Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Although I’d cut my lunch short to meet with the woman in HR, I was still twenty minutes later than usual when I returned to my desk, where Lianna was standing, waiting for me. Her perfectly manicured nails gleamed in the office lights as she crossed her arms to scowl at me.
“The allotted lunch hour is sixty minutes from the time you leave your desk until the time you return to it.”
My answering silence as I put down my purse visibly infuriated her.
“You can pack your things and leave.”
“Why?”
“For disregarding your terms of employment. Am I speaking a language you don’t understand? You’re allowed a sixty-minute lunch break.”
“And I only took fifty before my thirty-minute meeting with HR about the issues I’ve been having with missing emails.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s an IT issue, not an HR issue.”
“Which is why it took thirty minutes. We had to wait for the tech working on the issue to join us.”
She let out a slow breath, which wasn’t an anger release but more like a slippery grip on control. The woman was going to give herself premature wrinkles if she couldn’t find her zen place.
“From here forward, meetings need to be pre-approved by me so I know where you are.”
“Understood.”
She whirled away from my desk.
“How was the report?” I called after her.
The door slammed in answer, and I glanced at Whitney.
“Does that mean it was good or bad?”
Whitney shook her head at me and went back to work. I did the same, shutting down right at quitting time and heading home to find Mom power-cleaning the house.
“Job hunt not going well?” I asked.
She let out a heavy breath and turned toward me with an odd look on her face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“You’re going to have to be more specific. There are lots of things I don’t tell you. What I had for lunch. The dumb things I think about buying. How many guys I flirt with at Lunar.”
“I can see why you’re driving him crazy, which I applaud by the way. Why didn’t you tell me why your father was trying to set you up with Hestian?”
“Ah. I didn’t want his complete lack of parental love to disappoint you again. He’s disappointed you enough, I think.”
She gave me a sad look. “It’s not your job to protect me. It’s my job to protect you. I can’t believe he actually thinks it’s okay for you to marry a man older than he is just to benefit his company.”
“Don’t forget a multi-widower too. I think that’s maybe more concerning than the age thing.”
She huffed. “I don’t think this is funny.”
“You’re right. It’s not.” But it wasn’t Dad’s attempt to marry me off that I didn’t find funny. “How did you find out what he was doing?”
“The idiot told me, pitching it like it would be a win for all of us. You’d be set for life. I wouldn’t have to worry about finances anymore because you’d help me like the good daughter you’ve always been to me. And he would get the contract he needs.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That we didn’t need his kind of help. Then I asked him to leave.”
He’d come to the damn house. I wanted to throat punch him.
“Good,” I said. “Next time, don’t answer the door for him, and if he doesn’t go away, call the police.”
“That seems a little extreme.”
“He wants to marry me off to an geriatric serial widower. I don’t think it’s extreme at all.”
“When you say it like that…”
I grinned as I went to my room and dug out a flirty top, thinking of seeing Konni. Then I shook my head and scolded myself.
No men. Focus on work and money.
I still put on the top that showed my midriff because I liked it.
“You never said if you found any interesting jobs to apply to.”
“Several, actually. I’m sure it’ll take a few days to hear back, though.”
“Enjoy your time off then.”
I walked into the kitchen as I swapped out my earrings and saw she already had a sandwich waiting for me.
“I kind of like this,” I said with a grin as I sat.
“Don’t get too used to it. I plan to be working again by next week.”
“You will be,” I agreed before devouring my sandwich and hurrying out the door.
Uncle Jay called out a greeting when I walked in through the employee entrance.
“Tonight’s drink is on the bar. Just pour the shot on top and light it.”
“That sounds fun,” I said, walking through the back.
The pictures came out beautifully, better than the drink tasted, but sometimes drinks were more about the novelty than the flavor.
I posted for the club then served drinks as if my livelihood depended on it—because it did. With Mom out of work and someone trying to undermine me at my day job, I wasn’t about to take a single dollar for granted.
“Your stalker is here,” Uncle Jay said.
I looked up to meet Konni’s gaze. The amber in his eyes seemed to flicker in the light as he glanced at my exposed stomach. My insides heated, and I ignored Uncle Jay’s chuckle as I walked away.
