Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 61939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
My hand was on the push bar when Mr. Cross grabbed my waist from behind and spun me around.
“I don’t recall giving you permission to leave, Miss Stone.”
“I’m aware.” I glared at him. “I don’t recall asking for it.”
“This is a two-week project—at minimum—and you’re required to stay as long as everyone else,” he said. “You’ll be dismissed at my discretion.”
“We’ve been on the clock since sunrise.” I refused to back down. “If we keep going much longer, we’ll pass out and accomplish nothing. It’s best to cut our losses now.”
“Have I missed an announcement where you’re the CEO instead of me?”
“You’ve missed being a decent person, but I haven’t held it against you.”
Silence.
He tightened his grip on my waist, narrowing his eyes as the vein in his neck swelled.
“Miss Stone,” he said, his voice terse, “this is a serious project—and you’ll be required to work on it whenever you aren’t doing your usual things for me.”
“You can’t seriously think I’ll be able to handle assistant tasks and do this for weeks…”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have said it,” he replied. “You did say that you were days ahead of everything…unless that was a lie.”
My right hand twitched—ready to give this man the slap he’d long deserved.
“Just so you know, Miss Stone—” He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “The only reason I’m so hard on you is because I believe in you.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m just repeating a quote your old boss used to say,” he said. “If that’s what it’ll take to get the best out of you, I’ll pull more of those quotes off Pinterest.”
“My old boss believed in human decency, lunch breaks, and compassion.”
“Is that why he never promoted you and left you working out of a cubicle?” He finally let me go. “Get back to the room and get to work.”
“After you tell me thank you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll go back to the room after you tell me thank you.”
“I don’t thank people for doing their jobs.”
“It’s for busting my ass day after day and continuing to work on a special project for you,” I seethed. “For not jumping ship like plenty of other people are planning to in the coming weeks because they can’t stand working under an egomaniacal tyrant who’s too damn selfish and self-absorbed to show appreciation.”
I should’ve left it there, but I couldn’t stop.
“You treat me like I’m your personal teleporter, but the subway doesn’t run on your schedule,” I said. “I can only use your town car when you’re not in it, and since that’s pretty often, I don’t understand why you complain about things taking me longer than usual instead of simply saying, ‘thank you.’”
“Why are you just now telling me that you’ve never had town car access?” he asked. “Mr. Lewis didn’t give that to you?”
“You’re missing the entire problem.”
“No, I’m seeing her quite clearly.”
“You’re an asshole,” I said. “But I’ll get back to work until I don’t have to be here anymore. Goodbye.”
“Stop.” He moved in front of me. “Say a different word than that to end the conversation.”
“You mean, asshole?”
“Goodbye.” His irises flashed with fury—and something darker. “Don’t ever use that word around me again.”
“Fine.” I shrugged. “See you later. Better?”
“Much.”
I moved past him and returned to the café.
Plopping down in my seat, I could feel his stare on me long after I stopped looking back.
SIXTEEN (B)
ANDREA
A little after 2 A.M.
Icollapsed onto my mattress face-first.
There was no point in getting undressed, no point in taking a shower.
Within seconds, every ache I’d ignored all week hit at once.
“Ohhh…” I moaned. I didn’t even have the energy to move under the covers or adjust the pillow.
My eyes glazed over, and I could feel sleep pulling me under.
Bzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzz!
My phone vibrated next to my head, and I ignored it.
Bzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzz!
I lifted my hand and swatted at it.
“Miss Stone?” Mr. Cross’s voice came through the speaker. “Miss Stone?”
Huh? I rolled onto my side and realized I’d somehow answered his call anyway.
“Are you there?” he asked.
“No,” I groaned.
“Good to hear that,” he said. “I seem to be missing the forecast files you were working on earlier.”
“They’re still on the table.”
“Not the copies. The actual mockups, Miss Stone.”
They’re probably in my bag…
I said nothing.
“Did you take them home with you by chance?” he asked.
Hang up on him. Use the little energy you have left and end this.
“I’ll take your silence as a yes, Miss Stone,” he said. “You’ll need to bring them back to the office.”
“Okay,” I managed. “I’ll bring them later this morning.”
“You’ll bring them now.” His voice was terse. “I need them right now.”
I tensed, waiting for him to laugh. To admit he wasn’t this cruel.
“When you get here, you’ll also need to clear up a few notes on your latest report,” he said. “I’m struggling to read your messy handwriting.”
“Mr. Cross, with all disrespect—”