Why did I have to order an extra-large latte in the morning?

If she moved, her manager was going to say some choice words, and that would mean everyone in the office listening in. She squeezed her eyes closed and pressed her face into her hands. This was ridiculous. She had to make a stand.

This wasn’t a good working environment.

Rose clenched her hands into fists and slowly lifted out of her seat to see over her cubicle. Dead ahead was Mrs. Haywire, staring around the room just looking for a new target. Did she realize how … hated she was?

No one complained though.

Unless someone called going to the main boss a complaint. It wasn’t like Rose had anything bad to say, not really. She could deal with anything but merely felt that her hard work had never been rewarded. Of course, she’d seen all the fancy new equipment her manager suddenly had. It started with the new office. Next came the top-of-the-range computer, printer, and there was plenty more that Mrs. Haywire suddenly acquired. The final straw was the car Rose saw her driving into work with. Mrs. Haywire hadn’t seen her, of course. Rose had stayed hidden, but she’d watched her manager climb out of that car, with a special space in the parking lot just for her. It all made sense when she overheard her talking about the accounts that put her over the top of her quota—Rose’s accounts. Mrs. Haywire wasn’t promoting her because she was taking all the credit herself.

She had never felt so much anger before in her life, and she’d been bounced from one foster home after another, so that said a lot.

Sitting back down in her chair, she stared at her computer. All the hard work she’d done was for nothing. She’d never get ahead here. Mrs. Haywire had no intention of helping her succeed, not when she could steal all her credit.

With her current salary, she couldn’t get out of her shitty apartment, and she really wanted to. This was why she had worked her ass off at college, taking those classes even when she couldn’t afford them. During those years, she’d barely slept, working back-to-back classes and shifts.

The need to pee was getting way too strong, and her anger at Mrs. Haywire was making her think of stupid things—like quitting.

Why would she want to quit?

This company was supposed to have the best promotional opportunities in the country, and yet, she had gotten nothing.

Hard work. Keeping her head down. Where had it gotten her?

She was afraid to go to the bathroom because her manager was on the warpath, but not today. This had to stop. She needed to grow a backbone in a hurry.

Rose shoved her chair back and stood. The moment she stepped out of her cubicle, her little corner of the world, she felt Mrs. Haywire’s gaze on her, but Rose didn’t care one bit. She was going to use the bathroom.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Mrs. Haywire asked.

There was a shrill tone to her voice, and Rose gritted her teeth. She wasn’t a nasty person. For a split second, no one moved. No one even seemed to breathe.

Rose turned toward the awful woman.

She was a nasty, horrible person who took credit for everyone else’s hard work and didn’t do any herself. Rose had seen other floors of staff advancing within the company. She’d even heard them talking about the possibilities in the future, which she herself had been hopeful for, but not anymore.

There was no way she could continue like this.

Back in foster care, she never allowed anyone to treat her this way, and she wasn’t going to allow it to happen anymore.

“I’m using the bathroom.”

“There’s a break for that, it’s called lunch. You’re on company time now.”

She was about to open her mouth to tell her that in the employee code, she was entitled to toilet breaks, but she bit her tongue as she looked over Mrs. Haywire’s shoulder to see Darius Blackwood had stepped into the room.

This was a first. The man never ventured out of his ivory tower. Maybe he needed free nanny services again.

“Am I hearing this correctly?” Darius asked.

He looked and sounded even sexier today than he had the other day. This wasn’t fair. Rose pressed her legs together. Her need for the bathroom was no joke, but this was starting to feel like one.

“My staff are being forced to sit at their desks and denied bathroom breaks?” he asked.

One of his hands was in his pocket, and the other was pointed at Mrs. Haywire, who’d gone paler than Rose had ever seen.

“Sir, this is not what you think. She is always doing this. Wasting company time.”

“That’s not true.” She wasn’t going to allow anyone to besmirch her name. Not one. She was hardworking to a fault.

Tags: Sam Crescent Erotic
Source: readsnovelonline.net