Chương 116: Chapter 116
The next morning, Pearl woke up spooning the vodka bottle. She brushed her teeth and got dressed. She had a meeting with Iris in an hour and a half and she didn't want to be late.
Rhys was making coffee when when she walked into the kitchen. He looked like shit. Good. She thought.
"Good morning," He said.
"Morning," She replied, grabbing a to go cup.
"Where are you off to today?" He asked
"I have a meeting with Iris at the bookshop. We are going over the itinerary for the next month. I'm assuming that will be a trip to Los Angeles for the Golden Globes pre party and the actual event,
Correct? And also, your parents are coming into town." Pearl filled her coffee.
"Yes. I don't even know if I'm nominated yet. They announce that next week. It's late this year. Usually it's in December." Rhys said.
"I will have Iris reach out to Amber and find out the details of her party." Pearl said.
"Wait until after they announce the nominees. I don't want to go all the way out there if I'm not nominated." Rhys said.
"I've never been to the condo out there. It would be nice to show me around your town, no?" Pearl said, smiling.
"Ok. We can go there for a few days regardless. But the party will have to be nomination based only. Sound ok?" Rhys poured another cup of coffee.
"Sounds good." Pearl said. Now she could only cross her fingers he gets the damn nomination.
"Good morning boss!" Iris said. Pearl was sure to get there on time today. Iris was training her new part time employee and Pearl didn't want to miss it.
"Ok so here's what we need to go over." Pearl said and talked to her about LA and the globes. "Did you get ahold of the private investigator I told you to call?" Pearl asked.
"Yes ma'am. He was more than happy to sign on. And he already sent me this." Iris turned her computer around, showing her a picture of Carys walking into an office. "Good. I'm hoping my suspicions are correct." Pearl said.
"We shall find out." Iris smiled. "I'll get everything in order so the next month is smooth sailing. No worries, Pearl." Just then the bell on the door rang and in walked the new trainee.
"Good morning, Paul." Pearl said.
Paul also looked like shit.
Pearl decided that when men screw with her, they end up looking like they took a serious loss. She laughed a little.
"Good morning. So what can I do to help?" Paul still the ever present narcissist.
"Pretty sure we are helping you" Iris said. Pearl snickered. That's my girl, she thought.
Iris led him around the shop. They had opened the upstairs apartment for renovations with plans to make it a coffee shop and live acoustic music venue and record store.
"Congratulations on the wedding."
Paul said.
"Thanks. It was beautiful. Oahu is amazing this time of year." Pearl said smugly. She hadn't been much a braggart about her new life, but Paul was definitely an exception.
Iris put Paul on upstairs renovation duty while she continued to run the bookshop. Paul was to oversee all the construction and make sure the plans Pearl had laid out were going as planned. The space was vacated and Paul looked around, "This is perfect for what you're taking about Pearl. It will be nice. How big is it up here? 5,000 square feet? And there's a level above this, too? There's enough space here that you could actually make this more than a coffee shop. You could make it a restaurant and lounge if you wanted." Paul said. Pearl hadn't even considered that. The third floor was in bad shape and used for storage. She told Paul to draw her up a plan and Iris could set up a time for them to talk. Pearl was already happy with Paul's initiative and she decided that if he did well with that, she could talk to him about the corporation she was set to take over.
The bell on the door rang again. They were all still on the second floor looking around. Pearl looked at the stairs to see Rhys walking up. He looked much better than he did this morning, Pearl thought. He had on jeans and a Ramones tee with a dark brown blazer over it and boots on. His hair was long enough now to put into a back bun. He looked good. He was dressed to go somewhere. "Hey, Iove." He said as he kissed Pearl's cheek. "Hello, Iris. You must be Paul." He said. Paul looked at him with a look of contempt. Pearl was loving it.
"I am. Nice to meet you. Pearl and I were just talking about the space here. I told her it had potential to be more than just a coffee shop. I'm going to work on some plans for it." Paul just couldn't let the pomposity go.
"You and Pearl can talk all you want about the space. But the only talking that matters is what talks happen between Pearl and myself. So I appreciate you working as our part time helper, please try to remember who you work for and why you're here." Rhys said. "Pearl, I'm here to take you to lunch." And he extended his arm. Pearl took his arm and smiled and told Iris to let her know how things were going. She said she would.
"That was quite the territorial display in there. Did you pee on his tires, too?" Pearl asked as they walked up to a small cafe a few buildings down.
"I grew a sack this morning. I thought I'd try it out." He said, opening the door for her.
"I'll have the spinach and asparagus salad." Pearl said to the waitress.
"Make that two", Rhys said.
"So, why the lunch?" Pearl asked.
"I haven't slept next to you in two days and we are in the same house. I hate fighting with you." He said.
"Well, then maybe work on the things we are fighting about and these things won't happen." Pearl said.
"And I want you to know how proud I am of you. I've underestimated you this entire time. You never needed to be saved. Or protected even. Well, maybe a little, but you're stronger than I realized. You never needed saving. I did. And I wanted to tell you that. You were right last night. I've lived in this bubble for a long time and I have just accepted certain behaviors because of different standards. I don't want to do that anymore. I want us to be a team. A real team. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I went home and installed the cameras. I didn't know what to do. I was scared, really scared. And I had the same fear after what happened with the robbery and thinking I would lose you. I don't want to feel like that again. I'd rather fight with you every day and have you in my life than ever lose you. I love you. I'm sorry I let you down." Rhys said, reaching for her hand. "And what you did with David was bad ass." He smiled.
"Thank you." She said, holding his hand.
"And I'm sorry you were violated like that. Recorded. That must have been an awful feeling." Rhys said.
"That's why I freaked out about the cameras you had installed without consulting me." She said.
"It makes sense now. I'm so sorry." Rhys said.
"So tell me about the idea with Paul about the bookshop." Rhys asked, taking a bite of his salad.
"Paul says there's enough square footage on the two top levels to make one a restaurant and the top floor a lounge. Like a speak easy type vibe. I don't know. We are so busy with everything, it seems like a lot. I'm touring this summer and I hope you will go with me. We won't have time for this." Pearl said.
"We can start the construction this summer and when your tour finishes, you'll have some time to get it launched. I have another season to shoot but I can help however is needed. I think it's a great idea." Rhys said. "We can hire a shit load of help. Money isn't an issue."
Pearl smiled and said she would think about it.
"Now, tell me your plans for Carys. No one wants to see her burn more than I do." Rhys said.
And for the first time, Pearl did not trust her husband enough to confide in him.
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