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"And they're professional?"
He clears his throat and moves away from the desk. "We're going to change our fee structure. Flat rates instead of billable hours."
"No."
"Janine is already reworking all the necessary paperwork."
"You can't make business decisions without my approval. We're partners."
Ryan shrugs like this means nothing to him. He steps past me and opens the office door. "It would be foolish of you to make a decision based on your 'commitment' to Alyssa."
I clench my fists.
"It's not like she's going to stick around."
"That's none of your business."
He looks at me with pity. "It's sweet that you believe she'd ever want something real from you."
"What can I say? I'm a romantic."
He shakes his head. "But Alyssa isn't like that. She's going to run as soon as she gets bored of fucking you."
He steps into the hallway like he's won.
"Then I'll have to keep things interesting for her."
That wipes the grin off his face.
He shakes his head. "I appreciate your Prince Charming thing. You have a nice face and you look good in a suit, and women eat it up. But you're going to have to step out of fantasy land. You're not taking any clients away from this firm, and you're not getting anyone to agree to your ludicrous offers."
"Thanks for the concern."
"You don't know her as well as you think you do."
I take a deep breath. "Well, that makes two of us, doesn't it?" I shut the door in his face.
He thinks he's won, but he hasn't. He's never going to win.
***
By lunch I am calm. Ryan is only trying to fuck with me. But I'm not going to allow him to rattle me. I'll find a way to leave this firm without abandoning my clients to Ryan and his obsession with the bottom line.
There's a text message from Samantha on my phone. Can we talk soon?
There's no urgency to it, but she's not in the best place mentally. I take a deep breath and call her. Whatever it is she wants, it can't be any worse than Ryan's attitude.
The phone rings to voice mail. I hate to admit it, but I'm relieved
. There's so much of her in my life already. Alyssa was right. Samantha's stuff is all over the house. She's taking up the entire spare room.
It could be Alyssa's. I can see her in that room, making it her own, decorating it with those silly wall decals in the shape of birds, hanging old movie posters. She could paint it hot pink. She could do whatever she wants with it.
It would be perfect.
***
I leave work early, and spend nearly two hours packing Samantha's things into boxes. There's still so much of her here. I need to get rid of it or this place will never be mine. It will never be mine and Alyssa's.
