Page 42 of The Meeting
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Kailynn stared at herself in the mirror. She wore a black, knee-length skirt and a white blouse. Her shaky hands smoothed the fabric over her stomach. Today would decide what path her life would take. She took a deep breath and glanced at the clock. She was supposed to meet Chase in just a few minutes.
After she snatched her clutch off her bed, she took a deep breath and walked out the apartment door to find Chase just coming out of his apartment. He wore a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. He looked every bit as delicious as she could imagine.
But her waking up in his arms and seeing his bed head was a strong contender. She would take that over the suit and tie any day.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.
She had received a text from him an hour before asking the same thing, as if they hadn’t just spent the night together. His concern made her heart skip.
“Still a nervous wreck.”
He placed a hand on the small of her back and warmth engulfed her as they made their way toward his car.
“It’ll go great. I think everything will work in our favor as far as what you want. At this point, it’s more a matter of whether or not he’ll want to fight it.”
“I hope so. If this doesn’t work…”
His hand caught hers and gave it a squeeze.
“It will.”
“But what if it doesn’t?”
“What if it does?”
She gave him an appreciative smile. What if it does? She would have control over everything. She wouldn’t need to run anything by Drew, and she would know exactly where all the money went. Being in business with only herself sounded ideal, but also terrifying not to have someone else to rely on. It had seemed less scary having a partner, but now that she had been taken advantage of, she realized she should have never gone into business with him. It was a terrible idea and a huge mistake.
They drove over to the building where the mediation would take place. When they got out of the car this time, Chase kept his hands to himself. Her body yearned for his calming touch, even if it was innocent.
They were brought back to a conference room with a single window and a long table in the center of the room. Kailynn chose a chair toward the far end, and Chase sat next to her.
“Would you like anything to drink?” Donna, the secretary of the mediator’s office, asked.
“Water would be wonderful,” Chase said. Kailynn nodded her agreement.
When the door shut behind her, Kailynn let out a shaky breath. Her heart already thundered in her chest and nothing had happened yet. Chase’s hand rested on hers, sending lightning bolts through her.
“Are you hanging in there?”
Her head bobbed up and down, but her leg shaking uncontrollably contradicted it. “I’m not looking forward to seeing him.”
“Just remember that we have the upper hand. He took money from the company. That will work to your advantage.”
She nodded. She knew they had the advantage, and she felt pretty decent about her odds of owing Drew very little money, if any. But seeing him was another story. She hadn’t seen him since the day she walked out of their office, and she had avoided contact with him since the lawyers had been handling it.
The door opened again and Drew walked in with a leggy blonde with gorgeous, wavy hair wearing a tight pink dress. Kailynn immediately recognized her from her Facebook profile when she had cyber stalked her name: Sheila Cale. The picture didn’t do Sheila justice. She was stunning. Kailynn was suddenly self-conscious of the business attire she wore, knowing she couldn’t compete with that. Another woman followed in after them wearing a business suit, presumably Drew’s lawyer. Jessica was nowhere to be found, giving Kailynn a small ray of hope that she hadn’t been sleeping with Drew as well.
They all sat down at the table across from Kailynn and Chase. Sheila held out a perfectly manicured hand. “You must be Kailynn. I recognize you from the photos.”
Kailynn’s eyebrows shot up. The photos? What photos? It was possible that Sheila had cyber stalked her as well, but the thought that she could be referring to the photos in their apartment made her skin crawl. Was the bastard cheating on her in her own apartment? Intheirbed?
Kailynn ignored her hand and instead glanced at Chase. His eyes were darker than normal and he had a glare set on his face.
Drew only smiled at the exchange. “Hi Kailynn. It’s nice to see you again.”
Kailynn smirked. “Wish I could say the same.”
