by Harper West
However, Tommy didn’t bend down to help.
“Aren’t you going to help me out?” I asked breathlessly.
He snickered. “After you stood me up? Are you insane? I just came up here to ask you why in the world you haven’t come to apologize yet.”
I paused. “Didn’t you get my email?”
He shrugged. “Should there have even been an email?”
I stared up at him blankly before my brain kicked back into gear. I didn’t have time to fight with this idiot on whether or not he got an email. I had to get this stuff up to JoJo before I lost my job and my future along with it. I gathered everything into my arms again and threw myself at the stairs, ignoring Tommy calling out for me because “we needed to talk.”
Fuck talking.
I was just trying to save my own hide.
“Hold on! Coming through! Important paperwork!”
JoJo’s secretary stood up. “You need any help?”
“Please tell me he’s not in his office yet,” I said as I reached for his doorknob.
His secretary came over to unlock it for me. “Not quite yet. He’s not due for another few minutes.”
“Thank fuck,” I said with a sigh of relief.
I rushed over to his desk and took the last few minutes before the workday started to arrange everything by date, just how he liked it. Then, I cracked my neck and tried my best to put my hair back up in a palatable bun. I heard the elevator door ding before heavy footfalls sounded against the marble floor. My stomach dropped to my toes as I stood by his desk in yesterday’s clothes, hoping beyond all hope that he didn’t remember what I was wearing.
But the second he came around the corner, he burst out laughing. “Did you actually sleep here last night?”
I swallowed my own anger down. “If that’s what it takes to get the job done.”
He handed his briefcase off to his secretary and came into his office. “And you don’t have a change of clothes or anything? Because you look terrible.”
I should break your fucking jaw for that. “I’ll go and change on my lunch break.”
He waved his hand in the air. “You can go change now. You look… homeless.”
I drew in a deep, sobering breath. “Here is all of the work you asked for, arranged by date. I also got new meetings onto your schedule, entered in a few changes that came through in the middle of the night, and fielded a phone call from a very unhappy customer--.”
He waved his hand in the air. “Are you taking on more than you can handle? Because if you’re incapable of doing your job--.”
“If you’d listen to me instead of interrupting me, you’d learn that not only did I do what you asked, but I also did more than that.”
His face fell flat. “Right.”
I clasped my hands in front of me. “So, if there’s nothing else?”
He thumbed over his shoulder. “Get out of my sight.”
I scurried out of his office as relief washed over me. I needed to go home, take a shower, and come back with a fresh set of clothes and a new mindset. I took the elevator down a floor just to save my legs the strength, but I found Tommy perched in the chair in front of my desk as I stepped inside.
“Hey there, I was hoping you’d still be around,” I said as I closed the door behind me.
He stood to his feet. “If I asked you out on a second date, would you cancel last minute as well?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. Mr. Ryker threw last minute work at me and that’s the only reason why I cancelled. Apparently, he doesn’t know how to prepare for his own board meetings when he doesn’t have an accountant around.”
He chuckled. “Sounds about right.”
I took a few steps toward him. “For what it’s worth, I really am sorry. I was looking forward to getting drinks with you a lot. I was just as bummed as you were.”
“Probably not as bummed. But if we make it to the third date you can always make it up to me with sex.”
He punctuated his statement with a wink, but his words made me recoil. Joke or not, that wasn’t how any of this worked.
“Are you joking? Or not?” I asked.
Tommy snickered. “I mean, I could set us up for another date, but I’d technically consider it a second one at this point since we’ve kind of already had lunch together.”
“Uh huh. Well, then you should know that I don’t sleep with anyone until I feel comfortable with them, no matter how many dates it takes.”
He smiled his boyish little smile. “Do women who stand men up still get that same courtesy?”
I balked at his statement. “First, I didn’t stand you up. And secondly, yeah, they do. You aren’t owed sex for anything. No man is.”
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just picking with you, Becca. Calm down a bit.”
No, he’s really not. “Anyway, I need to head home and get changed. Bossman’s orders.”
“I kind of like what you’ve got on. What’s wrong with it?”
I giggled. “It’s what I was wearing yesterday.”
He walked past me and leaned into my ear. “Just means you’re a hard worker. Don’t let the Bossman get to you because of that.”
It was such a stark contrast to the conversation we’d just had that it left me speechless, and I was damn thankful for Brit when she opened my door.
“Hey, you got a second, Becca?” she asked.
Thank fuck. “Duty calls.”
Tommy’s stare studied my breasts before he cleared his throat. “Give the second date a thought. I could really rock your world if you let me.”
And as I watched him walk out of my office, I made a mental note never to be alone with that man again. I wouldn’t go on a date with him. I wouldn’t go to lunch with him. I wouldn’t do anything that required him.
Because I’d be damned if I let two men ruin the life I was trying to build for myself.
7
Jospeh
Bramp! Bramp! Bramp! Bramp!
I slammed my hand against my cell phone to cease the effervescent bullshit sound that was my alarm. I hated it. Hell, I hated most sounds my phone made. But the more obnoxious the sound, the better chance it had of waking me up.
