One Night In Amsterdam (22 page)

“How? When?”

“He is my boss. I’ve been working at Phliant as an intern for over a month now. Dylan is great. Smart. Funny.  I like him. Definitely a keeper.” He told me all this very quickly and chuckled. I was about to ask about his working for Dylan but he didn’t let me. He cut me off, “Hey…I gotta go Emma. I’m late for class. I’ll catch up with you later.” He rumbled.

“What? No… You can’t just tell me all that and hang up.” I grumbled hopelessly. But my words were useless. Steve had already hung up without giving me a chance to ask any questions.

Holding the phone in my hand, confused by all the things Steve said, I decided to call my father right away. He was in a meeting as always. So, I left a message with his secretary, asking him to call me back.

Later in the evening, instead of a call, I received an e-mail from him, inviting me for a Sunday brunch at 11 o’clock at Garden Terrace. I e-mailed him back, letting him know I was going to be there, but also planning to bring my boyfriend. He replied back shortly. “Looking forward to seeing you both there.” Nothing else.

“Well, that’s a first,” I thought. He wasn’t prying into my life or my relationship. I wondered if he was saving his usual intimidation for our face to face meeting.

I got back to the apartment late at night and I found Dylan in the bedroom, sitting on the bed, snoozing with his glasses on and a book on his lap. I approached him slowly and picked up the book from his lap. I took his glasses off and set them on the night stand. I was pulling the blanket over him when he opened his eyes, “Hello, gorgeous.” He drawled sleepily.

“Sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“I was waiting for you. I guess I dozed off. Come here…” He said and then pulled me into a hard kiss immediately. I was on his lap, kissing him back with a desire I couldn’t contain.  I missed him so much. After a long day at the hospital, being in his arms, kissing him passionately felt so good. I wrapped my arms around his neck and straddled him. I could feel his growing bulge under me through his silk pajamas. He was as ready as I was. Full of passion and desire.

He moved his hand underneath my blouse trying to unclasp my bra, when I gripped his hand and shook my head. “First… you need to explain to me why you didn’t tell me about Steve…”

“Oh, he finally called you…?” He smiled wickedly.

“Yes, my little evil brother called me and told me he works for you.” I said in between my kisses. “And you didn’t tell me…”

“It wasn’t my place to tell.” He cupped my face with his hand and deepened our kiss. “I wanted Steve to do earlier but I guess he wasn’t ready to talk to you. You know he had his issues, but since he started working at Phliant, he’s doing good, free of drugs and alcohol. He works twenty hours a week and goes to school every day, he even signed up at the gym. So… I think he is on the right track.”

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear all this. When he called I was so scared to answer. I thought he was in trouble again. But what you’re telling me… It’s great!” I blurted out happily. “Oh, speaking of news. My father is in town and inviting us for a brunch. He wants to meet you…”

“Oh God… meeting your father. Should I be scared?”

“Nah… He is okay. You might even like each other. He is a Wall Street guy just like you.”

“Oh, that worries me even more.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. Just be your charming self. Helen and George love you. Sydney thinks you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Steve told me you are amazing.  I’m sure my dad will like you too.” I said and kissed him passionately without giving him a chance to ask any more questions about my dad.  Then slowly I started to move up and down on his lap. We were both naked in less than a minute, and I was riding him, the way we both liked. It was crazy how we were always ready for each other and couldn’t get enough of one another.  Dylan and I … it was one crazy, flaming hot combination.

Sunday morning, we left his apartment without our usual morning flirt or casual talk. I could sense that he was nervous and edgy, although I told him many times that he shouldn’t be. We arrived at the Terrace a few minutes early and a young waitress took us to our table by the window, overlooking a beautiful garden where we could see colorful tulips in bloom. We were already enjoying our mimosas when my father showed up at eleven o’clock and asked the same young hostess at the reception for us. She pointed to our table and our eyes met across the dining hall instantly. At that fleeting second, I saw both Dylan’s and my father’s expression change dramatically. Dylan’s face went ice cold, as if he saw a ghost. My father, on the other hand, instead of approaching our table, turned back and called someone on his phone. I had no idea what was going on.

“Your father is Charles Reed?” Dylan muttered after a long, deep breath.

