Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
“I see.” I don’t, really, but company things don’t always have to make sense, right? “Thanks for the tip—”
Cyrus is already shaking his head before I’m even done speaking, and I guess I’m confused again. Did I miss anything?
“It’s not a tip.”
It’s not?
“I’m afraid I don’t ever do things for free.”
That sounds fair, but before I can apologize—
“How about a date after work?”
I’m about to say no when I remember something my therapist told me.
You need to take a chance sooner or later. Just take a chance, if only to get rid of your fear of trusting men once and for all.
And so I take a deep breath, smile, and nod. “Deal.”
Cyrus suddenly clutches his chest, and I freeze. Is he about to have a heart at—
“I can’t believe I’ve scored a date with my dream girl.”
I...I honestly don’t know how to react to that so I just laugh weakly and try not to be so obvious about wanting to get away. Something about his words doesn’t feel right to me, in more ways than one, but I just mumble something incoherent which I still hope will pass as ‘goodbye’ while managing another weak laugh before turning around and...
Walk, Kyara, don’t run!
My stomach starts twisting itself in knots as I hurry to the elevator, but I tell myself that I’m just being paranoid, which my therapist also warned me against. There are times when I feel like my mother’s insanely toxic taste in men has scarred me for life, but...
The world isn’t black or white, Kyara.
You can’t paint all men with the same brush.
Don’t lose hope.
I promised myself that I’d give this community-sponsored therapy a chance, so...
Deep breaths, Kyara.
I do my usual breathing exercises while I navigate my way to 7003, which—surprise, surprise—turns out to be in the 70th floor (highest floor in the building, mind you), and where all the company’s top executives work.
Unlike the other lower floors, which are basically a series of hallways of offices, the 70th has its own reception counter and lounge area, and I’m asked to wait until a brunette comes out from the leftmost hallway. She briskly introduces herself as Lara, and as we walk down a carpeted hallway that makes me feel like I’m walking on clouds, butterflies actually start fluttering their wings inside my stomach as she tells me about her boss, who’s also to be my final boss—I mean, someone I’ll end up working for if all things go well.
He’s not an easy man to work for, but he’s also reassuringly fair. In this office, you won’t have to worry about connections or currying for favor. You’ll be judged solely on the basis of your work.
Lara suddenly stops, and I nearly lose my balance as I come to a half-stop, half-turn because I don’t want to accidentally walk past the older woman.
“May I be frank with you, Ms. Dunn?”
I nod quickly. “Yes, of course—”
“I’m the one who chose you, not Mr. Havington.”
She chose me, not him? Him, as in Mr. Havington, whose name I’m hearing for the first time...but I have no chance to process any of these things—
“And do you know why I thought you’d be a perfect fit for our office?”
Because Lara seems like she’s competing for the world’s record for dropping the highest number of verbal bombshells under sixty seconds, and—
“Because I believe you have what it takes to be honest with him at all times.”
There goes the third bomb, and all I can do is hold my breath. Please, please let that be the last one, and—
Lara’s smiling, and I...I...I think she’d earn so much more as a professional poker player because I just don’t know what to do even when she’s smiling. Am I supposed to smile or not smile back? Am I supposed to answer or not answer, and oh, okay, why does it feel like things are going so, so fast since Lara’s already knocking on the door and saying, “Ms. Dunn is here to see you, sir.”
“Let her in.”
The world seems to stop for one second when I hear those three words, spoken in a strong accent, in a tone that—
Whoa.
I really thought I had prepared for this day, but why does everything seem to be moving so impossibly fast? One moment I’m still in the hallway, another moment I’m inside the office, the door’s closing behind me, and, um, okay, this is a really big office, with windows taking up an entire wall, and the carpet so much thicker than the one in the hallway, and right at the center is—
“Please take a seat, Ms. Dunn.”
Him.
I’m already rushing forward as soon as I hear my boss speak again, but the moment I look up, and see the man seated behind that huge slab of black marble that someone has somehow managed to shape into a desk—