I stopped again. Fucking really?
“Sure.” I tried not to cringe at his use of the word “staff,” which reminded me that technically,Iwas now kind of his staff. I put on my best obedient-staff-member tone of voice. “I can get that together for you. Four o’clock?”
He looked up at me, stony. “What time is the end of the day to you?”
“Well, sometimes we work late, maybe six or so. But usually we’re out of here by five.”
“We’ll meet at seven,” he said flatly. “I’ll have my assistant order in dinner.”
“Assistant?”
“Some of my team will be arriving today.”
What the fuck?Like we needed more corporate assholes pouring in here and peering over our shoulders? And why the hell was his “team” coming anyway? Like, he was staying long enough to need a team??
Jesus Christ, was I stuck with him?
For more than just a day or two?
Maybe?
It occurred to me that nowhere in the entire useless exchange we just had—why did he call me in here anyway? Just to tell me I was late and glare at me a bit?—did he say anything remotely close to,Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair here in just a minute. Please, go get your things so you can move into Janelle’s vacated office.
“Alrighty,” I said brightly.
Then I got out of there. I beelined for my office up the hall and closed myself inside before anyone could say another word to me. I pressed my back against the door and let out a long, angry breath that was filled with swear words.
I needed to get rid of this guy. Like, yesterday.
Yet here he was,today, in my office. Which meant I needed to figure out how to get rid of him, today, before I was stuck with him tomorrow. And the day after that, and the day after that…
I sat down at my desk and took a deep breath.
It smelled like him.
My entire fucking office smelled like him. It was subtle but it was there.Eau de Dane Davenport.It was goddamn delicious, and I hated it. I felt like a gluten intolerant person trapped in an award winning bakery.
I buzzed Suri.
“Devi?” she whispered, as she picked up at reception. “Everything okay?”
“Peachy. Do you have any Febreze? Incense? Bug bomb? Pepper spray? I’ll take anything that hits the olfactory/respiratory area.”
“Uh, I have some air freshener?”
“Great. Blast that shit. And open the windows. I want the entire office fumigated.”
“Okay… Are you really okay?”
“I’m great. Apparently, I’m our top-performing agent.” I was still in shock. Maybe about that part the most.
“Oh… well, congrats!” Suri said. “But, we all kinda knew that anyway, right?”
“Thanks, Suri.”
“I’ll get on the fumigating,” she whispered. “He does have a certain scent, doesn’t he?”
“I know. It’s revolting.”
