie shrugged.
What was she talking about? She'd slept with me willingly. After which, all I'd done was apply some pressure to keep her with me. She'd said it was hot, a turn on.
"No! It's not the same at all. You slept with me, at the hotel. You wanted to have sex with me! We had an arrangement!"
"That was true before. But not anymore Marshall," Callie shook her head.
She didn't want me anymore. Panic and lost shot through my heart as my mouth went dry. Threatening her had resulted in her quitting to avoid me. Shit. I'd taken this too far.
"What changed?" I asked.
"Your view of women, your view of me in particular, isn't one I can live with," Callie said.
"You want me to say you're not a slut? Is that what this is about?" I asked. "Fine. You're not a slut."
Callie looked away. "You don't understand."
"No, I don't. So, explain it to me."
"You based everything about me on one action and nothing else mattered. But what if you were wrong?"
I didn't know what to say, so I remained silent.
Callie sighed. "It doesn't matter. Not anymore. I think you should leave."
"Callie ..." I said, leaning forward. I wanted to make this right, but didn't have the foggiest idea how.
"No. Please, just go."
She turned back to the papers on her desk. I didn't know what else to do, so after a moment, I rose and left.
I spent a restless night at home, replaying what Callie had said - you based everything on one action, but what if you're wrong? Wrong about her? She'd said something similar when I'd accused Jared of being the leak. Wrong about Jared? I felt like I was wrong about everything lately.
Things had been more stressful than usual lately – breaking up with Nat, the leaking sabotage, and the new album deadline. Callie had been a way to relax, let off steam. If that was over now, if she had become another source of stress, it was better to cut ties and move on. That's even what she'd told me to do – move on, find another slut.
So what was my problem?
Near midnight my phone dinged and I snatched it up, hoping it was Callie. Instead it was Paul.
P: We caught the rat bastard.
The next morning, I sat beside Paul in the conference room. It was difficult to resist the urge to leap across the table and wrap my hands around his neck.
Paul explained the purpose of the meeting was to investigate him of leaking proprietary material without proper authorization. If there weren't substantial reasons for his actions, he would be fired, turned over to the authorities and charged.
"Anything you'd like to say?" Paul asked.
Tyrese shrugged. "Not like it's gonna matter. You've obviously made up your minds."
"Why?" I asked. That's really all I wanted to know. "Why'd you do it?"
He stared at me for a moment, the hatred plain on his face. "Man, you have so much you can throw it away without a second thought. Not like the rest of us."
"What are you talking about? What did I throw away?"
"Not what, motherfucker. Who," Tyrese snarled. "She didn't deserve what you put her through. Before dumping her like trash."
I sat back, confused, then angry. What did Callie have to do with this? With him? Had she dated Tyrese too?
Leaning forward I spread my hands flat on the table, voice hard. "What business is that of yours?"
Tyrese rested his forearms on the table, glaring at me. "I care about her. More than you ever did!"
"You don't know shit about how I feel!" I yelled, banging my fist on the table. No fucking way he cared more about Callie than I did.
"I know you turned your back on a good woman and her kids," Tyrese spat.
My mind raced. What the hell was he talking about? Callie didn't have kids. But Nat did. Oh fuck. He was talking about Natalie, not Callie.
I didn't realize Tyrese knew Nat. But it's possible they'd met at various events over the years. But that didn't explain his hostility towards me. Except he said he cared about her ...
Remembering the cheating photos Nat had sent, I scanned Tyrese's hands on the table. There on his finger was an ace of spades tattoo. Black ink on black skin, it wasn't obvious unless you were looking for it. Nat had been fucking my employee behind my back, for who knows how long.
Feeling calmer now that I knew what the deal was, I sat back. In fact, Tyrese was welcome to the cheating whore.
"Who's idea was it to leak the songs? Yours or Nat's?" I asked, feeling Paul start beside me.
"All mine," he said proudly. "Nat's got something else planned for you."
"What?" Paul asked.
"You got no idea what's coming motherfucker," Tyrese laughed. "And you deserve it."
"You're fired," I said to Tyrese before turning to Paul "Get him out of here."
Collecting my backpack from the office, I stopped to tell my assistant I was leaving for the day and could be reached at home. But there was something I needed to do first.
I knocked lightly and opened the door to the control room, causing the artist to look up. "Hey. Mind taking a break? I need to speak with Jared."
The artist nodded and rose. Jared's gaze was fixed on the sound controls. The door clicked close as I leaned against the wall.
"Am I fired?" Jared asked, not looking up.
"What? No!"
Shit. I really made a mess of things. Sighing I rubbed at my forehead.
"I came to apologize. I suspected you of the recent song leaks because ... Well because. And I know now it wasn't you. I'm sorry."
"Because of Callie?" Jared asked. "You suspected me because of Callie?"
I swallowed hard. "Yeah."
Jared looked at me for the first time. "I don't know what happened. But she never wanted to be with me, you know. Not really. Someone already had her heart. Based on how you reacted, I figured it was you."
"It's ... complicated."
He seemed to be thinking about that, as I adjusted my backpack, preparing to leave. I'd said what I came to say.
"No, it's simple," Jared said. "You're making it hard."
"Excuse me?"
"If you really want to be with someone, you don't let anything stand in the way."
"I ... I messed up," I admitted, staring at the floor, unable to meet his eyes.
"Then do whatever you need to do and fix it. A woman like that doesn't come around often," Jared gave an uncomfortable laugh and looked away. "That's my advice anyway. Not that you asked."
"Thanks," I said.
"Uh, if I still have a job, I'll see you tomorrow?"
I nodded. "See you tomorrow."
