FAITH
Since we were going out, I left my joggers under my desk at work and braved the walk to Murphy’s in my heels. I didn’t want to keep borrowing Amy’s—I was an adult and should have my own fancy shoes, for goodness’ sake. I’d bought a pair of black heels, but they weren’t as high as Amy’s ankle breakers. I’d gotten them on sale, too, so it didn’t hurt as much as I expected.
I headed into the bar, happy to be out of the cold. I’d stayed back at work until five thirty because Curtis had changes he wanted made to the report. At least they were legit changes, not because of a stupid ant-penis-sized margin error. Did ants even have penises? Hmm. I’d have to look that up later… when I was drunk.
The bar wasn’t full, but it was busy, mostly with people in office attire, kicking back after a long week. I imagined no one’sweek was as long as mine. At least I still had a job. Every week of a paycheck was a week closer to me clawing back some pride.
An arm raised above the crowd, and a hand waved. I headed toward the back of the bar and Destiny, who was with our co-workers. They’d commandeered two back-to-back booths. A couple of people stood at the ends because there wasn’t enough room. Kali sat at one in a party hat. They’d made her wear a black T-shirt over her clothes. It said, “Birthday Bitch.” I giggled. Kali was the last person I expected to wear a shirt like that—she was so quiet and shy. Hmm, actually Queen Victoria would be the actual last person I’d expect to wear that shirt.
I leaned across the table and yelled, “Happy birthday!”
“Thank you,” Kali shouted back.
The crowd was rowdy, everyone talking over the music, which was also pretty loud. It was going to be one of those nights. Before I could say hello to Destiny, Garth sidled up next to me. “Glad you could make it, Faith.” He was the only one who didn’t call me Donut Girl. I could appreciate that.
“Thanks. How was your week?”
He leaned too close to me, his breath ickily skimming over my ear. I shuddered and put my hand over it. I almost couldn’t hear him when he said, “Okay. Same old. Can I get you a drink?” He didn’t move away. Surely I’d given him a big hint. Maybe I needed to be more obvious and kick him in the nuts?
“No, but thanks for offering. I’m going to wait a while—I need to warm up.” Not only was I still defrosting from the short walk here, but I didn’t want to get roped into rounds with people. I couldn’t afford to reciprocate. I also didn’t want Garth getting the idea that I owed him anything—not that he’d definitely think that, but you never knew. One of my friends in college had a guy berate her and almost hit her at the end of their date because he’d bought her dinner, and she didn’t want to put out. She was lucky one ofher guy friends happened to be coming out of the club at the same time and put a stop to it.
“Are you sure? It’s no trouble.” He smiled, and I felt sorry for him. He was just trying to be nice. Was I reading too much into things and being a bitch? Probably, but if I’d learned anything, it was to trust my gut feelings. Except when men were hot. That’s when I needed to do the opposite.
“I appreciate it, I do, but I’m good. Thanks.”
“Faith!” Arms wrapped around from behind me, giving a quick squeeze before dropping. Destiny skipped around to stand in front of me. “You’re late.”
“Yeah, well, being PA to the big bosshole means staying back when he needs something. I’m the idiot who agreed to it, so I only have myself to blame.”
Someone started talking to Garth, and he moved away. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but I relaxed, the tension seeping out of me. The vibes he gave me had me fending off invisible arrows of attraction, even if it might all be in my head. I didn’t want to encourage him by accident, and I didn’t feel comfortable speaking to him about Curtis.
“So, spill. You say he hates you, but damn, girl, the way he was looking at you. And you were giving it back.” She fanned herself with one hand and took a sip of her drink before grinning.
I glanced around, then looked at her. “Shhh! Also, that’s not true. He honestly hates me. He’s always having a jab at me about something, and he never smiles. He just barks orders all day and complains about my shitty work. I mean, I do think he’s hot—who wouldn’t? But there’s no way I’m ever romantically going anywhere near a rich guy again, let alone someone who could get me fired.”
Her eyebrows rose. “What do you mean ‘again?’”
I wanted so much to trust her—she’d been nice to me since I started—but I really didn’t know her well. What if she was alsoreporting to Stephanie and Knight senior? If anyone found out about Mark, well…. “Long story, which I won’t go into here.”
“You’re no fun.” Her eyes widened as she stared over my shoulder. “Oh my word, don’t look now, but your bosshole is here. To be clear, I don’t think he’s an asshole. Did you know that he once saved one of the cleaning staff after-hours?”
It took everything in me not to turn and see if it really was him. What, seeing him at work today wasn’t enough?Get it together. “What happened?”
“He was still working at nine, and the cleaning crew came through. One of the guys who was sixty or so had a heart attack outside Curtis’s office. He called the ambulance and did CPR till they got there. The guy is still alive, and Curtis made sure he got a good payout since he couldn’t come back to work. I heard he gave it to him out of his own pocket.”
Alison from accounts, who was standing next to me talking to someone else turned and piped in. “Oh, are we talking about Curtis?” Destiny nodded enthusiastically. “When he was manager of marketing, one of the women in the team, Serena, had a huge crush on him—I’m talking obsessive. When he didn’t return her interest, she stalked him, turning up at his apartment building all times of the day and night, leaving food gifts in his office that she’d made, leaving lovesick messages on his phone. The company gave her a warning, but that just escalated things. She ended up accusing him of trying to sexually assault her in his office. She couldn’t prove he’d done anything, but they fired her with a severance package anyway. She had to sign something saying she wouldn’t make any more false accusations. They didn’t want to take it to the police because that would’ve gotten to the media—they’re a very private family. Anyway, even though he supposedly did nothing, everyone gossiped about it for months.” She sipped her orange cocktail. “I’ve never seen him do anything inappropriate though. Evenwhen Queen V was all over him at the Christmas party, he gently removed her from his side and ran to his brother. Maybe he’s gay?”
Destiny laughed. “I don’t get that vibe, but I agree that he’s a good guy. If you check socials, he’s dated a few model-esque women over the last two years. I’m pretty sure he’s straight. And I’ve seen how he looks at Donut Girl.” She waggled her brows.
I shook my head. “That’s not true, and don’t go starting rumors.” I pinned my gaze onto Alison. “Destiny’s joking because he hates me. He criticizes everything I do. In any case, do not go starting any rumors—it’s the last thing any of us need. I could lose my job.” I didn’t really know Alison—this was only the second time I’d ever spoken to her—so I wanted to be clear. “Sorry to be so blunt, but honestly, I need this job.”
She smiled kindly. “It’s all good. I get it. You don’t have to worry about me saying anything to anyone about anything.” Argh, that was kind of implying there was something to talk about. If I kept going on about it, she’d be convinced I was covering up. It would be a case of “she doth protest too much.”
So all I said was “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
That stalking thing sounded horrible. No wonder he was wary of new people in the office. New people being me. And saving that man’s life? He was a good person. For the hundredth time, I wondered if I was doing the right thing by spying on him. If I thought he hated me now, imagine how he’d feel if he ever found out what I was doing.
Nope. Not going to think about that.I mentally put my hands over my ears.La, la, la, la, la, la.
