Embarrassment fills me. I just completely lost control and made a fool of myself. You stupid fucking idiot.
My heartbeat sounds through my body, and I’m so angry right now that I can’t even see straight. His words come back to me: But you fucked that up this morning when you left like a two-year-old.
God.
Angry tears stream down my face, and I wipe them away as quickly as they appear.
Stop crying, you baby. I’m not even upset—I’m angry. Now I have to get off this floor without anyone seeing me.
Why am I fucking crying?
I know why. Because I’m sleep deprived, and I deserve to be treated better, that’s why. The fucking asshole. Who the hell does he think he is?
The longer I’m in here, the worse it is. I wash my face, dry my eyes, and drop my shoulders as I steel myself to walk past reception.
I’m fine, fine . . . totally fine. Jameson Miles does not have the power to affect me at all. I open the bathroom door and walk out, and Tristan comes around the corner. His face falls when he sees me. “Emily?” He frowns. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, of course.” I storm past him.
“He’s had a bad day,” he calls after me, and my eyes fill with tears anew.
Yeah, well . . . so have I.
“Where have you been?” Molly asks on my arrival back to my desk.
“I went and saw Ricardo,” I lie.
“So where do you want to go tonight?”
“Oh.” I wince. I can’t think of anything worse. “I’m sorry, guys. I’m going to bail. I need to sleep.”
“But we want to hear all the juicy details.”
“Oh.” My heart sinks. I don’t want them to know that I’m the world’s biggest loser. “We didn’t meet up last night. He pulled out.”
“What?” Aaron frowns.
“Whatever. I don’t care.” I shrug, acting casual. I wish I hadn’t told them anything at all about him now.
“Yeah, that’s okay. I need to save money anyway.” Aaron sighs as he packs up his computer.
“You coming?” Molly asks.
“I’m just going to finish this up.” I open my computer back up. The last thing I want to do is give the bastard a reason to fire me. I finish my task, and finally, an hour later, I close my computer and head downstairs.
I walk through the front doors and glance up to see the black limo parked at the curb.
Shit.
I look around nervously. Is he in there? Damn it, I don’t want to see him. I power walk across the street to the safe haven of the café. I order a drink and take a seat at the window.
Great. I drag my hand down my face. Seriously, what next? This is the last thing I need.
“Here you go.” The waiter smiles as he puts my iced tea down in front of me.
“Thank you.” I watch the driver across the road as he leans on the limo, and I think back to the other night when I was on my knees, and he tried to open the door, and it was locked. I wonder how long he’s worked for him, how much he’s seen. I watch as he answers the phone and then gets in the car and drives off.
Huh? Was Jameson already inside the car? Why did he drive off?
That’s weird . . .
The front doors of the building open, and a group of men walk out. Shit, it’s them. I pick up the menu and cover my face as I peer through the window and across the street.
Tristan, Elliot, Christopher, and Jameson . . . and the blonde girl who was with Tristan the other night. She’s super trendy, and her work clothes look like they belong in a modeling shoot. The boys look so similar. Elliot is the most like Jameson, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. Then Tristan and Christopher look alike, lighter hair with a curl. They’re talking as they walk, and Jameson says something with a straight face, and they all laugh out loud.
What did he say?
They walk around the corner. Elliot puts his hand affectionately on Jameson’s back as they cross the road while deep in conversation. I watch them walk up the street and then into a cocktail bar.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes with a huge sad sigh.
Ugh, I just want this day to be over.
It’s amazing what a weekend and some sleep can do for a girl. I march into the building on Monday like the most powerful woman on earth. “Good morning.” The security guard smiles as I walk through the security screen.
“Morning.” I smile. “Lovely day, isn’t it?”
“Sure is.” He winks as I walk past him.
To hell with Jameson Miles.
So what? We had sex. So what? It was great. But guess what? I don’t care.
I’m not letting him dull my New York shine. I moved here to start a new and exciting life, and to be honest, the first three weeks have been pretty amazing . . . well, except last week. But I’m scratching that from the record, so it doesn’t actually count.
I’m moving onward and upward, and twelve months from now I’ll probably look back at this and laugh.
I make it to my floor to find Ava and her friend Renee talking by the elevator. “Hi, girls.”
“Hi.” Ava smiles. “How are you?”
“Good. Great, actually. What are you guys up to?”
“We’re discussing where we want to go this weekend.”
“Oh.”
“Hey, you should come clubbing with us,” she offers.
“Really?”
“Yeah, for sure. We have a blast.”
“You know what? I’d love to.” I smile.
“Awesome.” She takes her phone out of her pocket and puts my number in. “We usually meet up about eight or nine on Saturday night.”
“For dinner first?” I ask.
“No.” She smirks. “We eat mac and cheese before we go out and then buy hella expensive drinks. Priorities.”
I laugh. “Okay, sounds good.”
I make my way to my desk and find Aaron already working. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He says sadly.
“What’s wrong?” I frown as I take my seat.
“I got stood up again last night.” He sighs. “I’m just getting sick of this, you know?”
“Have you talked to him?” I ask.
“No, he’s always working or got things going on or a legitimate excuse. Maybe I’m looking for problems that aren’t there.”
“Maybe,” I reply. “Anyway, you’ll be glad to know that I’m in a much better mood today.”
“Really?” He smirks. “What’s your secret?”
“Sleep,” I reply. “And I’m even going to start going to the gym on level three next week. Want to come with me?”
“Maybe.” He thinks about it.
“We could become superhot fitness freaks.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, okay. Are you high?”
“I had such a shitty day on Friday, and I’m determined to change my mind-set.”
“Good for you.”
Molly arrives and puts her bag onto the desk with a bang. “Anybody want a kid?”
I giggle. “What now?”
“Ugh.” She flops into her chair. “So you know how Brad got caught messaging that girl. I took his phone from him because his father wouldn’t do it,” she snaps.