Chapter 16 Maddy
Maddy
Three out of three. I have crossed the line with all three of my bosses as of yesterday. I stare at my computer's login screen, barely able to remember my credentials.
“You’re here early.”
I look up to see Marissa, my stomach sinking. She’s wearing a hot pink blazer, and lipstick to match. I don’t even fully know why, but I hate her.
She gives me a smile that could freeze lava. “It’s cute you’re an early bird,” she says, drifting over with a stack of folders. “You must be a morning person. Or is it just that you can’t sleep?” The way she says it, she already knows the answer. “You look tired.”
“I like to get a head start,” I say, tapping on my keyboard and second-guessing the concealer I chose to hide the dark circles under my eyes.
She leans in. “Speaking of,” she holds up a folder, the label in her own handwriting, “I think these got misfiled?” She fans the folders out.
I blink and then shake my head. “I didn’t file those, so I don’t know.”
“Oh?” She tilts her head, glancing down at them again. “Weird. I mean, your login was on the system late last night, so…” She lets her words hang. “I figured you were here doing something late.”
I try to keep my tone neutral. “I’ll take care of it. You can leave those here.”
Marissa shrugs, not setting the files down yet. “What were you up to?”
“Just finishing a few things.” And getting bent over Adrian’s desk. My voice is even, but I want to punch something, or cry, or both.
Marissa’s phone dings, and she checks it, still hovering. “Oh, also, I heard Beck’s bringing donuts. I don’t think he asked anyone what kind they wanted.” She gives me a look. “He’s sweet, but not, you know, detail-oriented. I’ll make sure to bring you one, if he leaves them in the breakroom.”
I make a mental note. Do not eat anything Marissa touches.
“I’m attending the morning meeting today,” Marissa just keeps talking.
“Cool. I’ll see you there then.” I keep my tone clipped, and thankfully, when a couple of other people walk in, she drifts off to chat with them.
Thank God.
As people trickle into the office, I stay glued to my desk, prepping the printed agendas.
I sense Marissa’s gaze every time I move.
And by the time the meeting is about to start, I’ve had to reprint my papers twice, all because I was too focused on trying to ignore the feeling of being watched by a jungle predator.
Seriously, though, what is her problem with me? The question swirls in my head as I head for the conference room, the annoying witch right on my heels.
I make my way to my usual spot, and I sit at the back of the room, notepad balanced on my knee. My heart pounds in my chest as Adrian comes in first, completely ignoring my existence. Not even a slight glance in my direction.
Nice. So glad he can forget he was balls deep in me. It’s like a fucking skill, what these men can purge from their brains.
Caleb comes next, carrying a thermal coffee mug. My stomach does a weird somersault as he gives me a smile.
“Morning, Maddy,” he greets me, and there’s a little flicker of something there, reminding me of what happened in my bathroom.
My heart drops as my eyes bounce between the two men, wondering if either of them knows what the other has done with me. Maybe it’s some sort of work ritual. Maybe they’re into that—sharing the assistant.
And then firing them.
“Maddy,” a voice draws me from my stupor, and I look up to see Beck standing in all his glory. His tie is slightly askew, sleeves rolled up to his elbow, and he’s holding an iced latte and chocolate glazed donut. “Good morning.”
My eyes widen as he hands me the latte and donut. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” He winks at me, and I do not miss the way Adrian and Caleb both straighten in their chairs, having seen the entire exchange.
Oh my god, what have I done? My anxiety throbs through my entire body. Beck is clearly just fine with acknowledging me. And you know, if he was the only one I’d slept with, maybe that’d be okay.
But now, it just feels like a problem. I’m so ashamed, I don’t even notice Marissa plopping down right beside Beck at the table until she clears her throat.
And then gives me an obnoxious wave. “Morning, Maddy.”
I glare at her. “Morning.”
Adrian doesn’t acknowledge anyone at all and opens the meeting by launching directly into the numbers. In fact, he doesn’t stop to let anyone say anything at all until he finishes a full ten-minute monologue.
That I can barely comprehend.
“Where’s the research summary of that geographical area?” He doesn’t even look up from his notes as he closes with the question.
There’s a hush in the room, because I think everyone is just as lost as I am.
Marissa raises her hand, all innocent as she bats her damn eyelashes up at him. “I saw it on Madison’s desk yesterday.”
I freeze. What the hell is she talking about? I never got any kind of development summary. I double-check my files on my tablet, but it’s not there.
Adrian’s gaze flicks to me. “Madison?”
My mouth goes dry. “I—I didn’t receive the research. I can try to chase it down from the contractor, but—”
His face tenses, and the disappointment makes my insides curl, “Next time, be proactive, please.”
