by Harper West
I giggled. “Is this to welcome your new co-worker, or something else entirely?”
He winked. “Why can’t it be both?”
I mean, he didn’t make my stomach do flips or anything, but he seemed very sweet and incredibly genuine. So, it didn’t take long for me to nod my head in agreement.
“I’d love that. Just let me know when,” I said.
He shrugged. “How about Friday night? I could pick you up at your office and we can take it from there.”
I turned my body toward my rundown car. “I’ll make sure to take a cab to work, then.”
His smile overtook his eyes. “Wonderful. I’m already looking forward to it.”
The week passed by in a blur and not once had JoJo come down to see me. And while that was refreshing, it was also infuriating. Did he honestly think he could corner me in my office the way he did, threaten me like he had, and then leave me be as if nothing had happened? Still, I tried to not let it get to me.
After all, I had a hot date after work.
I was overloaded, though, and I had to dip out on the girls’ standing lunch invitation. Apparently, JoJo was late in preparing for a board meeting Monday morning and I needed to get all the pie graphs and bar charts into a PDF document he could print out and hand out to everyone. So, I scrambled to piece something together that remotely resembled a professional, Fortune 500 company board meeting document.
Then, I sent it off and spent the last hour of work watching the clock tick down.
I stood to my feet and paced the floor of my office as I waited for Tommy to come pick me up. With my purse slung over my shoulder and my pencil skirt clinging to a set of thighs that took me a very long time to love, nerves started taking over. My hands shook at the thought of going on a date, especially since I hadn’t been on one in so damn long. I mean, what if he wanted to have sex? I wasn’t a “first date sex” kind of gal. Would that upset him? Did I need to be upfront with that?
The phone ringing on my desk pulled me from my trance, however, and I raced to pick it up.
“This is Rebecca speaking.”
JoJo’s voice sounded harsh from the first syllable. “My office. Now.”
And that was all he said as the line disconnected.
“Fuck,” I groaned.
I checked the clock and found that I still had thirty minutes to spare, so I raced out of my office and headed for the stairs. I climbed them, two by two, ready to get this out of the way so I could go enjoy my weekend. I stopped just shy of JoJo’s door and gave myself a few seconds to catch my breath. After all, hiking steps in heels really took it out of a gal, especially when she was rushing.
Then, I drew in a deep breath and entered his office.
“You rang?” I asked as I closed the door behind me.
His face told me everything about his mood. “That document you sent me? Was it rushed?”
I paused. “I mean, you did ask me for it this morning. So, I suppose--.”
He marched toward me with a dark stare on his face. “Do you think your job is a joke?”
I straightened my back. “No, I don’t, sir.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Do you think you can send me some bullshit excuse for a board meeting document, and it actually be okay? It looks like shit, Becca. It looks like something someone slapped together in ClipArt or Microsoft Paint, for fuck’s sake. How the hell am I supposed to give this to the millionaire and billionaire tycoons that sit on our board in the first place!?”
I shrugged. “If you give me the weekend, I’ll have it spic and span for you.”
A growl came through in the tone of his voice. “The work is just as disgusting as you are. Just as lazy and half-assed as you’ve always been.”
Dear God, just fire me already. “Are you going to fire me over this? Over something that’s technically your fault for waiting to do?”
He slammed his hand into the door. “Backtalk me one more time and I’ll blacklist you from every accounting job in the fucking state. You work for me, Becca, and that means you follow my lead. You do as I say, when I say it, and you don’t question it. Understood?”
I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“And when you hand over shit work, you get your ass chewed off until your back sits on your fat, breathless thighs. Got it?”
I smiled softly. “I didn’t know you found me breathtaking. Thank you, JoJo.”
He straightened his back and ran his hands down his suit coat. “While you’re working on that document this weekend, you can also gather all of this quarter’s documents and have them sent to me, in order by date. Then, I want you to take those documents and make financial projections for the next five years.”
“I’ll have it all on your desk by Monday--.”
“I want it on my desk before you leave tonight.”
I blinked. “Wait, what?”
He turned his back to me and walked toward his desk. “You heard me. Get it on my desk before you leave tonight or you’re fucking fired. And if you so much as think about backtalking me right now, I’ll make your life a living nightmare until the day you die.”
I don’t doubt that one bit. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now get the hell out of my sight.”
I watched my chances at this date quickly slip away as I eased myself out of his office. My hands shook violently as I made my way for the elevator, and I waited until the doors closed before I let my tears trickle down my cheeks. I hated that he could still do this to me. That he could still make me cry as if I were nothing but a scared little teenage girl again. I felt helpless, and consumed, and disposable.
But, after brushing the tears away from my cheeks, I charged back into my office. Because as God as my witness, I’d prove to that motherfucker that I wouldn’t take this treatment lying down. I’d do the work, and I’d make it exemplary, just to show him how much he didn’t affect me anymore.
