“Are you sure? I feel like I know you from somewhere?” The woman’s puzzled eyes narrow.
Crap. She could have been at one of my book launches. Play it cool. Don’t freak out. Trampling down my anxiety, I take a deep breath to calm my heart before plastering a smile to my face. “I guess I just have one of those faces.”
“Yeah… Maybe.” Shaking her head, she smiles back gesturing to the elevator. “Head to the tenth floor and take a right. You’ll have to walk past a few meeting rooms and offices, but you’ll find Garrett’s office right at the end of the hallway.”
“Thank you so much!” Hurrying away from her, I step into the elevator, pressing the button furiously. Too close. That was way too close. What if she recognized me? I lean back against the cool steel wall, the coldness seeping into my skin, calming down my racing heart. Would it have really been that bad? To be recognized?
Shaking my head, I watch as the numbers above the door change from nine to ten, the ding of the elevator signaling my arrival. I step out, the food weighing me down. The sooner I find his office, the sooner I can eat. And maybe a little more.
Blushing, I turn right following the directions given by the receptionist. Meeting rooms, offices, Garrett’s office. Meeting rooms, offices, Garrett’s office. It’s a lot nicer here than I would have thought a sex toy company to be. With bright lights and a clean atmosphere, it’s nothing like the dingy and grimy stereotypical offices. But it is Garrett, so…
As I walk past a set of meeting rooms, booming laughter pulls my lips up. His employees must really love working here.
“You guys have to hear this… Sales skyrocketed because of it.” The hum of the speakers within the room forms a background to the conversation.
“I can taste watermelon… and mint? I think? What is this?… It’s what? Deep throat spray? How does that even work?”
Wait. Is that… me? A frown pulls my eyebrows together and I slow down.
Garrett said he was going to upload my thoughts on them, I just thought he would have warned me first.
“Yeah, so? That’s pretty standard,” another voice says.
“No, you have to hear this next part.”
The speakers crackle again as I slump against the wall, the bags of food dropping down beside me. The sounds of me sucking and choking on Garrett’s cock echoes around the room, his grunts of pleasure following with it. My throat constricts and my chest tightens as a wave of dizziness storms across my body.
The sounds of me moaning and sucking get louder. And then: “Holy. Fucking. Shit. That spray works! Like, it actually works. It didn’t hurt taking you down my throat… at all. It made deep throating you so much easier.”
The recording pauses as the men laugh loudly. Oh God. My chest burns as the need to vomit rises. My eyes start to water. I stare down the corridor, but I swear it’s moving; lengthening, distorting.
“She sounds like a good little slut. I wonder who recorded it? Lucky bastard.”
“A slut. That’s what you are,” Michael says.
“I don’t know, but there’s another three minutes of this.”
“That’s all you’re good for, and all you’ll ever be good for.”
“Whoever that chick is, they certainly got a good throat fucking by the sounds of it.”
“Come here.”
The men laugh, slapping the table as they continue to joke with each other. “That’s not even the best part! Whoever this is, they’ve commissioned her to write a story about a woman who explores her sexuality with our products. If that’s her reaction, I can’t wait to see what she puts in a book. It’ll be the hottest erotica on the market!”
“You’re not there, you’re not there…” I whisper to myself.
But the hallway darkens. Only the wall holds me up now, my legs trembling along with the rest of my body. How… how could he do this? Humiliation courses through me as I stare up at the ceiling, focusing on the fluorescent strip lights. God, why am I so stupid. Tears prickle the corners of my eyes.
“Either way, this recording has over one million listens, and the conversion rates after listening are at nearly eighty-five percent. This is the best thing that could ever have happened to us. Garrett’s idea was fucking brilliant.”
The men mutter their agreements as the speakers echo once again with my voice, muffled by Michael’s cock… no, Garrett’s. Did he plan this from the very beginning? Is that why he whispered the whole time? Shivers run down my spine. I’m such an idiot. A sob breaks free from my trembling lips, my hand moving to cover my mouth and face, hiding me from view. He used me.
