The Girl and The Gangster

Summary: After being turned down from every secretarial role in Birmingham, Alice becomes desperate. Unable to provide for her sick mother, herself and more importantly, her young child, she takes a chance on joining the Shelby Company ltd. But when she runs into a familiar face, her whole world comes crumbling down around her.

Chapter Thirty-Four

A few weeks later…

The reception to her gala had been overwhelming, different journalists had reached out for interviews and it was hard to juggle the press, her family, and her role within Michael's office successfully; something had to give, and it wasn't going to be their children. As much as he enjoyed having his wife working alongside him, she needed to be a success in her own rights, and he couldn't deny her that. An add was placed in the newspapers and within a week or two he had a new secretary that was willing to look the other way. So many people applied for the position, but one candidate stood out from the rest; Gina knew numbers and she had a smart mind. The interview she gave was beyond those of her competitors and Michael knew that she would be the best person to replace Alice, he just didn't know how to tell her.

"Michael, I need you to have a quick look over these books and tell me if everything looks right," Alice had her head in her ledger as she stepped into the middle of the interview; she was completely oblivious to the job posting and to the fact that Michael had candidates coming in and out of his office all day. She set the book on his desk and glanced at the woman sitting in front of him, "I'm so sorry, I'm interrupting a meeting."

"It's fine, Alice." He pushed his chair back from his desk and stood up, resting his hand on Alice's back. "This is Gina."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Gray, I've saw you all over the newspapers."

She smiled back at Gina and glanced between her and Michael. "I don't really read the papers anymore; I just can't stand seeing my own face staring back at me."

"I'm sure it is strange; I was actually reading the expose about your gala when I came across the job posting."

"Job posting?" Alice looked at Michael with a confused expression and let out an awkward laugh. "I didn't know about a job posting."

"Gina, thank you for coming in for an interview, I'll be in touch very soon." He let go of Alice and escorted the woman to the door, closing it behind her. When he turned back to Alice, she was sitting in his chair, one leg crossed over the other as she flicked through the paper to find this ad Michael had posted. "I've been meaning to find the right way to talk about this with you."

Her eyes skimmed over the notice and her eyebrows pointed. "Have a seat Michael and just come out with it. I'm your wife, you can tell me about whatever's troubling you." She closed over the paper and rested her head on her hand as she watched him take a seat in front of her. "Is it my performance or is it that you're getting a little tired of me?"

"Alice, come on it's not like that. Your performance is amazing, you know the numbers and the company inside and out,"

"So, you're tired of seeing me at work and at home?"

"No, god no! You've got so much going on with The Gray Institute and all the interviews you do, not to mention Rosie can be a handful, especially now that she's teething…" he leant on the table and reached for her hands. "I just want to take a load off your shoulders, make life a little easier on you, because I can see that you're exhausted."

Alice thought about the amount of time she had to herself since she got to New York and apart from a few occasions she had little to none. Resting had been one of the things Dr Krol had told her to do, but being a working mother gave her no time to relax. She settled back into his chair and folded her arms across her chest, she knew that Michael was right, she needed to take a step back.

"Have you found my replacement?"

"I have a few in mind."

"Did Gina give a good interview?"

"Probably the best interview."

Alice nodded and glanced out the window. "If needed to, do you think Gina could look the other way?"

"The trust would have to be built first but I'm sure over time, she'd learn to."

"Well, if she gave the best interview then I suppose you should give her a chance."

"Is this your way of saying that you're happy enough for me to give Gina the job?"

She nodded and let out a small sigh. "I suppose, as much as I don't want to leave, I have to, don't I?"

He nodded with a smile. "I'm afraid so. On the bright side, I get to say something to you that I've always been itching to say." She looked at him, expecting what he had to say to be something supportive. "Alice, get out of my office, you're fired."

She rolled her eyes and got out of his chair. "You're so funny." She stepped towards the door as he looked over the ledger she left on his desk.

"Before you go, could you file this away, everything looks fine."

"I'm fired, remember? I'm going back to the penthouse to soak in the bath before Johnny gets home from school. File it yourself."

Being Michael's secretary was no easy feat, the sheer amount of paperwork that had to be sorted and filed everyday would turn most people away and factoring in the organisation of meetings in New York, Detroit and Birmingham would be enough to make anyone's head spin; but Gina was slowly starting to show her worth within the company. Replacing Alice was the best decision he had made; he missed having her around the office, but his home life was improving while he kept the same targets within the company. Alice seemed weightless when he came home, as if she had no cares in the world and that was all he wanted. It was too much pressure to run his whole life for him.

"Have you ever spoke to your cousin about investing in the Stock Market?" Gina asked as she looked through the filing cabinet in Michael's office.