And maybe I could fake it until I actually made it to that point.
5
Rebecca
After shooting Tommy an email apologizing for having to miss our date, I spent the rest of my Friday evening in an open and airy conference room getting all of the work JoJo dumped into my lap out of the way.
And while I spent the rest of the weekend trying to recuperate from the rollercoaster ride that was my first week, I woke up Monday morning feeling accomplished.
Sure, I might have looked a little frumpy in my wrinkled pencil skirt and faded black blouse. My hair might have been a bit fuzzier than usual and no, I didn’t have enough time to put on makeup before I left the house.
But I was here, I was ready, and I was incredibly proud of what I had accomplished.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t go in there.”
JoJo’s secretary caught my ear just as I placed my hand on the knob of his office. “He said he wanted to see me this morning before I started.”
“Well, he’s in a board meeting. You’ll need to sit and wait until he’s done.”
Thank fuck I emailed that shit to him. “Does he know that’ll make me late for work?”
She snickered. “Honestly? He probably doesn’t even care.”
“At least he’s consistent,” I murmured.
“What was that, ma’am?”
I gave her my most pleasant smile. “Nothing. Just talking to myself. May I sit here and wait?”
“Of course.”
Not going to lie, part of me wanted to sneak into his office and snoop around for a little while. Maybe there was some dirt somewhere in his office, tucked away from the public eye that I could retrieve and hold over his head. After all, if he was going to continue to berate me, why not give him the same treatment? What’s the worst he could do, fire me?
I’d come clean to the press in a heartbeat about my treatment, if it came down to it.
“Are you sure I can’t go into his office and sit?” I asked.
His secretary shook her head. “He doesn’t like people waiting in his office.”
I came up with my excuse on the fly. “Not even when we need last-minute documents for the meeting that I have to access on his computer?”
She scoffed. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place? This meeting is very important. Get in there!”
Bingo.
I eased my way into his office and closed the door behind me, my eyes raking along the expanse of books and shelving units that had goldmines of information to dig through. After peering over my shoulder to make sure no one was looking in through the tinted glass wall, I raced to his desk and started rummaging around.
But the more I pulled out, the more it painted a picture of a JoJo I’d never seen before.
The man who owned these files was meticulous. There were neatly-crafted notes in the margins of the minutes from board meetings. There were highlighted financials with red and black scribbles all over the place. He had hard copies and electronic copies of every contract from the past ten years filed away, and as I read through a few of the contracts I noticed a trend.
Not only were they incredible generous, but they were—dare I say it—fair.
These documents painted the picture of a fair and honest man.
“That can’t be right,” I whispered to myself.
The more I looked through his desk, though, the more I found to back up the insane theory unfolding in my mind. Maybe he simply didn’t like people unless they were paying him for something. Maybe he was a billionaire recluse, or some bullshit like that. But even those who reclused themselves away from the world didn’t have smiling pictures of himself swimming in the ocean.
Or pictures of him laughing over cocktails.
Or pictures of him sunbathing on the beach.
Who the hell took these pictures?
I reached way back into his pencil drawer, hoping to find some sort of fail-safe for my venture. Was this man really a well-adjusted guy who simply hated my guts? Hated all of his employees’ guts? I found it hard to believe. But, instead of finding a false back to the drawer, my fingertips stumbled upon something that felt like another picture.
And when I pulled it out, I saw JoJo smiling brightly for the camera in a tuxedo.
With a woman in a white wedding dress standing next to him.
“What the fuck?” I murmured.
I’d never see him smile like this. Hell, I’d never seen him smile at all, much less like he was in the picture. I studied the massive rock on the woman’s left-hand but didn’t see a ring on his, which only confused me more.
Who was this woman?
And why is he so happy to be with her?
“Mr. Ryker! How did the meeting go?”
The elevator doors dinged, and I heard his secretary’s voice kick up. I scrambled to get everything back in its place as I heard his heavy footsteps surging down the hallway. His voice was low and gruff, and while I couldn’t make out what he said I already knew he wasn’t in a good mood. So, after easing his pencil drawer shut, I quickly rushed to stand by the chair in front of his desk.
And when he opened his office door, his face turned red with anger.
“The hell are you doing in here?” he spat.
I cleared my throat as he slammed his office door closed.
“Waiting for you to get out of your meeting. I was hoping to know how it went with the second round of my documentation.”
His stare raked up and down my body before he clicked his tongue. “Find what you were looking for?”
I blinked. “Beg your pardon?”
He scoffed. “I’m not an idiot, Becca. Did you find whatever the fuck it was you were snooping around for?”
No point in lying now. “No, sir.”
He charged past me, slapping a file folder on top of his desk. “I didn’t fucking think so.”
I pivoted with him. “I did have a question for you, if you have a moment.”
