3. Eric
Eric
Holiday parties are my least favorite activity at Stone Enterprises. An excuse for everyone to get drunk and say things they should never say in a professional environment.
I blame Elijah. He’s the one who insists on the damn things, saying they bring the company “closer” or some bullshit like that.
I don’t need to be close to my employees. I need to get my work done, and that’s it.
Being an owner of the company, it’s my duty to show up to these social gatherings. I always make a brief appearance, then duck out early to go upstairs to my office.
With the rest of the company occupied with the party downstairs, it’s all but guaranteed that I’ll be left alone. Unbothered . The way that I like it.
My office floor is unlike the others at Stone Enterprises. We do research on this floor, after all. So instead of looking like a typical office floor with cubicles, desks, and computers everywhere, it looks more like a lab.
Except for my private office. Password protected and located in the quietest corner, it’s my fortress. The only people allowed in here are myself, my brothers, and my executive assistant.
I ascend to my floor in the elevator, looking forward to getting away from the loud and boisterous party below. But when I arrive and begin walking to my office, I can already tell that my plans of being alone and getting work done aren’t going to pan out.
I hear voices. Drunk voices, from the sound of it.
“Fuck off. I don’t like you that way.”
“Why’d you invite me here if you weren’t into me?”
“I didn’t invite you! You followed me!”
My blood turns to ice. That female voice is none other than my assistant, Rebecca.
“Don’t act like you don’t want me. I know you. You sleep around. Hell, you’re even sleeping with your boss.”
“I’m not sleeping with my boss. What the fuck?”
“You’re a lying slut. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. What’s he have that I don’t have? Money? I have money. Tell me how much, I’ll write you a check right now.”
“Get away from me, asshole!”
I’ve heard enough. I charge into my office.
My vision is a blur, only focused on one thing, one person .
When I see Rebecca sandwiched between my bookshelf and the asshole who followed her up here, turning her face away in disgust as he tries to kiss her, instinct kicks in.
I’ve got him on the floor within seconds, my foot on his chest.
“No!”
I ignore Rebecca’s fearful shouting, digging my foot into the man’s chest harder.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Larry,” he pants.
“Last name?”
“Welch,” he says through a gasp of air.
“Larry Welch, you’re not allowed in this building or anywhere near it from here on.”
“I work here,” he gasps.
He does? I look at his face closely. He looks vaguely familiar. Someone from the marketing department, I think.
“You worked here,” I say to him. “Now you don’t.”
“You can’t fire me -”
I pull him up and throw him backwards. He lands against the door, the framed photos on the walls rattling loudly.
“Let’s get one thing clear,” I say to him. “This company is mine. I can do whatever the fuck I want. Including ruining your miserable life, if you keep pushing it. Getting fired is a mild consequence compared to what I want to do to you right now. Understand me?”
The man’s thin face has gone white. He nods furiously, eyes wide.
Grabbing him by the arms, I turn him around so that he’s facing Rebecca, who’s cowered behind my desk.
“Apologize.”
“I’m sorry,” Larry says quickly.
“I’m sorry for being a pathetic sack of shit,” I prompt him, giving him a painful nudge in the back with my fist. “Say it.”
“I’m…I’m sorry for being a sack of shit.”
“A pathetic sack of shit,” I correct him, giving him another sharp nudge in the back.
“I’m sorry for being a pathetic sack of shit,” he whimpers.
“ I’ll never come anywhere near you again ,” I continue. “Say it. The whole thing, or I’ll make you start over.”
“I’ll never come anywhere near you again,” he says quickly.
I look at Rebecca, who’s staring at me in horror.
Have I scared her?
Good. She should be scared. Scared enough to take steps in the future to protect herself from risk. It’s not her fault that men like Larry exist. Pigs like him have always been around, always will be. But she needs to learn how to protect herself.
What if I hadn’t been here tonight? Then what?
I don’t even want to think about it. My blood is already ice in my veins. I try to push the thoughts out of my head, to discard the what-ifs that are coming to mind.
I was here tonight to save her. That’s what matters.
“I’m going to escort this thing downstairs,” I say, giving Larry one last nudge in the back. He groans in pain, trying to twist out of my grip. “You—stay in my office and wait for me to return. I have some words for you as well.”