I swallow it down, my eyes suddenly feeling watery. “Yes, Mr. Frank.” I drop my gaze to the pen and write it down, trying to ignore the fact that everyone is staring at me.
When I finally do look up, Beck gives me a soft smile, like he wants to smooth it over. I can’t bring myself to look at him, not with the memory of the hot tub night still sizzling in my brain. The way he held me, the things he said.
But that was before Adrian bent me over his desk. And I still haven’t finished processing that one.
“You really need to get ahead of the meeting agendas. I uploaded it last night.” Adrian’s voice is cruel, like a knife in my chest. I double-check the Dropbox he shares with me on my tablet, and sure enough…
He uploaded something at almost one in the morning and didn’t even notify me.
He set me up to fail this morning. After he fucked me. That’s fucked up.
“I’ll make sure not to let that happen again,” I mutter, finally meeting Adrian’s hard stare.
Next to him, Caleb is sitting with his jaw set, but I see him clench his mug tightly, like he wants to step in but can’t.
In a flash, I’m back in the bathroom, feeling how he pressed me to the wall, the heat of his body, the hunger in his eyes as he made me come with just his hand, his voice soothing in my ear.
Damnit. Why are you not helping me?
I shake the thought loose and then just focus on the meeting, writing notes with numb fingers.
When it’s finally over, I duck out before Marissa can catch up to me, but she slides right onto the edge of my desk anyway.
“Rough meeting?” she coos, puckering her lower lip. She shifts her weight just as I reach for my latte, causing it to splash on my hand.
I hiss, snatching a tissue.
Marissa clucks her tongue. “Sorry! You know, these new desks are so wobbly. Maybe you should put a maintenance request in.” She slides off my desk, disappearing to torture someone else.
I grit my teeth and reach for my phone, immediately texting Riley, who, at this point, is my only help.
Me: Marissa hates me. And it’s worse than ever.
Me: I need to tell you what happened at work last night.
She worked late last night, and I didn’t get a chance to tell her yet.
I wait for a reply, my knee bouncing under my desk. But she doesn’t respond. I keep rapid-firing, feeling super desperate now.
Me: Caleb still just looks at me like I’m this little helpless puppy.
Me: Beck brought me a donut and coffee and made a scene in front of everyone. It’s so obvious. And I need to tell you what happened yesterday. PLEASE TEXT ME BACK.
“Hey,” a voice cuts through my panic, and I drop my phone to my desk, jerking sideways.
I look up to see Caleb, his brows furrowed, and worry written all over his face. “I was just… My friend…”
“Maddy,” he says softly, “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. You have every right to use your phone during the workday.”
“Right,” I exhale, and clear my throat. “I’m sorry. The screw-up this morning,” and fucking all three of you, “has me feeling on edge. I don’t like to upset Adrian.” But I do like his face between my legs.
“You can’t let Adrian get to you,” Caleb breathes out, and then carefully leans against my desk. “But I do need to talk to you for a minute, if you have time.” He gives me a sheepish smile.
I swallow hard, my chest already growing tight. “Yeah, of course.”
“My office?” Caleb’s smile isn’t reaching his eyes, and it’s freaking me out. I cannot handle more tension with these men.
I nod and push back from my desk. I glance over at my phone, and Riley’s notification lights up the screen.
Riley: Deep breath, Mads. You got this. I’m super busy with a project today. We’ll talk tonight. LOVE YOU!
I flip my phone face down and then follow Caleb to his office. He shuts the door behind us, with that wary look on his face.
“Everything okay?” I keep my tone light, though my foot taps nervously against the floor.
He runs a hand over his face. “Honestly, no. I can’t stop thinking about what happened in your apartment, and how I’ve handled it. I’ve just been pretending like nothing happened, and that is so fucked up of me, Maddy. I just… I really like you.”
Oh great. Let’s just go ahead and make this day even more complicated.
I wrap my arms around myself. “I kind of got the gist that it was just a one-time thing. You stopped it from going any further.”
“I did, but it wasn’t because I didn’t want it to go further.” He takes a step toward me, and it feels like all the oxygen just got sucked right out of the room. “I didn’t want to leave.”
“But you did,” I croak, the walls caving in around me. “And that’s totally okay.”
“I’ll make it up to you.” His tone is so fucking gentle, it feels like a hug—one I can’t accept because I’ve already let his partners do way, way worse than what he did.
“I really need to get back to that development summary that Adrian needs,” I choke out, nearly tripping over my own two feet as I backpedal toward the door. “We can totally talk about this later.”
Or never.
I can barely breathe as I slip out of his office and race back to my desk. I have so fucked up this job. This is bad.
So freaking bad.