The Platinum Reunion Read online

  Jake had checked his voice messages and emails throughout the weekend to see if Rick had responded to his call, but he hadn’t heard back from him. After he’d arrived to work, Jake waited until noon to phone Rick again.

  “Good afternoon, Climent Partners,” a female voice answered on the other end of the line.

  “Hi. Good afternoon. This is Jake Doyle. I believe I might’ve spoken to you last week—”

  “Oh, yes. Hi, Jake. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, and you?”

  “I’m doing great. Thanks for asking.”

  “I haven’t heard back from Rick, and thought I’d try reaching him again. I don’t mean to come across as pushy, but it’s kind of urgent, and I was hoping to speak with him as soon as possible.”

  “Well, I did pass along your message. He’s not in the office right now, but I’ll be sure to let him know that you called again and that it’s urgent.”

  “Uh…okay. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Bye for now.”

  “Bye, Jake.”

  Jake felt tempted to ask her if he should try calling Rick on his cell phone. However, he didn’t ask the question, thinking that the assistant likely would’ve given Rick the heads-up. Jake’s suspicion had grown over the weekend that Rick might be avoiding him and likely wouldn’t return his call. Without any further hesitation or thought about it, Jake began to dial Rick’s cell number, hoping to catch him off guard, without his gatekeeper. The phone rang three times before an automated voice answered and requested the name of the caller.

  “Jake Doyle,” he said back robotically.

  “One moment, please, as I try to locate the person you are calling,” the automated voice said. A symphonic melody played in the background as Jake sat and waited apprehensively.

  After nearly sixty seconds, the automated voice returned. “I’m sorry, but the subscriber you are trying to reach is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.”

  Now annoyed, Jake sighed and shook his head. “Hello, Rick. This is Jake Doyle. I’ve left a couple of messages with your office recently but decided to call you directly on your cell in case you didn’t receive them. I know a lot of time has passed since we last spoke, but I’ve had second thoughts about my decision to break off my engagement to Amanda. I wanted to talk with you about it. I know how busy you are, but I’d be most appreciative if you could call me back at your earliest convenience.”

  After he left his message, Jake walked down the hall to the break room to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

  “There you are. I think this is the first time I’ve seen you all day,” Julie said as she too stepped into the breakroom and retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge.

  “Oh. Hey. How are you?”

  “I’m fine. So how was your party, birthday boy? It was at The Cottage in Santa Monica, right?”

  “Yeah. It was great. We had a lot of fun. There were about thirty-five, thirty-six of us altogether. We had the pool room all to ourselves and the outdoor patio adjacent to it.”

  “Nice. That’s such a great spot, right there on Ocean Avenue with the view and everything.”

  “Yeah. It is.”

  “Well, sorry I didn’t make it. I just thought it might be a little awkward now in light of our changed circumstances. I can only imagine how eager your friends must’ve been to meet the person with whom you were having an office fling.”

  “It wouldn’t have been awkward. I think you would’ve been perfectly comfortable around my friends. They’re nice people.”

  “Oh well, perhaps another time. Moving on to a different topic, I’m surprised you weren’t on the conference call with Rick Climent this morning.”

  “Conference call with Rick Climent?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wait…you spoke with Rick Climent…this morning?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t know anything about it. Who else was on the call with him?”

  “Mike, Teddy, and me. He’s going to be setting up an employee stock ownership plan at a couple of closely held companies, and he wants us to draw up the documents. It looks like he wants to use the ESOP to create an internal market so that he can cash out and sell his ownership stake in each company. I guess he’s decided that’s the best way to recoup his investment.”

  “And Mike asked Teddy to participate on the call?”

  “I guess so. Why else would he have been there? I mean…I know that you and Teddy as second-year associates work with all of the partners in our practice group, but I would’ve assumed that Mike would’ve asked you to work with us on this since you already know Rick and have a relationship with him. I must admit I was a little surprised.”

  “I’m not,” Jake said, dejected.

  “Why? Because you broke off your engagement to his daughter?”

  No, because I’m trying to get back with her, Jake thought to himself before he hurriedly walked out of there without answering her. He went back into his office and closed the door behind him. He paced back and forth for a few moments as he thought about what his next move should be. Yes, it was true. Teddy, like Jake, worked with most of the partners in the practice group on client matters. However, more often than not, Mike used only Jake. Did Mike not ask him to assist this time because he knew that it would be awkward for Rick, or did Rick tell Mike that he didn’t want Jake working on his business matters any longer? Should he confront Mike head-on and ask him if he’d spoken to Rick about his intentions to reconnect with Amanda? Should he wait another day, hoping that Rick returned his call, or should he just forget about talking to Rick altogether? After all, Jake wasn’t seeking Rick’s permission to reach out to Amanda. He and Amanda had already been in contact with one another and had met since their breakup. On top of that, Jake knew that Rick wouldn’t approve of any effort to reignite a romance with his daughter and that Rick’s financial offer to stay away from her was still on the table. “What’s the point?” Jake asked himself.

