AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I always want you to leave. But I also need you to pack me an on-the-go dinner. I’ll be eating in the car.”
“Dare I ask why?”
“Because,” I sigh, tired of explaining myself, “I have an errand to run.”
I don’t have to elaborate. Akim nods in understanding. “I’ll throw in some drinks, too.” He steps out into the hall, muttering to himself, “Champagne, candles, condoms…”
“Don’t you fucking dare, Akim.”
He pretends not to hear me. I know because I can hear him laughing.
7
PIPER
“You look terrible.”
I glance over at Andrea’s desk, but all I see is a set of bleary eyes staring at me over the top of a stack of paperwork. She’s normally a sweetheart, so if she’s telling me I don’t look good, I can only imagine the state I’m in.
“Thanks for that,” I reply wearily. “Really uplifting.”
I drop my purse on my desk and flop into my chair. Nothing has changed since yesterday. My magnetic paperclip holder is still perched on top of my dwindling pad of sticky notes. Yesterday’s coffee is still half-full like I left it. It’s all the same.
But everythingfeelsdifferent.
“I’m not trying to be uplifting.” Andrea spins her chair out to the side so I can see her properly. “I’m trying to make sure you don’t bring that flu that has been going around in here. I can’t afford to get sick.”
“I’m not sick.”
“Well, you look sick.”
I fix her with a glare. “Again, very uplifting. I feel the love.”
“Well, why do you look like that?”
“I overslept. It’s not that bad.”
Andrea’s mouth twists into a disbelieving wince. “Hon…”
I glance down at myself. Even with the rosiest pair of glasses I can muster, things aren’t great. The slacks I grabbed must have been in my dirty pile, because there’s a strange brown stain on the thigh and they’re badly wrinkled. I avoided the mirror in the office bathroom on my way in, but even in my peripherals, it was easy to tell my hair is a disaster.
“Okay, fine,” I concede. “It’s bad.”
The fact that Timofey saw me like this…
Means nothing, I finish.It means nothing. He’s insane and dangerous. What he thinks doesn’t matter.
“I had a weird night.”
I told Noelle and Ashley that I’d let people at work know about the crazy parent that attacked me, but I really don’t think the man will come back. He was drunk and distraught. Timofey scared him off easily enough that I doubt he’ll try again.
That’s the thing about a lot of the parents I work with—they lack follow-through. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t end up in a folder on my desk. You don’t lose custody of your kids by being responsible.
“Did you go to your meeting this morning like that?” Andrea asks. “James said you were meeting with Timofey Viktorov.”
I stiffen at his name. “How do you know that?”
“James told me. Apparently, James’s twin brother is a contractor or something for the military. He knows all about Viktorov Industries.”
