I narrowed my eyes to try and see better, but I wasn’t sure if it was him. The man in the black suit smoked a cigarette as if he were oblivious to the rest of the world. I cranked the engine of my car and it caught his attention, but his eyes passed over me as he scanned the parking lot. He looked so unbothered, as if he didn’t give a shit that the world was passing him by. It made him look strong, and resilient, which only served to make my panties wetter as I pulled out of the parking space.
“I really gotta find a hobby,” I whispered to myself.
Then, I pulled onto the main road and headed home.
And I hated myself for looking in my rearview mirror just so I could have one last glimpse of him before I left.
13
Rebecca
The days passedin a blur and the more I worked, the more hours I spent in my office during the evenings.
I swear, the work was never-ending, and with Brit’s insinuations rushing through my head I wondered if this was all on purpose.
You know, to somehow punish me for what Maggie did to him.
But I shook the thoughts from my mind. JoJo had always been an angry and rebellious kid. Sure, maybe I reminded him of her and that didn’t do our working relationship any favors, but so what? That was old news. My ten-year high school reunion had come and gone, so old grudges should’ve had enough time to flourish, burn, and die off in the thunderstorm that was adulthood.
The smallest part of me couldn’t shake it, though.
Just go upstairs and ask him.
As the sun set behind me, I resisted the urge to storm into his office and demand an answer as to why he thought paying me overtime was enough for taking up the small amount of free time I set aside for my private life. I mean, it didn’t matter that my private life consisted of pajama pants, sci-fi marathons, and endless snacks. The point was that I no longer had time to wind down from anything. It was either work, sleep, or eat.
And he had no right to my private time.
“Knock, knock,” Brit said.
I sighed. “You’re still here, too?”
She peeked her head in. “Just seeing if you were done.”
I nodded to a stack of files off to my right. “You see those?”
She shook her head. “Are you sure you don’t want help? Two people are always better than one.”
But, I couldn’t allow myself to pass off work to her. After all, it was my job and my work. “No, I’m okay.”
Her eyes filled with pity. “Want me to go get you some dinner and bring it back?”
I sighed with relief. “Is that too much to ask?”
“Pssh! Hell, no. What would you like? It gives me an excuse to pick up something for myself, anyway.”
I dug out my wallet. “Here, take some cash and let me pay for things this time.”
She walked over to me and took the forty bucks. “I won’t fight you on it this time since you look exhausted.”
I giggled bitterly. “Maybe get me a coffee, too? And a soda. I’m going to need a hell of a lot of caffeine to get through all of this.”
“And he won’t let you take it home at all?”
I scoffed. “He bitched me out for doing it on the day we ditched. I’m not making that same mistake.”
“Hmm, you know he never approached me with the fact that I ditched with you.”
“He said he didn’t have an issue with ditching, he only had an issue with sensitive financial documents making their way out of the building.”