"The Stock Market? What would you know about that?" Michael's interest was piqued, he had read the papers and he saw the stock prices, but this was something that went over his head. He glanced over his shoulder at her as she placed her hand on the back of his chair.

"Well, you'd own shares of whatever public company you're interested in. If that company were doing well, all you'd have to do to make a profit is sell your shares and then you're taking more money to the bank." She shrugged a little and flitted back to the cabinet, pulling out the documents she was looking for. "I guess you English don't really understand American business as well as you think."

"I never claimed to be an expert, but if Tommy was as interested as I am, would you share your knowledge?"

"What would be in it for me?" she held the file close to her chest and smirked cheekily at Michael. She couldn't deny that she was attracted to the lifestyle he led; the money and the business, the flashy suits, and cars, it was close enough for her to touch.

"If it's successful and we make a profit, I'll give you part of my cut. How does that sound?"

"That wasn't exactly what I was thinking about, but I wouldn't turn down the bonus."

Michael leant back in his chair and buttoned up his blazer with one hand as he reached for the cigarettes on his table. He lit one up and rested it on his lip as he lit it, Gina's stare unwavering from his face. "I'm a married man, a happily married man."

"I'm sorry, I completely misread the situation with your wife. I'd heard that things weren't as happy as the two of you made it out to be."

"And where would you be getting that sort of information from?"

"There's a few rumours going around about your wife and what she got up to while you were in Detroit and then you just removed her from the company and replaced her with me. I just assumed that you were going through a rough patch."

Michael wondered if Paul was starting to tell people about the state, he found Alice in or if someone at that party went to the press to get a bit of extra cash; either way, he knew he had to defend his wife. "The rumours you've heard are just rumours. Yes, Alice went to a party at her sister's house which I knew about. Alice is in the limelight now, people are going to create fictitious lies to ruin her reputation because they're jealous that she's successful in her own right and if you want to stay working in this office, you'll learn not to talk about Alice in that way or try to disrespect her by trying something with your boss." He stood up from his desk and ran his hand over his hair as he told himself to remain calm; he could get over emotional and scream and shout like he wanted to, he had to stay professional. "I'd suggest you go back to your desk and finish you work."

"Yes, Mr Gray. I'm sorry." She ducked her head, feeling somewhat embarrassed with herself.

"And Gina, call Mr Jarowski and tell him that I want to have a word with him."

Something was off, she could feel an atmosphere between her and the other mothers as they waited outside the school for the children to finish; the women that usually made small talk with her were now whispering and refused to make eye contact with her. Alice just stood with Rose in her arms, waiting for the door to open and for Johnny to run out like he always did but this afternoon was different; he was usually one of the first to come out, but he was towards the end and he wasn't excited to go home. Johnny seemed upset and she had no idea why.

The walk back home was usually their chance to talk about the school day, but Johnny wouldn't answer any of Alice's questions and if he did, she could barely hear him. It was no better when they got up to their penthouse, Johnny just dropped his bag at the door and ran up to his bedroom, a slam of his door following a few moments later. She handed Rose over to their maid and went to check on her son, knocking on the door before stepping inside. He was lying on his bed, cuddling his teddy.

"What's going on Johnny, did something happen at school?" she sat beside him and rested her hand on his knee. "You know you can tell me if you're getting picked on or if someone said something nasty." He didn't reply, he just left Alice in the dark. "Did your teacher shout at you today?"

"No one shouted at me."

"Then what's gotten into you? You can tell me."

He turned his head towards her but kept his arms wrapped around his bear tightly. "Are you and dad having a fight?"

"Having a fight? You saw us at breakfast this morning, did it look like we were having a fight?" When he shook his head, Alice let out a sigh and squeezed his leg gently. "Then why would you think we're having a fight?"

"Some of the older kids called me over in the playground, they said that you and dad were."

"How would they know that? They don't live in this home."

"It's in the newspaper."

Alice was yet to experience the negative side effect of being known, she had wished that it would never happen, but it was her time now and she hadn't planned for it to have such a consequence on Johnny.

"The newspapers sometimes like to write lies because it makes them more money, your dad and I are fine, Johnny. You don't need to worry about us."

"Do you promise you and dad aren't fighting?"

"I promise. If something were happening with us, you would know first before the rest of the world." She leaned over him and placed a long kiss on his head. "I'm sure being asked those questions was hard and made you angry, but nothing is happening." She got up and folded her arms across her chest, she had no idea what had been written about her but now she was scared, but she couldn't show it and concern Johnny even more. "Play with your toys for a little bit while I make your dinner, okay?"

