Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 129084 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129084 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
I look away, tilting my head to ease the knot forming at the base of my neck. The doors open, and I step out again until another three people have exited.
One more floor before we’re alone.
My mind rolls through a million excuses I can tell him, including apologies said right afterward. But those won’t work. I won’t lie anymore. Max and Noah deserve more. They always have, but I was too scared to lose my dad . . .
Dad? It’s all wrong when placed as a representation of my father.
He’s never been my dad, not like Noah is to Max. I smile, remembering how Noah chased him like a goblin through the apartment last night and how our home came to life with laughter echoing through it. I relish how my fight-or-flight response is gone when we’re holding hands and walking through the park. Max sits tall on his shoulders, wearing his aviator sunglasses, and Noah wraps his other hand around his son’s back.
I’m unable to hide my grin when I think back to the naughty bath Noah and I took last night that was anything but clean.
The elevator dings at the next stop, and the doors slide open for the last time. Other people’s presence will no longer restrain my father’s temper, so I’m not sure what will happen, but I’m done caring. It’s too much of a burden to carry any longer.
This time, I step to the opposite side of my father, and the last two people leave. I don’t beg for his attention or for him to speak to me when the doors close. I know he’ll never give me that upper hand. It will be on his terms and only his in the end.
The end? Is that what this is?
Caught in a silent standoff, I don’t even look at him. I’m twenty-seven, but he still treats me like I’m ten. How sad that my memories with him only contain bad times.
The elevator alerts us to our floor just before the doors open. He storms forward, making me flinch backward, and grits through his teeth, “My office. Now.”
He’s already through the main doors before I brush down my skirt and step off the elevator. Exhaling, I take one step. Two. Just keep moving. As if my day can’t get worse, Audrina sings, “Someone’s in trouble.” Her cackling belongs in a Halloween movie, not the office.
I make a mistake when I look up. She adds, “Maybe he’s come to his senses.” Her eyes flashing with joy over my demise sends my blood pressure to outer space.
“You’re a horrible person, Audrina.” I walk to the door, knowing I should have never given her an ounce of my attention.
She stands, her sharp claws tapping against the reception desk. “You’re pathetic, Olivia.”
My feet stop without my permission, but running on adrenaline, I’ve never seen my situation clearer than I did downstairs. I have been living my best life outside the office for months and my worst in the confines of these walls for years. “You’re right.”
“I’m right?” She laughs again as she flops back in her chair, and mutters, “So pathetic.”
“I’ve been pathetic for putting up with my father’s, Chip’s, and your insults, and the bitterness of this office for too long. God, way too long. But no more. If you think you have won, like you’ve finally run me off, you haven’t. You and I both know whether I’m here or working elsewhere, my happiness is limitless while your lot in life is set.”
She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “What are you talking about?”
“Let’s get into it, shall we? Let’s lay the cards on the table.” I lean against the tall counter, overlooking her seated below. “You thought sleeping with Chip would lead to a life of luxury. Did he offer the world to you in bed and then ignore you afterward? That’s his MO, Audrina, and you fell for it.”
“You realize he chose me over you?”
“To fuck. Nothing more. I was offered the ring, the life, the future that was never attainable by you. You know why? Because he doesn’t love anyone but himself. He’s a user. He used me, and he used you. Instead of becoming allies, or friends even, you chose his side and made me the enemy. You’ve bashed me for years to anyone who would listen. Why is that?”
She remains speechless. By how her mouth hangs open and her breath is coming heavy, I think I hit a nerve. I say, “I know why. It was easier to hate me than yourself for falling for his lies.” I don’t feel better after all these years of imagining this takedown. I feel worse. How did I end up here? Arguing with another woman about something that doesn’t even matter to me anymore?
This is not who I am. It’s not who I want to be.