I heard a few people snicker off in the distance, and I didn’t like it. I took a step toward Leslie, looming over her as my shadow cloaked her body. I slid my hands into my pockets to keep from white-knuckling my own hands behind my back because, dammit, I wanted to wrap my hand around her throat and kiss that fucking sass right off her lips.
But, I controlled myself. “I won’t be made a fool of in my place of work, Leslie.”
She shrugged. “Then, don’t get pissy with me when I realize I have a bill to pay that I can’t, because that’s all that happened, Your Excellency.”
I felt my eye twitch. I didn’t like the idea of her struggling financially in any way, shape, or form.
I should up her base pay to help her out some. Or possibly get her some sort of advance.
After all, if she had this kind of kick and could throw this kind of energy into her work, she’d be worth the investment, plus some. So, with one more glare, I turned on my heels and beckoned for her to follow me.
“Keep up, Leslie. We have much to discuss before lunch.”
8
Leslie
The man was as insufferable as they came, but this job had offered me more money than I’d ever been given in my life. So, it wasn’t as if I could turn down the work. I was excited to sit down at my desk after the tour, though. I’d had enough of Trey chirping in my ear for one day like he was the baddest piece of ass around town.
But, the second my butt hit my seat, the phone started ringing.
“Better get familiar with things,” Trey warned.
And when he disappeared into his office, I drew in a deep breath before I slid the headset on.
“TC Public Relations Firm, how may I direct your call?” I asked when I answered.
I opened my laptop and quickly taped the piece of paper with everyone’s extensions right in front of my face. The phone calls weren’t too brutal, either. I mean, as long as they had the name or the title of who they were calling for, it was easy enough to find the extension. Hell, by the time lunch came around, I already had a fourth of the list memorized.
And when we hit a lull in the phone call traffic, I turned my attention to the calendar on my laptop.
“All right, let’s fill this bad boy in,” I whispered.
I started with plucking out the random Fridays coming up that Aurora had off school. She started second grade in about a month, and I had no idea where in the world the time had gone. Somehow, over the course of seven years, my daughter had grown into a smart, beautiful young girl who wanted to do nothing but laugh at cartoons, play games, and socialize with friends.
My eyes teared up as I jotted down every teacher workday from the beginning of the school year up through Christmas break. And after taking a few days off around Christmas and New Year’s, I noticed something.
Trey hadn’t come out of his office once.
In fact, he didn’t come out at all until it was time to dismiss me at two-thirty. He popped his head out of his office and whistled to get my attention, which was something we’d have to correct sooner rather than later. And when I looked up at him, he nodded his head toward the elevator before disappearing back into his office like he was some sort of mole-rat.
Still, I didn’t have time to lollygag or needlessly fool around with anything. Suri had a doctor’s appointment she needed to get to, so I needed to race home and retrieve her as quickly as possible. I packed up my laptop, promised myself I’d get an actual laptop bag, stuffed my work phone into my purse, and headed straight for my car before I raced home just in time to excuse Suri from her babysitting duties.
“Aurora’s napping right now,” she said as she darted for her car, “and I have something in the oven for dinner! Three-fifty for forty minutes and it’ll be done, okay? Make sure you eat something, girl!”
I waved at her as I stood at my front door. “I owe you a huge one!”
“Just buy me a nice steak dinner once you’re rolling in the money, girl!”
I giggled as I waved her off, then I slipped inside. Aurora’s soft snores echoed from the couch as I locked the door and crept up to my bedroom. I wanted to slip out of these clothes, splash some water in my face, and get my new laptop and cell phone set up.
But, the second I turned my phone on, a flood of messages started coming through.
From Trey.
“God, what does he want already?” I asked with a groan.
I checked my messages to make sure it wasn’t an emergency, and when I saw the list of things that could obviously wait until I got out of my work clothes, I set my phone back down. But, as I started undressing, I heard an oddly-piercing ringtone screech out in the middle of the room.