I swallow, hiccupping. My breath is coming out in short pants, my chest rising and falling fast as the burning inferno of betrayal sears my heart. Picking up the bags, I run back to the elevator, my legs barely holding me up.
Why? Why would he do that? I sob against the cool metal of the elevator walls, my fist banging against the wall. Pain shoots through my hand, but it pales in comparison to having my still beating heart ripped from my chest.
The elevator door chimes as it opens to the ground floor. I wipe my face on my sleeve and rush out, dropping the food by the startled looking receptionist before hurrying out of the building. I only manage a few more steps before my legs give out under me, and I hit the pavement—hard.
Pulling out my phone, I hit speed dial.
“Hey, Ellie! How did it go? What did he say?”
“Mia—” my voice breaks. I inhale a shuddery breath, gritting my teeth of another onslaught of sobs. “Code red… his building…” The stabbing pain in my heart intensifies. I can’t believe I’m calling a code red. The ultimate get-the hell-to-Ellie bat signal. I haven’t ever had to use it since… him… But Garrett?
Oh, God. Wracking sobs rip from my throat, the world oblivious to the soul-crushing heartbreak and devastation. The rain, previously a light drizzle, starts picking up.
“Ellie, don’t move. I’ll be there as soon as possible, okay? Don’t move. Stay with me on the phone. Don’t hang up.”
I hold the phone to my ear, not caring as people stare at me warily, avoiding my painful self-destruction as if it were contagious. Most are holding umbrellas now, but I sit on the floor uncaring, letting the rain shower me in its cold embrace.
“Katie, so help me if you don’t fucking move it I will never speak to you again. Get the hell out of there. Code red!” The sound of Mia banging on wood crackles through the phone. “Take it. I need to drive.”
“Ellie-bear, you still there?” Tinged with worry, Katie’s voice breaks through the cloudy fog of despair.
“Katie…”
“Yeah, honey. We’re on our way, okay?”
“Kay.” I choke out another sob, my chest hurting from the intensity. Pain shoots through my head, my mind barely functioning as I shut the world out.
“I know you’re hurting, but I need you to remember, Ellie. When one of us falls, we pick them up. When one of us stumbles, we carry them with us. And when one of us breaks, we glue them together.”
I choke out a laugh. “We sound like we’re going off to war.”
Katie laughs with me, then silence. Pulling my phone away, the black screen stares back at me. Just my luck.
Hands firmly gripping my arms, shocks me back to reality. Wetness slides down my face and my body shivers with cold. When did it start raining? Katie and Mia kneel beside me, drenched from the rain.
“Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
15
Garrett
“Sir? Ellie dropped this off at reception. Lacey said she didn’t look too well and hurried out of the building.”
I look up from my computer to see Stacey drops two bags onto my meeting table. The enticing smell of Thai food wafts through the air.
“She didn’t say anything?” I flip my phone over but don’t see any missed calls or texts.
“No, sir. Lacey just said she was happy when she came in, but rushed out ten minutes later looking distraught. Maybe
she got a bad phone call?”
“Ah, yeah, maybe…”
“And don’t forget, you have a sales meeting this afternoon at five.”
I nod without looking up, continuing to watch my blank phone screen. Stacey leaves and I glance up at the abandoned bags on my table. Worry gnaws at my insides. Why wouldn’t she have called?
As soon as the door clicks shut, I dial Ellie’s number, but it goes straight to voicemail. I try Mia and Katie next, but nobody answers. What if something had happened to Georgie? Or the Stevens?
Dread rises in me as I call Paul’s number, at the same time packing away my laptop and grabbing my things to leave.
“Hey, son. What’s up?”
“Is everything okay? No one’s hurt, are they?”
“Not that I know of, Garrett. Mind telling me what’s going on before I have a heart attack?”
