I opened my mouth to say something and noticed that both Trevor and Susan had their phones out, recording everything.
Well, they were going to stand up for me, and I would finally have proof of Benji’s bullshit. I was tired of this. And if George didn’t take what I had to say seriously? I might sue. Regardless, I was leaving. I’d find a new job. Work, even if I loved it, was not worth this.
“I don’t know what you have against me, but this is cruel and beyond horrible. I do not have to take this anymore. And you can stop. You can walk away nicely, and I won’t sue you right this very moment.”
“Big words for a big bitch.”
Prior was there right behind me, but I stood in front of him, blocking his way.
“Don’t hurt him, he wants to sue you.”
“I don’t think the lawsuit will be from Benji,” a voice said from the elevator. I froze before I slowly turned to see our boss, George Haberman, walking towards us.
I did not like George. He was part of the good old boys’ club, someone who had gotten this job because of his family and rarely worked. However, he usually let us do what we needed to do and made sure we had amazing projects that utilized my talent and fulfilled my mind.
I hoped to hell he would be on my side about this.
Benji puffed up like a peacock as though he hadn’t heard our boss’s words. “Hey, George, can you believe how she speaks to me? It’s like I’ve been telling you.”
“You’ve been telling me a lot of things about Paris. And Prior. And a few other people around here. Why don’t you come with me to my office, Benji? We need to talk.”
Benji looked nervous, his face going almost gray. “What do you mean? You can tell everybody about my upcoming promotion right here.”
Promotion? This was the first I’d heard of it.
“The papers weren’t signed, Benji. And for that, I’m grateful. We can do this right here, though, if you want. You’re fired. And, if we’re lucky, Paris will only sue you and not the whole company. Those recording this, I would love a copy. Benji? Come with me.”
Everybody started talking at once, and then Prior was there, holding my hand for a bare instant, giving it a squeeze before letting go. I blinked, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do.
I had a feeling my work situation had just gotten a thousand times better.
In the end, though, I wanted to throw up.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted and sweaty but relieved. Benji would no longer be with the company. I would not be suing George and the corporation as of yet. There would be more paperwork and other things that I would need to figure out with regards to Benji. George had even helped, offered to assist me with getting a restraining order against Benji, but I didn’t think that was necessary. Although Benji hated me for who knew what, reasons that I didn’t understand, I didn’t think he was the one who had attacked me.
The fact that I still didn’t know who had, worried me. Honestly, I didn’t think it was him.
Prior wasn’t going to be at the office anymore, and I kind of hated the fact that the little cake the office had bought, and the little going away party and been marred. However, there wasn’t anything we could do about that.
We would all still see Prior if he ever showed up again at the building to work on other projects, something he had said he wanted to do. And I would see him any day I could. Because somehow, our relationship had turned serious.
So serious that I thought maybe, if I let myself acknowledge it, I was falling in love with him.
He had let me fight for myself, even when he wanted to be the one who screamed and shouted and hit.
And maybe if we hadn’t been at work, I would’ve let him.
I probably would’ve hit Benji as well, but that wouldn’t have stopped anything.
Prior knew who I was and liked it. He saw my strengths and my weaknesses, and he didn’t put me down because of them. He helped me elevate myself somehow.
I didn’t know how that had happened, how I found myself wanting to be near him even when we had just seen each other. Yet here I was, thinking about him as I sat in my house and waited for him to show up. We weren’t even going out on a date. We were going to make dinner together and watch a movie and probably make out and then go to bed.
Okay, and have sex. I wanted some hot, dirty, sweaty, kinky sex.
That’s what I loved.
I thought maybe I was falling in love with him.
I still couldn’t quite believe that I was sitting here on my couch, waiting for…gasp…my boyfriend to come to my house so we could have an at-home date.
I had thought going on blind dates set up by my friends because of our pact would send me down a new path, and I had been right.
I honestly didn’t think I would see Prior the way I was now if he hadn’t been there for those last two horrific dates.
He had seen me at my most embarrassed, and my worst, and he hadn’t left.
And that was everything.
I didn’t know what would happen next with us or even with work now that Benji was gone. It felt like something had shifted, it had changed.
Maybe I could be happy.
My doorbell rang, and I grinned, thinking of exactly what Prior and I would get up to later. I had been relaxing and thinking so much that I hadn’t started getting dinner ready. I liked messing with Prior near the fridge when we tried to figure out what we needed to make.
Knowing us, we’d end up simply making out and ordering in.
I wouldn’t mind that either.
I opened the door without looking and froze.
Screams filled my mind, bile coated my tongue, and I started shaking. My fingers dug into the wood of the door, and I forced myself to see the man in front of me.
He looked as if he’d aged at least thirty years, even though it hadn’t been nearly that long. He had deep grooves near his eyes, deeper ones near his mouth from where he frowned, but no smile lines. He had gone bald on the sides, the rest of his hair now gray.
He’d gained weight in his belly, yet still looked the same somehow. Maybe a little weaker.
No, I was wrong.
He looked smaller. Was it because he’d aged? Because I knew his fists couldn’t hurt me anymore? He was so different. He wasn’t the man of my nightmares, and yet, he was. Standing here in the flesh, holding me captive.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I croaked out, surprised how I could even speak at all.
“I didn’t know if I should call first.”
“Are you kidding me? Get out of here. I’m going to call the police. You can’t be here.”
“I know. I know I’m not supposed to be here, and I won’t be here for that long. I need to talk to you.”
If he was here, that meant he had broken his parole, right? He wasn’t allowed to be near me. Right? I couldn’t even remember the rules. Maybe he had done this before. Had he been the one to attack me?
I started to shake and then went to close the door. I looked at his face, at the evident sorrow there, and all I felt was pity. Pity and fear, and I wanted this to end.
A car pulled up behind mine, and Prior got out, confusion on his face. Then he narrowed his eyes and stormed towards us.
“Paris?”
“I’m okay. It’s just Skeeter. My dad.”
I didn’t like calling him that. I had never mentioned my father’s name before, so Prior wouldn’t have known who I was talking about if I didn’t elaborate.