Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Thinking about last night felt as distant as thinking of events from years prior. It was so hard to believe that I’d woken up with a spring in my step from fucking Harper and then come into the office only to face this mess, this chaos, this potentially life-ruining thing. If Ulrich Sports went down, I’d still have my trust fund.
But I could already tell that it would be yet another failure in the eyes of my parents. And disappointing Harper had been one thing ... but my parents?
I couldn’t fucking risk letting that happen.
Not again – not after I’d tried so fucking hard to gain their respect.
That afternoon, I took my place at the front of the largest meeting room at Ulrich Sports. This was normally a room reserved for athletes and their family members at introductory or even congratulatory meetings – a room normally filled with happiness and excitement and anticipation.
Today, no matter how neutral the tone of Janice’s invitation had been, the mood was a rather somber one.
“Thank you all for coming in on such short notice,” I said, glancing around the room and noticing that not a single person was willing to meet my eyes. “I hope this meeting will be a brief one.”
A younger woman, someone I knew as an assistant to one of my junior agents, looked up at me with big scared eyes under a roof of bangs.
“Are we all getting fired?” She asked in a heavy Southern accent.
“No,” I told her. “Of course not – that’s not what this is about?”
“What, then?” Someone chimed in from the back of the room. “Why are we here?”
I sighed.
“There have been rumors – and allegations – of inappropriate behavior. And while I can’t go into specifics, I would encourage each and every one of you not to listen to the rumors themselves. I’m going to call in a brand-new team of Human Resources staff to deal with everything and make sure that all of our best practices are being followed to a T.”
There was a nervous ripple through the crowd and suddenly, I wondered if this was it. This was the moment that could break my career.
And the worst thing was, aside from disappointing my parents, I found that I didn’t care. I’d worked so fucking hard to make Ulrich Sports what it was, but now it meant as little to me as a pile of ashes.
What I really cared about was Harper.
And if I’d managed to lose her – again – I knew that I would regret it for the rest of my life.
22
Harper – Monday
Nico’s call had, frankly, surprised the hell out of me. I had been sitting at my desk, dreaming of the passionate night that we’d spent together just mere hours before, and then he’d called to give me the shock of my fucking life.
Portia, of all people? What had he done with her? How had he managed to piss her off so much to drive her to this?
And furthermore, what did she know that she wasn’t saying? Did she know about me and Nico? I winced when I recalled the day I’d “made an appointment” with Nico’s desk and sauntered out of his office, post-fuck, only to give Portia a smug little smile and wave.
I’d practically flaunted it in her face, for god’s sake.
Was she doing this because she was jealous?
Or because she was sick of Nico treating her as an underling?
A bad taste seeped into my mouth. If I was going to get to the bottom of this, I had a feeling that I’d have to speak to this woman myself.
After telling Nell that I was taking an early lunch, I walked out into the courtyard between the HAUTESCENE building and some other offices and sat down on a bench. There was a farmer’s market happening and several stalls were stuffed with fruits, veggies, and pastries that under ordinary circumstances I would have been severely tempted by.
Right now, though, I cursed the fact that they were there and making so much noise. I dialed the hiring agency that worked with Ulrich Sports – the same agency I’d worked for years ago – and pressed my phone to my ear.
“Adept Staffing,” a voice barked. “How may I direct your call?”
“This is Harper Willow,” I said. “Is Tracy Lyman still there?”
There was a pause. “She is,” the voice replied. “But she’s very busy.”
“I used to work with her,” I said. It wasn’t entirely a lie – Tracy was the one who had placed me with Ulrich Sports, as well as several other shorter projects before I’d found employment with Nico’s agency. I was sure that she’d remember me – we hadn’t exactly crossed the professional boundaries, but she’d always treated me like a friend instead of a down-on-her-luck job-seeker.
“I see,” the voice said. “Connecting you now.”