CHAPTER 24DENISE
CHAPTER 24
DENISE
I’d made the bold decision that morning to stop hiding behind my blazers. The bruises had faded to the barest hints of yellow, but the nail marks were still red, scabbed, and incredibly obvious. I figured if people wanted to satiate their curiosity and see what the fuss was about, they could see.
Gloria was lingering near my doorway as I typed a document on my computer. Gloria’s eyes fell to my arm again, and this time I cleared my throat.
“Hey, Gloria.” I gave her a polite smile as she adjusted her far too loud cheetah print blouse. “Can I help with something?”
It was hard to keep my tone bland, but I needed her to get the fuck out of the way, so I could pick up my documents and continue with my day. Gloria shook her head and walked down the hallway.
I reached out to grab my cell and texted Cleo again.
The stares are weird. How are you finding Lucian’s condo?
Cleo and I didn't do the small talk thing. We'd sometimes go a week without chatting, but that was just our vibe. I'd texted her three times already this morning, trying to get her to talk to me.
This time her bubble popped up immediately.
Stop fucking checking on me. Work, I'm fine.
Sighing, I hit her with a gif of someone throwing up their hands.
When I put the phone down, I felt a renewed sense of purpose. I pressed print and stood, smoothing my dress down. This was the right thing. I was making the right call. I walked toward the printer, determined. Instead of giving little waves to the cubicles like I normally did, I looked ahead and avoided eye contact. I hugged the papers close to me, feeling the heat soaking through my shirt. The warmth was a stark contrast to the frosty ass stares I’d been getting all day.
It didn’t matter that I’d been trying to be invisible as I walked, I felt their eyes all scanning me. My brain still couldn’t comprehend today’s news. Lucian had fired someone because of me. Darla had shared the video and asked if people would be curious to know who else I was sleeping with. She’d deleted it, but one of the interns screenshotted it and tracked it right to her.
My life had become the spectacle I’d been dreading. All my business was out in the street, laid bare to be picked apart by everyone. And all I wanted was to crawl into a ball and shut the blinds. But I couldn’t. Not yet.
When I knocked on Lucian’s door, I had been rehearsing my words in my head. He looked up from his desk and motioned me into his office.
“Hey—”
Lucian’s eyes dropped to the papers I held to my chest and bounced back up to meet mine.
“Shut that for me, will you?” he asked. I nodded and closed it before I walked over toward his desk. The thing was an absolute mess of papers, and I tried to keep my eyes off it as I came to a stop right in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Ms. Roberts,” he said, his tone professional.
Clearing my throat, I pulled the papers from my chest.
“Umm, before I—I wanted to say before I hand you this—”
Lucian leaned in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
“Sugar, you ain’t handing me a damn thing.”
I gave him a look and he shook his head.
“You don’t even know what it is,” I said, feeling my frustration growing.
“And you’re not telling me what it is either,” he replied, shooting up from his seat and putting his hands in his pockets, using his substantial height to lord over me.
“This opp—”
“Aht, did you hear what I—”
“You’re going to take my—,” I said, talking over him.
“Damn! Now I gotta—” he smacked his lips and dramatically reached into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number, putting it on speaker before throwing it on his desk.
He turned to me as someone answered.
“What?” Cleo’s voice piped through the office, and I glanced from the phone to Lucian.
“One fifty,” Lucian growled before glaring at me.
“Nope. Is that it?”
She sounded distracted and I was now thoroughly confused.
“What’s in your hand, Denise?” he asked, agitated.
“Oh! Yes! What is in your hand?” Cleo sounded smug and I looked down at the paper.
“Why?” I asked.
“Aww, baby, when Lucian fired that girl, I told him you were gonna try to quit. He said you’d never do that. And now he has to pay me twice my going rate because…” She drew out that last word.
“Why did you think I wouldn’t quit?” I asked, gazing up at Lucian. His eyes softened and he gave me a small smile.
“Because you work harder than any other Principal on the floor, you clock more hours, and you constantly raise your hand for new projects. That Denise Roberts wouldn’t quit over some bullshit. Would she?”
I considered the letter of resignation in my hands. He had a point. I was being shortsighted. If Lucian was worried about Foxx, he’d have asked for my resignation. This was a business and he’d put it first ahead of any drama from his employees. I stared hard at the short and sweet letter in my hands.
I knew that was my plan from the moment I’d read that email Lucian had sent out. Things were too far out of my control, and I wanted to limit the damage. But no one was blaming me for any of it. No one that I cared about was judging or blaming me, they just wanted to help. And what kind of inconsiderate jerk doesn’t let people willing to help, help?
Before I could think too hard, I spoke, “Sorry, Cleopatra , I have some notes I wanted to run past Lucian about the interns.”
Cleo sighed dramatically before kissing her teeth.
“Fine. One fifty… And the other thing.”
I had no idea what the other thing was, but Lucian’s smile told me he was getting the better end of the deal. He turned that smile on to me and I felt my insides get all gooey. How could Cleo not fall into this man's charm?
Cleo huffed before she started rattling off a list of things to Lucian, “The takedowns are going well. I haven’t seen any chatter online from the clients you identified as high-risk.”
As Cleo talked, I backed away from Lucian. He watched me, his lips slowly pulling up at the side as he smirked. I gave him a small half-wave as I opened the door. His hands went to his pockets as he winked.
“I haven’t gotten any calls from clients, either. Let’s…”
I shut the door behind me and walked down the hall, dropping the documents into a shred box on the way.