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lear my throat. “Fine. God I always forget how brutally sour fresh orange juice can be.” I cough a few more times for good measure and push the orange juice aside, although I really need it to dampen the sudden sawdust lining of my throat. “A ring you say?”
“Yep.” Tammy leans closer and glances around conspiratorially as if someone from BPC Advertising would be having lunch at the same café as us. “What type of ring?”
“The big kind!” Tammy’s eyes widen. “The shiny rock on the ring finger kind. I’m telling you before the month is out they’ll probably be officially announcing their engagement.”
“I’m thrilled for them.” I try to smile, but it feels like I’m cracking my cheeks. My heart starts bouncing around in my chest to a very disturbing rhythm.
“You know it’s actually nauseating. Not only is she beautiful and rich but now she’s engaged to the hottest guy in New York. We should actually hate her.”
I laugh at Tammy’s reasoning. Besides the fact I already hate Lisa, I can think of about a hundred more reasons to hate her right now. I close my eyes and suddenly dream about Lisa heading out to lunch right now. She crosses the street and doesn’t see the truck coming from the left; it drives right over her, leaving nothing but a blood spatter in the road beneath her Martinez heels. Of course, the Martinez can’t be ruined, they’re too beautiful. A smug grin crosses my face.
“Why are you smiling?” Tammy asks, confused.
“Just a thought.” I shrug and start to gather my things. “We better get back to the office.”
As we make our way back toward the office, I’m contemplating grabbing the things in my office and leaving for the rest of the day or confronting Branson. I know the latter is probably a better option, but I just can’t stand the thought of him laughing at me. Telling me that he can’t believe how stupid I was to have fallen for him, or even to have seen more in what was nothing more than another office fuck. I cringe at the thought and wave to Tammy as she gets off on her floor.
The elevator doors are just about to close when I feel a wave of nausea come over me. I clench my throat and stick my hands between the doors causing them to open again.
I rush toward the ladies room and make it just in time to the cubicle before I chuck the little bit of orange juice I had. I dry heave a few more times before I finally manage to get the nausea under control.
I briskly wash my face and rinse my mouth and just as I turn to leave Lisa walks in.
“Riley.” Her voice is dripping with honey even as she swipes an imaginary hair from her cheek with her left hand. I spot the giant rock and for a moment wonder if her hand doesn’t get tired of carrying around a rock that size.
“Miss Weston.” I smile, causing my face to burn with insincerity. “Congratulations.”
I feel another wave of nausea coming on and head for the cubicle, but Lisa grabs my arm, her fake acrylic nails biting into my flesh.
“I think it’s time we had a word.” She seethes at me. Her usually cool eyes have turned into a frosty glare. I suddenly realize why Tammy had called her the ice queen.
A shiver runs down my spine even as I try to wrench away from her hand, but for someone so impossibly thin she has the grip of a fucking monkey. “What about?”
“About you screwing Branson. I let him have his fun now and then, but now that we’re engaged that’s going to stop.”
I shrug, trying to seem confused, although my scarlet cheeks are a good indication that I know exactly what she is talking about. “I don’t know—”
“Don’t be coy with me, Riley. I can almost smell him on you. You do know where he spent his night, don’t you?”
I wince at her words. Right after we had made, love Branson had claimed he needed a good night’s sleep and headed home. Did he go to her place?
“I don’t really care.” I try to feign ignorance.
Her loud laughter sends another chill running down my spine. I’m sure that by the time she’s done with me, I’m going to be a fucking ice cube.
“Let me make this brutally fucking clear, you little whore. If I ever see you looking in Branson’s direction, you’re out on your ass. I’ll make sure you’re never hired in advertising again. You get that? I know many people, Riley. I’m a big fucking whale in this pond and your nothing more than an amoeba still trying to stay afloat. Don’t fuck with me.”
“I’m not,” I shriek as Lisa increases her grip and her nails bite of the top layer of my skin. “I get it, Lisa, he’s yours. Let go of me.”
“Of course you’ll say that. Even knowing he screwed you over, you’ll still protect him. He has that way of gaining a person’s loyalty. Just know this. He’s loyal to me, you’re just the girl he fucks when I’m elsewhere occupied.”
Humiliation and shame burn the back of my throat as I listen to her cruel words. How did I not see this? How could I have been so naive? Tears singe the back of my eyes, with more force than I realize. I rip Lisa’s hand from my arm causing her to fall back a step.
I run to the elevator, and as I get inside, I glance at the buttons. I press the button to the ground floor. I have a feeling that if I go to my office, I might just strangle Branson before throwing myself out of his window. I hit the button knowing I won’t be coming back to BPC Advertising ever again.
My short-lived career in advertising was amazing, but now it’s over.
As my feet hit the asphalt and the stench of the pollution burns my lungs, I wonder if I would be a good waitress. Surely it can’t be that hard, and I won’t risk having sex with another boss again. A tear slides down my cheek, and I take a deep breath convincing myself it was something that flew into my eye. I won’t cry for a man that used me like a fucking side order to his main course.
