Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“Will you see him at work?” I ask, and she shakes her head.
“No, it’s his assistant I usually deal with.” I nod. “Do you want me to junk punch him next time I see him? I mean the contract is signed for his next event, so it’s not like he can fire me.” Tina smirks.
“No. Maybe it’s best you don’t, you never know he might give you more contracts.” I laugh again and realize things can only get better.
I hope.
I train Marissa for my position, and on my last day, I see Sydney, who hasn’t been in since I’ve been back. She walks into her office, which is next to mine, and doesn’t say hello, not that she ever did before, but this time I don’t even get a glance in my direction.
“Are you sure you’re done?” Marissa asks as she watches while I start packing up my things.
“Very much so. But you know you can email me if you need to,” I tell her.
She nods and wipes away tears. “You’re really going. Oh gosh, this is so much for me to take on. No one would ever have thought you would leave. No one. At least not by choice.”
“Me, too.”
My office door swings open and Sydney steps in. She looks at Marissa who leans in and cuddles me before she walks out, leaving me alone in the room with Sydney.
“Your sister is a bitch.” Her first words pack a punch, but they are not untrue. “How are you two even related?” I raise an eyebrow and get back to packing my things. “He asked me to pay you out for your holidays and sick leave, plus a bonus.”
My hands stop, clutching the photograph I’ve just picked up as I turn to look at her and say, “No, he didn’t.” He hates me, he thinks this is somehow all my fault—the idiot.
“No, you’re right. It was me. Take it! You deserve it,” she says with an eye roll. “In case you’re wondering… Lucy isn’t staying at his house as she told you. He’s put her up in an apartment, and she calls me every day asking for his number. Atlas only gave Lucy my number in case she needed anything.”
“Oh, I bet you love that.” I smile at Sydney while she brushes a hand through her long, black ponytail before she turns and stares full force. Sydney is nothing if not intense.
“If I could get rid of her without being fired, I would have no hesitations.” She turns and starts to walk out.
“Thank you, Sydney,” I yell out after her.
She waves, not looking back as she heads into her office.
Just as I’m about to leave, a bunch of flowers arrive. They are all white calla lilies with one red rose in the middle. I open the card.
FUCKING UP MY LIFE
Screwing up my nose in disgust, I scrunch up the card into a ball and throw it using extra force into the bin, and then walk out leaving the flowers right where they are.
Care factor = zero!
No more, Atlas.
No more, Lucy.
Just me.
And it’s about time.
Chapter Three
Atlas
The door to my office is flung open, and Sydney is standing there, hand on her hip and a scowl set deep in the lines on her forehead.
“Give her your number. This is unfair and torturous.” Sydney crosses her arms over her chest. “You can’t punish me like this.”
“I can and I will,” I tell her, smiling.
“I should quit.”
“But you won’t,” I tell her, knowing full well she would never leave me. Sydney likes her excessive salary and her lifestyle way too much. I pay her exceptionally better than she would receive anywhere else.
“Well, give her your number. I can’t put up with her one second longer.” She throws her hands up in the air. “Why you brought that sister back is beyond me. The other one is far better.” She scrunches her lips together like she wants to say more but instead turns to leave, stopping at the door. “She left your flowers, threw the note in the bin with exceptional force and is now gone.”
“Gone where?” I bite back.
Sydney spins around to face me, her hand still on the door handle. “She’s left the country. Guess you really fucked that one up, didn’t you?” She walks out, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.
Theadora left?
Never would I have guessed she would do that.
She doesn’t even have a passport as far as I know. But I guess I’m wrong if she’s leaving the country.
She left.
I despise her, so it shouldn’t bother me. I hate the way she made me feel something, and I despise what she did.
Benji would be alive today if it weren’t for her. I wouldn’t have lost the only family I cared about. My hands clench into tight fists, the anger boiling over.