“Sorry.” I slip my bag over my shoulder, placing my phone between my shoulder and my ear to reach for the door handle. “Ellie was supposed to meet me for lunch but she dropped the food off and ran out. My receptionist said she looked distraught, and I can’t reach her or Katie or Mia. I thought something might have happened.”
“Not that I know of. Ellie was meant to have her manuscript in today, so maybe there’s an issue with it they need to go over. God knows that’s happened to—”
Betty’s muffled voice laughs in the background. Paul’s voice dulls as he speaks away from the phone, then it comes back full volume: “Betty says the girls have just called for an astronomical amount of reinforcements of the sweet and baked kind. They’re at Mia’s office, so it must have been a book-related emergency.”
Releasing a gust of breath, my shoulders slump. “Thank God. I think I just aged ten years.”
Paul’s booming laugh rings through the phone. “That’s women for you, son.” Pausing, he hums. “I’ll drop off their order and have Ellie call you.”
“Thanks, Paul.”
“No worries. Thanks for looking out for her.”
“I’d say it was easy, but I’d be lying.” Dropping my bag on my desk, I fall back into my chair.
“You know you’ve got a good woman when she keeps you on your toes and drives you up the wall.” Paul chuckles, but then his voice softens, “But at the end of the day, you couldn’t imagine your life without her.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that.”
“Good. I better get going. Women without chocolate is not a world I ever want to live in.” Paul ends the call as I sit back in my chair, a weight easing from my chest.
My phone vibrates in my hand, and I look at it quickly, expecting a message from Ellie but see Gabe’s name looking up at me:
Up for drinks at Tommy’s at 6?
I type out a quick reply: Sure. May be a bit late. Meeting at 5.
Tabs on you if you run late.
I smirk. I’m not your date. Pay for your own drinks.
But it’s fun to spend your money.
See you at 6, asshole. Throwing my phone on my desk, I breathe in deeply, my racing heart slowing down to a snail’s pace. Two months and this woman has me wrapped around her damn fingers.
My lips quirk into a small grin. Who would have thought that my feisty neighbor would end up being my girlfriend? Well, soon-to-be, I hope.
The smell of peanuts and Thai food triggers a dramatic rumble in my stomach that brings me out of my thoughts. But first… Pushing my chair back, I head over to the food, searching through the boxes until I find two servings of spring rolls. Opening one of the boxes, I devour them all within seconds. Sucking on my fingers, I turn to the second box and stop when I spy a note plastered to the lid.
This one’s yours. Figured you’d eat all mine and complain there was none left. Ellie xx.
Closing the box, I take a seat at the table and stare out over the New York skyline, buildings just like this one blocking the golden rays of the afternoon sun. Opening the box back up, I re-read the note, shaking my head. Fuck, I love her.
My heart hammers against my chest, and my hands begin to sweat at the realization. No, I can’t be in love with Ellie… can I? But my words sound flat to me, a stark contrast to the galloping in my chest as I recall the best parts of these last few months; Ellie is the highlight in every single one of them. Shoving the thoughts of love and Ellie away into a box and locking it tight, I pick at the rest of the food, barely registering the taste. Fuck.
Throwing away the empty cartons and placing the rest into the mini-fridge, I get back to work, letting the numbers and analytics calm my feverish skin and occupy my racing thoughts. Printing out the sales report for the past two months, I compare them, making notations on when we launched Carnal Creations.
“Sir, the rest of the team are waiting for you.” Standing nervously at the doorway, Stacey waits, her tablet at the ready.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Standing, I pick up my notes and reports and make my way out of the office and down the hall to the first meeting room.
“Afternoon, everyone.”
Each executive has their laptop open and ready. Good. They dip their heads in response to my presence, and I take my seat.
“I’m pleased to say that we have nailed it. In a month, our sales have gone up—if I’m not wrong—by twenty percent. Is that right, Carter?”
Carter clicks through his documents. “Ah, twenty… twenty-three percent as of my noon analysis.”