He planted his hands on top of his desk and glowered at me. “I feel a need to let you know that if you opened any personnel files, contractual files, or if you have otherwise tampered with anything sensitive that is for my eyes only, it’s not only a fireable offense, but I could technically accuse you of trying to steal information for our competition.”
And just like that, he had the power once more. I knew I could walk away. I could wash my hands of this altogether and be done with him and his abusive ways. But I knew he’d ruin my career as well as my reputation. I’d have to tuck tail and go home, proving everyone right that I’d never be able to make it out here on my own without any family to fall back on.
But, when I didn’t answer, I watched his frown tick into a grin. “You can make it up to me, though.”
I cleared my throat. “What do you have in mind, sir?”
He straightened his back. “You’ll stay late again tonight. I’ll send the list of requirements via email. You can go now.”
“But, sir, I sort of have—.”
I glared at me. “Take it, or you’re fired.”
Don’t let him win. Never let him win again. “I’ll be eagerly awaiting your email.”
“You fucking better be. You’re dismissed.”
It didn’t take him thirty minutes to send me that email, and I had to scroll through the damn thing to completely view the list of busy work he had me doing today. And of course, the deadline for all of this shit to be on his desk was tomorrow morning. But I knuckled down and kept telling myself that overtime was time and a half with his company, so I’d have a great little nest egg after four paychecks’ worth of this shit.
Little did I know how much it would take out of me.
“You’re pathetic, you know that?”
JoJo’s voice startled me awake, and I realized I had fallen asleep at my desk. “What time is it?”
He comes into my office and closes the door. “It’s eight, which is apparently way past your sorry excuse for a bedtime.”
I ignored his tone of voice and wiped at the drool on my cheek. “Just needed a quick nap. I’m going to go get some coffee and get back to--.”
He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. “Have you always been this much of a failure?”
I blinked. “Sorry, come again?”
He scoffed. “Falling asleep at your desk. Subpar reports for my board meeting. How the hell did you get hired here anyway?”
I blinked back tears as I turned toward my desktop computer. “What I lack in rapport with you I apparently make up in qualifications.”
“So, that’s your excuse for being too weak to hold yourself together long enough to do your damn job?”
I peeked down at the time in the corner of the screen. “Technically, it’s three hours past my damn job, but here I am anyway.”
He stormed toward my desk. “Listen here, you little--.”
I looked up at him with the calmest face I could muster. “Don’t you have anything better to do with your evenings than harassing an employee who’s only doing what you’ve asked of her?”
He narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think I have a choice?”
“So, you are as lonely as you seem. Got it.”
But his growling voice held my attention as he pressed his hands into my desk and lowered his gaze to my own. “Listen up because I’m only going to say this once: the only reason why you got hired here is because I left someone else in charge of the new hire while I was on a fucking business trip. So, you’ve got one shot to make this work. One shot to show me that you’re not the waste of space you were back in high school.”
His hot breath battered against my face as his face came closer to my own, and his cologne smelled so good that it stopped me in my tracks.
“So, stay the fuck awake long enough to do the basics of your job, otherwise you won’t be employable anywhere. Got it?”
My tits puckered against my bra as I quickly nodded my head. “Got it.”
“Got it, what?”
I swallowed hard. “Got it, sir.”
He smirked
. “Good. Maybe I’ll still make a loyal employee out of you yet.”
And as he turned on his heels, exiting my office the same way he entered, I flopped against my leather office chair and let out the breath I had been holding.
While my thighs clenched together to seek out a needed dose of friction that had come out of nowhere.
I’m disgusting for even thinking about it.
And yet, as my eyes traveled to his pert ass before he slammed the door closed behind me, the only thing that ran through my mind was his hand wrapped around my throat before I imagined what it might have been like to feel his angry lips against my own.
Maybe after a good hate fuck he’d treat me with the slightest bit of decency.
“I really need a different job,” I said breathlessly.
6
Rebecca
“Morning, sleepyhead!”
I lurched upright with a piece of paper stuck to my cheek. “Holy shit!”
Brit giggled as she walked a cup of coffee toward me. “Spent the night in the office, huh? That happens sometimes. Mr. Ryker doesn’t care if we stay late, so long as we turn in our work on time.”
I squinted my eyes. “Uh, what time… I—uh…?”
She set the coffee on my desk. “Sounds like you need this just as much as I do.”
Then, I picked up my almost-dead cell phone and clocked the time. “Oh, no.”
She perched on the edge of my desk. “What is it?”
I stood to my feet. “No, no, no, no!”
“What!?”
I picked up my work in my arms and ran for my door. “Gotta go! Sorry! Be right back!”
But, as I rushed toward the stairs, I ran smack dab into a familiar face.
“What the hell?” Tommy asked.
I crashed to the floor with all of my work falling around me and I squeezed my eyes closed so I wouldn’t cry in front of everyone. I turned onto my knees and started trying to reorganize things as quickly as possible, even though I only had fifteen minutes to get it upstairs and onto JoJo’s desk.