“Yes. I thought you knew.”

“No, I didn’t!” Dylan’s voice cracked. He narrowed his eyes, shaking his head worriedly.

“Didn’t you have that detective on me? I thought he gave you all my personal information.”

“After Max found you, I stopped Nolan’s search. All I know about you are the things you shared with me. All this time, I knew you as Emma Collins, not Emma Reed.”

“I am Emma Collins.” I replied with a bit of reproach. “I took my mother’s last name when I got accepted to Columbia. I didn’t want my father’s prestigious last name to undermine my own personal achievement.”

“How about Steve? He is employed as Steve Collins.”

“I don’t know why or when he changed his last name. I guess it must be a recent change. My father and Steve are not getting along lately.” I explained still trying to figure out why he was so upset. “Why is this so important to you or bothering you this much?”

“Because my darling.” He drawled. “Your father, Chuck Reed, is my number one enemy. We have hated each other for years. He cannot be civil with me, even for a minute; therefore I avoid seeing him and I try not deal with him personally. In a minute, when he arrives at this table, you will get to see how much he hates me.”

“Oh, God. Dylan. But why?”

But before he could explain ‘why’, my father reached our table. He wasn’t looking at me.  He didn’t even attempt to give me a hug, a kiss on my cheek or show any affection to a daughter he hadn’t seen in over five months. His cold eyes were fixed on Dylan. Dylan got off his chair courteously, extended his hand to my father, which he refused to shake. Then he greeted him in a chilly voice. “Hello, Chuck. This is a surprise for me too. Believe me… I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

“What the hell are you doing here Dylan?”

“Emma invited me to meet her father. I was expecting to meet Mr. Collins, not Chuck Reed.”

My father turned towards me and almost yelled. “You are dating Dylan Hamilton.”

“Yes, she is.” Dylan answered him for me. “Actually it’s more than just dating Chuck. We are in a serious relationship. We’ve been living together for over two months.” He told him without giving me a chance to speak.  His voice was harsh and gruff as if he was defying him.

“You are out of your god damn mind if you think I would let you have a relationship with my daughter.” My father blurted out.

“You don’t have any say in this Chuck. This is between Emma and I.”

“She is my daughter, and you will do as I tell you. Stay away from her.”

“That is not possible. I am in love with her.”

“Dylan Hamilton does not love. He screws…”

“No. Not with Emma. I love her so much.  It’s different. I want to be with her forever. I want to marry her.” He said so unexpectedly, then turned towards me and talked slowly. “Sorry baby… this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I was planning a romantic getaway after your graduation in May. I was going to propose to you there. It wasn’t supposed to be like this… not like this at all.” He shook his head vigorously.  I could see the disappointment in his eyes.

“Marrying my daughter…” My father yelled at him. “Over my dead body!”

“You can not to tell me or Emma what to do.”

“I am her father. It’s my job to protect my daughter from assholes like you.”

“Your job to protect your daughter…” Dylan repeated his words mockingly. “Where were you when she needed you; when she lost her mother? What kind of a father abandons his twelve year old daughter and four year old son after their mother dies. Yeah, you are definitely a role model!”

“You bastard!”  He shook his head and made his hand into a fist. “I am going to make you pay for every fucking word…”

I was at a loss, caught in the middle of their quarrel. I didn’t know what to do. With every insult they threw at each other, they were getting beyond control. I was scared one of them was going to hit the other, or do something worse.

Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. “Enough!” I screamed. “Dad…I’ll come and see you in your office later. Dylan, shut up. Don’t say another word. Call Jeff and let’s go.” I said and pulled him away. We left the restaurant in a hurry without looking back. I wanted to get away from my father’s rage as soon as possible. I had never seen him like that before. He was unreasonable, boorish and vulgar. Whatever the problem he had with Dylan, it was obvious they weren’t going to solve it while throwing insults at each other.

I held Dylan’s hand and led him out of the restaurant. We were walking hastily to get out of the building and I saw the uncontrollable anger in Dylan’s eyes and realized how much he was holding himself back in there. He was infuriated. “This is crazy. I am not going to let him ruin this Emma, I swear to God!” He yelled and punched the door opening to the parking lot angrily with his fist. The glass window shuttered in thousand pieces and glass cuts turned his hand into crimson red. Blood dripping from his fingers soaked his shirt, and made it look like he had a serious injury.

