The night passed relatively swift. Monica and Sharon made sure each speech was no more than five minutes in length, dinner was served on time and the floor opened for dancing ahead of schedule. They fluttered around the room working, yet not working—nitpicking yet not nitpicking. Joy was taskmaster for the evening but her earpiece kept her in constant communication with Monica and Sharon.


Lucky me, Joy , thought. Who needs nourishment when both of your bosses are screaming in your ear? By now she was surviving on anxiety and adrenaline.



With Monica off crushing some innocent person’s dreams, Scott roamed about the room steering clear of Mrs. Fitz. He spotted Anna surveying the crowd and went to keep her company. “Hey,” Scott said walking up behind Anna. “I was wondering what happened to you.”


“Hi, I had to take care of a few things beforehand.” Her eyes fixed forward.


Scott’s jaws clinched tightly and followed her eyes into the crowd. “What did he do to you?”


“Not here.” She swung to leave but Scott gripped her forearm spinning her around. His fingers pressed into her already aching flesh.


“When?” He said through his teeth. “When do you want to talk?”


Her panic filled eyes darted around the room before returning to his. She shook her head.


“He finally hit you, didn’t he? You have to tell Monica what’s going on or…”


“Or what?! You’re going to tell her. You gave me your word.” Anna hissed. She watched Scott’s composure falter as he bit back his words. She stepped back. “I have to go. I’m on the clock.”


He let her leave. It was useless. He and Monica stayed until the party dwindled to a couple of hundred guests before taking their leave.





Dead before she hit the pillow, Monica barely remembered drive home much less how she’d gotten in bed. Scott climbed in and pulled the covers over them. She mustered the strength to ease under his weight and into his arms. His thoughts seemed to be pulled in a thousand directions, but they all lead back to Monica. He would never hurt her the way Anthony hurt Anna.


The phone rang close to 4am. Scott answered and took the call in the living room. It was Anna, clearly distressed. He couldn’t make out a word she was saying over the passing cars in the background. After minutes of inarticulate sobbing, he finally pieced together that she was alone with no place to go. He offered to bring her to Monica’s. This only sent her into greater panic. He was afraid she’d hung up the phone. He paced the floor, unsure what to do for her.


“Call Joy, she’ll pick you up and we’ll sort this out in the morning.” Scott said.


“No, she’ll tell Monica and Sharon,” she choked.


“That’s my point, Anna. You need to talk to them, not me.”


“Please,” she begged.


Oh God. She ‘pleased’ me. He sighed. “Alright, do you have any money?”


“Yes…I mean no. I left in such a hurry I didn’t grab anything. I’m standing at a gas station.”


He couldn’t leave her out there. “Give me the address,” he retrieved a used port-it note and pin from Monica’s planner. “I’ll have my doorman send a car and security will open my door for you. You’ll be safe until I get there. Do not leave!”


“Thanks…” She breathed a sigh of relief and gave him the address before he hung up and call his apartment building.


Without a second thought, Scott went to Monica and informed her of what was going on. He hated to break his promise but keeping a secret for Anna wasn’t worth lying to Monica. And sneaking off to his apartment after receiving a late night call from another woman would definitely land his balls on the chopping block. His commitment was to Monica, not Anna.


Monica awoke begrudgingly, ingested what bits of information seeped through the thick fog of sleep, and dressed with the speed of a lunatic. Her stomach turned in knots. What was she getting ready to walk into? Blood? Missing limbs? How bad was it? And why hadn’t Anna come to her? There were fish out of water calmer than she was.



They entered Scott’s apartment and heard the shower running. Monica wasted no time; she marched to the bathroom while Scott wore holes in the living room carpet. Minutes later he heard indistinguishable yelling punctuated with expletives followed by his name, a small tussle, his soap dish crashing to the floor, and then both women materialized in the living room at once.


“You lied to me!” Anna spat at Scott.


“This isn’t Scott’s fault,” Monica came back. “He tried to help you. I’m responsible for you, not him. You should’ve come to me.”


Anna’s eyes narrowed on Monica. “Come to you?” she scoffed. “When? I hardly see you anymore. I see Scott than I see you. And you were the one who told us to leave our problems at home—you didn’t want to hear it.”


