Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Even so… As revolting as I felt this could be, I didn’t know how to be anyone else. I didn’t know what else I was good at. I had no goddamn clue what was going to happen when I left this building for the last time—and that terrified me.
My fingers prickled with numbness, and a tremor of pain traveled through my chest.
“Lucian,” KC said patiently. “You don’t have to do this today.”
Except, I did.
I swallowed against the dryness in my throat and peered back into the car. At Noa, more accurately. “I do. I just need my emotional support animal with me.”
Noa perked up and smirked crookedly. “For reals? But just so you know, I prefer emotional attack dog.”
“Good lord,” KC drawled. “You have not thought this through.”
Maybe not.
So be it.
Noa scrambled out of the car, and I asked KC to keep the engine running.
This shouldn’t take long.
After making sure I had everything—conveniently tucked into the front pocket of my hoodie—I led the way to the elevators.
“Can I make a scene?” Noa asked happily.
I side-eyed him.
KC was right.
I had not thought this through.
“Let’s try not to,” I advised.
Noa had visited me countless times, though usually at my other office across the river, where we didn’t have to worry about pompous superiors who never left the seventeenth floor. The office in DC was much more low-key and casual, for some reason. My coworkers there loved Noa—or “KC’s boy,” as they referred to him.
I pressed my key card to the pad in the elevator so we could access the top three floors, and Noa looked like he was building up a case for himself.
In the meantime, I uncapped the bottle of my anxiety medication and popped two pills dry. I eyed the label. One or two when needed, maximum of three times a day. The doctor had promised they were mild, so I hoped I wasn’t about to pass out. It was more a precaution than anything else.
“I would like to propose an exception,” Noa said formally. “If someone’s rude to you or tells you to just sleep it off, I’d like to at least make my presence known.”
My mouth twitched.
We were two sweatpants-wearing, bed-head-sporting men heading up in an elevator paneled in mahogany, and we were about to enter an office area where everyone was judgmental. Approximately two-thirds of them would never have the balls to utter a word to me, and the others worked above me.
Either way, our presence would be known from the moment we exited the elevator.
“Just wait until we’ve left my office,” I said. “After that, the worst thing that could happen, we get escorted out.”
“Life goal,” he whispered under his breath.
I chuckled silently and peered up at the numbers going higher for each floor we ascended.
This was the right call.
I had nothing here. I’d never made any lasting friends; people either kissed my ass or added work to my plate. They wanted to buy me lunch so they could network me into their fold or they had a favor to ask. Everyone was constantly trying to get ahead.
My name was in the proverbial hat for future partners, but it’d been there for a couple years now. And the other four or five prospects—forget having a casual conversation with them. The moment someone opened their mouth, at least two others were wondering what ulterior motive they had.
How I’d once received my fuel from such a toxic place, I’d never understand.
The elevator doors opened, and I took a deep breath. Charles and Ana ruled the lobby area as always, and both were surprised to see me. Rather, the state of me.
I ushered Noa down the corridor leading to the conference rooms, past the door to the bullpen, and aimed for the door that led to the offices. On the way, I nodded in hello, and Charles and Ana nodded back, looking sufficiently stunned.
“I think they’re gonna talk about you soon,” Noa whispered too loudly.
I snorted softly and held the door for him.
Let them talk.
For every step I took, the better I felt about quitting altogether. It didn’t matter that I had no clue what to do next, as long as I got out of here.
Each office we walked by had a name etched in the polished gold metal sign, and every random potted plant in the corridor had been watered. No brown leaves, no stains on the carpet, not a speck of dust in any corners.
Thomas Wilkins and Shawn Lopez stood outside the latter’s office and looked up from Thomas’s phone when we passed.
“Hey…Lucian…?” Shawn’s greeting came out more like a question.
“Shawn. Thomas.” I nodded.
When we reached the far end, we arrived at a row of offices that each had an assistant’s desk outside. My assistant wasn’t here today, so I just stepped right into my office.
I could admit, I was going to miss this part. On a stressful day, looking out over the river and the city helped center me. The walls were surprisingly thick, and one could feel like the only person in the world in here. Which had both its ups and downs, I supposed. I’d felt lonely in here as well, especially before I’d broken things off with my ex.