t h r e e
? I think we both can agree
That you can't blame it on me ?
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?? the next morning ??
I stirred in my sleep as the sound of my phone ringing in the distance broke me out of the dream that I had been having.
The repetitive tune that was my ringtone eventually stopped playing a few moments later, and I let out a small sigh of relief at the silence that followed.
Sleep was just seconds away from consuming me once more when my phone began to ring for the second time in a row.
"Oh my god!" I snapped, pushing the covers away from my face.
I flung my hand out to grab the device from my nightstand, and after feeling around the area for a bit, my previously relaxed actions quickly turned frantic.
My phone wasn't in its usual spot.
A wave of panic washed over my body immediately following this discovery.
"What the . . ?"
My eyes shot open so that I could get a better look at my surroundings; however, the harsh light streaming in through the windows led me to throw my arm over my eyes as the brightness was too much for me to bear.
Since when is my room this bright in the morning?
I allowed a few more seconds to pass by before I finally reopened my eyes. As soon as my vision adjusted to the change in lighting, it dawned on me that I wasn't in my room.
I was in Veronica's.
What the hell happened last night?
In the entire time that we were at the club, my lips didn't come anywhere near a glass of alcohol, so the fact that I was struggling to remember the events that took place just a few short hours ago goes to show how bad my memory is on its own.
Or maybe it had something to do with me wanting to permanently erase the sight of Veronica making out with Ty from my mind.
I shuddered at the thought.
That had to be it.
A loud snore suddenly broke me out of my daze, and I twisted my body around to find Veronica passed out on the bed next to me.
Her jet black hair was splayed out across the blue and white pillowcase that she had over her pillow, and a dark streak of what looked to be mascara had left a stain on her left cheek.
"Veronica!" I shook her shoulder gently. "Wake up!"
My attempt at waking her up proved to be nothing but a waste of energy as she let out an irritated groan. She then shifted around so that she was no longer facing me.
"Veronica!" I tried shaking her again, only this time I shoved her body with all of my might.
Bingo.
A terrified scream spilled from her lips as she tumbled off the side of the bed, and my hand flew to my mouth when she landed on the ground with a loud thud.
"Sorry," I laughed, apologizing to her half-heartedly.
She slowly sat up so that she could see me over the mattress, and I shot her a sheepish smile after she flipped me off from her spot on the floor.
"You heartless bit—" The sound of my default Apple ringtone cut into the rest of her sentence, and the distraction saved me from hearing the rest of her insult.
Despite the ongoing disturbance piercing our eardrums, Veronica opened her mouth to finish the rest of her jab, but I swiftly shut her down with a silent 'close your mouth' hand signal.
Once I was sure she wouldn't open her mouth again, I began to frantically scan her room for my phone, as I was desperate to put an end to the nonstop ringing.
After a few seconds of searching, I finally located it, and my eyebrows furrowed together at its intricate hiding spot.
For reasons unknown, my phone was laying face up underneath the crack of the door, and the dark coat that covered the front of my screen alerted me that it wasn't the one that was ringing.
"Make it stop," Veronica groaned as she climbed back up onto the bed.
"It's your phone that's ringing," I said, tipping my head towards the black device that sat, buzzing on top of her dresser. "Not mine."
Vee threw her head back in annoyance before she slowly made her way across the room to answer the call.
"Shit."
I looked up from my lap to see her staring down at her phone in apprehension, and it wasn't until she turned around to face me that my curiosity finally started to settle in.
Her face remained emotionless as she hesitantly answered the call while lifting the device up to her ear so that she could talk into the microphone.
"Hello?"
My heart twisted in my chest when I heard the person on the other end of the line greet her back.
Whatever they said next must've been highly uncalled for because Veronica's face took on a shocked expression a few moments later.
"I did?" she sputtered in disbelief.
A bad feeling blossomed in the pit of my stomach after her fingers tightened around the edges of her phone. "I said that?!"
I crawled towards the edge of the bed to try and catch wind of the person's voice, but my advances were swiftly shot down after Veronica took a giant step away from me.
"Well, yes, but—" She paused suddenly, and her eyes flitted over to me as she continued to listen to the unknown caller.
From the way that she was gnawing on her lip, I could tell that she felt guilty about something, and this made me all the more suspicious.
"Alright," she finally said after a bout of silence had passed. "Just let me know what time."
And with that last statement, she ended the call.
I opened my mouth to start questioning her, but she deliberately interrupted me before I could say anything.
"I have a massive headache," she blurted out randomly.
I shot her a look that read, 'Okay, and?'
"Look, that's great and all, Vee, but who were you on the phone with—"
"Coffee!" she interrupted me eagerly. "I'm going to go make us some coffee!"
I started to protest, but my words proved to be nothing but a waste of breath as she was already halfway down the hall by the time I finished my argument.
"Veronica Eloise Dunham!" I yelled while stumbling down the hallway after her. "You have two seconds to tell me what the hell is going on before I come over there and tickle it out of you!"
Her lack of response brought about a wave of nausea since she only goes silent when she knows she's in trouble.
I entered the kitchen to find her hunched over the counter with her face buried inside the confines of the rectangle that she created by folding her arms together on the countertop.
My feet guided me over to the set of bar stools that she had tucked underneath her peninsula-shaped island, and I purposely sat down on the stool that was closest to her.
