Chapter 16 The Do Over #2
“Okay, so for starters, I am not a peasant. I am a sensible person on a budget, and walking saves money.”
He huffed at that, mumbling,
“I can’t believe I got stuck with a peasant.”
“Oh, excuse me,” I shot back, dodging a cyclist and tugging him out of the way before he got flattened.
“You are more than welcome to go find someone else to bother.”
He glared up at me, panting slightly.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
I rubbed my forehead in annoyance and kept going.
My stride was steady as the familiar route grounded me despite the oddity of arguing with a goblin on a public sidewalk.
This was my only exercise most days, and even now, my muscles remembered the rhythm of it.
My body moved on autopilot while my mind ran through worst-case scenarios, it absolutely did not need to be entertaining before nine a.m.
A few blocks in, Bo started lagging behind, his breathing dramatic and pointed.
“Are we there yet?”
Goddess, but when did I become the parent in this picture?
“We left fifteen minutes ago,” I reminded him with a shake of my head.
“This is cruelty,” he panted.
“I was not summoned to suffer,” he continued to complain, making me wonder if I hadn’t summoned him at all, but in fact, the little pain in the ass just got kicked out of Hell for annoying his elders.
“I will buy you roller skates,” I offered without missing a beat.
“Tiny little ones. With sparkles.”
He shot me a withering look.
“That’s not funny.”
“It really is,” I replied, smiling despite myself.
He muttered something about hostile environments and unfair mortal expectations as we walked.
I found myself scanning the street more than usual, hyper-aware of every passerby, every reflection in shop windows.
It was ridiculous, I told myself. Paranoia born from a bad night and too little sleep.
Still, the memory of his voice slipped back in uninvited, and I shook my head as if that alone might dislodge it.
Focus.
By the time the office building came into view, Bo was well and truly winded, leaning against my leg like he was about to file a formal complaint. I slowed just enough to give him a sympathetic look.
“You’ll survive,” I told him, adding with a smirk,
“Congratulations. You’re officially a city goblin now.”
He groaned, dragging himself upright.
“I am not a goblin, peasant. I am one of the Kobalos.”
“Yeah, well, whatever you are, you guys need to stop skipping leg day,” I replied with a grin, one that widened when he gave me a quizzical stare.
“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds like more torture to me.”
I snorted, adjusting my bag as we headed toward the entrance, telling myself that if I could survive this morning, I could survive anything.
The lobby smelled faintly of coffee and ambition. The polished floors reflected the overhead lights as people funneled in with the same half-awake determination I’d perfected over the years.
“Okay,” I murmured under my breath as we crossed the threshold, eyes forward, smile neutral.
“This is the part where you stay quiet.”
Bo snorted.
“Says the nut job that looks like she’s talking to herself.”
“Yeah, well, invisible heckling counts too, buddy,” I gritted through clenched teeth. He smirked, clearly enjoying this far too much.
“You’re too tense, you know that?”
“Yes, well, that tends to happen to people who have to deal with a goblin haunting their workplace,” I replied with another hiss, going on to say,
“I think I’m handling it remarkably well.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you are still talking to yourself,” he replied, and I glanced up just in time to see a woman in a flowery dress give me a wide berth and a look that said, ‘crazy bitch’.
The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped inside with a handful of coworkers. Now acutely aware of the fact that I was sharing a confined space with people who absolutely could not see the creature standing at my side, tapping his foot impatiently.
“So,” Bo said conversationally,
“How long before you crack and start answering me out loud?”
I glared straight ahead, jaw tightening.
“Do not test me,” I muttered under my breath after the doors opened, and I exhaled in relief as I stepped out onto my floor.
The familiar buzz of keyboards and ringing phones wrapped around me like a comforting blanket.
Desks stretched out in neat rows, the hum of productivity oddly reassuring, and for half a second, I almost convinced myself that yesterday hadn’t happened.
Almost.
“Morning,” someone called as I passed, and I lifted a hand in automatic greeting, my smile firmly in place.
“Morning,” I replied, just as Bo leaned closer.
“She smells nervous,” he remarked thoughtfully. I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to hurt.
“Not now,” I gritted out.
But then my friend Tara intercepted me near the break area, coffee already in hand, eyes sharp and assessing in a way that immediately put me on edge. She gave me a once-over that lasted just a fraction too long.
“Okay,” she said slowly,
“Why do you look like you wrestled a demon and lost?”
I choked slightly.
“Wow. Good morning to you, too,” I replied as I dug my heels out of my bag and leaned to the side to swap them over from my sneakers.
“I’m serious,” she pressed, lowering her voice.
“You’re talking to yourself.”
I swear, I nearly swallowed my own damn tongue this time.
“No, I’m not.”
“You just mouthed ‘not now’ to thin air.”
Damn it!
I sighed, rubbing at my temple as Bo grinned up at me like he’d won something.
“Okay, look,” I said quietly, leaning closer,
“I’m going to have a weird couple of days.”
Her brow knitted together.
“Weird, how?”
“Weird like you might see me talking to myself,” I continued quickly,
“It’s… it’s my therapist’s idea.”
