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“Are you trying to get rid of me?” I snap.
We’re only several feet from each other, and they are painful. We used to look forward to crossing them. Now they feel like a mile.
My eyes burn. I hold my breath to suppress the emotions that start a storm inside me.
“Kat.” Archer’s voice is low and even, lifeless almost, just like his gaze. “You wanted this. You wanted to get the job done and leave. I’m giving you what you wanted. Australia is a fresh start.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“Why?”
“I… I… I can do more. Do more research. Help.” I sound pathetic, I know. He’s trying to get rid of me, and it’s just too sudden and too… painful.
“You don’t have to,” he continues. “Australia will give you more opportunities. New life. New job. College. Anything you want, Kat.”
“But I want to stay!” I shout, forgetting myself.
“For what?”
His gaze is changing. It’s growing more intense.
“Because I like it here,” I say. “And I can help.”
“You don’t need to help anymore.”
“I-I…” I don’t know how to tell him that maybe he and I still have a chance. That Iwanta chance, whatever that means.
“Your work is done, Kat. You said so yourself.”
Karma is a bitch. The words that I spat at him that fateful night when his father died come back. That’s exactly what I said, and now he’s giving me what I asked for.
But I didn’t mean it. I was angry. We should’ve talked about that night, about what happened. But, right, we barely talked before. Even less so now.
“I’m staying,” I argue.
Archer shakes his head. “You’re leaving tomorrow. It’s for the best. You just don’t understand it yet. You got used to this place, but trust me, Australia has many more opportunities for someone like you.”
“Someone like me? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You are resourceful.”
“Resourceful?” I mimic him, getting angry and desperate. “As an employer, you should’ve at least given me prior notice.”
“You were never officially on the payroll, Kat. Let’s not dramatize this. You are leaving.”
“I’m not.”
“Youare.”
Tears start welling up in my eyes. I have to leave before I break down. Anger is not my friend. I don’t know how to control it.
And here it is—in my fingers that start ripping the papers into pieces. I throw them in Archer’s face like confetti, making him flinch.
“These are just copies,” Archer says, motionless, not even his signature smirk tugging at his lips. “I have your passport, Kat. I’ll get it to you for your trip tomorrow.”
“Fuck you,” I snap, taking a step back toward the door. “Fine! I’ll leave!” I shout. “I won’t bother you. Won’t stay in your way. Won’t irritate you with my reckless behavior. Won’t embarrass you in front of your people. I remind you of the worst moments in the last months, don’t I? Is that what it is?”
I storm out of the villa into the warm tropical evening and gasp in relief, because being next to Archer is too intense. Like I drank some freaking potion that makes my body all liquid in his presence, makes my brain all mushy when he’s next to me.
