Free Unobtainable by Jennifer Rose

in true diva fashion. If I was going out it was with style and grace.
    “You want my car? Perhaps my lousy fucking apartment? Hang on,” I held my hand to my throat. “Let me hawk up a fucking lung for you, I’m sure my kidney and liver aren’t too badly damaged, they might be worth a few bucks on the black market.”
    “This isn’t about money,” Clayton said. “It’s about doing what we have to for this company.”
    “And I suppose that means my being here is not in the best interest of the company? Because I’m gay?”
    There was tittering and laughter from around the table, I was again the brunt of the joke and about to go postal as Harley grabbed my arm and stood.
    “Would you gentlemen excuse us? We will be a few minutes at most,” he announced.
    “Sure, see if you can get the drama queen to understand we’re doing this for him,” Tobias said, in his usual condescending manner.
    Harley pulled me from the room before I managed to eloquently tell Toby to go eat shit and die. He dragged me into the washroom and locked the door behind us. I splashed my face with water and stood leaning over the sink waiting to hear what pearls of wisdom Harley had in store for me. When he didn’t say anything, I turned and stared.
    Chewing the inside of his cheek, he took a cigarette package and lighter from his pocket and lit one, blowing the smoke up at the ceiling fan. He was so tense, he had me scared. After all these years I didn’t know he smoked. How strange was this situation? I was the one who should be shaking in my boots and here was Harley shaking in his instead.
    “Harley?” I asked.
    He held up his one finger silently asking for a moment and I closed my mouth and waited. Taking another long drag off his cigarette he tossed it into the toilet, blowing out a swirling plume of smoke, the fan sucking it away.
    “I’ll do it,” he said.
    “Do what?” I asked, as my heart started to race, I held my breath.
    “I’ll marry you on Saturday,” he said, stone-faced. “But I have conditions.”
    “You’ll what?”
    “No one finds out, it has to be kept absolutely private.”
    “Do you know what you’re saying? Are you sure you want to do this? I thought you said…it could ruin us if you married me.”
    He nodded. “I’d rather that, than tolerate your brothers treating you like a mediocre non-member of your family. You’re going to get your piece of the pie, Dyson Michaels. They’re going to find out they can’t mess with you. I’m not going to allow you to roll over and play dead while they take over. Let’s go tell them, but I do the talking, got it?”
    “Got it,” I agreed, since I was too shocked and unable to think straight anyway.
    “Oh, I almost forgot,” He pulled my wallet from his breast pocket. “You left this on my coffee table.”
    “Oh, thank Christ,” I said, elated to have it back. “I looked everywhere for that, thanks.”
    “Give me your phone,” he ordered, his tone gruff and demanding, his brows uncharacteristically creased.
    “Okay,” I agreed, handing it to him, watching as he quickly tampered with it, doing god knows what. “Now you have my number and I have yours.”
    “Thanks,” I smiled.
    “Let’s do this,” he said, straightening his tie in the small oval mirror over the sink, his eyes meeting my reflection. “Remember I do all the talking.”
    All eyes were on us as we marched into the board room, not bothering to take our seats.
    “Gentlemen?” Harley greeted the room. “Could I ask anyone who is not an immediate family member to leave?”
    “What’s this about Harley?” EJ asked, with his brow furrowed, a deep crease forming across his forehead.
    “Just family,” Harley gazed over the men still seated ignoring EJ. “Please?”
    Harley was so professional, so polished and sincere, that the room cleared in record time. I was shaking when we took our seats and Harley offered me a glass of water and a positive smile.
    “What I’m about to