Because I was a hard fucking sleeper.
“Ugh,” I groaned.
I rolled out of bed and stood to my feet. Stretching my arms over my head was single-handedly the best part of my morning. My eyes rolled back as my spine snapped into place. Cracks and creaks ricocheted up every vertebra, as if my body were waking itself up in return. And after a shiver of satisfaction ran throughout my body, I shook my head to wake myself up.
Before I headed toward my bathroom.
“Elena,” I said.
My beach house A.I. came to life. “Good morning, Mr. Ryker.”
I cracked my neck. “Tell me the weather.”
She bleeped with satisfaction. “Right now, it is 62 degrees outside with partly cloudy skies expected by lunch time. No forecasted storms, and the high will be 79 degrees at three-thirty this afternoon.”
I drew in a deep breath as I splashed some water in my face. “Elena, unlock the gym for me.”
That telltale bleep made me grin every time. “Gym, unlocked.”
I dried off my face. “Thank you, Elena. That is all.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Ryker.”
I stared at myself in the mirror, my hand running along the stubble against my face. The bags beneath my eyes kept growing despite the thousands of dollars’ worth of product I had slathered on them this past year. My crow’s feet seemed to deepen every fucking time I looked in the mirror, and the harder I ran my fingers through my hair the more hair I seemed to have in my hand and on the bathroom countertop.
“Fucking hell, I need a hair transplant,” I grumbled.
Nevertheless, I took all of my vitamins and supplements before changing into my gym clothes. I pulled out a slender drawer in between the double marble vanity in my bathroom and the walk-in linen and toilet
ry closet. I plucked out my outfit for the gym and got changed into it before opening the cabinets beneath my side of the bathroom sink and pulled out my hamper. In went my pajamas so I didn’t toss them onto the floor, and then I allowed myself one more critical look at myself before a smirk spread across my cheeks.
“You handsome fucking devil, you.”
I slid the hamper back beneath the bathroom sink and slammed the door closed. Then, with a pep in my step, I headed down to the gym. I plucked a pair of workout socks from the dispenser I kept beside the door inside of my home gym, then I grabbed the first set of sneakers out of the glass display case I kept them in on the other side of the door.
Then, I cracked my knuckles and got to work.
Just like I did every damn day of my lonely, useless life.
Rebecca
As I sat at my desk, typing away on my computer, I couldn’t help but sigh heavily to myself. Now that my hours at work had stabilized, I found myself sinking into a routine that simultaneously made me feel purposeless and grounded. Every time I went to lunch with the girls, Brit talked about some new concert she went to go see over the weekend while Angelica and Kayla talked about their new D.I.Y. projects they had started tackling together. It seemed as if everyone had their hobbies and passions except for me.
And judging by how strict JoJo was with his schedule, something told me him and I were in the same boat.
Sucks to be him.
It’s true, though. My life had not only become predictable, but empty. This job was all I did, and then the weekends were spent being an absolute slob in the same pair of pajamas until I was forced to shower and return back to work. This job guided my life. This paycheck fueled me to get out of bed. And while I tried not to feel sorry for myself, I most certainly felt sorry for the empty life JoJo seemed to lead.
Which only made me more confused about the feelings I already had about my own existence.
Isn’t that what I wanted, though? A simple daily routine?
My hands stopped typing along the keyboard as the questions washed over the forefront of my brain. I hated the voice in my head sometimes, but other times it forced me to think. Yes, what I had been looking for was a simple daily routine. Something that gave me purpose and filled me with pride. But was that enough? Was working and lounging around on the weekends enough for me?
I mean, what about travel? Seeing new places? Trying new foods? While I’d never been an outdoorsy kind of person, there was so much of this world to see, and yet I was okay with being complacent about it? Some days, I criticized myself for not being more passionate than I was. So many women my age yearned for travel and more education simply because they could obtain it at this point in their lives. But, not me.
The only thing I dreamt about while at work was the next time JoJo cornered me in his office.
“You asked for me, sir?”
He pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”
I moved quickly and did as he asked. “Did I mess something up again?”
He scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. “I don’t know, you tell me. Did you fuck something up again?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “No, sir. I’m confident in the work I’ve turned into you lately.”
His eye twitched. “You didn’t forget about something?”
Panic gripped my heart. “I don’t—I don’t think--.”
He bent down in front of me, his hands on his knees and his eyes level with my own. “I don’t pay you to fucking think, Becca. I pay you to do. I pay you to be exact. I pay you to be accurate. So I’ll give you one more pathetic chance before you’re fired and blacklisted for good. Did you, Rebecca Loren, forget something?”
Tears crested my eyes as a surge of strength soared through my veins. Maybe it was the fact that I was fed up with his bullshit, or maybe it was the fact that I no longer cared about losing my job. But, as I slowly stood to my feet, he straightened his back and lifted his nose into the air as if he were better than me.
Then, I drew in a deep breath and spat out the words I had long since dreamt of saying to him.
