One lawyer smirked.
‘So your earnings, beyond the generous wage we pay you, are actually your husband’s?’ he continued.
‘Yes, and of course I pay tax on them.’
‘So just to clarify, this money has nothing to do with the adult content you also provide for an OnlyFans page?’
He pushed his glasses down his nose and glared at me. I swallowed hard.
‘Olivia,’ began one of his po-faced lawyers. ‘Background checks on your income revenues have revealed you provide services of an adult nature which contravene your contract with Harrison, Murray & Kline, as they risk bringing our business into disrepute.’
I was readying myself to protest when Harrison swivelled his laptop in my direction and played a video of Brandon and me. It was a two-year-old clip of him naked and handcuffed to a hook on the wall while I slapped his buttocks with a wooden paddle. Our faces may not have been identifiable, but our voices were. How on earth had they discovered this?
I don’t know if it was out of nervousness or if the video was a prime example of the absurdity of what Brandon and I were prepared to do to follow our dreams, but I laughed. A proper, vocal laugh out loud.
‘You find this funny?’ Harrison asked.
‘Of course it is,’ I replied. By this point, I had nothing to lose. ‘This business means everything to us and we’ve been willing to do anything to reach our goal. Do you think I’m happy we’ve had to raise money this way? Of course I’m not. But can I see the funny side of it? Yes, I can.’
Harrison shook his head in dismay.
‘As an executive personal assistant, you are one of the faces of this business,’ the lawyer continued. ‘If a client was to recognise you, how do you think that might reflect upon our image?’
‘I’d be more interested to know how they recognised me,’ I replied, perhaps a little too flippantly. ‘So I assume my application has been refused.’
Without waiting for an answer, I gathered the paperwork I’d brought with me and slipped it back inside my folder.
‘It’s more serious than that,’ the second lawyer said. ‘I’m afraid what you have been doing is a terminable offence.’
Now that came as a surprise.
‘You’re sacking me for something I’ve done that has nothing to do with my actual job?’
‘Not if you are willing to resign with immediate effect and sign a non-disclosure agreement. Lord Harrison has more than generously agreed to pay you for the next three months, and you will also receive a generous reference.’
‘And if I don’t?’
‘Then we will suspend you without pay and begin disciplinary procedures. What’s it to be, Olivia?’
For a moment I wished I’d brought the wooden paddle I’d used on Brandon to knock twelve shades of shit out of Harrison and his cronies. I looked to him, his arrogant, fat face radiating smugness. Then I gave them my answer.
‘I’d like to speak to Lord Harrison alone, please,’ I said calmly.
Both lawyers shook their heads vigorously.
‘That’s not possible,’ said the first.
I directed my attention towards their employer.
‘I think you’ll find it is possible,’ I told him.
I took a breath as I removed my phone from my handbag, accessed my photographs and showed Lord Harrison an image.
His face paled and he slowly balled his fists.
‘Give us a moment,’ he ordered his lawyers.
‘I would strongly advise—’ began the second one.
