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A cold, sharp laugh comes out in my anger. “I have not been coming onto you. Don’t you dare try to make this a mutual fucking thing. I said no, I said I did not want you. What you just did is sexually assault me. Now, GET THE FUCK OUT!”
Jade backs out of the room, but before she leaves, an angry sneer takes over her face. “No one is going to believe you. I’ll have your fucking balls if you try and do anything.”
“It doesn’t fucking matter who believes me,” I seethe, gripping the edge of my desk to stop me from doing something I’ll regret. “You know what you did and I hope it fucking haunts your dreams at night.”
“Fuck you!” Jade screams, throwing middle fingers at me on the way out.
“Oh and Jade?” I shout at her retreating form. “Make sure to take note of the disclaimer on the doors when you walk out. This whole fucking place is covered in cameras that also have sound. That includes right outside my office where I repeatedly told you no. Still confident no one will believe me?”
Her face turns white as a ghost, the implications of what I can do with that footage enough to have her run off, this time without the gaslighting and accusations. Once she’s gone, I head out to the lobby and lock the doors behind her.
The adrenaline coursing through my body from the entire incident has me moving quicker than normal back to my office. Once inside, I slam my body against the back of the door and slide down until I hit the ground.
The sound of my body crashing against the door echoes throughout the room, followed by an animalistic scream that tears from my throat. My hands grip my short strands of hair painfully, grounding me in the present instead of the flashbacks that are trying to take over my mind.
There’s a million feelings rushing through me, each one familiar and overwhelming. Anger that Jade took advantage of me. Fear from being sexually assaulted and the memories it stirred of past abuse. Embarrassment, shame, confusion, and panic all swirl through my mind sending me closer and closer to the edge of sanity.
A knock sounds behind me and my heart drops to my stomach. My lungs constrict in my chest as I struggle to breathe properly, let alone compose myself in any way.
“Adam. It’s Juliette,” Juliette calls softly from the other side of the door. “I— Uh, I saw part of what happened and I heard the commotion afterwards. Are you okay? Do you want me to call Lay or one of the guys? Maybe even the police?”
Letting out a few deep, fast breaths, I push myself up off the ground and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. I open the door to see Jules staring up at me with sad, sympathetic eyes. Her eyes are glassy with unshed tears of her own.
“Oh, Adam,” she murmurs quietly, shaking her head back and forth. “I am so sorry that awful woman attacked you. If only I had come back sooner, I could have stopped it from happening with my presence.”
Clearing my throat, I answer her gruffly. “It’s okay, Jules. I’m just having a hard time processing it. I’ll be fine to drive home in a little bit and I’ll talk to Lay then.” After a brief pause, I continue hesitantly. “Thank you. For checking on me and coming when you did. If you hadn’t, it probably would have been worse than it was.”
Jules smiles sadly at me and shakes her head. “Don’t thank me. I’m just happy that today of all days I forgot to grab my wallet when I left. It meant I needed to come back here and I could stop it from getting worse.”
Exhaustion weighs down my limbs, my leg with the prosthetic aching from sliding down the door to the floor in my anger and panic. “I should probably finish up quickly and head home. Thanks again, Jules.”
“Oh,” Jules murmurs with an uncomfortable grimace. “Yeah, of course. Do you want me to wait around until you’re done?”
“Nah, I got it. I won’t be much longer,” I explain, stepping away from the door towards my desk. I stop, turning back to Jules one more time. “And Jules?”
“Yeah?”
“Please don’t talk to Lay about it,” I plead with her. “I will tell her, I promise. I just, uh— I need more time. To process and figure it all out myself.”
Juliette hesitates for a moment, then slowly nods her head in acceptance. “Okay, I won’t.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, moving back over to my desk. Juliette stands in the hallway, stalling at my door awkwardly.
After a minute, she seems to find her resolve and steps into the office, a foot or so past the door. “Don’t try to weather this by yourself, Adam. I know it’s not my place to say anything, and I won’t say anything to Lay, but you should. Being in a loving relationship like you are means relying on each other, especially when things go bad. If the roles were reversed you would want her to lean on you, wouldn’t you?”
I stare at her, my heart racing a mile a minute as the words sink in and do exactly what she wanted them to do.
“Like I said, it’s not my place and I’m sorry for stepping out of line. It’s something I just thought you should think about.” With that Juliette pats the doorknob then grasps it in her hand, pulling the door closed behind her on her way out.
Dropping my head in my hands, I stare blankly at the reports still strewn across the surface of my desk. They need to be done by tomorrow, and before Juliette dropped the thinking bomb on my shoulders, I planned to suppress what happened and finish up before heading home like nothing happened.
If this happened to Lay…
Shaking my head, I shut that idea down before I spiral and place her in my spot in all of my flashbacks. Juliette was correct, however, when she said that I would want Lay to come to me. If I found out she kept it from me, I would be heartbroken and upset.
The trust we have between us, including Rhys and Riggs, is essential to keeping our relationship healthy and loving. To not tell her would be like saying I didn’t trust her enough to confide in her. It would be like slapping her in the face with this idea that I can’t rely on her. It would be the end of us.
I can’t do that to her. I can’t do that to us.