“What can I get you?” I asked Konni, leaning closer so he could hear me over the music that wasn’t louder than any other night.
His gaze searched mine for a moment, and I could see him weighing his words.
“Anything you’re willing to give me,” he said finally.
I briefly wondered what he would do if I reached across the bar and pulled him in for a kiss.
Don’t do it. He’s still dangerous. Off limits.
But why?
He shows up almost every night. Left you five grand. And bought you shoes. If that doesn’t say long-term investment, what does?
I turned away from him to make his drink and kept scolding myself for even thinking of doing anything with Konni.
But damn if my hormones would listen. My gaze drifted to his face twice while I was mixing. Then a scenario that heated my face played in my head when I passed him his drink and he wiped a drip from the side of his glass.
“Sophia?”
I blinked back to reality and lifted my gaze to his.
“Yeah?”
“Are you testing me?”
“What? No. I’m just having an off day. If you don’t need anything else, I’m going to…”
I pointed down the bar and drifted away before either of us could voice a reason for me to stay.
My designated ring tone for my mom—a remix of “These boots are made for walking”—started echoing from my drawer barely an hour after arriving. Shocked by the sudden sound, I fumbled to pull it out of the drawer to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Are you Abbye Elmantas’s daughter?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“I’m with your mom. She’s been in a car accident.”
I bolted to my feet and grabbed my purse.
“Do you know if she’s taking any medications?” the man continued.
“She’s not currently. Is she okay?” I asked, already running for the elevators.
“She is awake and has been answering our questions. She hit her head and hurt her arm. We’re taking her to Phoenix Health downtown. They’ll be able to tell you more.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
The elevator never moved more slowly in my life. When I reached my car, I forced myself to pause and take three slow breaths. Between each one, I said the same thing.
“She’ll be fine. She’s awake and talking. Drive safe, or you’ll be roommates.”
After the shaking calmed a little, I drove to the hospital, beating the ambulance there. I watched them bring her in on the stretcher.
The blood on her face and a brace around her neck made my heart stop for a second, but her eyes were open, and she was talking.
When she saw me, she said, “I’m okay, baby,” and I nearly broke down.
She hadn’t called me baby since the divorce.
Everything after that happened in a weird jumble of fast and slow.
The exam results took forever, as did trying to find out what had happened.
A delivery van had hit her car. The driver said he hadn’t seen her.
According to the police officer who spoke with me, the guy kept apologizing and asking if Mom was okay.
She was, thankfully. After a head scan, they confirmed a concussion with no brain bleed, mild contusions on her head and face from the windshield glass that had broken free, a broken left arm, and some crazy bruising from a seatbelt that saved her from a lot worse.
The nurse in charge said it would take them some time to set and splint Mom’s arm, so I let her know I’d be back and gave her my number just in case.
Then, I had a short stress cry in the car because mom didn’t have any insurance and the nurse had already told me they wanted her overnight for observation.
The whole way back to work, I tried not to think of the debt we were in or how much it would cost to replace Mom’s car, which was totaled, or how much an overnight stay would cost, along with all the tests and follow up casting after the guy’s insurance paid out, or how long Mom would be out of work and would solely depend on my income.
Okay, fine. That was all I could think about.
So my mind wasn’t actually on work when I sat down at my desk again.
“Don’t bother,” Lianna said from behind me when I woke my computer. “You left without a word for three hours after I expressly warned you yesterday. This is a full-time professional position, not some back-alley food stall you can run when you feel like it. Pack your things. You’re done here.”
I was so dumbfounded and then angry that I didn’t respond as she stalked away. My gaze shifted to Whitney and Shana, but neither would look at me.
Fed up with the bullshit, I picked up my purse, started back toward the elevators, and called Miranda. She answered on the second ring.
“This is a surprise. Are we meeting for an early lunch?” Miranda asked as the elevator doors closed.
“I need you to stop me from committing a felony, and I need that backdoor job at Wulf Enterprises.” I jabbed the button for the ground floor. “And I need a friend.” My voice warbled on that last bit, and I hated that fucking bitch-Lianna and losing my job were what might break me.
“Talk. What’s happening? Where are you?”