Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
When he told me he loved me…it was everything.
It was like the entire world shifted, like the world’s orbit changed, like my heart began to pound stronger and louder than ever before. I swear the Uber driver can hear it right now from his seat up front.
I never thought I could call a man Daddy until I started saying it to Zander. Never thought of myself as naughty. But God, if he doesn’t bring those sides out of me. It’s like a switch just flips inside me, and suddenly I’m a different girl with him.
And I like it.
“Here we are, Francis Construction,” my driver says. I look up and realize I’ve been daydreaming, lost in my thoughts about Zander.
“Oh, thank you,” I say. Snapping out of it, I hop out of the car and walk quickly up to the building and through the front entrance, where I already find Maggie at her desk, smiling and making conversation with Brian, who is slipping his employee ID card back into his wallet.
She waves as I come in.
“Good morning, Ali!”
Brian turns, and I try not to cringe at the smile that comes over his face. Was he hitting on Maggie or just chatting her up as an excuse to get another chance to talk to me today?
“Hi, Maggie.” I smile, keeping my head down as I walk straight past them both toward the stairs.
“Ooh, not very friendly today,” Brian says in a tone that he can’t possibly think would make any girl want to talk to him. I decide it’s best not to even reply and just keep walking, but Brian pursues me up the stairs to the second floor. “Hey, why’d you run off in such a hurry yesterday, girl? I thought we were having a nice conversation?”
Something inside me snaps, and I stop and turn, looking him directly in the eyes.
“Yeah, well we weren’t, Brian. Okay? We weren’t having a nice conversation, and I suggest you leave me alone before I go to Zander and get him to get you to leave me alone. Okay?”
“Zander?” Brian chuckles. “Me and Zander go way back, girl. He ain’t gonna do anything to me. But if you really want me to back off, I’ll tell you what—I can do that for you. I can fulfill a woman’s wishes.”
“Wow, so noble of you,” I say.
“Right?” He grins.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to work.”
Brian gives the most ridiculous attempt at a bow I’ve ever seen and mimes removing his hat like a gentleman. “No problem, m’lady.”
I try not to visibly scoff as I turn and head toward HR. “See ya, Brian.”
So he and Zander go way back, huh? I guess that’s why he’s been bolder than the rest of the guys who work here as far as hitting on me, because if it’s true what Zander says, all of his men want to take their chances with me at some point.
Although I still find that hard to believe.
“Hey, Jen!” I say cheerfully as I open the door to the HR department, but for some reason, as I step inside, I see a girl I don’t recognize sitting at my desk. She looks up at me, a sheepish look on her face.
“Hi…”
“Hi,” I reply. “I’m Ali, who are you?”
“Um…my name’s Martha., I’m—”
“Ali.” Jen comes into the room from her office, a tablet in her hand and a smile on her face, but a smile I can tell is hiding something serious. “Good morning. How are you?”
“Fine,” I say. “Is…something wrong?”
Jen looks at Martha, who could not look more awkward right now, then looks back at me. I feel like I’ve just walked into the middle of something.
“Ali,” Jen says. “Why don’t you sit down? There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Fired!?” Mel blurts out, sounding more shocked than I feel right now. “You have got to be kidding. Why!?”
“I don’t know…”
“You don’t know?” she repeats. “What the fuck? The son of a bitch didn’t give you a reason?”
“The ‘son of a bitch’ wasn’t the one who fired me. Jen fired me,” I say, feeling absolutely deflated as Mel pours us both a glass of red wine.
We’re back at her apartment now, where I came immediately after Jen gave me the bad news. Mel was working but made up something about feeling super sick all of a sudden so she could be there for me. She’s a real one.
“Couldn’t even do it himself.” She shakes her head. “What an unimaginable asshole.”
“Right?”
“So what did Jen say the reason was?”
“She didn’t say.” I shrug as I replay the terrible moment in my mind. “You could tell she didn’t want to do it either. She just gave me some standard legal jargon about corporate restructuring and how they were no longer doing the internship but that other opportunities would arise that I’d be illegible for, and they’d be contacting me in the future—”