Finally (Neighbor from Hell 12)

“That armoire by the back wall,” T.J. said, gesturing to an incredibly beautiful armoire in the back as Charlie stepped out of the way as two men carried a dresser towards the shipment room.

“That’s so beautiful,” Charlie said, walking over to the armoire with an intricate Celtic design running down the side as she took in the large double-doors and the drawers and couldn’t help but wonder what this one hid.

Sometimes when she worked late at night, Charlie came down here and looked around, curious to see Devin’s latest designs, which usually led to her spending a few hours trying to figure out where the hidden compartments were until she finally gave up and looked at the cheat-sheet that came with every piece of furniture that left this building. Deciding that she would come back later to have a better look, Charlie took a few pictures for the website before she stepped back with a wistful sigh, wishing that she could justify the cost because she would love to own something this beautiful.

“Can you send me the specs?” Charlie asked, forcing her attention away from the beautiful armoire before she did something stupid like asking how much it was because she knew that even with her employee discount that she couldn’t afford it. She had to save her money, Charlie reminded herself even as she found herself looking back, unable to help but notice that it was the perfect size for her living room/bedroom.

“He’d probably sell it to you at a discount,” T.J. said with a pointed look at the armoire that she really didn’t need, but really, really, really wanted.

It was so beautiful, Charlie thought, biting back a groan because she had to be good and save her money. She wasn’t going to ask, she reminded herself.

Definitely wasn’t going to ask because she didn’t need to know.

She had to be good.

Stick to her plan and…

“How much is it?” Charlie found herself asking as she sent a hopeful look at the most beautiful thing that she’d ever seen in her life.

“Five thousand dollars,” T.J. said, before adding, “after our employee discount,” destroying what little hope she had that she could afford it.

One day, Charlie told herself as she forced herself to look away.

“Yeah, I’ll just go put that online,” Charlie said, earning a chuckle as she headed towards the back stairwell that led to the second floor and pouted every step of the way.

When she reached the second floor, Charlie bit back a curse and prayed that she made it to her office before-

“There you are!” Kelly, the incredibly beautiful woman that Devin hired two years ago to take over customer service, said with one of those warm smiles that she gave everyone as she walked over to Charlie, carrying a white bakery box that probably had two jelly donuts because they were Charlie’s favorite, and-

Charlie didn’t trust her.

While everyone loved Kelly and couldn’t say enough nice things about her, Charlie didn’t like her and even though that probably made her a horrible person, she just couldn’t help it. It was something about the way that her smiles never quite matched the look in her eyes and the way she acted like everyone was her best friend, and…

She just seemed fake.

There really was no other way to explain it.

“Look what I got for you!” Kelly said with a conspiratory wink as she popped open the box and presented Charlie with two powdered jelly donuts.

“I actually already grabbed some on the way,” Charlie said, absently gesturing to her backpack with a disappointed sigh. “But thank you anyway, Kelly.”

With an over-the-top pout, Kelly said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, but thank you,” Charlie said, already moving to head down the back hallway.

“Okay,” Kelly said with a sad sigh, turning around only to get a calculating look in her eye that Charlie almost missed before it was gone and that fake smile that she was used to seeing slipped back in place.

Curious, Charlie followed the other woman’s gaze and-

Yup, definitely time to get to work, she decided when she saw Devin coming their way. With that in mind, Charlie headed down the back hallway, past the storage rooms and the supply closets until she reached the part of the hallway where the sunlight streaming in through the second-floor windows didn’t reach and kept going. She didn’t bother turning on any lights as she went since she already knew that nobody else was going to be coming down here. When she reached the door at the end of the dark hallway, she breathed a sigh of relief that she’d made it to her office without having to endure another glaring session from her boss.

In seconds, Charlie was stepping into her sanctuary. With a sigh, she toed off her shoes and kicked them aside into their customary spot. She placed her camera on the bookshelf that she’d helped herself to from one of the storage rooms, grabbed the lunch that she’d made to save money and the small white pastry bag holding her precious jelly donuts out of her backpack before dropping it by the door. She placed her lunch in the mini-fridge that she’d snuck in here a few years ago before dropping her donuts on her desk, which she may have also helped herself to from storage, grabbed the remote and turned on the large flat-screen television that she may have also been forced to sneak in here.

After selecting a movie for background noise, Charlie grabbed her second favorite Slytherin glass, walked back over to the mini-fridge, filled it with ice from the mini-ice machine that she probably wasn’t supposed to have in here either, grabbed a Coke out of the fridge, and placed it on her desk before she grabbed her camera and got to work. Twenty minutes later, she found herself staring at the beautiful armoire from downstairs, making sure that it looked perfect in this resolution while she tried to force her finger to click publish, knowing that it would probably be sold by the end of the day.

Maybe she could do this, Charlie told herself, absently nodding as she thought it over. She had the money in her account to cover it. She’d have to readjust a few things, push her deadline back a few months, but she could do this, she told herself only to sigh as she finally forced herself to hit save. As much as she would love to get her hands on that beautiful armoire, Charlie wanted to start her own business more. She’d already dragged her feet long enough. It was time to-

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” came the softly spoken words that had Charlie slowly turning her head and taking in the large man sitting in the oversized leather chair that she may have helped herself to from the waiting room and couldn’t help but wonder why Devin Bradford was in her office.

Well, technically it was his office since he owned the building, but since he hadn’t stepped foot in this room since he’d banished her in here five years ago, she was surprised to find him in here. She still wasn’t sure what happened. One day, she was stuck in a cramped, tiny office with too much light, squeezed in between the bathrooms and the break-room, making it impossible for her to focus, and the next…

T.J. was meeting her by the back door one morning with a sympathetic smile and announced that he was supposed to show her to her new office. When he gestured for her to follow him upstairs, she’d hesitated when she realized that the only other office available was the one

by the stairs. A moment later, Charlie was following him upstairs, debating on handing in her two weeks’ notice immediately or waiting until she found a new job because there was no way that she would have been able to get anything done if she had to deal with the noises coming from the shop below or the sounds of people coming and going all day.

She just couldn’t do it.

Before she had a chance to figure out what she was going to do, he was walking past the small office by the stairs and heading towards the back-storage rooms. Curious, she followed him, noting the sympathetic glances that he kept sending her, and couldn’t help but wonder what they were doing when he opened the door to the extra storage room that nobody used and announced that this was her new office. Since it worked for her, she’d absently waved off his apology and set to work creating the perfect workspace.

“What did you want to talk about?” Charlie asked, unable to help but wonder why he was in here talking to her when he normally had T.J. deal with her if he had a question or needed to tell her something.

“I wanted to…” Devin started to say only to frown when his gaze shifted to her desk. “Where did you get this?” he asked, already getting up so that he could run his hand over the top of her desk.

“I found it?” Charlie said, watching as he leaned over so that he could run his hands over the front of her desk as his curious gaze took in every detail as well as the dents, and scrapes that marked her desk.

“Where?” he asked, running his hand over the top as he moved around the desk and-

She found herself jumping out of her chair and stumbling out of the way when he moved to crouch down so that he could run his fingertips over the drawers, nobs, and-

Click.

“Those aren’t mine,” Charlie found herself saying when a hidden drawer slid open, revealing her secret stash of candy bars.