“So Jordan met you, proposed, and married you withoutevertesting the connection?” Anna stated in amazement.
“As Gail said the heat was enough to singe her hair. It’s even better when it’s just us. We might have gone further before thewedding, but I told him the truth, and we wanted to wait. I know it’s crazy in this day and age to be a virgin on your wedding night, but it seemed right.”
“You’ve just made us more jealous than we already were,” Gail sighed. “Looks, brains, and the perfect man, how’d you get so lucky?”
“I ran out of bad luck?” she offered.
“Sure seems like it,” Anna said before the professor came in and shushed them.
They had a week of classes left before finals and they’d covered all of the material in the book, so he was filling in the time with other topics. Today he wanted to hear about local ethics issues, and she sighed as the debate began between the conservatives and the liberals in the class.
“So it’s fine for one company to get so big they can control the entire city’s future?” Kevin threw out.
“A city should never be dependent on one company and even if they were who cares? As long as it was for the betterment of the city why not?” Dina stated.
“What if that company got there illegally?” Kevin questioned. “What if they purposely stepped over the line violating ethics and laws to reach that point?”
“Name one company that’s done that and you can’t use the major scandals either,” Dina countered.
“Alright…Tuner Incorporated and Turner Media. They both violated ethics in order to control the basis for this town. If they left the whole city would be devastated not to mention the fact that they illegally post bonuses under goodwill on their statements,” Kevin stated.
Mel felt her head about to explode as she stared at the idiot letting his mouth run off with him.
“They’ve also started a sweatshop in order to produce their goods for cheap and…”
“You don’t know the first thing about Turner Incorporated or the running of Tuner Media,” Mel said cutting him off, anger seeping through her. “That goodwill is just that. They donatemillionsof dollars to programs all over the city, as well as put down the funding for an inner city rec center to be built so the kids can stay off the streets and not be pulled into crap they shouldn’t be—a rec center which my company built, so yes, I know that for a fact. They don’t run sweatshops. They built a new factory that employs several different sects of immigrant workers because they’re creating ethnic offerings to coincide with some of the programs they run on TV. They offer the immigrants English lessons, help them learn to read if they can’t, provide medical coverage for their entire families without raising the premiums for the rest of the company. That money comes directly out of their CEO’s pocket. He doesn’t take bonuses he puts it back into the company so it can grow.”
“How would you know?” Kevin stated. “My father worked for Turner for years and the big man’s a crook and a hack. He promises big things but never returns on them.”
“I’d suggest you not say another word about Ford Turner in my presence Kevin because his son would happily bring a slander suit against you,” she said as her grip on her pencil tightened.
“Well, well, well…don’t tell us little miss happily married is sleeping with a man who’s not her husband? What would happen if the news came out that one of the Turners, if not the big man himself were having an affair with a girl younger than his?” Kevin tossed out at her breaking her control over her temper.
“It wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who knows me that I’m sleeping with a Turner but it sure as hell isn’t Ford. It would be really disgusting to sleep with my father-in-law and if you ever say another thing about my family you sure as hell better haveproof to back it up because no one gets away with crap like that with me.”
“I think the chick’s gone crazy,” Kevin laughed. “So you’re married to a Turner son, which one?”
“Jordan is Ford’s youngest son. He started his business under his mother’s maiden name to prove that he could be a success all on his own becausethat’sthe sort of man Ford raised him to be. I don’t know who the hell your father is, but I can guarantee that if he left the company under bad terms, they were all of his own making. Turner is the best for a reason; they work for it. Ford started his company with Gabrielle beside him when he was dirt broke. Now, yeah, the city revolves around the company but it’s because they know it’s not going to fail so shut the hell up and learn to get the facts before you try and stir up crap,” she warned furiously.
“Whoa,” Anna said as she grabbed her things and stormed out of the room.
“I did not see that one coming,” Gail laughed.
“She can’t be telling the truth,” Nick stated but Gail was already typing a search into the computer.
“Holy hell,” she said as several pictures of Mel and Jordan appeared on the screen along with Ford and Gabrielle as well as one of the whole family taken at the Christmas party. “I think you’d better watch your back Kev; we all know what she’s capable of don’t we Devon?”
“Huh?” the man said not hearing anything until his name.
“I said you especially know what Mel’s capable of, you were wearing a dress in the middle of campus after all.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t cross Mel,” he agreed.
“Let’s move on shall we?” their professor stated holding back a smirk, his impression of Melinda rising tenfold.
∞∞∞
“Mel…Mel, baby what’s wrong?” Jordan asked as she stormed across the campus towards the parking lot.
