Scarred for Life
Page 33
"You'd better." The glint in her eyes told him that he had exactly sixty seconds to fetch what she required or it was curtains for him.
Nicole returned to her office or the dungeon as it was coming to be known for the past couple of days. Nicole had been on a rampage while in the worst mood that anyone had ever seen. The tame and sweet woman was gone, leaving behind an attorney that made coworkers flinch and cower as she passed.
***
"Nicole's being a total bitch," someone muttered. The statement was unfortunately made with one of Nicole's friends in earshot.
"Hey, shut the fuck up about Nicole. She had a few off days and now you're labeling her a bitch? I bet you'll smile in her fucking face when you need some legal help, won't you? Fucking bastards, you'd kiss her fucking ass to do your fucking work, wouldn't you," Mina snapped as she exited her office. She didn't even know who she was talking to, but she figured it was a good message to just about anybody in the crowded hallway that planned to talk about her friend while Nicole was obviously burdened.
The people in the wide and frequently busy halls of the firm all looked guilty. They went about their business to avoid seeming like they were the ones that spoke harshly about Nicole. Mina scowled at everyone until they were out of her sight before ducking back into her office, waiting for the next moment where she'd have to reprimand the many assholes with whom she worked. Why the hell is such a prestigious firm populated with dickheads? The firm had plenty of decent, diligent people in it, but the rotten apples drew attention to themselves and made it seem like they were the majority.
Mina planned to talk to Nicole…as soon as she was certain she could get close enough to the auburn-haired woman and not lose an arm. She had tried to approach Nicole yesterday, but the frightening glare that screamed ‘back off" kept her at bay and stopped her heart for a few more seconds than she liked. She'd have to wait until it was safe to tread water and Nicole's attitude was not something akin to a bull shark.
***
The attitude built for days before it reached its zenith. Nicole didn't blow up on anyone to show that the attitude was at its height. She just quietly dismissed any and everyone that came into her office, including her assistant. Her father even tried to go into the office and she dismissed him like he was any other person. He was so taken aback by her chilly demeanor that he didn't put up a fight, silently backing out of the room.
The day after that, Nicole came in subdued. She had been crying the night before, listening to the message that the voicemail recorded of her and Danny. The reality set in that Danny really wasn't coming back. She hadn't gone to sort herself out. Danny was honestly gone because she thought it was best for Nicole. Nicole cried every time the thought came to her mind.
The attorney dragged her body into work, not too sure how she managed to get there…again. She trudged to her office, not bothering to greet anyone, which had become normal for her the past week. There was a very noticeable change in her demeanor and appearance. The dark, intense wrath no longer seemed to be beaming off her like a brandished weapon. Instead, it seemed like it was raining on her, putting out her fire and covering her with dark, heavy grey clouds. No one mentioned her puffy, red eyes or flushed face. She could feel all eyes on her, but chilled silence came down whenever she went by. Her coworkers were pussyfooting around her.
She dropped into her chair behind her desk and stared down at the dark wood. It barely took a couple of minutes before more tears gathered and fell. She sniffled, but didn't bother to wipe away the tears. It'd be a waste of time.
"Danny…" Nicole sobbed and quickly covered her mouth. The last thing she wanted was someone running into the office to see what was wrong with her.
Her body shook as sobs burst through straight from the gut. Her hand over her mouth was hardly doing anything to stifle the noise. The moans bounced off the walls and assaulted her ears. It took her almost twenty minutes to gather herself and that was only because she ran out of tears ten minutes into her bawling. Her body and spirit still ached, throbbing constantly. She took deep breaths to calm herself down and tucked her head between her knees for a little while after that. Then she was ready to work, as ready as she'd be that day, anyway.
The next day, Nicole entered the firm just as somber as before and quite disheveled…for her, anyway. Her hair and clothes weren't perfect like always; her shirt wasn't ironed and her hair was frizzed slightly. Her colleagues watched her as she went by, but still no one said anything. She marched to her office and flopped down at her desk, trying to hold in the urge to weep. Just when she thought the dam would burst, the door to her office flew open.
"Go away, Daddy," Nicole grumbled.
"Look, Nikki…" Raymond's voice was tender, but she still didn't let him finish.
"I said go away, Daddy. I have work to do," Nicole huffed. She made a show of going through her briefcase, pulling out files.
"Nikki…" His voice was weak and then withered in his throat when she glared at him. He gulped.
"I'm only going to ask you one more time," she warned him. The fiery look in her eyes would've made a lion run for cover.
***
Raymond didn't press his luck. He exited the office, wondering what in the world was wrong with Nicole. He had never seen her in such a condition. He had never witnessed her in the belligerent state that she was in before, either. He went to the one person he was sure would be able to give him answers because she was probably just as concerned as he and Kate were.
"Mina," Raymond said, softly rapping at her door, even though he entered before being given permission.
"Yes, sir?" Mina knew who it was without needing to look up from her computer.
"Do you know what's wrong with Nikki lately?"
"Well, considering the fact that the last time I asked her what was wrong, she told me to go to jump in a volcano with gasoline drawers, no, sir, I don’t. I think it might have something to do with Danny, though."