Positive murmurs erupt around the room, the usual gray faces of the executives brightening with smiles that only success can bring. I whistle, leaning back and folding my hands in my lap. “That’s damn incredible. Twenty-three percent.”
Carter nods, biting the inside of his cheek as he continues browsing the numbers, almost as in disbelief that they’re accurate.
“Now,” I prop my elbows up on the table and scrutinize each head in turn, “we just need to replicate what we’ve done here—apply it to our current products—and find a way to use the same technique for future ventures.” Smirking, I sit back, watching their gleeful expressions drop, their mouths hanging open.
“You can’t be serious?” Carter asks with an incredulous stare.
“I’m deadly serious. If this is the response we’re getting, we need to apply it to the rest of our store and start researching new areas to grow in. Just because we’ve grown from this one avenue, doesn’t mean that we should slack off. If anything, we need to work harder. I want this business to be the one that everyone turns to when they think of sex.”
“And when do you plan to get started? Most of our teams are burned out now as it is. We’ve spent the past two months busting our asses just to get this done, and you want us to keep going? We can’t run on fumes, Garrett.”
My eyebrow quirks at the heat in Tech’s voice. “I’m well aware of that, Tech. Which is why we’ll be bringing on new hires come next week.”
“You can’t just hire people and not tell us!”
Sometimes, I wish I could just push him out of his chair. “Actually, I can. As you can see from these resumes and previous history, our new recruits are phenomenal in their fields and have agreed to work here.” I signal to Stacey, and she races over, handing me three folders. Sliding them across the table to each of the heads, I sit back, watching each set of eyes bulge from their skulls.
“How?” Tech looks up at me. “How did you get these people to agree to work here?”
Smirking, I lean back in my chair. “I’ve spent the past two years developing these contacts, and once I saw the sales and analytics of our new ventures, I approached them with job offers. Every one of them accepted.”
Gulping, they all look back over the files and reports. Tech shakes his head. “But—”
“But what if they want to rise higher in the food chain?” I sit up in my chair, staring each one of them in the eye. “Consider this the second string, gentlemen. These men and women would love nothing more than proving that they’re smarter, better, and more capable of taking this com
pany to newer and higher heights than you can. Keep working hard and prove to me that you deserve to be here.”
I hold Tech’s gaze and his knuckles whiten as he grips the folder in his hands. “Is that a threat?” he asks quietly.
“No. It’s the reality we’re now facing. I’ve been pushing you for the last year to come up with new avenues to take this company, and you couldn’t deliver until I hand fed you an idea. And even then, I’ve had to spend the last few months here, working alongside everyone, making sure that we were on track and lighting a fire under each one of you. That shouldn’t be happening. And the board agrees.”
Rising from my chair, I pick up my documents. “They start on Monday. Be ready. They’ve also been made aware of the situation and our company policies, so if they have any problems, they will be going directly to HR.”
“You can’t do this, you prick!”
Spinning around, I glare at Dale who is practically frothing at the mouth. “Actually, I can,” I say. “I didn’t understand the lack of progress in each of your departments until I sat down with every single one of my employees. I have reports, and I have testimonies. You only have these positions because I decided to give you all a second chance. I won’t tolerate laziness or stagnant attitudes any longer. If you have a problem, see HR.”
Staring into the eyes of each head, they look away—some angry, some sullen, and some understanding. “You have an amazing and talented group of individuals waiting to use their knowledge and strengths to progress this company. Help them to utilize their abilities and grow. Or leave. The choice is yours. You have until Monday to decide.”
Striding from the room, Stacey follows behind me. “Are you sure that was the right thing to do? They looked really angry.”
“It was for the best. You’ve heard and seen the reports just as I have.”
Sighing, she nods as we enter my office. “You’re right. Let’s hope they take this second chance.” Placing the remaining folders on my desk, she leaves, closing the door behind her. My eyes draw to the empty chair beside me, it’s usual occupant nowhere to be seen.
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