  However, as the day progressed to evening, Jake came to conclude that it would be better to notify the Climents of his intentions in case Mike had not spoken to Rick after all. If Amanda was indeed as mentally ill as they’d claimed, he wanted to demonstrate a degree of sensitivity to their concern and worry as her parents. Therefore, Jake thought, at a minimum, he should at least send Rick and Camilla a note informing them of his change of heart. He decided he would send them a handwritten note by courier to their residence explaining the reason for his decision to reverse course. That way he could show them a degree of courtesy and assure them of his commitment to Amanda’s safety and well-being without appearing to be seeking their approval or blessing to pursue her again.

  Just as Jake started to pen his note, he thought, Wait! Why not call Camilla? It suddenly dawned on him that he could call and tell her of his change of heart. Although Rick had been the one to tell him of Amanda’s alleged illness and persuaded him to cancel the wedding, he was speaking on both his and Camilla’s behalf, Jake presumed. “Rick’s avoiding me, so I’ll just call Camilla and get this over and done with quickly. I’ll call her right now,” Jake said aloud to himself as he lifted his cell phone from his desk and speed-dialed her number from his contact list.

  Chapter Sixteen

  One of the Climents’ housekeepers answered the phone when Jake called.

  “Hi. Good evening. Is Camilla home?”

  “Who’s calling?”

  “This is Jake Doyle.”

  “Jake Doyle?” the housekeeper repeated, sounding surprised and as if she wanted to make sure she heard him correctly.

  “Yes.”

  Then she said delicately, “Amanda’s ex?”

  “That’s me,” Jake said as he rolled his eyes.

  “Oh, oh, okay, okay. One moment please.”

  Jake sighed and shook his head in annoyance, thinking that Camilla would likely be just as disinclined to take his call as her husband. After a brief hold, the housekeeper returned to the l
ine.

  “Mrs. Climent not available now. What this regarding?” the woman asked sternly in a strong accent that sounded as if she were from a southeast Asian country like Thailand, Cambodia, or the Philippines.

  “Is she home?” Jake asked in frustration. “Can you just put her on the phone?”

  “She not available now. What this regarding, please?”

  “It’s about Amanda.”

  “Amanda? What about her? What do you want?”

  Jake grew impatient. “Would you please just put Camilla on the phone? This is a private, personal matter that I’m not going to sit here and discuss with you.”

  “Okay, okay. Wait…one moment please.”

  Jake could hear a shuffling sound on the other end of the line. It seemed as if the woman was trying to mute the phone with her hand, but Jake could faintly hear her speaking to someone before her voice trailed off into silence. “He says it’s private matter….”

  The shuffling sound continued and Jake could hear voices again, but he couldn’t quite make out what was being said until finally, he heard a voice he recognized.

  “Give me the phone…just give me phone,” Jake heard Camilla say.

  “Hellooo,” Camila sang in her characteristically polite, aristocratic manner.

  “Hello, Camilla. It’s Jake.”

  “Well…hello, Jake. How unexpected it is to hear from you.”

  “Indeed, it’s been a while, but I appreciate you taking my call. I hope that you’ve been well.”

  “Why, thank you. That’s very kind of you to say. So…to what do I owe, shall I say, the surprise of this call?”

  “Well, I don’t want to take much of your time, but I have something important to tell you. I’ve been trying to reach Rick but haven’t been successful, so I thought I’d try you instead.”

  “What is it?”

  “When I decided to call off the wedding and break off my engagement to Amanda, I did so hastily because it felt like the situation was urgent and called for immediate action. However, with the passage of time and deeper introspection, I now feel that what I did was a mistake.”

  “A mistake?”

  “Yes, a mistake. I love Amanda, Camilla. At the time I thought I was doing what was best for her…to keep her safe…to keep her from harm. But after seeing her appear so happy and her normal self these past six months, I now feel that we could’ve weathered any storm she faced together as a married couple.”

  “Wait a minute. I don’t understand. What are you saying? You broke up with Amanda willingly—”

  “Yes, I did. But to be perfectly honest with you, I feel like I was a little misled.”

  “Misled?”

  “Yes. I do. I know that you and Rick have your concerns and only want to protect Amanda, but if she can live a happy and normal life with Adam, why can’t she do that with me?”

  Camilla snickered. “I think you should ask yourself that question. You dumped my daughter and then ran off with another man.”

  “Camilla, despite what you may have heard, I did not run off with another man. I made mistakes during my relationship with Amanda, big mistakes, but I’m still in love with her, and I intend to win her back. That’s what I wanted you and Rick to know. I know you’re worried about her mental health, but so am I, and I will do whatever it takes to help her stay happy and well, so that she can continue to lead a normal life.”

  Camilla balked. “Jake, you’re the last thing Amanda needs for her mental health. You’re a liar and a cheat. Sleeping with your best friend the whole time you were with my daughter. Are you kidding me? You have a lot of nerve…calling here to tell me you love my daughter and want her back after you left her to be with another man.”

  “Camilla, that’s not why I left Amanda and you know it. I did what you and Rick wanted.”

  “What Rick and I wanted? What are you talking about?”

  “What do you mean, what am I talking about?”

  “You’re speaking nonsense. Your deceitfulness has nothing to do with Rick and me. You were cheating on my daughter, for God’s sake. With another man. And then you dumped her right before the wedding.”

