The Clip

Chapter 6

Hayley

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Hayley flagged down a taxi and climbed in without telling the driver where she was headed. He watched her through the rearview mirror and didn't ask, and she was grateful. She checked her phone. It was a few minutes past eight. She sighed and rested her head against the seat, eyes shut tight.

What was the point of going to any more interviews? What was the point of trying so hard to please a man who saw her as nothing more than a mortgage? She hummed a tuneless note under her breath to keep the silence from swallowing her.

She should be happy. She finally had the freedom to live above her father's demands. She shrugged, as though that would convince her it was for good this time, and sat forward. Outside, the road buzzed with life. Children in uniforms hurried to school, and horns blared as drivers waited for the traffic to crawl forward.

The sight made her smile in spite of everything. Then she spotted a familiar building and tapped the driver's shoulder. He pulled over, and she pressed a few dollar bills into his hand with a small, tired smile.

It took two knocks before the door opened. Logan stood there with a puzzled frown that melted into something brighter, and he stepped aside to let her in.

"Good morning."

"Ah ah, I wasn't expecting you today. Why didn't you call?"

"It costs nothing to return a greeting, Logan." She dropped into the chair beside his bed.

"It will, after you tell me what you're doing here." He crossed to the fridge, brought back two cans of soda, and passed one to her.

Hayley snatched hers, opened it, and gulped half before she let out a long breath. "My dad is at it again."

Logan scoffed. "I'll be shocked if he lets you enjoy one quiet week." He walked back to the corner of the apartment that doubled as his office and sat down. "So how long does this one last before he comes to fetch you?"

"I don't think he'll be fetching me this time, Log."

"What do you mean?"

"He threw me out. He literally disowned me. I couldn't take his nagging anymore, so I stood up to him."

Logan's mouth fell open. "You're joking. But where will you stay? You only just got out of that cage."

Her eyes narrowed. "He's still my father. Mind your words."

"Sorry." He spun his chair to face her. "You know you're welcome here, though. And you know there's always space in my bed for you." He winked and ran his tongue slowly over his lower lip.

She laughed and poked him in the ribs. "Stop playing."

Logan shrugged and turned back to his laptop, though his smile had grown a little thin. Hayley noticed. She always did, and she always chose not to name it, because naming it would mean answering it, and she didn't have an answer to give him. Not today, and maybe not ever.

"You can stay, though," he said without looking up. "I mean it."

Hayley grinned and hopped onto his bed. "I know, baby boy. But I also know this apartment can barely hold you."

He looked back over his shoulder. "So you think I'd take advantage of you?"

"It wouldn't be the first time." She said it with a straight face.

They both burst out laughing. Then she lay back, pulled her art book from her bag, and started flipping through the pages. Between two of them she found the card Alex had tucked inside, and the memory of their meeting rushed back. She turned the card over in her fingers and stared at the number. Allure Art, the letters read, CEO.

Should she call him? She shook her head and dropped the card on the blanket, then picked it up again, and her eyes traveled to her phone. How would she face him? She didn't know why, but the embarrassment of that second meeting was already warming her cheeks. How she'd managed to make such a fool of herself in front of him was beyond her understanding.

But he was beautiful. No, handsome. She shook the thought out of her head and picked up her phone anyway. She needed a place to stay. All her life she had lived in her father's shadow, under his watchful eyes, answering to him for every breath. Now she had a chance to chase her own dream before he came to his senses and tried to drag her back.

Logan was right about one thing. This was far from the first time her father had chased her out. It was just the first time she'd defended herself, and the first time she had agreed to go. If he did come looking, which she somehow knew he would, then Logan's apartment wasn't the safest place to be. The man wouldn't hesitate to walk straight in and haul her out if worse came to worst.

Everyone in her family knew Logan was her only friend, and her one-time boyfriend. Her father had seen to it that the relationship ended, because he thought Logan too mild for the daughter he had spent so much time training. He hated Logan even more after catching them kissing in the parlor once. And another time, on her high school graduation night, he had found them in a compromising position. Those were only some of the reasons.

The only reason their friendship was still thriving was that it had existed long before either of them believed they were in love. She was introverted, and Logan was carefree, and somehow she'd never found the energy to make other friends. Her ex-boyfriend remained her best and only friend, and his apartment was the only place she could go.

"What are you thinking about?" Logan asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. "And what's that you're fingering like that?"

Hayley dropped the card. "Fingering? Really?" She tried not to laugh. "You need to do something about your vocabulary."

"What is it, though? The card."

She exhaled sharply. "I think I may have gotten a proposal. I can't exactly call it a job."

He frowned. "Another hospital interview?" He shook his head. "I told you to give up on that stupid dream. It was never yours. It's your father's."

Knowing where this was going, she cut him off. "It's not about medicine. It's about my paintings. Someone is actually interested in them."

His eyes lit up. "Now that is the news I want to hear! Girl, have you called him yet? Don't tell me you're having second thoughts."

"That's the thing. You won't believe who it is. I'm not sure it's a good idea."

"Is he that rich?"

"You'd be surprised."

He watched her with new interest. "Who is it?"