Silence filled the air around us as we fell into a game that I like to call, 'tick-tock.'
Veronica just so happens to be a long-standing champion of this game, which is why I nestled back into my seat as soon as I sat down.
We could be here for a while.
"I mhhfhmmm . . ." Veronica surprised the hell out of me when she spoke up less than a minute later, but the vast majority of her sentence came out muffled due to her bowed head.
"You, what?" I echoed.
She lifted her head so that we could make direct eye contact. "I kinda-sorta told Kyle that he should seriously consider hiring you for the maid position when he called me last night."
My jaw went slack the minute she said the words kinda-sorta.
"You, what?!" I repeated in a much angrier tone.
I dug my palms into the countertop as I fired off a round of questions.
"When, where, why, how?!"
Veronica winced at my top-notch volume.
"Could you drop it down a few decibels?" she asked gently. "I'm trying to nurse a hangover here."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Veronica, so help me God if you don't answer my questions . . ."
"Obviously I used a phone, so that answers the how," she fired back sarcastically. "Now, as for the when and where, I think I might've said all of this while you were standing out in the hallway, waiting for me to finish using the bathroom."
She paused for a minute to think. "Honestly, anything that went down after I took that shot of vodka is now lost in my subconscious."
"Which one?" I snorted. "You took like ten."
It's a miracle she's even alive right now.
Veronica simply grunted in response to my question before she turned around and began searching through her cabinets for the gigantic bottle of Tylenol that she keeps for situations such as this.
"You need to call him back and tell him that you were out-of-your-mind drunk last night and that I don't want to be interviewed for the position," I demanded while sliding out of my seat.
Veronica paused what she was doing, leaving her hand frozen in mid-air as she had been getting ready to reach up and grab the red and white bottle from the cabinet above her.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," she said slowly.
This time it was my turn to freeze. "And why's that?"
She held up a finger in indication for me to wait a second, and I followed her movements with my eyes as she grabbed two pills from the bottle and popped them into her mouth.
She then filled a mug with water from the dispenser before she downed the pain relievers in one smooth swallow.
"You want me to tell him that I lied? That you don't have overdue bills that you need to pay off before your house gets foreclosed by the bank?"
My gaze traveled down to the floor at her shotty tone.
"Now, I don't remember much, but knowing me, I probably went on a drunken tirade about you and your stubbornness," she admitted meekly. "Had I known that he was going to take what I said seriously, I would've hung up the minute he said my name, I swear."
"I can't believe you!" I groaned, running a shaky hand through my hair. "Out of all of the things that you've done behind my back, this has got to be the worst one of them all."
She held her hands up defensively. "I was just trying to help! And you know how 'honest Veronica' likes to take control as soon as alcohol enters my bloodstream!"
"Yeah, well, 'honest Veronica' likes to make an appearance even when alcohol isn't in your bloodstream," I replied matter-of-factly.
A pained-filled expression flashed across her face.
"You're running out of time, Li," she pointed out softly. "The least you could do is try."
My resolve slowly began to weaken as her voice was filled with nothing but sympathy.
I allowed another wave of silence to pass before I finally gave in.
"If this goes sideways, I'm drop-kicking your ass to Canada," I warned her.
"Make it the Bahamas, and you've got yourself a deal," she bit back with a smirk.
She then pushed off the counter to go and make herself a cup of coffee. As I watched her grab a Dunkin Donuts flavored K-cup from her coffee pod holder, a massive cloud of doubt suddenly slithered its way into my mind.
What the hell is wrong with me?
According to Vee, Kyle is known to treat his employees like shit, so much so, that some of them are scared to even breathe in his direction.
Normally, I'd label a piece of information like this as bad press, but I was able to experience it firsthand when I visited his office last week.
He truly has no remorse for anyone that crosses his path, and that sickens me.
Even the mere thought of him being able to tell me what to do makes me want to throw myself off a cliff.
While Veronica continued to fix her first round of coffee, I made a quick run back to her room to grab my things.
"I should get going," I announced after returning to the kitchen with my stuff. "I'll call you later so that you can help me get myself together for this God-forsaken event."
"Oh, shut up," she snickered from her spot near the sink. "You know damn well that you can charm your way into anything."
I let out a small grunt of approval. "Yeah, well, I can also charm my way out of anything."
"Dammit," she huffed while turning around to face me. "I was hoping that you'd forgotten about that."
I blew out a breath that sounded like a mix between a sigh and a laugh. "Nice try, babe."
I made sure to reach down and grab my clutch from the coffee table as I made my way through the living room. "Hopefully, Ashley is gone by the time I get back."
A strangled noise escaped Veronica's throat at the mention of Tyler's girlfriend's name. "He's still with her?!"
"From nine to twelve on Fridays and Saturdays," I confirmed. "Some bitch named Diana takes Monday through Thursday."
Veronica shook her head in disapproval. "May the devil have mercy on that kid's soul."
I pulled my dress down with a laugh. "Him and our mother."
She waved me off after she heard my little add-on.
"See ya!" I called out to her as I pried open the front door.
Her delayed response caused me to stagger over the threshold, and I glanced back over my shoulder to find her staring down at her phone in awe.
"What is it?" I asked her hesitantly.
She looked up at me with wide eyes.
"Rodriguez just texted me," she revealed while setting her phone back down on the counter.
"He said that your interview is tomorrow at nine."
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