"Danny?" Raymond blinked in surprise by the mention of the name. He hadn't heard anything about Tyler's cousin in almost two weeks.
"Ever since Nicole's been in her funk, she hasn't eaten lunch, which is something Danny would never allow if they were fine. She also hasn't said anything about Danny since getting in her mood. Clara's been bugging Nicole's assistant and according to him no one by the name of Danny has called, which is just plain weird. They probably had a little fight."
"You think so? Do you know about Nicole and Danny?"
"I know they're roommates. Danny's been pretty good for Nicole. She's helped Nicole a lot. I can't wait to meet her one day." Mina smiled.
He arched an eyebrow. "Then you don't know they were dating?"
"Dating?" This got Mina's attention enough for her to turn her eyes away from her computer. She searched Raymond's face as if to make sure he was telling the truth.
"They're dating," he confirmed in a deadpan, less than thrilled tone.
Mina grinned, which bewildered Raymond. "That's great. Danny takes such great care of Nicole and I could see that Nicole cared a lot about Danny, even though she denied it. I'm glad she recognized it."
"So…you think it's a good thing?"
"Very much. Nicole seems to be at her happiest when talking with Danny. It's wonderful to see. From the time I first met Nicole to now, I have never, ever seen her beam when she talks about someone like she does with Danny. Danny's so good for her and to her."
"But, isn't Danny into all sorts of horrible things?"
"Well, to hear Tyler tell it, yes. To hear Nicole tell it, Danny is tamer than a toy dog and much less annoying, more than we can say about Tyler. Now, I'd think Tyler knows his cousin since they're family and all, but Nicole's been living with Danny all these months. She should know Danny pretty well, too. I guess it boils down to who do you believe. I believe Nicole. I've seen her make bad decisions when it comes to relationships, but she's never looked so happy when talking about someone she's in a relationship with."
"You liked her best with Tyler, right?" Mina asked.
"He could have made her happy."
"Tell that to Nicole and watch her face turn bright red with anger. Tyler didn't give a damn about Nicole and he wasn't even trying to pay her any attention until after she dumped his ass. All he was about was having Nicole do everything for him while tearing her down. She was his trophy. Danny's good for Nicole because their relationship is nothing like what Nicole had with Tyler. Danny gives Nicole strength. Talk to Nicole before you pass judgment, especially if you're going by what Tyler said. I know the guys around here might not think so, but we ladies find him to be a bit of a slime ball."
Raymond's jaw tensed and he shifted on his feet. "And why's that?"
"Aside from the fact that he's hit on every woman on this level at least once and much of that happened while he was dating Nicole?" Mina arched an eyebrow and looked smug.
Raymond decided not to ask any more questions or he thought he might pay Tyler a visit next and Tyler wouldn't like the nature of the visit. Mina turned her attention back to her computer, but she didn't resume typing as Raymond left the office.
***
Nicole is dating Danny? So why the moods from Hell? She should be happy, Mina thought with a confused wrinkle in her forehead. She was pleased that someone was finally good to her friend. She considered Danny and Nicole might have had a tiff, but that didn't explain the murderous mood.
It was time for her own investigation. She abandoned her work and walked the short distance to Nicole's office. She paused at the door; her brow wrinkled even more as she heard sniffling coming from behind the door. She knocked softly and waited patiently for a response, giving Nicole plenty of time to straighten herself out.
"Come in," Nicole said.
Mina stepped inside and quietly shut the door behind her. She studied her friend from across the room and decided that she didn't like what she saw. Nicole's face was flushed a dull red from crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Her clothes were usually always pressed sharply, but now hung off her as if they had been bunched up before she crawled into them.
"Sweetie, you look like a hot mess. What's wrong? Danny actually let you leave the house like that?" Mina took a step forward.
The glare that Mina received at those words halted her in mid-stride. She was almost certain that her blood was frozen in her veins and her heart dared not beat, lest it make a sound that displeased the angriest woman in the world. Apparently, teasing wasn't the way to go, Mina noted.
"Sweetie, did you and Danny have a fight? Is that why you've been in such a foul mood?" Mina asked in a low, concerned tone as she inched her way toward her distressed colleague.
Nicole whimpered and before she could stop it tears were falling from her eyes like casualties in war, releasing all of the agony and despair inside of her. She quickly hid her face; she never cried in front of anyone. Mina made a sympathetic coo, plucking a tissue from Nicole's desk and handing it to the weeping woman.
"Nicole, sweetie, tell me what happened?" Mina requested in a soft tone.
"She left me," Nicole bawled.
"Who left you? Danny?" Mina was at Nicole's side and gently wrapped her arms around the crying female. Nicole continued to hide her face, sobbing into her tissues.
"Yes…" she squeaked and sniffled into the tissue.
"You mean she moved out?" Mina was trying to take it lightly, not wanting to hit Nicole with anything heavy lest she cry even harder. She doubted such intense weeping came from Danny just moving out, but she hoped that was the case.
"She didn't just move out. She left me. Ran off in the middle of the night and then called me with some cheap fucking explanation." Nicole roared, her voice muffled by her tissues.