“I am sorry, Emma.” He groaned. His voice was afflicted with his distress. His faced showed his agony.  “I love you so god damn much. I didn’t know what to do! How are you? Please tell me you are not mad at me.” He implored.

“I am fine, Dylan. I’m not mad, just confused. I have no idea what that whole thing was about. Why do my boyfriend and my father seem to be mortal enemies?”

“I will explain everything. If you let me …” He begged.

“Not now, Dylan. We need to take care of your hand first.” I cut him off.

“It is just a scratch…”

“It is more than a scratch. You hurt yourself pretty bad. You need stitches and all I have with me is a few Band-Aids.” I held his hand and put pressure on the deep cut with a tissue, but I couldn’t stop the bleeding. Blood dripping from his fingers stained my jeans and sweater too.

“I want to know what you think…” Dylan whispered gazing into my eyes in a very concerned face.  “You are not going to listen to him, are you?” He said, his hands were shaking, his voice cracked.

“Let’s get you fixed first. Once you calm down and we are back in the apartment, we’ll talk about it.”

“Okay…” He mumbled. His eyes were still full of worry.

As soon as Jeff arrived, we rushed him to the nearest ER and he ended up having five stitches. It was a deep wound as I suspected. On our way to the apartment, Dylan was unusually quiet, as if he was contemplating our upcoming discussion.

We got to the apartment and Russell greeted us with his usual warmth and courtesy. He glanced at our blood stained clothes and I could tell he wanted to ask what happened. However, Dylan ignored his attention and told him to call the elevator brusquely. And poor, old Russell just complied.

“We are okay, Russell, nothing to worry about.” I said to him, before the elevator door closed.

“Would you like something to drink?” He asked when we were back in the apartment. He was still pensive.

“I don’t know. Should I have a drink before I hear you out?”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” He pursed his lips. He poured me some wine and got himself a neat scotch. “I am not sure where to start. It is not my favorite story to tell. I am scared you won’t understand.”

“I don’t know why my father doesn’t like you, but I am not going to hold it against you. You already know that I am not close with him. I won’t let him meddle with my life or any of my personal relationships. On the other hand, I need to know the reason behind this strong animosity between you. So, just be straight, honest, and tell me nothing but the truth.”

“Nothing but the truth…” He mumbled to himself and started talking. “It was four years ago. I was trying to acquire Ortuin Assets Management based in Hong Kong. It was my strategic move to get us into Asian market. We were expanding our business greatly and we didn’t want to lose a perfect opportunity in the fast growing hedge fund market in Asia. It was a billion dollar deal for us. We heard there was another American investor interested in them but our offer was strong; reviewed and already approved by the board of directors. The final transfer of title and agreements were due upon our visit. Max and I arrived in Hong Kong to sign and finalize the deal with our attorneys. On the day of the agreement, Mr. Chiang, Ortun’s CEO, did not show up to the meeting. We didn’t understand what was going on. Our translators were at a loss as well. They were telling us bits and pieces of what they heard.  Soon we found that Mr. Chiang received another offer at the last minute. Reed Capital Management sent an offer, ten percent higher than ours. We couldn’t understand how it happened, how they came in higher than us. After a detailed investigation, we found a security breach in our office network and we realized one of our interns leaked our bid. We lost OAM to Reed Capital and lost our access to the Asia Market.”

“And you thought my father paid off your intern and got the tip.”

“I am sure that he did.  I always knew Chuck Reed was a brutal businessman. What I didn’t know is that he would go to that kind of level to win. Everything is fair in love and war, and Reed was at war with Phliant.”

“But…what you have explained sounds like corporate espionage. Isn’t it against the law? Why didn’t you take legal action?”

“Because we didn’t have any proof.  The intern left no trace. His computer was clean and we had no paper or electronic trail to link them. Other than two eye witnesses who saw them having a meal together, we had nothing that would stand up in court.  A few months later, he transferred to a college in Melbourne and we couldn’t chase him any further. We ended up dropping the case. It was a lost cause anyway. It wouldn’t have changed the fact that Reed acquired OAM.”