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Did I like being called boss? No. Did that stop Neda, who knew that perfectly well? Also no. Rolling my eyes, I drank from my coffee and carefully placed the cup back down on the saucer. They were too delicate for my huge hands. Making a mental note to ask Dec to pick up some sturdier ones, I looked up at them.
“It was great, actually. Kat, our account manager, is fantastic. You’ll be meeting her next week. She’s going to drop by the loft,” I said as levelly as I could.
They latched onto the topic of our upcoming shoot immediately. The upcoming release of our new line had kept all of us on our toes.
We’d spent long hours designing the pieces, on choosing fabrics and colours, and had done countless fittings with awhole variety of people—among others, an Orc, a Kraken, my brother, and me. The four of us would model the new collection for the promotional pictures and lookbooks, and then our team and Beta needed to work their magic to make it all happen.
I loved the buzz in the air. Everyone was excited, and working their butt off to see APEX win. We were all in it together, like a big family, and my heart expanded in my chest as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. Taking another sip of my coffee, I absentmindedly rubbed the tingling spot on my chest.
I loved what Sad and I had built. It was the only worthwhile thing I had ever done, and no matter how much money we made with APC, I still got up every morning excited to head into the office. That was worth more than any new car or fancy pair of sneakers I could splurge on.
Chapter Three
Roy
We spent the rest of the week and the days before the shoot getting everything done and dusted. Abbie and I barely saw each other. She hated it when I worked late but I really didn’t have a choice and I’d rather take her anger than let my team down.
In the brief period Abbs and I had been truly happy, she occasionally dropped by our old office to surprise me. We’d locked ourselves in my office, and I’d fucked or eaten her on my desk. But those times were long gone. I still liked her, deep down, and had no idea where I had messed up.
I couldn’t even remember the last time we had sex. She obviously didn’t owe me anything, but our relationship was…complicated.
Is that why I react to Kat like crazy—because I need to get laid so desperately?
I wondered, would I jumpif the opportunity presented itself?
The questions still clogged my mind by the time I got up on Wednesday morning. It was a bleak day, not unusual for Scotland, where summer was everybody’s favourite day of the year, and on the other three hundred and sixty-four days it was either miserable or freezing.
Abbie was still sleeping and I tiptoed out of the bedroom so as not to wake her. I might weigh a lot but I was still part tiger; I could be quiet if I wanted to. Over the last few years, I had perfected leaving home like a bloody ninja.
Roy ‘Stealth’ Sinclair. Making sure the bedroom door was shut tight, I let out a little snort.Pathetic.
Stripping my flannels on the way to the spare bedroom that I’d turned into my closet—I owned a shitload of clothes, mainly APEX of course—I contemplated what to wear.
I hated formal wear, but still needed to look the part. I picked an outfit that I felt comfortable in, including the special pair of jeans from a collection two years before that looked like they’d been sculpted to my ass. Not that I was dressing to impress anyone.
I checked myself in the full-length mirror. My self-esteem had taken a big hit since I’d been with Abbie, but I still thought I liked what I saw.
I’d always thought the deep black stripes on muted orange were quite pretty. You’d think the yellow of my eyes would clash but it fit nicely. They were black rimmed,something a lot of women, and men, seemed to like. Back when I’d still worked as a trainer for Sadeeq, quite a few of our clients hit on me. And I would be lying if I said I hadn’t accepted their advances occasionally.
I’d decided on a black shirt with the words ‘APEX predator’ printed across the chest in large letters—it was childish how much I enjoyed the looks it earned me when I was out and about—thosejeans, and a pair of my favourite trainers from a small high-end label that had sprung up around the same time we’d started.
I knew their CEO and had to own every single pair they put out. Abbie often lost it when yet another package arrived on our doorstep, but I took the blows if it meant I still got my trainers.
It wasn’t so much the money, I supposed, that hit her the wrong way. She had a hard time seeing me joyful, and as of late hardly anything had brought me joy anymore, except those stupidly wonderful shoes.
I never ate my breakfast in our flat. I’d long since stopped calling that place home, so I grabbed my bag, stuffed my keys and phone into it, and left.
A soft drizzle greeted me when I stepped out of our building.
Grey clouds hung low in the late March skies, but unlike any other day, the gloom didn’t affect me. Tilting my face up, I breathed in the fresh air that still had a certain bite to it, even though spring was right around the corner. Ourfacility manager had already replaced the Christmas roses with daffodils and little plastic Easter bunnies.
It was nearly seven by the time I arrived at my car. I loved my shiny black ride, perhaps a little more than my shoes, but it was a close call. After bootstrapping our business, and years of barely scraping by, I enjoyed treating myself and others. Gift giving was my love language but it was lost on my girlfriend of five years, who thought it was presumptuous of me, of course. She considered buying a new car with enough head and leg room after over ten years of squeezing all seven feet two inches of me into a tiny old beater excessive. I admitted she might have had a point when it came to owning all the expensive shoes and clothes, but calling donations to charities a waste of my money wasn’t up for debate. True, I did most of it through a separate account, but defying her behind her back felt good. When I bought the cars for mum and Lewis, my stress level had been high for weeks. Higher than usual… I’d instructed the dealerships to only call me at the office, and made sure to never leave any paperwork or my phone lying around.
It was sad, really, having to hide that part of me from my partner. But I knew coming clean about it would have cost me the few people who still talked to me.
There was only Sad, Emilio, my team at APEX, mum, Lewis. They were all I had and no one knew about Abbie.
Stupid Roy, so full of himself...
