Propositioning Love

Pain and relief flood through me.

She’s here. Safe and sound.

Then a black anger rips out of my stomach. She fucking left me this morning and didn’t say a damn word.

Left me high and fucking dry.

What the fuck is she even doing here? Was last night some kind of setup? Did she know who I was? I don’t see how it could have possibly been a setup given that I picked her up, but this is too damn confusing.

Nodding my head toward the conference room, I ask, “Who are we meeting this go-round?”

Glancing down at her notes, Ariel says, “Same as usual. Marketing, accounting, IT, and sales.”

Another look at the room and I spot Chad seated close to the head of the table. His ugly face is beaming at his coworkers. He must think he’s a safe bet. I wouldn’t be so sure if I were him.

“What do we have on the agenda?” I ask Ariel as I step away from the window and lean against a cubicle.

“What’s with the questions?” She looks up at me from her notes. “It’s the same as usual.”

“Same as usual,” I repeat to her.

Shit. I’m about to fire the possible mother of my unborn child. Double shit. I highly doubt I knocked her up last night, she could be on birth control, but…

Shit.

The happiness I feel that I’ve found Zoe wars with the anger that I had to find her. Not to mention the realization that she’s also a fucking prostitute.

“No firing yet then. We’ll do everything but release the staff. I want to meet everyone first.”

“You, what?!” Ariel asks with wide eyes.

“Trust me on this?” I ask.

Frowning at me, she stares at me for a long time. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost and are pissed as shit about it?”

“Because I did. Let’s get going.”

Moving away from the cubicle, I walk toward the conference room door and feel my anger seeping into my footsteps. She fucking left without saying goodbye when we had such a connection that…

How could she do that?

Turning into the conference room, I look straight into her eyes as I walk to my place at the head of the table.

Eight

Zoe

After rushing home, then rushing to the office, I wonder why I even bothered in the first place. I’m going to be fired. What’s the hurry? If anything, I should be dragging my feet.

The atmosphere in the office is tense as soon as I step off the elevator. People are milling about, talking quietly to each other like someone just died. Some people are even starting to pack up their things.

Damn. I wish I would have thought of that. I should have brought a box for all my crap.

Keeping my head down, I head straight to my desk and throw myself down in my chair.

“Zoe!” Clara exclaims loudly as she steps into my little walled-off corner of existence. “What the hell happened to you last night?”

I nearly jump out of my chair and slam a hand over my heart.

She must have been lying in wait for me.

“Jeeze, Clara. Keep it down. You almost scared the shit out me.”

Clara frowns and says, “Sorry.”

Then she thrusts an extra-large hot coffee in my face.

I accept the paper cup gratefully. I was in such a rush, of course I didn’t stop to grab any coffee.

Clara brushes around me and hops up on my desk. She crosses one leg over the other and gets comfortable, giving me a moment to breathe.

“So…” she says, watching me as I pop the lid off my coffee and blow on it. Her eyes narrow accusingly as she leans forward and lowers her voice. “Where the fuck were you last night? You bailed on us. Mason and I were a little freaked out.”

I sigh, take a tentative sip of my coffee, and lean back.

Craning my neck around my cubicle, I make sure no one is listening in before I quietly explain. “I had a run in with Chad when I came out of the bathroom…”

Clara makes a disgusted face, her nose wrinkling. “Ugh. What did he do this time?”

After everything that happened with Bry, the crap that went down with Chad seems so far away.

Sighing again, I shrug my shoulders. “Just the usual.”

I know I’m playing it down, but I’m already in a bad mood. The last thing I feel like doing is reliving and rehashing the crap Chad said. Besides, after today, hopefully I’ll never see him again.

It’s the one silver lining of this whole fucked up morning.

Clara shakes her head. “You should really report his ass.”

Yeah, I should have probably reported his ass long ago, but up until last night he’d never taken the harassment that far. Besides, I never wanted to be that girl. You know, the one the entire office ostracizes because she can’t take a joke. Or can’t tell the difference between what’s said in seriousness and what’s said just for fun. Corporations may be required by law to educate us about sexual harassment, and encourage us to report it, but actually reporting it can open a whole messed up can of social worms.