“Get Tony Troy on the phone,” he said to Ally. Then he turned his attention back to me. “I’ll see what I can do, but everyone’s pissed. I’m actually your best friend right now, whether you know it or not.”
“I’ll go public, and I’ll make a statement if you want, but the first thing I need to do is find her.”
Ally gave me a sympathetic look. “You should try her hotel, but I’d hurry. I think she lost her job. The department head from her school called to apologize, and he assured me that measures had been taken.”
“This is so fucked up.” I had to do something. I had never intended for Kate’s life to be ruined by all of this. And I couldn’t help but feel like it was all my fault.
“I’ll talk to the producers, but they ordered me to let her go anyway. If I bring her back, you’re going to have to explain this to them.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“I need you for takes later. Are you up for it?”
“No, not today. I’m taking the day off for personal reasons. You owe me this much.” I walked out, knowing I had to get to Kate’s hotel room. I had to make everything all right.
Nothing mattered until everything was okay between us. She was everything to me, and I was ready to shout it to the world if I had to.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kate
It didn’t take me any time to leave my hotel room because I really hadn’t unpacked, and after an exhausting commute back to my office at the university, I was too tired to clean out my office. But I had managed to do one thing, and that was leave my phone behind on my desk. By the time I noticed, it was too late to go up and get it, so I had been waiting all night to see if Jake had tried to reach out.
The next day, I went in early, and on my way, I was met by Kenneth O’Connor, who stood outside my door.
“I’m just coming to clear things out,” I said, taking out my keys that I would no doubt have to turn in. “I was just too tired yesterday.”
“It’s okay. I’ve actually come to tell you that I’ve talked to Ashton Gilfoyle, and well, we’ve reconsidered letting you go.”
I was elated and confused as I unlocked the door. “Not that I want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why?”
He gave me a wide-eyed look. “Oh, I was under the impression that you knew.”
“Knew what?” I opened the door and walked in to turn on the light.
“That Mr. Storm had gone to bat for you. His generous donation also helped to save our department.”
“You mean he paid the school off, and now you want to rehire me?” What kind of dream was this?
Kenneth nodded. “Well, he explained that you and he have a long history and that Arthur Scott was just trying to start gossip. He assured me that he’s going to make it right, and considering he is a man of great reputation, well, I’m inclined to give him a chance to do just that.”
“I see.” I didn’t know how to feel about Jake paying off the department, but I wasn’t going to react until I talked to him myself. “Thank you. And I appreciate your reconsideration.”
Kenneth patted me on the arm. “Again, I’m really sorry that I allowed my judgment of you to be clouded by salacious gossip. I assure you it will not happen again.”
As he walked away, I breathed a sigh of relief, but part of me wasn’t sure I wanted a job that someone had to pay for. Would his explanation have been enough? Or had he made the contribution to convince them? I still wasn’t sure what was going on, but I had gone the entire night without my phone, and I was eager to see if he had even tried to call.
Maybe this was his way of saying goodbye. He couldn’t stand to leave me ruined and alone.
I went to sit behind my desk and found my phone just where I thought it was, but the battery had died sometime in the night. I plugged it in, turned it on, and waited for the screen to light up.
Just as I could see there were several missed calls, I heard a soft knock on the door. When I looked up, Jake was standing in the doorway. “Kate,” he said. “I thought since you were avoiding my calls, I better come and see you face to face.”
“I wasn’t avoiding you. I left my phone in my office last night.” I couldn’t believe he had come all that way.
His shoulders slumped as he let out a long breath. “That’s a relief. I thought you were angry with me.”