by Raven Scott
“I’ll think about it.” This was obviously important to Oran. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought it up. Tapping my bag absently, I bopped my head side to side before nodding. “Okay, I’ll go, but Sarah comes with us.”
“The more the merrier, but you can’t sneak drinks to her.” Nodding firmly, I turned back toward the barista as one person stood between me and my morning coffee, and Oran practically sighed in relief. “Thank you. I promise, he’s not as bad as he seems. He’s just—”
“An asshole? That’s okay. I totally know where you get the ‘say the wrong thing at the wrong time’ thing.” Smiling when he squeezed my shoulders, I savored his palms against my neck, and he rubbed his thumbs against the back of my skull just under my hairline. “He was right, though— I was really upset because I didn’t know what could make my parents do that, but I guess money is a good enough motivator to destroy your family. Honestly, Sarah may not want to snitch on my parents, but I definitely do. How’d he know what they were doing, anyway?”
“Carlyle never goes into a situation half-cocked. He’s got the all-seeing eye of the internet and a really good cyber-terrorist.” My brows rose at that and Oran shrugged when I glanced back with annoyance flickering on his face. “He just doesn’t get that looking you up doesn’t actually tell your story. He was shocked when you just got out of the car. No one has balls like that with him.”
“Oran, he’s probably exactly as bad as that, you just ignore it because he’s your brother. I’m going because you said ‘please’, and I want my damn apology, but he’s . . . he’s not someone I want to associate with.” Oran accepted that pretty readily, and I stepped to the counter to place my order. The barista was already ringing me out, and I dug out a ten dollar bill from my purse and told him to keep the change before stepping out of the way. “Besides, he seems really pushy.”
“He is.” Ordering before glancing at me, Oran frowned under furrowed brows, and I reached to tighten my loose bun when the strands tickled my neck. “You’re probably right.”
“Speaking of that time he almost kidnapped me, what did your brother mean about what you didn’t tell me yet?” I didn’t really give myself time to digest that crazy few minutes, and Oran’s expression tightened. Shuffling to the pick-up counter, I adjusted my purse on my shoulder and picked at my plain, white blouse, and his frown deepened.
“I want to discuss that project I commissioned from you. I know you’re at the point that you can’t do much else on your own, so I was considering creating a team for you.” My eyes narrowed, and Oran rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned against the counter lightly. He looked mighty uncomfortable, to the point it was kinda cute, honestly. “I figured, since you’re probably going to be out of a job, I should offer. I want this project done, and you’re already working on it, so . . . ”
“Okay. We can talk about it.” Grabbing my coffee, I waited for Oran to snatch his before we left the shop, and he slung his arm around my shoulders leisurely. “HR is still looking into my ‘case’. It’s so stupid. I mean, if they expect me to quit, they’re gonna be disappointed. I need my severance, and if they fire me, I can go after them for wrongful termination, and they know it. That’s why they’re not doing anything.”
“I take it you’re expecting to go to court at some point? You should know, May . . . ” Walking around the corner, Oran paused next to his car, but I could see his building from here. The chilly air nipped at my ear lobes as people poured around us, and he pulled open the back-passenger door for me before leaning on his forearm on the roof. Sitting my coffee in the holder pulled out from the middle seat, I turned to him fully as he took a breath in preparation. “Malory made up a file for me, and the whole subsidiary is failing. Hard. I don’t know if going after them will get you anything.”
“I appreciate the heads up. And also, thanks for letting me use your car.” He smiled, reaching to caress my cheek, and I scooted to pull my legs in as he straightened. “I’ll text you, Oran.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Shutting the door firmly, Oran didn’t wait for us to pull off before heading for his building, and I hissed as I held myself off the seat slightly. That gel stuff he’d used only alleviated the pain until it wore off. I really needed to ask him where he got it.
