At my office in New York, I had a personal assistant and a secretary. My every need was met, but here, I didn’t even have a damn secretary yet. Not that I had a stack of cases a mile long that needed to be attended to, but if I didn’t get things in order here, I wouldn’t be able to keep this place going.
Just as I started reading over the notes for the contract—city planning, not my usual work—I heard the swoosh of air as the door opened in the other room, followed by hesitant footsteps.
“Back here!” I called out, still skimming through the contract.
I took a red pen, making notes as I quickly made my way through it. After a minute, I realized that whoever had walked in still hadn’t made their presence known.
“I said—” I stopped yelling the moment I saw her standing in the doorway.
She looked like a frightened mouse, unable to decide if she should run from the cat about to attack her or stand still.Shoving slowly to my feet, I put my hands in my pockets, hoping to put the woman at ease.
“Can I help you?”
Her eyes darted around the room, noting the door that I now used as an emergency exit, before her eyes took in the rest of the room.
“Um…I…”
Her throat worked hard as she tried to get the words out. Whatever was bothering this woman, it was clear I was only making the situation worse somehow.
“Would you like to sit down?”
All I did was take a single step forward. She shuffled backward, her eyes wide as her chest heaved. What the hell was going on with this woman?
“I—uh—this was a mistake.”
She turned on her heel and fled.
“Wait!” I called out, chasing after her, which was probably a fucking stupid thing to do. “Don’t leave yet! Just?—”
She stopped, her hand shaking as it rested on the door handle. Her eyes darted around the room, her whole body stiff as she waited for me to make the next move.
“Look, how about we just sit down?”
She shook her head, her eyes wide with fear.
“Okay, how about I sit down?” I very slowly walked over to the seating area and took the farthest seat from her, easing myself down. “Okay?”
Abuse victim.
I wasn’t sure at first. Hell, the woman could have just been afraid of coming in here. But this was different. She wanted to get as far away from me as possible, afraid to even sit across from me.
“Why don’t you tell me why you came here?”
Keeping her hand on the door, she slowly faced me, her eyes dropping to the floor. “I…Ben Parker told me I should talk to you.”
“Yeah, I know Ben. He’s a good guy. What did he want you to talk to me about?”
“I—” Her eyes darted around the room as she took in the desk still sitting empty, the coffee station at the back, and all the filing cabinets.
“Did he want you to see me about getting away from someone?”
She shook her head, her breathing kicking up a notch.
“How about we start with your name. I’m Ryder Lawson. What’s your name?”
“Uh…” She glanced to the corner of the room where a plant stood. “Lily.”
“Lily,” I repeated, sure it was a fake name. “Do you have a last name?”
