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“I bet he did,” Meryl hisses.
Yep. Me, too.
“You need to report that,” Meryl says.
“I love this job. I love San Diego. I don’t wanna go to HR or Mr. C. and complain. Yeah, they might stop him from harassing me, but it’d be a career limiting move. Any woman who rocks the boat like this with the CEO’s son will wind up typecast. It’s sad, but true. I might think I’m getting justice, but it’ll be talked about behind my back and people will be wary of me. I’ll be seen as weak and too sensitive. I’ll be passed over for promotions. And it fucking sucks. It’s still very much a man’s world in the business world. You can’t let them smell menstrual blood in the water when you’re in a shark tank. In other words, all signs point me to the belief that I have to operate somewhat like a man.”
They’re both quiet. They know it’s true.
“So, unless I wanna quit my job and go find another one, which I don’t, I’ve gotta just deal. Find a way to ignore him until he goes back to the New York office. I was thinking last night I wanted to pay him back for his treachery. Make him think twice before screwing me over again.”
“Starting by shooting him with lasers and wishing the gun was real?” Meryl asks, looking up from her smartphone. She’s been obsessively reading all morning, pink-faced for most of it, biting her lip like Anastasia Steele.
“Maybe not a bullet gun, but a zapping with electrical currents gun? Sure. But then he gives me this non-apology excuse and says he was wrong and ‘my bad’ and then he’s got his tongue in my mouth and I’m a slutty whimpering mess.”
“That kiss? That was hot,” Ally says this matter-of-factly.
Meryl nods. “It was like… a movie kiss.”
It was. It was the hottest kiss of my life.
I shake my head. “He’s such a player. And if Mr. C had been in front of you guys instead of behind you, he’d have seen it.”
“Doh!” Ally winces.
“What?” Don’t tell me…
“I think he saw, too. He started to walk in that direction and then came back and talked to Austin for a second and they were laughing.”
I groan. Mortified.
“A player?” Ally asks. “You think he’s just a player?”
“Yeah. This has got to be some new game. He was flirting before, but this? He’s all about games. I can’t let it happen. I have to keep my crazy hormones in check, resist the sex potion, and find a way to hold my ground. I’m gonna rock my job, watch my back, and hopefully he’ll go back to New York soon. If he’s here the full three months, I’ll keep my head down and stay out of his way, and then see if I get offered full-time employment after my three-month contract is up.”
I love this job. This company. I want a permanent job. Eventually, he’ll see something shiny and turn his attention away from me. Right now, I’m just the something shiny.
Maybe I should wait on paying my Visa and use the bonus on Monday to get myself an apartment. Stay here all weekend with the girls, away from him.
“What if he actually likes you? What if he’s actually interested? Maybe this is him putting your ponytail in the inkwell.”
“I’m not interested in him, Ally,” I reply firmly. “And it’s really shitty that he’s prioritizing screwing with me over the company’s wellness. His stunts show that he’s a man-baby. A spoiled brat stomping his feet for not getting his way.”
I need to think about my living situation, my options, how I’m going to get to the other side of this time of him being parked in an office with a perfect view of my cubicle. But for now, I want to think about anything but Aiden Carmichael. “Enough alphahole talk. What shall we do today, girls? How about a trip to the mall? Food court for dinner?”
“Dinner is on me,” Meryl announces. “Food court sushi!”
“I am down! I’m gonna run up and shower and change. I’ll bring stuff down to get ready for clubbing, too.” I gather up my stuff.
“Bring down enough for the weekend. Stay away from him,” Meryl warns.
“Bring those strappy peach wedges,” Ally says, “Meryl can borrow them.”
“Carly’s feet are smaller than mine. I have giant feet,” Meryl tells us with a pout.
“Well, we’ll get you wedges today, then. They’re easier to walk in than heels.”
“I still don’t think so,” she scrunches up her face.