Sharp, pin-like needle pricks set fire to my legs and lower back, and dread burrowed in my belly at the idea of sitting all damn day. Groaning softly, I flopped my head forward and heaved a massive breath, and my palms stuck to the pleather interior. Despite the sting, or maybe because of it, the residual pleasure of last night blossomed in my abdomen, and I exhaled slowly through pursed lips.
33
May
When I stepped off the elevator, the whole office was in a tizzy, and I held my purse tight under my arm as I glanced around. People were talking loudly, interns were scurrying around like mice, and curiosity plastered my ribs like tar. The change from yesterday was startling— nothing unusual had happened aside from the snubs and jabs from my co-workers.
Today, the world could’ve been ending, and I glanced over the cube farm as all the teams seemed to be scrambling.
“Jerry, what’s going on?” I don’t know why I asked my team lead because he never responded with an appropriate amount of detail. Surprise struck my chest when he actually looked at me, and I frowned under furrowed brows at the excitement on his face.
“We got a new contract, so the supervisors are in a meeting right now discussing who to give it to.” Ah, that’s what it was. Everyone’s working. What a crazy concept. Only nodding, I shuffled to my cube to sit down gingerly, and I locked up my purse and turned on my station to try to ignore the commotion. The teams usually made their deadlines, but this was just stupid, trying to impress for one day when the supervisors know damned well who milks and who doesn’t.
My phone trilled insistently before my computer fully booted, and I grabbed the receiver to press the line button.
“Hello. May Hart.”
“May, it’s Jackie from HR. I was hoping to catch you before you jumped into anything. Can you come downstairs for a few minutes?” I mean, Jackie didn’t sound like she was preparing to fire me, but I affirmed before hanging up. Pulling my purse back out, I trudged my stinging ass through the cube farm, and my legs started to throb despite my loose, long pants. Each faint brush of the light fabric burned, and I held back a tortured groan as I punched the elevator button.
Knocking on Jackie’s open door, I clenched and released my jaw as my nerves sung, and she tore her attention off her screen to smile at me. Gesturing me in, nothing about her screamed get ready, so I perched on the edge of the chair opposite her. For a moment, she said nothing, only clicking around on her computer a few times, and my heart rate steadily increased as anxiety burrowed in my gut.
“I just have a few things to clarify. This won’t take long.” She printed something out and I held my breath as Jackie handed me a paper of what looked like a chat log. “Are these your texts?”
My eyes widened, my stomach just falling into a pit as I scanned the log, and the blood drained from my face. The number was mine, and I knew Jackie knew that since it was in my personnel file. Scanning each line, date, time, and message, I silently shook my head because these weren’t texts, they just looked like texts.
“Can you prove it?” All of the messages coincided with times I wasn’t in the office, whether I’d already left for the day, or had called out, or gone to lunch. I forgot about my physical pain as rage took its place. What the fuck did I do to deserve this shit? More importantly, who the hell gets this obsessive about a co-worker?
“Do you honestly care whether or not they’re mine, Jackie?” Clutching the page tightly, the paper crinkled loudly to tail my question, and I glanced up as she frowned. “This is stupid. This is getting out of control, and I’m really fucking tired of getting called down here for nonsense. Okay. Even if I did text someone how much I hate this job and I was going to shut the place down and everyone’s
gonna get it for being mean to me. Why the fuck would you end up with it? Who would I text that shit to? If I did, how would they know you’re the one handling my case unless they worked here? And for that matter, I don’t know this other number that I’m supposedly texting.”
“I know this is frustrating, May, but . . . ” Standing up, I simply walked out of her office. I didn’t care if she fired me at this point, and my face flamed as my eyes ached. Even if I knew how much shit I’d get, I still would’ve ousted David because that was my work! I poured two years of my life into this fucking god damn . . . dumb . . . “May!”