She was about to tell him everything about last week's crazy encounter with Alex Xander Jr., and she was already imagining how he would scream at the gist, when his phone and laptop beeped at the same time. She watched, unimpressed, as Logan spun around and snatched up his phone at a speed he never managed for anything else. She knew exactly what that sound meant.

"Yes!" He jumped to his feet. "Finally!"

"What is it?"

"News, baby. Money!"

"What news?"

"Well, if it isn't Ursula Xander!"

Hayley froze. She swallowed everything she had been about to say. She'd forgotten, for a moment, that her best friend was a gossip-hungry blogger. But why did he have to bring up Ursula Xander's name now, right when she was about to tell him about the woman's husband? It was oddly annoying. And she had been looking forward to his advice.

"She's a famous actress and the wife of Alex Xander Jr., CEO of Allure Art, and mother of their only son, Finn Xander Jr.," Logan recited, tapping the screen. "Her husband's brother runs Xander Group and owns Hope Alive Hospital. What else? Oh, she lost her parents-in-law in a home invasion gone wrong six months after her wedding. Her parents are famously known for their roles in..."

"Logan!" Hayley was laughing now, at how breathless he sounded, talking without a pause.

"I didn't ask you to d******d her profile," she said. "I only asked if you knew her."

"Of course I know her. You spend every day of your life painting in that art book and still tuck it away like a shameful secret, so you can't judge me."

She walked over and slapped him lightly on the back. "I know the Xanders. And don't talk about my paintings like that." She took his soda from the table, gulped the rest, and asked, "What about Ursula? Is she starring in a new movie?"

"When is she not?" He turned back to his laptop. "But the news I have about the Xanders is much juicier than movie roles. It's information that could make me rich if it lands in the right hands."

Hayley frowned. "What information?"

"Alex Xander Jr. recently ran over a girl. Just last week." Logan's grin widened. "She's at the verge of death in the hospital right now. Of course, he paid off the bloggers and threatened everyone at the scene to keep the story from the media."

He pressed a few keys and a video popped up on his screen. Hayley's stomach dropped. It was the accident, a clip from that Monday morning. She was in it, kneeling in the road with the girl's head in her lap, and beside her Alex was pressing a cloth to the child's leg. She swallowed hard and glanced at Logan, who was watching with total absorption.

"If he paid everyone off, how did you get this?" she asked.

"One of the witnesses snitched." Logan winked. "Someone who knew there was money in it."

"Even after being paid off?" She stared at him in disgust.

"Welcome to the new world, baby." He gave her his teasing smile. "The only problem is that the woman in the video hasn't been identified. But a trusted source says she's his new plaything."

She thought about telling him the woman in the video was her. She thought about telling him what had really happened that morning. But her face wasn't even visible in the clip, thanks to the hair falling on both sides of it. And knowing Logan, he would never believe her. He would say she was only feeling sorry for someone she barely knew. And if he found out Alex was the one who had offered her an invitation, he would think she was merely defending a celebrity who had been kind to her.

"How much is a clip like this worth?" Hayley asked, keeping her voice level.

"To the right outlet? Enough to cover my rent for a year, plus a new laptop, plus a vacation I can finally brag about." Logan counted on his fingers, dreamy. "Imagine it, baby. No more begging advertisers. Every site in the country will be asking for my number."

"And the girl in the clip? The one who isn't identified?"

"What about her?"

"What happens to her when they find out who she is?"

He waved a hand. "She'll have fifteen minutes of fame. People like that love attention."

"People like what?"

"Come on, Hayley. A girl who's seen running around with a billionaire? She knew what she was getting into."

She stared at him, wondering at how easily the same mouth that had joked with her all morning could say something so careless. He wasn't a cruel man. He was a hungry one, which in the end could do just as much damage.

"My guess is he was rushing to drop her off when he ran over that poor child," Logan went on.

"Logan! You don't know that."

"Don't I? Have you forgotten the scandal with that musician? His wife will kill whoever that girl is. She looks like another poor girl he wanted to take advantage of."

"Logan!" She sighed. It was too much to hope that she could tell him the truth. "So what are you going to do with the video? It's only a clip. And you can see him, them, trying to help the girl."

He leaned back in his chair, grinning. "All I need now is a glimpse of that girl's face. Another clip of her will give me all the proof I need against him. I'm sure his wife would appreciate the information. And the press! Almost forgot." He looked up. "What do you think, baby?"

Hayley packed her books into her bag and made sure Alex's business card was safely inside. Logan watched her, confused but amused, as she slung the strap over her shoulder. It wasn't the first time she had objected to his work, and she knew he expected her to return in an hour with her indignation spent and a bag of snacks.

"Where are you going? You just got here. You haven't even finished telling me about your dad."

"I need air. And I need to think."

"You can think here. I'll even turn off the music."

"You aren't playing any music."

"Then I'll turn off nothing, and you can think in peace." He grinned, still certain of her. "Come on, baby. Don't be mad."

She stopped at the door, one hand on the handle, and for a moment she didn't speak.

Logan's grin faltered, just slightly, for the first time that morning. "Hayley, it's just business. Nothing personal about it."

"That's what people say right before they ruin someone." She didn't turn around. "You want to know what I think? I think you're about to ruin an innocent girl's life."