I realized belatedly that I’d left my phone on the counter, but there was no way I was going down to retrieve it until I heard Yejin and Jun’s doors close for the night.
I waited for hours, scrolling through the schedule the company had sent to me for approval and revision, if necessary, trying—and failing miserably—to pretend everything was fine. Just as I heard the door across the hall close, a knock at my own shook me from my absent-mindedness.
Shit.
I almost opened my mouth to let whoever it was know to come in, but then the pain of being essentially booted from his room after serving my purpose returned in a flash, and bile rose in the back of my throat. I shuffled across the room with my tablet in hand and opened it a bit, staring blankly at Jun as he stood there and stared right the fuck back.
“Oh. Hi.”
He glanced over my shoulder in my room, his eyes narrowed a bit. “You gonna let me come in?”
I glanced back at the state of disarray of my room and frowned. “No.”
Annoyance tainted his voice as he huffed, holding his hand out to me. It took me a minute to realize he was holding my phone.
He brought my phone up to me.
I took it and offered him a tight smile. “Thanks.”
“I put away the leftovers, and tossed the dishes in the dishwasher.” As if I’d thought he might not. Was he looking for validation? Appreciation? “So, I?—”
“Sorry, Jun, but unless it’s important, it’ll have to wait. I’ve gotta go through this week’s schedule and get it back for final approval by the company by morning.” I didn’t wait for a response as I shut the door in his face and bit my bottom lip,wanting nothing more than to drag him back into my room so I could ask him to defile me again.
Which was exactly why I had to shut the door on that idea, and fast.
My phone vibrated in my hand, and I sighed, flipping it open asLiaison Deptflashed across the screen.
“Rizzo here.”
“Rizzo, we’re drowning over here without you.”Of course, Tanner, with no preamble, no greeting, right into the heart of things.“When do you come back?”
I sighed. “As soon as they let me. Steele put me on translator duty and assistant staffing for the foreseeable future. I’m working on finding him staff to replace me as quickly as I can.”
“Good.” Tanner took a short breath, and I sighed.
There was more, I knew there was, but he wouldn’t actually come out and tell me unless I asked. “Tanner? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
I could practically hear the panic whoosh out of him. “Oh my god, Rizzo, there’s a new client on deck that we’re struggling with. She’s not happy with anything we offer, and she’s changed liaisons three times now. I’m worried we’ll lose her if we can’t lock her down.”
I thought back over the list of clients we’d been planning to work, remembering the one I told them to be careful with. “Mi-Soo?”
“That’s the one. She’s been really giving us a run for our money the last week, and I’m worried she’s thinking about pulling out of the contract.”
I frowned. “How many more days are on her probationary contract period?” If we could keep her happy long enough, she’d be locked in and we could relax a little. But with Mi-Soo, we’d signed afeel it outcontract, allowing her to see if she wanted to stay with our company or seek elsewhere. She wasn’t blacklisted,per se, so she had options. But her cousin had just joined our ranks, and he’d insisted she give it a shot.
If I’d known she was so damn difficult, I’d have told himno thank you.But she was a looker, and we needed some new models in our ranks.
“I’ll have to check, but I think she’s got a few days left. Maybe three?”
“And I assume she’s aware just how many days she has left to make her decision with us.” Because if she did know, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was trying to push to see how far we’d bend until we broke. “I tell you what, Tanner. Leave her to me. I think we’ll be close enough with tomorrow’s schedule to run into each other. Maybe I can work some magic for you.”
“Oh my god, that would be amazing, Rizzo. You’re the literal best!” Tanner didn’t waste time waiting for me to sign off. He just hung up and that was that.
And now I was back to doing two jobs in a mad dash to prevent the department I wanted to head from imploding while I was busy elsewhere. As if life wasn’t already hard enough.
I wanted off this damn ride.
Chapter