She blinked in disbelief, and I instantly wanted to smack myself on the forehead.
“Genius that,” Bo commented dryly.
“You be quiet,” I snapped.
“Excuse me?” Tara said, making me sigh.
“The therapist again, sorry, but he… he… he told me to speak to my negative thoughts.”
Her eyes widened, and any other time this might have been comical.
“Come again?” she asked.
“You know, to like cast them back… oh shit,” I said as I tossed my hand out and knocked a basket of muffins to the floor. I quickly knelt down and started picking them up and dusting them off.
“Oooh free food.”
I slapped at Bo’s hand away when he tried to grab one, scared that my talking to myself would be the least freakish thing about the morning. Especially when baked goods started floating mid-air before disappearing into a mouth she couldn’t see.
“Don’t touch!” I snapped, and my friend flinched back this time, making me quick to add,
“…All those calories and think of your little Buddha belly, Eliza.”
“Erm… Ooo… kay, so this is weird. I mean, for one, since when do you have a therapist? And two, what kind of professional tells you to talk to yourself in public?”
Well, she had a point there, as therapists didn’t usually advise their clients act crazy among the general population.
“It’s a new technique,” I lied smoothly, the words tumbling out with alarming ease.
“Very cutting edge. Big in Japan,” I added, and Bo even mouthed up at me, silently questioning,
“Japan?”
I rolled my eyes down at him, and Tara’s gaze followed mine to see what I was looking at. Then she stared at me.
“Japan, eh?” she asked in a tone that called bullshit.
“Uh-huh, anyway, I don’t really want to talk about it,” I added, forcing a small, brittle smile.
“New boundaries and all that,” I said after her gaze lingered on me for another second, skeptical but merciful.
“You’re lucky I like you, that’s all I can say.”
“I know,” I replied, meaning it and feeling some weight lift as she took a sip of her coffee.
But then she tilted her head and asked,
“So, what are you doing here?”
I frowned at this, now preoccupied with making my own coffee, now that I had replaced the less-than-perfect muffins back onto the counter.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the presentation… isn’t the client due back here after rescheduling?” she said carefully, making me frown.
“Yeah, well, I won’t be giving it, or did you forget about yesterday’s fiasco?”
She nearly dropped her coffee in response.
“Oh shit, you haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?” I asked, adding creamer and a shit ton of sugar.
But then I was very nearly wearing another coffee when she told me,
“That you were personally requested to take point at the meeting.”
My mug hit the counter with enough force that it sloshed over my hands, burning them slightly. I quickly stepped to the sink and washed the mess, as I asked,
“What?! Are you sure?”
“Did you not check your emails?”
I shook my head slightly, not about to tell her why that was and what I was doing last night instead.
“Requested by who?” Before she could answer, a familiar voice cut in briskly, already radiating impatience.
“Shadowmere, there you are!”
I turned to find my boss standing there, tablet in hand, expression tight as he looked between us.
“Why the fuck are you still out here!?”
I swallowed hard before pointing out,
“I was on time,” I said, though the automatic response didn’t help, nor did glancing at the clock on the wall as my mind struggled to catch up and make sense of what the hell was going on.
“Didn’t anyone tell you the meeting was rescheduled?” he asked, already ushering me toward the corridor as I was left to try to shake my hands dry.
“But… but I thought the account was being handed over?” I argued weakly, but he just waved a dismissive hand.
“That’s not the case anymore. You’re back on.”
I stumbled slightly.
“I am?”
“Yes. And the client is already here waiting for you,” he snapped, clearly not happy about making what would be our biggest client wait.
My heart lurched.
“Wait… he’s here now?” I asked, my voice shrill with panic, seeing as I was totally unprepared for this!
“Yes,” he repeated, stopping just long enough to fix me with a look.
“And if you don’t hurry and get yourself into that boardroom, there will be no more presentations to give, understood?”
Erh yeah, loud and fucking clear. Although, I’m not sure he would actually be allowed to fire me for that. Of course, Tara would know, seeing as she practically ran the HR department.
Okay, this was so not the time to be questioning company policies, I thought as I spun around instinctively, ready to lay down one last warning to Bo, only to find empty air beside me.
He was gone.
The unease crept in slow and unwelcome as I scanned the hallway, my thoughts scrambling for explanations that didn’t involve my luck spectacularly running out. Maybe this really was my lucky day, I thought weakly, forcing myself to breathe.
The thought died instantly as I took a deep breath and pushed open the boardroom door.
The room went quiet the second I stepped inside, and not the normal kind of quiet. Not the polite pause that happened when someone important entered late. But the kind that felt like I was the loser who didn’t get that the joke was on me, and that lady luck was currently laughing her ass off.
The boardroom was long and sleek. All glass and polished wood that was familiar enough that it took my brain a few seconds to register that something was very, very wrong.
Every chair was occupied.
Every head turned.
And at the head of the table, seated with an effortless authority like he had always belonged there, was none other than my mind’s personal stalker.
The man that consumed my dreams… my thoughts… my fears.
My secret desires…
One, Wyedari Oblivion.