The Pretend Boyfriend novel Chapter 50

"Need some company tonight?" she asks.

"I'd probably come home at midnight and tumble straight into bed. So unless you want a snoring sack for a bed partner, you'd probably get more sleep at home."

He doesn't snore and she loves watching him sleep because he looks so beautiful and peaceful. But of course she's not going to tell him that.

Instead, she says, "OK, I'll see you next time then. Any other updates?"

"Yeah. My blood test results came back. A copy is with the police."

"What did they say?"

"No traces of any drugs. Blood alcohol within the limits, so I can't even claim drunken manslaughter."

"You didn't kill anyone."

"The way everyone is treating me ... like I'm dog turd scraped off a shoe, you'd think I did."

"So everything is normal."

"Nothing is normal."

"I mean your blood test."

"My serum Creatinine is high, although everything else within my kidney profile is apparently normal, according to the hospital. So is my potassium, but that could be an artifact, so they say. It apparently comes from eating too many bananas."

"Do you eat bananas?"

"I can think of a whole lot of things to do with bananas."

She laughs. "But seriously ... are your blood results really OK?"

"They couldn't find anything wrong with me physically during my checkup."

She tries to make her tone light, even though she's worried as hell about him. "There's nothing wrong with you physically."

"Yeah, before you pass judgment, check back with me tomorrow night and we'll see if I can get the little pecker up."

"Last I remembered, it wasn't that little."

She can visualize him smiling over the other side. "If all else fails, there's always Viagra."

"You and Viagra in the same sentence? That'll be the day."

They ring off. He's still not at his usual brash peak, she notes, but at least he is attempting humor. That's a good sign. But the fact that his clients are leaving him in droves when he hasn't even been convicted is a worrying development.

She slips her cellphone back into her purse and peruses the crowded rush hour sidewalk. Then her shoulders slump when she remembers her own predicament.

It's Friday when Sam receives a call from the PI.

"Can you meet me over lunch?" he says.

He swivels on his chair to eye her. "For doing your job? I think not. I've already decided on the job anyway. Kathy Angleston is more suited for it than you are, and I've made up my mind to keep her."

Sam is dumbstruck.

"Wh-what?" she splutters.

Rutgard takes the contract. "I'll be keeping this, thank you very much."

"But I got the contract, just like you said. I'm the first one to land a minimum commitment of a hundred thousand dollars."

"Yes, but Kathy brought it other accounts to the cumulative sum of two hundred thousand dollars."

"Bullshit! This is not about the other accounts. This is specifically about Moody! You can't change the goalposts midway into the match. It isn't fair!" A thought strikes Sam. "Oh God, what did Kathy give you? A blowjob right here in this office? You fucked her, didn't you?"

"That's beside the point."

"God!" Sam is so mad right now that she has to use every ounce of her strength to keep herself from hurling at Rutgard to attempt aggravated assault.

"It's just business."

"Business has nothing to do with it!"

"You've got three days to clear your stuff out. It's a retrenchment package, Samantha, not the end of the world."

Sam storms out of Rutgard's office. Her vision blurs. I'm not going to cry in front of that bastard, she promises herself. But oh, oh, oh, it's so unfair. But whoever said life was fair? They certainly weren't fair to Brian, and he's a golden boy - handsome, unattainable, rich and successful. What more would the fates have in store for the likes of her, Average Jane?