“What!” Turning on my heel, I practically screamed in Jackie’s face, and tears prickled my eyes as my frustration went fully out of control. My purse hit the floor, and I threw up my hands as she took a shocked step back. “This is the most insanely stupid shit I’ve ever been through, Jackie! You’re honestly so incompetent that you didn’t even look up the address of the computer those messages came from, that you didn’t notice they came from a computer in the first place? I know you want to get the whole picture before you make a decision, but fucking Christ, Jackie! Do your due diligence before calling me down and telling me to prove it!”
I almost spit at her. It wasn’t her fault, she was just doing her job, but I was so damn pissed off. Shivering with fury, I grabbed my purse and hit the stairs instead of the elevator back to my floor, and I pushed open the door to scan the cube farm through narrowed eyes.
If I’m going to be accused of it, I might as well do it. Walking to my desk, I ground my teeth in an effort to contain myself, and I dug my phone out of my purse as I gingerly sat in my chair. Uncertainty dinged my chest, but I eventually just decided to text him rather than call.
May: I just had the craziest 5 minutes
When Oran didn’t reply immediately, I tucked my phone back in my purse and sat back to heave a massive breath. That was right— this place was gonna get shut down on its own, with no help from me. This contract that we picked up might just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, though.
“May.” I didn’t actually have to do anything, just sit back, kick up my feet, and watch it all happen. Who was I kidding, anyway? I was going to take the job Oran offered me, without a doubt. “Hey, May?”
“Huh?” Blinking hard, a deep voice dragged me out of my fantasy, and I swiveled around to find Mark hovering over me. “Sorry, Mark, I was thinking too hard. What’s up?”
“Can I talk to you in my office really quick?” I debated how much I wanted to get out of this chair again, but my curiosity was too strong. Nodding, I was relieved, at least, that I hadn’t locked up my purse, and I grabbed it to follow Mark to his office. The other two supervisors were already taking up the seats, and I had to stand as Mark closed the door. The air shifted sharply and my mouth dried as expectation simmered in my blood.
“Uh, am I in trouble?” I honestly wasn’t sure anymore, and Mark surprised me when he shook his head. “Is this about the contract everyone’s all crazy about?”
“Yes. I’ve been through all of your projects under David, and we’ve been talking about it since about five a.m. We think you’re the best person to head the project.” My eyes boggled slightly, and I choked on my own spit as Mark leaned against his desk to cross his arms over his chest. “You can choose your own team, but I can’t stress enough how important this contract is, May. If we lose it for some reason, any reason, we’re all going to be out of a job.”
All the anger I’d just directed at Jackie just fizzled into smoke, and I held my breath as I waited for Mark to say ‘Sike! You’re fired!’, but the punch line never came. He stared at me like I was his last hope, and a ghost of a giggle escaped me at the total absurdity of it. Throwing back my head, I cackled uncontrollably, and tears sprung to my eyes as my chest tightened painfully. Clutching my breast, my heart made a bid to break out of my ribs, and I craned my neck.
I couldn’t breathe and I shook my head wildly, stray strands of hair escaping my bun to whip my face.
“Oh-h God.“ Hiccupping as my laughter became noiseless wheezing, I doubled over to bury my face in the side of my purse. The thick, manila folder inside muffled my laughter, and I made the mistake of glancing up. The look on Mark’s face sent me overboard, and my sides ached fiercely as my body strained.
My mirth filled the room with an uncomfortable silence that only grew more intense when I finally managed to get ahold of myself. Sniffling hard, I wiped the tears from my eyes, careful of my makeup, and hiccupped a ragged breath.
“Oh . . . man, you all are screwed, aren’t you?” Mark opened his mouth, but I held up a hand to stop him, and all that childish glee suddenly left me empty. “No, I’m serious. Find me one person that wants to work with me without mentioning the project. Find me a single person on this whole floor that will even say ‘hi’ to me politely and courteously. Go to anyone and ask them what they think of me, and if you find one person that doesn’t scrunch their nose and talk like I’m inferior, I’ll do it. Go ahead. Try to find anyone that will put up taking orders from me, even for this contract. I’ll give you the whole day.”
