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Well, he was just going to have to return them to her, wasn't he?
CHAPTER TEN
Her stomach was twisted in knots before she even got out of bed the next morning. She walked to the bathroom feeling nauseated at having to face him. She winced, feeling a soreness between her legs she hadn't expected. It was going to be a long day.
She had spent an hour trying home remedies to get rid of the hickeys on her neck. Ice, peppermint oil, aloe vera, scraping it with a fork. To no avail. With growing agitation, she applied three different kinds of makeup and reduced the angry red and purple splotches to a dark shadow under cake makeup. So she pulled her long black hair and tied it into a loose braid on that side of her neck which seemed to keep her secret hidden.
When Elliott arrived, she and Tad were getting a lecture from a particularly surly Sally about filing the files correctly, although both knew it wasn't their screw up on a three year inactive file. She felt his eyes land on her and kept her gaze fixedly on Sally's, nodding.
She had already put his coffee on his desk. She wouldn't need to see him until mid morning or lunch unless he was going to be spiteful and call her in.
Hannah felt her cheeks blush a little, her mind flashing beyond her control back to his hands on her breasts, his lips on her neck.
"Understood," Hannah said to Sally who was staring at her with unmasked annoyance.
Hannah walked into her office, Tad following close behind her. "Well that was fun," she said, sitting down at her desk.
She had noticed that Tad had stooped down and retrieved something from the floor. Another letter. And he was opening it and reading it.
"'Die whore'," he read out loud, looking up at Hannah with astonishment. "What the hell is this?"
Hannah shrugged, "It's nothing."
Tad walked over to the desk, putting the paper down in front of her and stabbing his finger at the words. "This is a three paragraph threatening letter."
Hannah felt her stomach flutter. A little part of her wanted to reach out to Tad, to let the stress pour out of her and feel some relief. But another, larger, part of her wanted to cover it. She didn't know where the urge came from, some desire to not show weakness even to a good friend. Maybe the feeling stemmed from a fear of there being some truth in the words now. She had slept with him. She had become that woman who slept with her boss. And there was some shame in that for her.
Maybe she deserved the letters.
"Hannah," Tad said, moving around the desk to crouch next to her chair. "What the hell is going on?"
"It's just a note, Tad. Kinda like all the rumors going on around here."
"Why don't you seem the least bit shocked about this? Read it," he demanded, pushing it into her hands.
Die whore. I know what is going on. You can't hide your slutty agenda. What makes you think he would be interested in you? You're nothing. A girl from some silly small town no one has ever gotten out of. You have never held a job for more than a couple months. You can barely pay your bills.
He would never want someone as pathetic and useless as you. You should just throw yourself in front of a car. No one would miss you. Better you do it now to yourself. Or who knows what could happen to you...
"This isn't nothing and it certainly isn't just some stupid office rumors."
"Tad, it's no big deal."
"What the fuck, Hannah?" Tad exploded, standing up and pacing a few feet next to her. "How long has this been going on?"
Hannah openend her mouth, caught and unable to come up with any kind of cover story.
"Hannah," EM's voice boomed over the intercom. "I need a copy of the correspondence between you and Tanner Construction."
Hannah felt a rush of relief, turning to stab the intercom button. "Alright I'll have it in a minute."
She turned her attention to her computer screen, typing in the email address and printing all the letters she had written back and forth with them for weeks. Why EM suddenly needed them was beyond her, but she was so thankful at the interruption she didn't even care.
Tad stood there watching her type and click and print things. She could feel the tension stemming from his body, but actively ignored him.
Finally, Tad cursed, throwing the letter back on her desk. "Fine," he said, starting for the door, "but this isn't over. You're going to clue me in on everything Hannah-Banana."
When the door shut behind him, she had a moment of elation before she realized that she was going to have to go in and talk to EM. Was this him just trying to force her to talk to him again? It made no sense why he needed the emails, let alone immediately. She wasn't ready to face him. She thought she would have hours to prepare and lose some of her anxiety.
