Chapter 1 #2
If I left midday, John would be livid. The string of text messages and voicemails that would be on my phone wouldn’t be worth it.
Powering through the afternoon was a better option.
He didn’t appreciate it when I looked weak in front of other people.
He said it reflected poorly on him, and he was probably right.
People might think I was getting away with something just because we lived together.
I appreciated how he made sure I wasn’t given special treatment in the office.
“No thanks. Aspirin and some water will fix me right up.”
Mr. Magnuson nodded and stepped back from my desk.
When I stood, I hoped it was slow enough to keep the dizziness at bay.
It wasn’t, but I must’ve faked it well enough because he didn’t say anything else.
However, I felt his eyes tracking me across the office floor on my way to the breakroom for water.
“Anders.” John’s voice rang across the room when I was about halfway there. The harshness caused me to flinch. I made the mistake of catching Lacey’s sympathetic gaze. Her grimace forced me to school my features and give a fake smile.
“End of the monthly reconciliation is making everyone grumpy,” I said brightly.
Rather than continue on for water, I turned on my heel and went into John’s office.
He was behind his desk, the files I’d organized for his morning scattered everywhere, with a spreading dark stain of coffee on a few of the papers.
“You needed me?”
“What I need is for shit to get done when I need it done.”
I furiously racked my brain, searching for the forgotten task. Mentally, I scrolled through my to-do list, trying to figure out what I’d missed, but I came up empty.
“I’m sorry for not handling what you asked. Can you tell me what it was?”
John looked at me like he’d never met anyone less competent. His eyes bore into my mine, and I hated the way I folded under his sneer. When John was like this, I didn’t feel useful or good. If I wasn’t good enough, what was the point of keeping me around?
“You were supposed to arrange a dinner with Magnuson so we could finalize this bullshit takeover. That asshole wanted my family company, and he fucking stole it. The least I could expect from you is to make a goddamn dinner reservation so we can salvage something from what my family built. Fucking useless.”
“John, I’m so sorry. How did I manage to forget something so important? Stupid.”
Panic rose from my gut into my chest. He needed me to take care of the details, and somewhere along the way, I’d failed him. The loss of control of his family’s company had crushed him, and I knew it. Anyone would be angry under the circumstances, so his anger was reasonable.
“Are you seriously questioning me?”
“No, no, no. I’m sure you told me and I forgot to handle it.”
Bile rose in my throat as the fury twisted John’s face into something frightening. It felt like he hated me. The dizziness and nausea I’d managed to tamp down returned full force. The buzz of the fluorescent lights overhead screamed in my head, threatening to overwhelm me.
“Get the fuck out of my office. Fucking incompetent bullshit. If you were anyone else, I’d have fired their ass by now.
I asked Magnuson about dinner, and he looked at me like I was shit under his shoe.
You better get it fucking handled, or you won’t need to worry about fucking up anything else around here. ”
“John, I’m sorry. Yes, I’ll get it taken care of, and I’ll apologize to Mr. Magnuson myself.”
“No, you fucking won’t. He doesn’t need to know about some asshole clerk’s goddamn mistake.”
If I tried to speak, I knew my voice wouldn’t be able to talk without cracking. Instead, I nodded mutely and tried to keep myself from swaying.
“Get the hell out of my office!”
John yelled the last bit, so I was sure everyone on the floor heard me getting reamed out.
Once again, Lacey caught my eye, but this time, I couldn’t find it in me to smooth the moment over.
I gave a curt nod instead and headed back to my desk.
My first priority was to call Mr. Magnuson’s assistant and arrange for a reservation at Quill.
Once that was handled, John would forgive me, and everything would be all right again.
I stumbled into the hallway and did my best to get in a breath.
My head felt like it was going to explode, and my heart was racing.
Dizziness overwhelmed me as the room began to spin.
I weakly leaned against the wall, trying to brace myself so I didn’t make a fool of myself and embarrass John.
But the longer I stood there, the worse it became.
My empty stomach and the nausea threatened to overtake me.
It was sheer force of willpower that kept me upright, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on.
I felt my knees beginning to shake as my resolve weakened.
“Anders, what’s wrong?”
Once again, Mr. Magnuson had seen me at my worst today.
At the rate I was going, I wouldn’t need to worry about John firing me because his boss’s boss would take care of it for him.
I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out.
My eyes were still closed, trying to keep my headache at bay, and when I opened them to look at him, the room spun like a kaleidoscope, going faster and faster until I had no choice but to close my eyes again.
Unfortunately, that also meant the dizziness increased.
My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. The last thing I remembered was Mr. Magnuson putting a protective arm under my head, right before I hit the ground.
I was getting fired for sure.