Mina tightened her hug. "Calm down. I'm sure she had a reason. Though I never met her, I know from your stories that she cares a lot about you, Nicole. I doubt she just left for no reason."
"She said she was misrepresenting herself, like she was lying to me. What the hell? No one could pretend to be that sweet. She didn't want anything from me. She wasn't pretending…" Nicole had to stop to breathe for a few seconds.
"I know this isn't a good time to ask, but are you sure she didn't want anything? This is Tyler's cousin." Mina was slowly but surely getting pissed at Danny for leaving her friend in such a state, and now her relation to Tyler worked against her. For all Mina knew, Dane could be just like her cousin. Mina didn't know what to make of things.
"Don't compare her to that dipshit, I'm sure this is all his fault, He found out I was seeing Danny and the first thing he did was run to my parents and tell them all those lies about her, They wanted me to kick her out, And I'm sure he had something to do with her parents showing up, too,"
Mina's brow wrinkled in thought. Tyler was a sneaky bastard. He had been pining for Nicole since he lost her and Mina was certain he'd do anything to get her back, even if it meant hurting Nicole in the process. So it was possible that he did something. She couldn't see how he could get Danny to leave, though.
"Are you sure your parents didn't get to her at some point when you weren't home?"
"No, she left the very day my parents confronted me with all of this shit. Her parents showed up and did something to her… maybe. I don't know, I don't know what I'm going to do…" Nicole began crying hard again and didn't bother wiping her face.
"It'll be okay," Mina promised, rubbing Nicole's back.
Mina wasn't able to get anymore information out of her friend, but she was there as Nicole cried on and off again for the next hour. She managed to talk Nicole into going out for lunch. They took Clara with them and Nicole took a very tiny step toward normalcy.
***
Tyler smiled on his way to work, taking the long way to the office. It involved driving past Nicole's house and noticing that a certain rusty bicycle wasn't on the porch. He had heard whispers that Nicole had a falling out with her ‘roommate,’ and since the bike was gone early in the morning, he supposed it was true. He was ecstatic on so many levels to know Dane was no longer around his sweet Nicole.
In fact, he felt proud for being able to protect his woman from such a despicable character like Dane. He wasn't sure what she had done to Nicole, but eventually he'd make her pay for it. For now, he just wanted to get Nicole back to where she belonged so they could work on building a life together. He was extremely certain that she'd be happy with him, mostly because she fit perfectly into his lifestyle and his game plan. It helped that he cared for her, not that he'd go so far as to say he loved her. There was affection there and he knew she cared about him, even if she didn't seem to think so. A woman like her didn't give a man the time of day if there weren't some emotions there, he believed. She belonged with him, to him. He just needed to remind her of that and he was sure they'd be able to move forward in life.
The pleased smile on his face didn't vanish, even though he was late for work. He had plans for the day and nothing would stop him for executing them. But first, he had to get some work done. He set himself up at his computer, and before he even started doing anything, he started thinking about his cousin. Everyone knew Dane was no good, worthless, shiftless, and would easily take advantage of anyone, especially an innocent young woman like Nicole. Dane was nothing more than a parasite draining anyone that she attached herself to, be they family or friend. He needed to save Nicole from his wicked cousin. He was glad that he called Dane's parents.
His uncle had called him a few days after they spoke to Dane and let him know that Dane had been thoroughly reprimande
d for her distasteful behavior in seducing his fiancée. He wasn't sure what to make of that considering Nicole's foul mood followed by her strange seclusion. He knew better than to approach her while she was like that, so he tried to find out what happened with his rogue of a cousin beyond the fact that her parents had given her a stern scolding. His uncle knew how to put Dane in her place.
Tyler's smile broadened, thinking about how his cousin was gone from his life. "More trouble than she's worth. The greatest reasoning for abortion if ever there was one. I don't see why Uncle Russell didn't make Aunt Christine give Dane away or something."
He spent several minutes disdainfully cursing Dane out in his head before work consumed his mind. He focused on his own matters until it was nearly lunchtime. He strolled out of his office with his shoulders squared and a secure pep in his step. He went down the decorated hall, having to turn a corner before coming to the corridor that housed his destination. He knocked on the dark door and entered before he got an answer.
"Come…" Nicole ate her final word when the door opened. "Tyler, what the hell do you want?" she demanded as a deep frown cut across her soft face.
Tyler smiled despite the almost tangible hostility coming from his ex-girlfriend. "I was about to go grab a bite to eat. I wanted to know if you wanted to join me." He figured by now after sometime alone, she'd love company and he'd gladly be that company.
"Not if you were the last man on Earth." Nicole turning her attention back to her work. Her tone and obvious disinterest did nothing to his cocky grin.
"Don't be that way, babe. I figured you'd have cooled off by now. I mean, it's been almost seven months. I know you’ve missed me."
Nicole sighed, closing her eyes.
I am irresistible and Nicole just needs to go out with me to remember that. If I can get her on a date, then I'll be able to get her to fall for me again. She'll recall how brilliant and great I am. That was my plan the first time I chased her and it worked out rather well until Dane showed up spreading her venomous lies.