Did she get off on being a bitch to everyone or was I the only one unfortunate enough to be subjected to her ire?
Since the mixer at MacGregor’s, where she made a complete ass out of herself by hitting on Cade—while he repeatedly expressed his uninterest—and forcing Hera to berate her for her disgusting behaviour, Morgan had ignored me.
During our weekly team meetings, she gave me the cold shoulder, speaking to me only when necessary. Which was fine by me. Morgan and I would never be friends. She ensured that from the get-go. But that didn’t mean I had to put up with her draining envy when I’d done absolutely nothing to her.
If me holding the financial coordinator position—the one she vied for at the beginning—pissed her off, then that washerproblem. Not mine. I couldn’t control people’s treatment of me. Just my own reactions to their actions.
Even now, I was choosing to be the bigger person by tonelessly saying, “Hi.”
Crickets chirped in the air.
Against my better judgement, I looked up from my spreadsheet.
And found her eyeing the cheques sitting next to my mocha cup with a grimace. There it was—that ever-present jealousy. Unbeknownst to her, she didn’t have the guts to handle my position on the team. To remain angry over Hera’s decision to place her in another role, instead of being grateful that our president had even found her worthy of being on the team, was beyond me.
I was going to stay quiet, but then her gaze veered over to the other item on my desk.
The rhinestone bedazzled fantasy book that Hunter and I were buddy-reading.
She scoffed. “What are you, five? Looks like a kid’s arts and crafts project gone wrong. So fucking tacky.” She shook her head. “That book sucked, by the way. The hero dies trying to save the heroine.”
That’s it.
My anger boiled over.
I slammed my laptop lid shut and stood up, the wheels of my office chair scraping back loudly.
She jumped in her seat, surprised.
I was tired of dealing with the Morgans and Francos of this world. Acting like I was beneath them. Acting like they could walk all over me. Acting like my kindness was a weakness. For some reason, I had the tendency to attract the most unhealed scums. Screw them.
I rounded my desk to the front and perched on it, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’m only going to ask you this once. What’s your fucking problem, Morgan?”
Never once did I raise my voice at her. Alone or during our team meetings. Usually, I let her shitty behaviour slide because I couldn’t be bothered. But if there was one thing I truly loathed? It was people with hater energy that was a disguise for their jealousy.
“What did you say to me?” Morgan drawled with a mean smirk in a vain effort to appear unaffected.
I caught the slight shake in her limbs. The wobbling of her chin. She was all bark, no bite. Confrontations weren’t her style. Unfortunately for her, she had it coming.
“You heard me,” I said through gritted teeth. “I refuse to put up with your animosity any longer. I’m tired of your bitchyattitude. Either you tell me what your fucking problem is, or I’ll get your ass kicked off this team faster than you can snap your fingers.” I edged forward, placing my hands on either side of the desk, my expression downright menacing. “And make no mistake—I can make that happen.”
It was no secret that I was close to Hera. Our relationship wasn’t born from being in the same student association. In fact, we’d been friends for years, given that she was Layla’s cousin. Without a shadow of a doubt, if I told Hera the extent of Morgan’s discomforting behaviour and comments towards me behind the team’s back, she would kick her off without a second thought.
I mostly kept silent because I didn’t want to cause any discord, least of all any disruptions in our team’s dynamics. But that wasn’t fair to me either. Now, if necessary, I wouldn’t hesitate to wield the favouritism in my benefit and get this girl removed from the team. Even if it meant taking on more responsibility and filling in her role as well. And me taking Morgan’s place would really suck for her. Being part of a student association during your academic career looked stellar on your résumé.
“You’re threatening me?” Morgan enunciated each word like she couldn’t believe I’d said what I said.
“About time, don’t you agree? However, like I said, if you tell me what your problem is and we come to a truce, I won’t spill a word to Hera about the rude way you’ve treated me for the last few months. Really, the choice is yours, Morgan. I’d pick wisely if I were you.”
We stared at each other for a moment.
She watched me, appalled.
Clearly, she didn’t think I’d ever stand up for myself, let alone have the balls to call her out. Maybe she didn’t even realize what a bitch she’d truly been until now.
I kept my steady gaze trained on her, not backing down.
Morgan squirmed.
