AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh my goodness, you are crazy!”
“Something tells me you are, too,” he winks at me and strolls to his desk. “Here is my card; call me in the evening, and we will go out and celebrate you standing up to that stupidly and unfairly hot bully.”
I take his card. “Will do, bestie, will do.”
We hug, and I head back downstairs to grab my stuff that I haven’t even unpacked yet.
Goodbye, stuffy, grey cubicle. Hello unemployment, my old friend.
Well, if this ain’t the shortest career of my life, I don’t know what is. Julie comes out of her office and sees me heading toward the elevator.
“Already transferring up?” She asks, thinking I’m moving upstairs to occupy that gleaming glass desk in front of the asshole’s office.
I shake my head, “Nope, I’m out. Thank you for taking your time this morning and showing me around.”
“What do you mean you are out? The day isn’t over yet?” Julie looks at me quizzically.
“I know, I quit,” I tell her and press the button on the wall.
“Wait, what? Oh my goodness, it’s because of Mr. Landon, isn’t it? What did he do?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it, Julie. I just won’t be able to work with someone like him. But that’s okay; it wasn’t meant to be, I guess,” I shrug and step inside the elevator. “Bye.”
She waves a quick, confused bye to me, and the doors shut closed. Inside, I lean back onto the wall, my shoulders are sagging down, and I finally feel the whole weight of this disastrous day.
My first day. The day that was supposed to be the beginning of my new big girl life.
Tears are threatening to flood my eyes, but I won’t give anyone the pleasure of seeing them. Alexandra Ellis will never be seen as weak, and she will never let anyone make her bow to them.
I pull up my phone to call an Uber and see text messages from Kate, Jules, Mom, and Dad. All wishing me a great first day and demanding a call during my break or lunch.
Yeah, that’s not happening. The only thing on my agenda is to get home unnoticed and then go drink away with Enzo. And maybe Kate.
As I slide the key into the lock and try to sneak into my own damn apartment, the knob turns by itself, and I’m standing there facing Julius, my best friend’s boyfriend.
Plan failed, I repeat, the plan has failed. Run. Run. Run.
“Lexi?” He asks.
“Hey, Jules, how is your day going? Are you heading out? Well, don’t let me hold you up,” I try to talk over him, so he doesn’t get a chance to ask why the heck I am home before it’s even lunchtime.
No such luck. Like I said, the plan has failed.
“Why are you home? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, and push past him and up the stairs with Julius hot on my heels.
I moved into this apartment a year after Julius left Kate alone in the dark alley. See, this used to be his place, and he shared it with Ian—our other friend—but then Kate moved in, and Ian got married and moved out, so I moved in.
Confusing, I know. But the point is, I moved in here with Kate, and I love our little apartment above Julius and Ian’s dance studio in Brooklyn. It is a small two-bedroom place that she renovated from top to bottom, and now Jules lives here with her as well after extensive apologizing and groveling.
“Lexi?” He says with a slight threat in his voice. Like if I don’t stop, turn around, and tell him everything, he will torture it out of me. And let’s be honest, Julius is totally capable of it.
I don’t know how Kate puts up with his dominating, asshole personality, but whatever makes her happy! Right?
It does help that he has this whole hot daredevil thing going on.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or should I call Katerina?” I stop and slowly turn around to face him.
