The Fashion of Love | Adult F/M Romance [COMPLETE]

ch. 45 - August

Sora woke up the next morning to a slew of text messages and a frantic shouting at her door. She stumbled down hastily, hoping to quiet her intruder before they woke Tommy.

She found her former stepson hopping frantically from foot to foot whilst tapping away at his iPad.

"Sam, what are you doing here?"

"You need to get dressed. We've got to get you online."

"What are you talking about? It's almost 4 in the morning."

"It's 7 on the East Coast. Don't just stand there, get dressed."

"No! Not until you tell me what's going on here."

"It's my dad. He called a 'no-confidence' vote for now."

Sora's world stopped.

"We won't have time to drive to Himura to stop him in person, but I can link you up for a teleconference from dad's old home office. Go get dressed, we don't have a second to lose."

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because...he's done enough. This is too much. He's got to stop this. The bad press will kill this company before anything else does."

Sora knew what that admissions must have cost him. Losing Anthony's regard, or worse, was tantamount giving up the family he'd yearned for all his life.

"I'll keep your name out of it."

Sam's grateful smile was blinding.

"Thanks."

Sora rushed into her bedroom to change from her nightclothes into a blouse and blazer. She opted not to change out of her pajama bottoms since they wouldn't be appear on camera. Sam was tapping away at her home computer when she returned to the study.

"The Board's calling in from around the country. You'll be another talking head on the screen, but they should all be able to see you and hear you." He pointed to the mounted webcam. "Direct your eyes here. If you have anything you want to say to me, pass me a note. I'll be right on the other side of the monitor, watching this whole thing go down."

"Can I borrow your phone, mine is charging."

He slid his iPhone across the polished desk.

Sora waivered on whether to let Ravi know what was going on. She didn't want to interrupt his quality time with Dhiren. They didn't see one another often enough to say he was home for summer. She delayed the decision by calling Tracy first.

There were five rings before the call clicked over to voicemail.

"You told me to call if Anthony tried it again. He's trying it now. You need to be here. Call Sam. He'll patch you in." Sora ended the call, spinning Sam's cell back to him.

"Don't stop calling her until you get an answer."

"I'm on it."

Sora tried to shake her nerves as her teleconference screen began to buffer. There were eight windows up, each boasting a name and location for each attending member of the Himura Board.

There are fifteen Board Members. Sixteen if Evelyn hasn't resigned. Why am I only seeing nine? Eight if one of these windows is Anthony. We do not have a quorum.

Sora pulled a note from her desk organizer to scribble a note, then pushed it toward Sam. He frowned, shaking his head.

No quorum.

She straightened her blouse and threw back her shoulders. She resonated Hana.

Sam threw up his hand to draw her eyes.