“This is different. I was talking about the cat fighting. You could have come to me.”


“And loose my job? But I suppose that’s not a problem now, is it?” Monica’s silence confirmed her fears. Her eyes, filled with tears of betrayal, landed on Scott. “Thanks a lot.” She went for the door.


“Wait,” Monica called to her. “It’s late, you’re not going anywhere. Let’s get some sleep and talk in the morning.” She took Anna by the shoulder and pushed her towards Louis’s bedroom before she could protest.




Monica rose early the next morning and dropped Anna off with Joy until she returned from the office. She sat overwrought with stress; to the point her muscle ached. Sleep had come in five to ten minute increments and left her more tied than before. What should have been her crowning moment was somewhat diminished. The papers praised her. The vendors loved her. New clients were beating down the door. The Fitzpatrick’s adored her. Professionally, she was at the top of her game. Cara, we baby, was a success.


So why was she heaving in tears? Her personal life was a wreck. Sharon was leaving and Anna’s debacle proved Monica was fallible. She couldn’t juggle it all. She wasn’t Super Woman. She’d been so focused on making money that she’d alienated her employees and created a vacuum which Scott was forced to fill. She’d loss control.



That morning Scott awoke to an empty apartment. Notable because it was Sunday; neither Monica nor Anna were going into the office. He brushed the thought aside until later that evening when he closed his books and it dawned on him he’d heard from neither of them all day. Monica called just before ten. She’d been with the Fitzpatrick’s most of the day and Anna was staying with Joy.


The time read 12:12am when Monica heard Scott’s key turn in her lock. She was already tucked in bed sound asleep. Getting back to work helped suppress her feelings of inadequacy but now, spooned in Scott’s arms with tears seeping to her pillow, they rose to the surface.


“Are you alright?” He asked.


“Yeah,” She kept her voice steady. She didn’t want him to know she was crying.


Unconvinced, Scott said, “Talk to me. What’s on your mind?”


Monica came close to spilling her guts but she didn’t want his pity. Scott was a man of action, a fixer of problems. She didn’t want to be fixed; she needed him to support her decision. “I fired Annalisa.”


Scott bolted up in bed. “You did what?!”


Monica sat up. “I fired her. KC has given her a job, but I couldn’t have her working for me any longer.”


“Are you out of your mind?”


“Her coming to you with a problem set a bad example for the other employees and undermined my authority.”


“Your authority? Monica, no one questions your authority. You run your business very well.”


“Then why are you questioning me?!” she shot back.

“I’m not questioning your business sense. I’m questioning your sense of common decency. Anna came to me with a problem because she was afraid of loosing her job. I told you about it because I mistakenly thought you’d give a damn.” He threw the covers back and fished for his clothes. “I thought better of you.”


On that, Monica jumped from the bed. “What the hell does that mean?”


“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” He stressed each word. “Did you even talk to her? Do you know what she’s been through?”


“That’s not my problem. I can’t fix her past.”


Scott hardly recognized the woman standing before him. “Her past, who said anything about her past? What about her present? Do you know that Anthony beats her? Do you know what every dime she makes goes toward keeping a roof over their heads? He followed her from Macon! Do you think she’s safe at Joy’s house? At least at my place she had security!” he grabbed his bag and headed for the front door.


“Why are you so concerned about her?”


Scott laughed. “I’m not even gonna justify that with an answer. I didn’t ask to have your girls in my home. You put them there out of your own guilt. Now, I have to go. Are you coming?”


“No!” Monica said firmly. “And if you leave, don’t come back!”


Scott’s feet were rooted in place. Maybe he’d given her too much credit. She may not be as cold as Courtney, but her ultimatum cut just as deep. Something inside of him snapped. He closed the distance between them, hoping she’d recant once she’d a moment to think about her statement.


Monica felt her words knock the wind out of him. She’d left him no choice. If he didn’t walk out on her, she’d never respect him.


“I love you,” He kissed her lips still salty from her tears. Removed her house key from his ring and left before she could catch her breath.