“Thanks for the advice. Do you have the Hutchins paperwork?”
“Yes, curiously free of the very thing we are talking about,” he said, turning to lead her back to his cubicle.
“Not all that curious, really,” she said as he handed them to her. He looked at her inquisitively, but she didn’t elaborate. “Thanks” she told him, making a hasty exit.
She took the contracts to Nasteau, laying them in his inbox quietly so as not to disturb the phone call he was on. He hung up as she turned to go.
“Hold up, speedy. What am I supposed to do with all of those?”
“I don’t know. You asked me to retrieve them. I did,” she said quietly.
“They need to be delivered, not plopped down on my desk. Leave one here and get the rest to the people who signed off on them over at the Hutchins group.”
“Okay. I’ll get them prepared for the mail room.”
“If I had wanted them mailed, I would have told the legal department to do it straight from there. Hand deliver them. There should be five that go to various people over at Hutchins and one that goes to that prick, Ulrich.”
“You want me to hand deliver one to Ulrich too?”
“Did I stutter?”
“No. I’ll do it now.”
“I’m sure you will. He did send you such lovely flowers and all.”
Jaycee whirled around at that and looked at him. She had no doubt that she looked as angry as she felt, but part of it was at herself rather than him. She should have pulled the card off completely. Still, he had no right to read it. It was an invasion of privacy. Being a dick all the time was one thing, but he had crossed the line.
“Excuse me?”
“How do you know Thad Ulrich?”
“I don’t. Not really.”
“Must have made quite an impression on him to get a bucket of flowers like that.”
“I’ll get these delivered for you,” she told him through gritted teeth, turning to leave before she said or did something she’d regret - like quit and stomp out.
Or shift and tear him limb from limb. It would be a community service.
“Might as well go home from there. Take those flowers with you and tell your boyfriend not to send anymore. This is a place of business, not a dating forum.”
“Sure thing,” she said.
Her voice was now saccharin sweet, with a smile to match. She was still plotting his death, but he had just given her the afternoon off. No way was she hand delivering those to each of the recipients. Everyone but Thad could get them from the receptionist she would hand them to for distribution and the latter could get his from her kind new neighbor and his driver, Barron.
She was home within the hour, quickly realizing she didn’t know which apartment he lived in. She couldn’t exactly sit around on his floor and wait for him to turn up. Instead, she went to her own apartment and changed into jeans and a t-shirt before making her way back down to the communal area with the contract and her tablet to find a seat facing the front doors.
Opening the Alpha Meets Omega app, she scanned through the guys, mostly other Betas, who had answered her ad. It might be best to stick with those for now. It was probably better to continue posing as a Beta and date those who considered themselves an equal. Plus, Betas tended to be more fun and less relationship centered.
It wasn’t that she was opposed to a relationship, but after her experience with Thad and all the pressure from work, perhaps it was better to just have fun. She looked up and saw Barron coming across the lobby. Jumping up, she darted toward him before he could get on the elevator.
“Barron!” she called out.
He looked around, smiling broadly when he saw her.
“Hey, neighbor.”
“Hey, yourself. Sorry to accost you in the lobby, but I wasn’t sure which apartment is yours.”
“203, but what’s up?”
“Will you be seeing Thad tonight?”
“No. I’m on weekdays and emergencies only since he decided to go out and buy himself a new car.”
“Ah, okay. Well, that’s fine then. Can you give him this for me in the morning? It’ll save me a bus trip across town.”
“Sure. No problem. It’s not a subpoena, is it?”
“What? No. Of course not.”
“Kidding. I’ll make sure he gets it. Or, I can take you over there now, if you want to hand it to him in person.”
“That’s okay. Tomorrow will be fine.”
“I see. Okay. I’ve got you covered.”
“Thanks,” she replied as the elevator doors opened.
“Going up?”
“No, not yet. Thanks.”
They said a quick goodbye as he stepped in the elevator and she returned to where she had been sitting, picking up the sweater she had brought down, in case she got chilly, and her tablet before returning to the elevator herself. Back in her apartment, she opened a bottle of wine and went back to her tablet.