Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
She sends half a dozen heart emojis and a big smile. Don’t worry, girl, this little dust-up is launching Bella Baby into the STRATOSPHERE. Just gotta get thru the pain. Love u.
I smile to myself and put my phone aside. At least someone seems to be enjoying this nightmare.
“Holy shit! Marie!”
I jump and turn as Blair comes barreling toward me with her bag still on. She clearly came straight to my desk instead of stopping at her own cube first.
“Morning, Blair.”
She drops her stuff and throws her arms around me in an awkward hug. I blink a few times, trying to ward off the tears, and hug her back. I didn’t expect anyone to give a crap about me, and Blair’s sudden outpouring of tenderness is like a knife in my heart.
“He’s a fucking piece of shit and I swear I’ll kick him in the balls the next time I see him,” she says into my hair. “Seriously, Marie, I fucking hate him and I hate all the assholes online. God, where have you been?”
“Hiding,” I admit, smiling and wiping away tears as she studies me with her hands on her hips. “Couldn’t face it all.”
“Fuck. God damn it. Marie.” She leans against the side of my cube, shaking her head. “Cheating on you. And so many freaking times. What a nightmare.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Going to Baby was an absolute baller move, don’t let anyone tell you any different.”
“Thanks, Blair.”
“But you do know William is out there badmouthing you, right? He’s got the entire Crawford PR machine working overtime.” She chews her lip and pulls out her phone. “I’m not sure you want to see.”
I hold up my hand and shake my head. “Please, I really don’t. I’m sure it’s really nasty and will only make me feel like shit.”
“Pretty much.” She sighs and puts the phone back into her bag. “If it helps at all, I’m totally on your side. But seriously, Marie, getting Baby to post about it was crazy. I mean that in a good and a bad way. Baby’s gonna get more famous from this once it all blows over, but you? I’m scared for you.”
I look away, hands shaking. “Uh, thanks for that. I’m aware.”
“Sorry, shit, god, I know, I’m making it worse. Okay, I’m heading to my desk, but one more thing. I’m not the only person that’s on your side. There are a bunch of people commenting on the post about how awful William’s been to them and how he’s been cheating on girls for years. I’m shocked there haven’t been sexual assault allegations yet.”
I smile ruefully. “He’s an asshole, but not a rapist.”
“Give him time.” Blair shakes her head. “I love you. Seriously. I’m on your side. Fuck everyone else.” She hugs me again before scurrying off.
I bury my face in my hands. What did I get myself into? I can’t even begin to imagine what William’s goons are saying about me online. I bet he hired a troll army to say heinous things on Twitter and smear my name on as many websites as humanly possible. I’ll never get a job anywhere else again and I’ll have to change my identity just to make sure all these awful things don’t appear whenever someone Googles me.
I want to bury my head in the sand, but I force myself to go through as many messages as I can. I reply to a few—from people that seem to really care if I’m doing all right, and a few that I thought would care but actually don’t. I avoid making things worse as much as I can, but I feel like I ran a marathon after an hour, and I have to finally stop.
“Pearce.”
I jump in fright again and spin around. Ansell’s standing behind my desk looking at me with those cold, quiet eyes, his face completely still. A pulse runs down my core and I gaze back at him, not sure what the hell he’s doing here. Ansell never comes into the cube farm himself.
“Uh, yes, Mr. Drake?”
“Don’t call me that. Come, we have a meeting.” He turns and walks off and I’m forced to jump up and follow.
“What should I call you then?”
“Ansell. Everyone does.”
“You don’t think we should keep things professional?”
“Why?” he asks, glancing at me sideways. “Because I fucked you yesterday?”
My cheeks turn bright red and I look around wildly, trying to see if anyone overheard. Thankfully, nobody’s nearby, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t check first before blurting that out, like he doesn’t give a damn if people know what happened between us.
It’s easy for him not to care. Ansell owns this company and he doesn’t seem to give a crap about his reputation. He does what he wants, when he wants, but I’m not like that.
I don’t have money. My father does—but my father isn’t me. He doesn’t support me, and I’m pretty sure at this point I’m totally on my own. I can’t afford to let this office think I’m some sort of whore sleeping with the boss just to get ahead, especially right now.