I couldn’t help but giggle as I left the office, and a huge smirk threatened to tear my cheeks apart. Things were starting to look up after all!
34
Oran
“Carlyle . . . ” Holding my phone to my ear, I shouldered my jacket as I strolled down the sidewalk, and my brother was infuriatingly quiet on the other end. “Carlyle, did you hear anything I just said?”
“Yes. I’m just distracted. You can tell her if you want, Oran. You don’t need permission from me.” Carlyle hung up on me, and I frowned as I glared at my phone for a long second. Guilt clawed at the back of my throat, and my cheek twitched when I looked up at the place I was supposed to meet May smack between our offices. She deserved to know, to make a decision on her own, and I slid my phone into my jacket pocket quietly.
I hadn’t had time to reply to her texts, but I did get them. Something happened at her office, but I didn’t know if it was good or bad. Either way, I couldn’t just put it off anymore.
“Oran! Hey!” She came jogging to me after zooming around the corner, and I couldn’t help my strained smile at her pink face and puffs of breath. Swiping back her hair, she smoothed her shirt and adjusted her purse on her shoulder, and surprise swept through me when she grabbed my arm. “You’ll never guess what happened to me earlier. Right after I got in, I got called down to HR, and I blew up on Jackie, but that’s not the great thing. Mark and the supervisors had a meeting this morning about a potentially company-saving contract we won, and they want me to lead a team on it!”
The first thing to hit me was confusion, and I barked a humorless laugh as May practically dragged me into the little Korean place. This hole in a wall was pretty packed, but we were seated almost immediately since it was just the two of us. Sliding into the chair across from me, May practically beamed, her smile bright and happy and excited, and I arched my brows suggestively.
“And? What did you say?” She wiggled her shoulders and set her purse on the table, and I propped my elbow to hold my chin on my fist.
“I politely told them to fuck off.” Snorting a laugh at how proud May sounded, I watched her gingerly reposition herself to place both her hands flat on the table. “No, I did. I told them that if they could find one person that could stand taking orders from me, I’d do it. They won’t, of course. I know they won’t be able to. They ended up giving the project to Jerry’s team anyway, probably because I’m on it. But Jerry already gave me the whole spiel about how I wasn’t allowed to do anything at all so I don’t ruin it. So, oh well, not my problem. Maybe they should’ve nipped this hostility in the bud, and I wouldn’t have laughed in their faces when they asked me.”
“I’m glad you were able to give them a piece of your mind, May. Do you want to come over tonight to celebrate?” May started to nod before pursing her lips, and my eyebrows lowered as she puffed out her li
ps.
“I have to go to the hotel and be with Sarah for a couple hours. I promised her we’d spend some time together and look for some volunteering or something she can do.” Physically deflating at her own confession, May frowned fully as she tried not to slouch back in her chair. A tickle of pride wormed through my chest, but now was definitely not the time to gloat. “I can’t take her to South Carolina, and I don’t know how to tell her. There’s just no way I can go.”
“You shouldn’t sacrifice your relationship with your sister for a man.” Relief slumped her shoulders, and May nodded firmly as I tilted my head. “So, I was wondering, May, would it surprise you at all that I do business with some . . . unsavory . . . characters?”
“Uh, not particularly. Why?” Indecision warred in my chest. Did I want to bring down her mood right now? I’ll tell her another time.
“I ask because if you’re going to be heading your own company, we’re gonna have to talk about the kids of people who would buy this kind of thing. Inevitably, boats attract the bad kind of people.” Of course, I did want to have this conversation with May because it was true, customers were still customers. She arched a brow quizzically, and I lowered my arm to drum my fingers on the tabletop. “Especially with shallow, coastal vessels. The Coast Guard does not regulate them if they never leave our waters. If, say, someone commissions you for a ship, and uses it to transport drugs or something . . . ”