A Curve Ball Called Love

Tiffany sighed loudly as she sped up the driveway to the house. There was a sports car and two SUVs in the driveway. There was also music blaring from the house and she sighed loudly.

What the hell, she wondered out loud as she got out of her car and made her way into the house. From her being there for the shareholders’ mixer, she knew her way around the living room quite well. She walked to the entertainment centre and switched off the music before she looked around. The place was absolutely trashed. She felt like she’d stepped into a portal that opened up into a fraternity house. Jesus Christ! She made her way into the living room and gasped when she saw Douglas passed out on the couch as she walked into the room. There were three girls, probably strippers, in the room as well. One was sprawled on his lap and he’d passed out on another one’s lap. The other one was in a chair with another man. She guessed that he was probably one of his friends. She took her phone out and played an air horn sound so loudly that it made everyone wake up with a fright.

“All right, people. This isn’t a drill! Everyone whose name isn’t Douglas Ingram, get the hell out before I kick you out!”

***

Douglas felt like he’d just woken up from the worst bender in the world but then again, it was probably because the previous night he’d been on a serious bender. The old Douglas Ingram had been unleashed on the world and not the PG version either. It was the wild child. He’d bought endless rounds for everyone in the club, ordered some bottle service and come home with some arm candy too. The night was a blur but he was sure of one thing, he’d messed up. He’d messed up badly enough that Tiffany had driven to his place so early in the morning. He was still hazy as she kicked the girls and Pete O’Neil—one of his closest friends who had partied hard with him the previous night—out.

“Get a shower. I’ll have some coffee going and get a doctor here,” Tiffany ordered as she walked to the kitchen.

“A doctor?” Douglas asked in a groggy voice. “What for?”

“You need something for that hangover. Some intravenous electrolytes before you appear before the press later in the morning.”

“Wait, what?” he asked.

Tiffany barely had enough time to answer him when she heard a woman exclaiming in Spanish.

“What the hell happened here?” she asked as she looked around.

Tiffany could remember her from the last time she was at the property but for the life of her, she didn’t remember her name.

“Someone had a party,” Tiffany said as she looked at Douglas.

“I thought the partying days were over. At least that’s what I was told when I took the job,” the woman said.

“Sofia… I’m sorry about this… I just had a bad day yesterday,” Douglas said as he leaned heavily on one chair.

Sofia, Tiffany thought. That’s it.

“It’s fine, Mr. Ingram… just use the bathroom downstairs. It’s all stocked up with towels…unless your friends got to them.”

Tiffany smiled. At least Douglas had someone in his life to keep him in check.

“Ten minutes,” Tiffany called out as Douglas walked down the hallway. “And then you have some coffee and get sobered up. The doctor will be here by then.”

Sofia looked at Tiffany.

“Doctor? Is everything okay?” she asked and Tiffany nodded.

“Yeah, I just have to get some electrolytes in him before he gets in front of a camera.” She rubbed her temple and sighed. “Would you help me make some coffee?”

Sofia nodded as Tiffany made a call to Dr. Holmes. He was the one doctor she could trust, one of the people in her close circle who always came through when she called.

“Holmes, hey. Tiffany Meyers here. I’m sending you an address… hangover. Yeah, the usual. Lots of fluids and electrolytes… I’m not sure if he’s been using but come prepared just in case.”

***

In an hour everything had changed. Sofia had already cleaned up the living room and thrown out all the empty booze bottles. She’d vacuumed the carpets, rugs and couches and finally, the living room looked livable again. Tiffany sipped on her coffee as Douglas sat down with an IV in his arm. She’d already made sure that he had two cups of coffee and a scrambled egg, plain toast and a bowl of fruit waiting for him when he was done. Everything took all of two hours. Tiffany’s press contact Lauren was heading the crowd of press that gathered in Douglas’ front lawn to hear his statement. The statement Tiffany prepared. It was her words that made everything better but coming out of Douglas Ingram’s mouth. It was no easy feat but she made it work. .

By the time she checked in withVirginia, it was nine in the morning but her efforts didn’t seem to impress her boss.

“Your job is to make sure things don’t blow up but you seem to be dropping the ball a lot lately,” Virginia had said. “I think it would be better for everyone if you just took some time off.”

“A leave of absence?” Tiffany asked.

“It would be best for all of us. Especially the company.”

That conversation almost killed Tiffany. It damn well disoriented her. That was how she walked out of Douglas’ house and hailed a cab back to her place instead of driving back.

***

After the interview, Douglas just wanted some peace of mind. He would have preferred to have his peace of mind around Tiffany but she was nowhere to be found. After the last press van drove off, he stood in his driveway looking at the unfamiliar grey sedan as he had his bowl of fruit. He was still wondering whose car was in his driveway when another sedan drove up. A shiny black one with blacked out windows. It was similar to his own town car save for the fact that his town car was navy blue.

“Mr. Ingram,” Virginia Deacon said as she got out of the sedan. “I see that Miss Meyers is still handling your press matters.”

Douglas raised an eyebrow.

“What?” he asked. “What are you talking about?”

“This is her Camry, right?” Virginia asked as she looked at the grey sedan. “I mean, she doesn’t use it much but I only know one person who drives a grey Camry and honestly, I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“She was here but she left before I knew what was going on,” he said.

Virginia nodded.

“Actually, that’s what I came to talk to you about,” she said. “We were thinking that maybe it’s about time we got you assigned to someone else.”

Douglas shook his head.

“No. I would like to keep Tiffany please.”