AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He clicked his tongue and rolled away, and I was left in delicious darkness.
“Marina? Are you okay?”
The moment I heard her voice my stomach clenched. My eyes burned when I opened them, angry at being denied their rest. I pushed my hair behind my shoulders as I sat up, trying to pull myself together. A concern I didn’t deserve was carved into Daphne’s face as she looked down at me, her hand heavy on my shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” I hurried to apologize. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” I shot a look at Richard but he showed no remorse, the bastard.
Daphne just shook her head as she looked me over, searching for some sign I was unwell. Her eyes went wide.
I frowned. “Daphne?”
Her lips parted for a moment but she caught herself and took a step back. “My meeting’s starting. Go home if you need to.” She left abruptly, as though something had scared her off.
Once her door shut I glared at Richard, but he ignored me. I just needed to focus and get through the rest of the day so I could go home and curl up in bed and spend the entire weekend in a vegetative state.
I got in a solid hour of work before Daphne pinged me on our messenger.
Are you still here?
Yep
The chat went silent for a moment. Then, finally, she sent the next message.
Come to my office.
It was rare that she was so direct with me, but I wasn’t going to waste time thinking about it. I hopped up from my desk and went to see her.
She was looking down at her desk as I took a seat across from her. I broke the silence. “Do you need something?”
It felt like an eternity before her eyes rose towards me. I waited for her to meet my gaze, but she didn’t. Instead, she looked at my neck.
“Why do you have a hickey?”
Fuck.
My mouth went dry as I reached up to my neck on instinct. I had been so out of it that morning I hadn’t even noticed. “I didn’t…” I felt around until I found a sore spot. “I didn’t realize that was there.”
There was no softness on Daphne’s face as she looked at me, only a cold, harsh mask. “Who gave it to you?”
My mind scrambled, searching for an answer. Did I tell her the truth? That I had made out with a burlesque dancer at a sex club? Fuck. I wanted to crawl back into bed and hide from the world.
I could tell she was angry, though I wasn’t sure why. She was using the voice she saved for berating managers when they made mistakes, or when the old men that liked to ignore her authority questioned her decisions. It was a hard voice, devoid of emotion. In all the years I had worked for her, she had never used it on me.
But then, why did I need to explain myself? I let my hand drop back to my side and felt my fingers curl into my palms. I had gone to the club because I was ready to move past this relationship - if it could even be called that. She had some nerve questioning me when I knew she had gone on that date with Donovan, maybe even spent the night with him.
She was angry, and so was I.
“It doesn’t concern you.”
Her eyes went wide, the shock at my words giving her pause. Adrenaline rushed through me until I felt like I could burst, but I didn’t back down. This might have been the first time I had pushed back against her, and neither of us knew how it would turn out.
She rose from her chair, her hands on her desk. “What did you say?”
“I said it doesn’t concern you,” I repeated, my voice rising. “My personal life has nothing to do with you, and yours has nothing to do with mine.”
I watched her throat tighten as she struggled to maintain her composure. “It has everything to do with me,” she spat, her anger taking hold. “Every part of your life concerns me, especially when you come to work with a fucking hickey on your neck for everyone to see. I expect a level of professionalism from all my staff, but especially from you.”
For a moment I was frozen, struggling to process her words. Then, I snapped.
