This Bitch Don't Bend

The following chapter is written in 3rd Person POV following Lainey…

Meanwhile, at Dorsia…

“I heard you disappeared with a person of interest.” Avi tells Lainey, in lieu of a greeting.

Lainey is once again in the presence of Aviel Hoffman, inside one of the more clandestine rooms of Dorsia, fulfilling her obligation to relay the daily report of Hoffman’s spies on the comings and goings of her brother and his girlfriends.

“More like a person of total insignificance.” Lainey deftly lies.

“Insignificant? Then pray tell the reason behind your personal handling of the matter.” Avi instructs.

“She only seemed significant… at first. Your daughter placed enough importance in finding her whereabouts by calling in a favor with one of your contacts. Would you argue that it wasn’t prudent enough to check that myself? Or should I have let one of the thugs handle it themselves?” Lainey explains, making Avi lean back on his seat in consideration of Lainey’s answer.

“Who was this person Becca asked to find?” Avi asks.

“Courtney Madison. Con artist by day. Escort by night. Former roommate of Brooke Taylor.” Lainey reports.

“Is that all?” Avi asks with a tone of doubt.

“If you want me to go further, she’s the girlfriend… of the brother… of Brooke Taylor’s—” Lainey tries to report, trying to recall Courtney’s connection to Brooke, but Avi waves her to stop upon hearing the degrees of separation.

“And why do you consider her insignificant?” Avi asks.

“The favor to find her was to allow Brooke Taylor to talk to her immediately. It seems they had a spat that morning and Brooke wanted to address it immediately but Ms. Madison went into ‘hiding’.” Lainey explains.

“My daughter wasted a favor… for that?” Avi asks in disbelief.

“Don’t ask me.” Lainey replies with a shrug, making Avi rub the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“So someone who you yourself described as a con artist, gave you the flimsiest explanation as to why Rebecca was looking for her, and you decided on your own that she was… insignificant?” Avi tries to piece together Lainey’s logic, his frustration at Lainey’s actions obvious.

“Hey, you’re the one who thought I was smart enough to middle-manage your dirty work for you, and went out of your way to threaten me when I said no… so~, don’t blame me if you think I made the wrong choice.” Lainey fires back.

“I don’t like your tone.” Avi tells her threateningly.

“And I don’t like you in general. C'est la vie.” Lainey nonchalantly retorts, making Avi’s eyes bulge in anger.

“You forget who you’re talking to, Elaine.” Avi says, standing up from his seat to show how he towers over Lainey.

“I really am, actually. Who are you again?” Lainey sarcastically asks him with a smirk. Avi’s clearly holding himself back to threaten Lainey physically, as she is one of his only allies in this convoluted game he’s having with his daughter.

“Bring her to me.” Avi orders.

“Bring who?” Lainey calmly asks to annoy Avi further, knowing full well who Avi’s ordering her to bring. Avi clenches his fists in annoyance while staring daggers at Lainey.

Lainey pretends that she’s only finally getting it before telling Avi, “I’m not your errand girl, Avi. Ask one of your thugs to do it.”

“Excuse me?” Avi reacts, taking offense to Lainey’s statement. In his mind, that’s exactly what she is to him.

“You’re only in your fifties, Avi. Vicente was a lot older than you are now and he didn’t suffer from being hard of hearing. You should get that checked.” Lainey defiantly remarks.

“And you should check your attitude, Elaine.” Avi fires back. “Or did you forget our deal when you also forgot who I am?” Avi threateningly asks.

“Oh~, I remember that ‘deal’. The deal that involved you backing me into a corner to work for you? The one where you weaponized my gratitude for my husband and his legacy so I’d accept? That deal?” Lainey pointedly asks back.

“I seem to recall part of that deal was the opportunity for you to get back at your brother for—” Avi tries to point out, but Lainey cuts him off.

“Let me be clear.” Lainey says to interrupt Avi. “There’s a difference between wanting nothing to do with my brother and ‘getting back at him’. You assumed I wanted the latter. I just wanted to be done with him entirely. Your offer was the exact opposite of that. I said no when **** was just your offer because that was never what I wanted. It was only your threat to Vicente’s hard work that **** me to cave.” Lainey adds.

“Thank you for the clarification, Elaine.” Avi replies with disinterest. “But a deal’s a deal. Or am I to assume you’re reneging on that deal now?” Avi asks Lainey.

“I’m not as much reneging as I am no longer bending to your bullshit.” Lainey finally tells Avi outright what she thinks. “I’m done, Avi. Go play your stupid games with your daughter by yourself.” Lainey adds, before trying to walk out of the room. Lainey hasn’t even touched the door handle before Avi says something that makes her stop.

“Is that how little you care for Vicente? You’re willing to jeopardize his legacy, his long standing partnership with my family, a partnership he had before you were even born… for the sake of… what? Your pride? Your sudden discovery of self-importance?” Avi asks in frustrated confusion. Lainey can’t help but chuckle to herself at Avi’s questions.

‘The nerve of this asshole to think I’m the one who’s being self-important.’ Lainey thinks to herself, before turning around to address Avi once more.

“You wanna know what I discovered, Avi?” Lainey rhetorically asks. “I discovered that this whole fucking thing, this whole bullshit with your daughter… it’s all an act.” Lainey calmly surmises, taking Avi by surprise.

“An act to make you feel like you still have everything and everyone under your control. An act to make you feel more significant to your daughter’s life. An act to fool yourself into thinking that your family’s not falling apart…” Lainey starts listing off, to Avi’s increased irritation.

“An act to make you believe your precious fucking company isn’t all you have left…” Lainey adds with a bit of sympathy, as she realizes just how sad Avi’s situation actually is.

Then she realizes all of it is his fault, so she continues.

“An act to be the man you wish you were.” Lainey coldly concludes.

“I will ruin you.” Avi threatens Lainey through gritted teeth.

“Go ahead.” Lainey defiantly replies, and Avi is once again taken aback by the sudden brazenness of Lainey’s attitude. “Honestly, I’m curious to see how you’d do it.” Lainey goads.

“What are you gonna do? Tarnish Vicente’s legacy? Your call for me to see reason did make me realize something — Vicente was your friend too, Avi. Would you really do that to him? Just to spite me?” Lainey asks back, and Avi has to look away in shame after being called out by Lainey.

“You and I have no beef, Avi. And I even considered you a friend before you decided to be an asshole.” Lainey tells him with genuine sympathy.

“But after being irritated the fuck out of my mind by that girl today, on top of all the stupid reports I sifted through daily since you put this bullshit on my plate, it made me realize how pointless this whole thing is. What am I even doing all this shit for? I finally have to admit how dumb this whole thing is. How dumb you’re being by trying to mess with your daughter’s life the moment she chose autonomy and showed you that she no longer needs you.” Lainey adds, showing a bit of fire now.

“But that just can’t be it, can it?” Lainey asks Avi. “This isn’t just about your daughter not needing you or being subservient to you anymore.” Lainey surmises.

“This is about nobody needing you.” Lainey concludes.

“GET OUT!” Avi shouts in anger, Lainey’s conclusion obviously touching a nerve.

“Gladly.” Lainey replies quickly, opening the door behind her and stepping out slightly, before stopping herself to say one last thing to him.

“You’re not a bad guy, Avi.” Lainey tells him sincerely. “You’re an asshole, sure.” Lainey pulls back on her sentiment a bit.

“But you’re not a bad guy.” Lainey repeats.

“You just want to be one so badly.” Lainey adds, before closing the door on her old friend.

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