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HAYLEY: TODAY
(Present Day)
San Francisco, California
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ANGELA MET ME AT THEelevator early one morning and grabbed my hand, pulling me into an empty hallway.
“Where the hell have you been?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You missed the stockholder’s meeting yesterday.” She shook her head. “That’s the most important meeting we have every quarter, and your absence was noticeable.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I guess I must have lost track of my time this weekend.”
Images of Corey bending me over my office couch and making me beg him for more suddenly crossed my mind. Do you want me to fuck you harder? Say it...
“This weekend?” She looked at me in utter disbelief. “Hayley, today is Thursday. Yesterday was Wednesday.”
“And the day before that was Tuesday.” I smiled. “At least I showed up for my presentation this morning, right? Everyone clapped.”
“Everyone always claps.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, your ‘losing track of time’ for the weekend excuse won’t work, and Mr. Statham is very angry with you. So, I’m just being a good coworker and letting you know that he’s been seething all week.”
“On a scale of one to ten, what is he right now?”
“About a fifty.”
Fifty? I swallowed. My brother’s wrath was like no other, and I couldn’t believe that I’d been so caught up in Corey that I’d lost track of that many days.
“He didn’t seem that upset during my presentation this morning.” I paused, looking back on the way he’d eyed me the entire time. “Oh, no. Wait, the person he was glaring at the whole time was me. Wasn’t it?”
She nodded and handed me a cup of coffee. “He told me to send you straight to his office when you arrived. Good luck.”
I sighed and made my way to his office, knocking on his door. “Mr. Statham?”
“Come in, Hayley,” he said, his voice tight.
I took a deep breath before stepping into his office. I smiled at him once his eyes met mine, but he didn’t smile back.
“Have a seat.”
“I think I’d be better off standing.”
“Sit. Down. Hayley.”
I immediately plopped down in the chair in front of his desk.
He tapped his fingers against the wood and glared at me, slowly shaking his head. Then he let out a breath. “First, let me say, that I never thought you would be this bad at your job.”
“You think I’m bad?”
“You’re fucking terrible.” He held up his hand, making it clear I wasn’t supposed to interrupt him right now. “You barely show up to work, you’re late for meetings, your work is subpar, and Angela has covered for you almost every day.”
“Now, let’s be one hundred percent honest with each other.” He put his hand down and leaned back in his chair. His expression softened, and I could tell he was torn between being angry as hell and laughing about my bad work ethic. “Do you think I won’t fire you because you’re my family?”
“I think you won’t fire me because your fiancée won’t let you.”