  “Why are you acting like you’re so surprised that happened? That the wedding was canceled? You had a hand in that.”

  “What?” Camilla yelled. “Jake, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but I think you’re completely nuts, to be honest….”

  “Camilla, you and Rick told me to break up with Amanda because she’s supposedly sick,” Jake yelled back in an attempt to interrupt Camilla, but she didn’t appear to catch what he said as she continued to yell over him furiously.

  “You’re nuts! Amanda doesn’t want you back, Jake. How dare you, to think you can just waltz your way back into her life and into our family after what you did. Amanda’s much better off without you. Haven’t you noticed? She’s been all over the press. You’re wasting your time. Leave her alone and move on with your life already. And please don’t call here again. Neither of us, Rick nor I, is interested in speaking with you or having anything to do with you ever again, so back off,” Camilla said before slamming the phone down.

  Jake sat there at his desk, dumbfounded. He didn’t expect Camilla to welcome him back with open arms. In fact, he anticipated her scorn and disapproval. In his mind, he was only trying to do the right thing by informing the Climents that he was breaking what he’d thought was a mutual agreement between them that he not marry Amanda. Camilla’s refusal to acknowledge that point during their call, however, raised questions in his mind. Had Rick acted alone? The person who likely knew the answer to that question worked right down the hall. Jake impulsively walked out of his office to find Mike Wallace without recognizing the fact that the hour had grown late and most people had already left the office for the day. Jake could see that Mike’s door was closed, but he proceeded to knock on it anyway. There was no answer.

  Jake decided to head home himself. Just as he was about to take the elevator down to the garage, his phone rang. Seeing who it was on his caller ID, Jake answered it.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Jake, where are you?” Tom’s tone was solemn and serious.

  “I’m leaving the office now to head home.”

  “Uh…there’s something…we need to talk…right away.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  Tom sighed heavily before he answered—the stress in his voice apparent from the very start. “Actually…no, things are not okay. Can you drop by the house on your way home?”

  “Okay. What’s going on?”

  “It’s something I’d rather not discuss over the phone. We’ll tell you when you get here.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jake drove toward his parents’ house in Windsor Square. He wondered what was so urgent and foreboding that it made his father unwilling to offer even a clue over the phone. Did someone die? Maybe it’s Harry. He’s been in an accident, Jake thought as his mind raced with one dark thought after another. Jake issued a voice command to his phone.

  “Call Harry Doyle.”

  The phone rang several times before going to Harry’s voicemail. “Harry, it’s Jake. Call me back right away. Got an awkward call from Dad. Something’s wrong, and he wants me to come to the house. I just left the office. He wouldn’t tell me what it was. Thought you might know something. Anyway, call me back. Okay? Bye.”

  A few seconds later, Jake tried again. “Call Harry Doyle.”

  Still no answer. Only voicemail. Jake began to panic. “Oh my God. It’s Harry. Something’s happened,” he said aloud to himself. Jake was tempted to call Harry’s girlfriend but decided against it out of an abundance of caution. He didn’t want to cause any undue alarm based on nothing more than wild imaginings.

  Jake pulled up to his parents’ house, which looked unusually dark. The lights that led up the brick steps of the sloping lawn to the front door were off, as were the exterior lamps that graced each side of the large wood-framed door of
the English Tudor home.

  Distracted with ominous thoughts, Jake rang the doorbell before remembering he had a key. He opened the door to let himself in. The lights in the entry hall and front rooms were off, but there was enough light coming from the kitchen in the back to see. Tom emerged just as Jake started to make his way in that direction. Tom didn’t say anything at first as he walked toward Jake.

  “Why are all the lights off?” Jake asked.

  Tom flipped the switch to the entry hall lights but didn’t answer him.

  “For a second there I thought nobody was home.”

  “We’re here,” Tom said, sounding melancholy.

  Tom’s demeanor combined with the dark, quiet energy of the house spelled gloom in Jake’s mind.

  “Where’s Mom?” Jake asked as he followed Tom into the living room.

  “She’s here…in the study.”

  “Is she coming out? You said you both needed to speak with me.”

  Tom sighed as he blinked rapidly a couple of times, appearing to fight back tears. “I don’t think she wants to face you.”

  “Why, Dad? What’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

  “I don’t even know where to begin,” Tom said.

  Jake stared at Tom for a moment before asking, “Is it Harry?”

  “No, Harry’s fine.”

  Growing impatient with Tom’s hesitation and lack of forthrightness, Jake raised his palms with an expression on his face that said, WTF!

  “So…you know when you told me about that meeting you had with Reverend O’Mahoney?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well…there appears to be something to his story.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “He called and wanted to speak with Mom last week. She wasn’t home, so I took the message and told her that he’d called. A couple days later I asked her if she had called him back and she didn’t give me a straight answer. She was being kind of vague about whether she had or not. At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but then I thought about what you’d told me concerning the conversation you’d had with him, so I decided to call him back. I wanted to know if everything was all right and see if there was something I needed to know. I couldn’t figure out why he and Mom were talking and why she was being so evasive about it.”