She walked towards his door and looked back at him; he hadn't moved from his bed but at least he had let go of his teddy. All of this would blow over, it would just take a little bit of time but eventually the kids at school would forget at the press would move onto a better story; she just needed to read what was being said about her.

"I've got everything set up in Detroit," Paul said as he closed the door to Michael's office. He helped himself to a drink from Michael's stash and sat in front of him, waving the glass towards him, "and it was so simple, all I had to do was whisper into the right ears and boom, the conception of a revolution."

"I didn't ask you here for business, Paul. I just want to know if you've been talking about Alice."

"About Alice?"

"About the morning you picked her up from that party. People know about it and rumours are spreading like wildfire."

Paul tipped his head back and let out a little groan. "You haven't read this morning's newspaper, have you?"

"No, I haven't." Michael flicked through the pile of mail that had been left on his desk, usually the newspaper was underneath the mess. "What's in it?"

"Some guy called Quinten Armstrong got paid a pretty penny to write a tell all article about Alice. Apparently, he was at Nora's party and of course, he's stirred up some drama." Paul watched as Michael's eyes skimmed over the article, his forehead creasing and his face becoming increasingly flushed with anger. "It's all lies, Michael. You know that Alice is infatuated with you, the things he's wrote is all bull."

"Danced with me in her slip all night… Begged to spend the night in one of the bedrooms… That's only some of the things that he said." He dragged his eyes away from the article unwillingly and glared at Paul.

"I know, I read the article."

"And you didn't think about telling me?"

"I thought you would've read it by now, you know that she's dedicated to you to her own detriment; this Quinten Armstrong is a failing actor who's trying to keep a roof over his head."

"I feel like paying him a visit, find out why he decided to sink Alice."

"Yeah, go visit him so that next week's headline will be a tell all about you."

"Then what do I do? I can't just sit back and let all this scandal happen." He pushed the paper away from him and clenched his jaw as tight as he could. He could feel his blood boiling inside his veins.

"I think you need to talk to your wife, firstly make sure she's okay because I'm sure she's freaking out like she always does, wondering if you're going to come home and start yelling, secondly, keep your mouth shut and your fists in your pockets. You don't want what we've got planned in Detroit getting exposed because I'm not getting caught over a fucking washed up actor."

"You're right, for a change. I need to get home and try and fix this the right way."

"And don't ever think that I was the one spreading your business about," the two men stood up, Paul finished his drink and set it on his desk, twisting the glass in its place as he said, "because this friendship could turn sour pretty fast."

The penthouse was so quiet, all the lights were off bar one in the kitchen. He peered in and saw Alice sitting at the table with the paper open and her head in her hands, fingers gripped at the root of her hair. He loosened his tie and approached her, kissing her on the back of her head.

"Did you read this article?" she asked meekly, he could tell by the tone of her voice that she had been fearing him coming home.

"I did, yeah."

"You know that it's all made up, right?"

"It looks bad and I know that you were in such a state that night, but you wouldn't do what he said." He rested his weight on the table and draped his blazer over the back of one of the chairs. "If you tell me that there's no truth in any of this, then I'll believe you because you wouldn't lie to me."

Alice looked at him, dead in the eye. "I didn't cheat on you, I wouldn't. You're the only man I've ever loved, I couldn't do that to you."

He nodded and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. "Okay, I trust you. How do we deal with this?"

She shook her head and glanced at the newspaper. "If we respond, it carries this on. It's already effecting Johnny and if more articles get written, he's just going to get more and more upset. If we ignore it, keep living our lives and being seen together, people will realise that it's all wrong."

"Johnny knows?"

"Kids at school knew about the article. I've spent all afternoon telling him that we're not separating. I think he's been waiting to hear what you have to say."

"I'll have a word with him, put his mind at ease." He stared at the white tiled floor and took in a deep breath. "Are you okay?"

"I'll have to be, I mean I could expect to get good publicity all the time. It's a double-edged sword. I just wish it didn't affect our family so much."

He couldn't help but feel guilty, he paid the first magazine to feature Alice and it kickstarted all this buzz about her. If he hadn't had interfered, would they be sitting, staring at an article like this? "We'll escape it for a little bit, go to The Hamptons a little earlier than planned and just spend time together as a family. When we come back, it'll be old news." He reached down and touched her cheek gently, stroking her skin with his thumb. "Everything will be alright. It'll work out in the end."

A:N First chapter of the New Year, thank you for following this story. This chapter took a little longer than expected, I wanted it to be better than the last chapter. What do you think's going to happen with Alice and Michael? Will the rumours die down? Was there any truth to the article? Thank you so much for your continued support and Happy New Year, I pray that we can all get back to our normal lives in 2021.