Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Now I had Anastasia and that was essentially it. I made a mental note to find time to hang out with her soon because ever since we’d had lunch together, I’d let work and Adrian consume everything. Other than a few texts, I’d barely talked to her since before New Orleans.
It was time to give the breakroom a try, I decided. I took my lunch into the breakroom to microwave it. Today’s lunch was Salisbury Steak in a cheap little black plastic bowl with mashed potatoes and gravy. It looked deliciously disgusting and I couldn’t wait. One of my favorite parts of my new life was getting to eat all the processed garbage my parents would’ve never let me touch before.
I stepped into the breakroom and heard conversation immediately die off. There were four people waiting around a large table in the center of the modest sized room. I recognized everyone’s faces by now, but didn’t have all the names pegged down.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I said.
Everybody except a woman who was waiting on the microwave ducked their heads, gave that distinctly awkward pressing the lips together that sort of functions as a smile look, and shuffled out of the room.
“Don’t worry about them,” the girl said. She was maybe in her early twenties and wearing a cute black dress with tennis shoes. She had on thick glasses and her blonde hair was long and wild. “I’m Lythe, by the way.”
“Jules,” I said, sticking my hand out. She grinned at it, then reached out and shook it. “Why do I get the vibe they don’t like me?”
“There are two sides here. You’re either in his inner circle, or outside it. Nobody really wants to risk talking to someone in his inner circle. Or associating with them in any way, honestly. Too risky.”
I thought about protesting but didn’t want to reward Lythe’s good will by lying to her face. “I get it,” I said, lifting my little microwave dinner box. “I just need to heat this up and then I can go back to eat at the front desk.”
“Nah, it’s okay. I’m this close to quitting.” she held up her index finger and thumb a hair’s width apart. “If you get me fired, it’ll save me the trouble of putting in my notice.”
I grinned. “I’m not sure if I should be flattered, insulted, or something in between.”
“You’re welcome,” she said simply. “So, what’s he really like, anyway?”
“Who, Adrian?”
Lythe flicked her eyebrows up and shook her head like she’d just had a sip of something far too strong. “Wow, you’re really in that inner circle of his, aren’t you? Right up his ass, practically.”
“What? Why?”
“You two are on a first name basis. That’s unheard of. Rumor was a guy called him Adrian by mistake on his first day a few months ago. He didn’t even get a chance to clean out his desk. Adrian hired a moving company to carry down a stapler, two folders, and a rolled up motivational poster that same afternoon.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “He can be really intense, but I don’t think he’s as bad as everyone around here seems to believe.”
The microwave dinged and Lythe pulled out a steaming cup of soup. Judging by the smell, it was broccoli and cheese. “That’s probably what I’d say, too. If I was riding on a shark’s back while it devoured helpless swimmers at the beach, that is.”
I squinted. “Why wouldn’t you poke it in the eyes and try to get it to stop murdering people?”
Lythe raised one eyebrow. “Good question, actually.”
“And for the record, the reason he hired Walker back was because I said I wouldn’t take the job unless he did. So I haven’t just let the shark eat everybody.”
“Wow. Now I feel bad we’ve all been avoiding you.”
“So you guys have been avoiding me on purpose?”
“It’s nothing personal,” Lythe said. “Think about it this way. Mr. White’s personal assistants don’t usually last long. And when they go, they tend to go down in flames. Would you want anything to do with an airplane you knew was almost statistically guaranteed to crash?”
“What’s with all the depressing metaphors?” I asked.
“I think it’s less offensive to tell someone via metaphor that they are cursed and you’ve been too scared to be dragged down with them when they inevitably get fired. Don’t you?”
I ran my tongue across my teeth, nodding. “Now that you put it that way. Yeah, actually.” I laughed, and Lythe smiled in return.
“It’s not like he really takes my advice or anything,” I said. “But if there’s a chance for me to get him to take it easy on you guys, I’ll do whatever I can.” At that moment, I felt something between my legs and remembered Adrian’s seed was still inside me. Worse, I wasn’t even wearing panties. I pressed my thighs together, suddenly feeling ridiculous for trying to downplay my connection with Adrian when I’d just given my virginity to him in his office that same day.