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“Well, next time you see Artem, thank him for me.”
Ellie giggles,“Oh, I don’t know if he wants to know that you’re happy because you can keep having sex.”
I end up swallowing my water down the wrong pipe and, for a moment, think I'm dying. Once I have a handle on my life, I look directly at her. Trying to show that I mean business.“We’re not together. Never have been,” I sigh,“like that. I’ve been working so hard to help Nate get those kids, and I know that’s all he wants. Had he been locked down for Steffie’s murder, it would never happen. That’s why I’m saying thank you.”
Ellie looks at me like I’m full of shit, and I hate that she can see right through me. She can see the truth.
“Oh babe,” she lets out a soft breath,“you can—”
She was cut off by one of the triplets.
“You really think this is a slam dunk case?” A snide voice snaps me from my paperwork and my flashback.
“I have nothing to say to you. You’re not on this case. Your report, which was a waste of your time because, again, you have no jurisdiction, was filed. You’ve spoken to the courts about your findings, which, again…. There is nothing that needs to be exchanged between us. Honestly, why are you even here? Last I checked, you work at the hospital.” I don’t even stop what I am typing. I laid it out.
“Well, youobviouslydidn’t read my report or testimony. If you had, you would be begging me not to tell your boyfriend about you and the father in this case.” I wasn’t sure what she was trying to imply. When it came down to professionalism, Nate and I have never crossed a line—except that one time after her visit. And there is zero chance of her knowing about the kisses we’ve shared.“I stated that you had gotten too close while working with the so-called father of one of these two children. I stated that you were caught making promises that you could not keep. I stated that this bachelor is barely fit to take care of himself, let alone a baby and small child. I did also make mention that the older child calls him daddy when there is no obvious relation—” I’ve had enough. I stand fast, and my chair flies out from behind me.
“Dillon. His name is Dillon. I never read your report or listened to your statement because I was due to be called in. I didn’t want to have my point tainted by whatever crap you decided to write down. And also, because you haveno jurisdiction on this case.Welcome to Colorado, Sonya. Your opinion, in this case, doesn’t matter. Besides, if you are going to stand there and tell me you got all of that from a file and spending fifteen minutes in an apartment, you are sorely underqualified for the position you are in. Our oath, and our goal, is reunification with family. Dillon is his daughter’s brother! That is keeping a family together! I don’t know what shit you are trying to pull, but you need to back the fuck up and stay in your lane.” I have never been this mad. I am usually one to keep my composure, but she is bringing out the side of me I hardly show.
I pride myself on not using foul language when I’m in the office. I’ve only allowed myself to use it when I am with my girlfriends.What girlfriends? No one wants you around, Audrina.
Not. The. Time.
She just stands there. It is almost like I had shocked her into submission with my outburst. I never acted this way. I needed her to leave and go back to the hospital. I was done with everything that she was trying to do.
I still needed to take what I had figured out about the foster kids to Noah and Knuckles. Those two would be able to look into everything for me and be able to find more than I could. Ellie had let it slip about some entity called The Company. Once she had realized what she’d said, she begged me to forget it and never speak of it. Something told me that if she was this worried about whatever this was, it was big. And if Sonya was part of it? I don’t know what I’d do. How many times had I reached out to her over the years for help?
“Get out of here, Sonya. You’re not needed.”
I needed her to leave so I could go vomit. Thinking about the possibility of her being part of something sinister has me questioning a lot regarding my judgment.
How could I be so blind?
Grabbing my chair, I turn back to my computer and focus on my task. I don’t hear anything for a while and assumed that she’s left. But when I look up, she’s standing in front of my desk with her arms crossed and a smug smile on her face.
“I think I know what the real issue here is, Audrina.”
“If you’re about to say it’s the fact that you’re still here, you’re correct.”
Sonya scoffs and gives out a small chuckle. What the hell is this woman’s problem? Seriously.
“Please. No. I think that you’re trying to claim I don’t have jurisdiction—”
“—Because you don’t. There’s no claim to it. It’s a fact.”
“You’reclaimingthese things because you’re jealous. This makes you feel superior even though you know that you aren’t.”
“What, pray tell, would I be jealous of?”
“The fact that for the past eight months, I’ve been fucking Clint. And that recently, he’s beenworking,” she uses finger quotes with the word,“later hours so he can rail me in his office.” Her smile is victorious. She’s won. In her mind, she is the obvious winner between the two of us.“You’re only attempting to make yourself feel better by trying to make me look bad.”
“You’re doing that all on your own, Sonya.”
“W-what?”
I can tell that she wasn’t expecting that. She was expecting me to cry, break down and call Clint to prove that it wasn’t true. What she doesn’t know is that I am doing every single one of those things on the inside. I’m falling apart, but I won’t give her the satisfaction.
“I said that you’re making yourself look bad. I didn’t have to do anything. You can’t handle the fact that I put you in your place in front of people and called you out. Now, to try and save face, you’re attempting to make me think that Clint is sleeping with you. Nice try. Get the fuck out.”
