Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Avery: Whatevs.
Me: Where are you?
Avery: In the supply closet.
The supply closet on our floor is Avery’s go-to place whenever she’s nice enough to grace us with her presence at the office. Two days ago, I caught the sneaky bitch napping in it.
Me: Okay, well, you have fun in there. I’m going to keep working.
Avery: You think I can get DoorDash delivered in here?
I ignore her message completely and swipe my badge to enter the copy room door, my gaze lingering on Seth McKenzie’s slimy smile as he walks down the hall with his fiancée Bethany attached to his arm.
I was so sure she was pregnant when she and Seth got engaged so quickly after she ended things with Beau, but I’ve yet to see her trim waist expand enough to fit a piece of bread, much less a baby.
But she is currently planning a wedding to Beau’s now ex-best friend—whom I now know she was sleeping with behind Beau’s back—and shows up at the office more than Avery does at this point.
If I hadn’t already hated her for being with the man I love for so long, I’d hate her by proxy. Beau got the freaking shaft from those two, and still, he never takes anything but the high road.
I let the copy room door fall closed behind me and imagine it smashing Bethany’s head as it disappears in an optical illusion.
It isn’t nice, but it does make me smile, and by the time I finish all twenty copies, organize them, and slide them into the little folders Mr. Banks prefers, I’m in a pretty good mood.
In my head, Bethany’s corpse lies beyond the copy room door, mangled and bloody, her two fake boobs popped and deflated.
Unfortunately, upon exit, I find her kissing Seth instead of KO’ed, her departure to the elevators following shortly after. Seth heads in the direction of his office but stops at Madeline Till’s door instead, and my hackles rise immediately.
Madeline Till is on Beau’s Midnight team.
Is there more intel to be had? If there is, I’d have a reason to message Beau instead of having to wait for him.
Yes. I know. I’m pathetic.
Pointedly ignoring all the reasons I shouldn’t even consider spying, I discreetly walk toward Madeline’s office—where Seth is currently sitting down and chatting with her—and peek inside as I move by. Through her glass door, I see Seth’s mouth moving as a cocky smile crests his lips and Madeline looking down at her desk, her cheeks aflame and her eyelashes batting like a hummingbird’s wing.
Be cool, June. Act busy, but do it in eavesdropping vicinity.
As luck would have it, the water cooler is directly outside her door, so I stop at it and bend down gently, filling a cup for my very thirty thirstiness. I drink slowly but realistically, which unfortunately means I’m an entire cup in by the time Seth actually says anything of interest. Madeline’s Italian summer getaway plans? Fun but insignificant. Seth’s last trip to Naples? Vapid and unimportant. But this…this is big stuff.
“Maybe some people will find themselves on Italian adventures, thanks to the Midnight app,” Seth segues like the sneaky snake he is. “How’s it coming along for you, by the way? Getting the hang of it?”
I pour a second cup of water and start chugging, despite the bloat in my stomach.
“Oh yeah. It’s pretty straightforward. And Beau’s been doing a great job of debriefing with us every day if we have any questions.”
“You know, I was pissed when you weren’t on my team. I thought we would have worked really well together.”
“You were?” she asks, her voice not even close to hiding her satisfaction over the complete lie of a compliment. It’s the same fucking line he used on Laura, but she doesn’t know that. I wish there were a way to tell her—a smoke signal, a carrier pigeon, freaking something. As it is, even standing here pounding water at this point is at tenuous risk of breaking the fourth wall.
“Madeline,” he says, and I flit my eyes up and into the office like scanning laser beams. “You’re one of the most talented ad execs here. Of course I wanted you on my team.”
The woman actually blushes. It’s a shame he’s so freaking handsome. It gives way too much credibility to his bullshit.
“Did you eat lunch yet?” he asks. “I haven’t had a chance, and I was thinking about heading to that sushi restaurant up the street. You want to go?”
“I don’t know, Seth,” she says, her voice hesitant. “I don’t know if…”
“C’mon, Madeline,” he cajoles. “I’d love to pick your brain over how you came up with that brilliant ad campaign for Carmen Love’s perfume line. I obsessed over it for weeks.”
Damn, he’s good. Slimy, but good.
“Um… You doing okay, Juniper?” someone asks from directly behind me, startling the paper cup of water out of my hand. The damn thing plummets to the floor and sprays liquid all over Mr. Banks’s shoes and pants from the ankle down.