“You are disgusting, you know that?”
JoJo’s eyes widened. “You’re fi--.”
I held up my hand, stopping him in his tracks. “I don’t give a shit if I’m fired, because the only thing you’ve done since I took this job was abuse and berate me just like you did in high school.”
His eyes narrowed but he didn’t speak, so I continued.
“And I get it, right? I get that my sister was just as fucked up as you all those years ago. But, if you really thought I had anything to do with what she did to you, then you’re fucked up, too. I didn’t have shit to do with my sister in high school and I barely have shit to do with her now. Do you know what my older sister was to me? A role model on how to not do things. That’s who she was to me, and that’s who she still is to me. And I’m sorry she fucked you over, or fucked you up, or whatever the hell she really did to you, but I had nothing to do with it. And I’ll be damned if you ruin my life for another second, Joseph Ryker.”
He unfurled his arms and reached his hand out for my neck. He wrapped his fingers around my skin, pressing against either side of my carotid before he whipped me around. I gasped with shock, wrapping my hands around his wrist as he barreled me into his bookshelf.
And as his lips came closer to my own, my nipples puckered against my bra.
“You’re going to pay for those words,” he growled.
A shiver of anticipation wafted up my spine. “Try your best, JoJo.”
“Knock, knock!”
The sound of Brit’s voice snapped me out of my trance just before she whipped my office door open. With her bright smile and her beautiful sundress with matching shoes, she flounced over to my desk and perched on the edge of it. I watched her lips moving with her words, but the sound of her voice didn’t hit my ears.
Because as I sat there, I tried to process the daydream I’d just had.
“Do you think I should invest in a new vibrator?” I asked.
Brit stopped in her tracks. “Uh, duh. Are you kidding? Every girl should have an Old Faithful.”
I barked with laughter. “Wanna go with me this weekend to get one?”
Her eyes grew wide with excitement. “Are you kidding me? I’d love to! Wanna get drinks before, or after?”
I grinned. “Definitely before. It’ll tone down the anxiety a bit.”
She furrowed her brow. “Anxiety? Why?”
I shrugged. “I’ve only ever been into a sex store twice. So…”
She squealed and clapped her hands. “Then, I know just where to take you. So, make sure you’ve got Saturday lunch time and your afternoon booked off, because once you step foot into this place you won’t want to leave.”
And for the first time since I had taken this job, I felt excited for the weekend to come.
Even if it meant tanking through a few more guilty, fucked up daydreams to get there.
8
Rebecca
The week had come and gone without a peep from upstairs and part of me grew worried. I mean, not worried about JoJo, but worried about my place here at the company.
Had he already found a replacement for me? Is that why he wasn’t torturing me any longer? Or maybe one of the girls had caught wind of him talking to me the way he did and reported him to H.R.?
Shit, is he going to think I reported him?
Nevertheless, I tried to focus on my work. I was four tasks away from being done with my workweek, which meant I’d finally get to look forward to my Saturday afternoon with Brit. I had already looked up all of the sex stores in the area and had a pretty good idea of the one she was taking me to. After all, there weren’t many sex stores that offered facials and massages along with cocktails to fuel one’s shopping experience.
So, during one of my five-minute breaks, I moved some money around so I’d be good to go.
“Hey!” Brit said as she peeked
through my door. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a reason to congratulate you?”
I whipped my head up. “Huh? What was that?”
She slipped into my office and closed the door behind me. “Your relationship, you numbskull. Why the hell didn’t you tell me that you and Tommy were dating!?”
My heart stopped in my chest. “Uh, because we aren’t?”
She tilted her head. “That’s not what Kayla just told me.”
I stood to my feet. “Well, what did Kayla just tell you?”
“That you and Tommy have been dating ever since you guys went out for drinks. You know, after we had lunch with him that one time?”
I shook my head. “We never went out for drinks. I cancelled because Jo—I mean, Mr. Ryker—had me stay late to do work.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You almost called him Joseph.”
“No, I didn’t.”
She strode toward me. “Yes, you did. You know him, don’t you? You know Joseph Ryker personally?”
I shook my head quickly. “I’m not sure he wants me to--.”
She rubbed her hands together. “No, no, no. Save the gossip for tomorrow. What happens on a girls’ weekend stays on a girls’ weekend.”
I smiled. “Well, if we really want to make it a girls’ weekend, you want to come over Saturday night and stay over? I know it’s a bit childish, but--.”
She threw her arms around my neck. “I’d love to! Yay! This is going to be so fun!”
I hugged her tightly before I placed my hands on her shoulders and held her in front of me.
“Brit, I’ve been having some issues with Tommy since I got here. I don’t know what his issue is, but we aren’t dating. We’ve never been on a date, and I’m never going to go on a date with him, okay?”
She sighed. “Okay, but you might want to inform him of that. He’s telling the entire office that you guys are a thing.”
Kayla came soaring into the room. “Congratulations!”
Angelica was right behind her with a bottle of sparkling apple cider. “This calls for a drink!”