AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, God. I didn’t mean to.”
“That means a whole hell of a lot right now. Do you know how much damage control I’m going to have to do? I don’t even know if I can fix this. If you were anyone else, I’d be tempted to fire you on the spot.”
“I-I’m sorry.” She couldn’t stop the tears from welling up and slipping down her cheeks. “I don’t know how this happened.”
“It could have something to do with you coming into work with a hangover and an attitude.”
“I didn’t! I mean, my head hurts some but I don’t have an attitude!”
“Really?” Disbelief turned his voice to ice. “This email suggests otherwise.”
“Okay, so I was pissed they went to you and pissed you didn’t talk to me about it before responding. But it’s not like I did this on purpose!”
“Trust me, if I doubted that at all, you’d be bent over my desk getting your ass whipped, and I wouldn’t give two goddamns who saw. Do you have any showings today?”
The sudden change of topic made her head spin. “Yes. Why?”
“Call me when you’ve done your last showing. You’re dismissed.”
“James, can’t we talk about this?”
“Not right now, Olivia.”
She dropped her voice, terrified of being heard despite the closed door, but desperate to reach him. “Daddy. Please.”
When he closed his eyes, her heart broke at the misery on his face. “I can’t deal with you right now, Olivia. I’m too angry, and I’ve already said things I shouldn’t have. Go.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut again. He wasn’t ready to listen. Just like he hadn’t been willing to talk to her about last night. With a jerky nod, she crossed the room to the door and yanked it open.
In her office, she sat and studied her computer screen through a sheen of tears. How had she managed to so thoroughly fuck everything up in such a short span of time?
It wasn’t long before she realized she wasn’t going to get any work done. At least not in the office, with her thoroughly pissed off husband so close. She undocked the laptop and shoved it in her bag. Without a word to anyone, she snuck past James’s office like a naughty teenager and out the front door.
Luckily, finding Wi-Fi in a city this size wasn’t hard. She ended up nestled into an oversized armchair at Edgar Allan Joe a couple of hours later, nursing some chocolate coffee concoction the barista had suggested. It wasn’t as good as her plain hot chocolate, but it wasn’t horrible like the coffee Daddy liked.
“Focus, Liv,” she muttered to herself. Thinking of James just made her want to cry all over again.
Her phone chose that moment to ring, and James’s face popped up on her display. She could ignore it, pretend she was in a showing. But he’d figure it out and then she’d be in even more trouble.
Bracing herself, she answered the call. “Hi.”
“Liv? Where are you?”
Well, she was back to being Liv so maybe he didn’t completely hate her. “I’m... out. Working.”
There was a long, strained pause. “Liv, I’m sorry I blew up at you. I shouldn’t have yelled at you and I sure as hell shouldn’t have called you stupid. I’m so sorry, baby. Forgive me?”
The apology went a long way toward soothing the ache in her heart. “Of course I do. I’m sorry I screwed up so big. Reset?”
Back in college, she’d had a tendency to let the slightest hiccup completely derail her. When James has come along, he’d taught her to do what he called a ‘reset.’ It was as simple as taking five to ten minutes to just sit still and do something to clear her mind and settle her nerves. The process never failed to soothe her and help her restart her day with a better attitude.
“I think we could both use a reset. But don’t think you’re off the hook tonight. These people have been a pain in my ass all morning.”
Her bottom clenched at the growl in his words. “I really am sorry. For everything. This whole day has been a shit show.”
“Language, little one. Take a few minutes for yourself, hit the reset button, and call me when you’re done for the day. I love you.”
“Love you, too. And I will.”
