Chapter 32

I rub as much sleep out of my eyes as possible, staring at my reflection while I stagger another yawn. Sleep has evaded me again, and I groan with the realization I have a long day ahead of me.

I’m not sure what exactly is causing this painful insomnia: the embarrassment of what happened with Derek and his girls, the idea that I’m pregnant, the thought of this divorce going sour, or the fact that I’m starting to feel deep fissures in my stability.

I snort at my inner monologue, shaking my head in disbelief.

I’m wasting time complaining when I have to get to work.

I throw on the smallest of makeup, grab whatever clothes are clean, and rush out the door, determined to drink enough coffee that I’m as powerful as the Energizer Bunny.

Another snort escapes me as I lock my front door and rush down to my car.

“Good morning, Esme!” A coworker calls out to me as I enter the office. Her cheery voice honestly makes me want to crawl under my desk.

“Morning.” It comes out gruff, but I move fast toward my own office.

Sitting on my desk is a stack of paperwork, and as I drop my purse to the ground in disbelief, I stare up at the ceiling.

“God, if you’re real, why must you torture me?” I mutter under my breath.

Knowing there’s nothing I can do except get to work, I sit down and start going through the pile to the best of my ability.

I click my phone in the office, letting my voicemails play that were sent from the weekend.

“Hi there! We’re looking to speak to you about your home and internet—”

I delete the voicemail, listening as more junk clutters my messages.

“I’m going to need to get an assistant at this rate just so I can deal with all the bullshit,” I remark under my breath as if speaking to someone in the room.

My head ends up in my hands, and I let out a groan of frustration.

Really, though, can things get any worse?

“Um, excuse me?”

I whip my head up, seeing a man standing there in my doorway. He wears a light grey suit with a black vest with his blonde hair slicked back.

He honestly reminds me a bit of Ryan.

“You’re Esme, correct?” He asks me, giving a slight smile.

“Yes?” I reply with confusion.

His smile grows, but what I don’t like is the shiver that goes running down my back immediately.

“Wonderful,” he states, taking that as his cue to enter my office as if any old friend.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” I question, standing up to come off a bit stronger than the mess I can feel myself turning into now.

“Oh, pardon me, how rude, I didn’t even introduce myself! My name is Ken, I’m from Max?” He holds out a hand to me, which I altogether do not feel comfortable shaking. Knowing how rude that may come off, I shake it anyway, giving him the best smile I can.

“Oh, of course,” I assure him, dropping his sweaty and slightly smelly hand. Damn, I didn’t think pregnancy would bring such a strong sense of smell. “I’m sorry, I was told you weren’t coming until this afternoon.”

My eyes dart across the room to the clock, which reads 10:30. How have I lost track of time this poorly?

“Forgive me; I tend to be an early bird to meetings.” Ken’s smile doesn’t falter.

Why does this man give me the creeps?

“Right, well,” I start, unsure what exactly he expects me to say. “You’re just, you’re four hours early. I have paperwork and other issues that I need—”

He holds up his sweaty hand to me, interrupting me in the middle of my sentence.

“I’m sorry, but I informed your bosses about this change. Has no one informed you of the switch?”

No. No one said shit.

I grit my teeth into a pathetic excuse for a smile. “No, Mr. Anderson nor any of my other bosses mentioned anything.”

Ken breathes out his mouth, his smile pulling up into a “Well, what are you going to do?” His shrug comes next, and I struggle not to narrow my brows at him.

“I guess because I’m here now we should get started though, shall we?” Ken asks, choosing to sit in the chair across from me.

Is this really happening right now? Am I actually completely conked out from exhaustion in bed, and I’ve never even gone to work? That must be what it is, considering this man’s attitude is causing my skin to feel as if it’s been pricked with a hot iron.

“Sorry?”

“Oh, well you wouldn’t want to waste my time in coming to the office to have this meeting, right?”

Nope, my eyebrows are lowering. I’ve got enough going on that I’m not going to let this bastard think he’s going to walk all over me.

Ken sighs, shaking his head. “If you’re not ready for me, I suppose we can go fetch Mr. Anderson?”

“No, of course not. We’ll get started.” The sarcasm and stress feel like they will collectively break every tooth in my mouth as I give the fakest of smiles.

“Great!” Ken nods.

As he’s four hours early, I don’t have all my talking points and thoughts planned out as usual. Not only is this guy a complete douchebag, but part of me wants to call Derek into the office to ask what the fuck is happening.

Did he purposely not tell me this Ken character would be coming by early to punish me? Maybe to teach me a lesson?

I guess I didn’t think Derek would do something so cruel.

“So, to start off, the base price is way too low,” Ken states, immediately standing back up as if he’s been here for hours.

“What?”

He whips his head to me. “The base price! Are you telling me you haven’t noticed that?”

“The base price was the first thing Max agreed on,” I argue.

He snorts, going over to my window to look out at my view. “Oh, no, my bosses were just being kind!” His brown eyes turn back to me and connect, narrowing his bushy brows as he seems to be trying to…intimidate me?

“I don’t understand,” I stammer out. “Everything was agreed in the paperwork. I saw the numbers, the signatures, the agreements. You’re telling me that that was an oversight?”

Ken comes closer, standing to my left with his hands pressed on my desk.

“Esme. Can I call you Esme? Esme.” No chance to correct him and keep my name out of his filthy mouth. “I feel like there’s been a significant riff in the conversations between Max and this office.”

“Oh?” I am squeezing my fists in my lap.

“I should have expected this. After all, a woman in this position is never as competent as a man, right?”

My jaw goes completely slack, falling open so wide I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get it closed ever again. Is this piece of shit serious?

“First, the paperwork never gets sent over, then the meeting time is changed, and you’re not informed, and now you’re telling me you don’t know a single thing about what the bosses have all been discussing?”

Now, it’s my turn to stand up.

“I’m going to ask that you fuck off with that bullshit,” I demand, shoving my finger in his face. “You walk into my office and demand things from me and speak to me as if I’m nothing but a lowly human?”

“A lowly human? No, I’m speaking to you like a woman who’s clearly incompetent.” He gets in my face, and his sick grin dialed up to a thousand.

“Do you enjoy having teeth, Mr. Ken?” I growl.

He steps closer, his body in my personal space, and the genuine anger and strength begin to suffocate me. He’s only a tad taller than I am, but something about the vibes he gives off tells me something is off.

Aside from his attitude, of course.

“Let me spell this out for you since you seem to be misunderstanding me.” He grabs my arm, and the blood starts to drain from my face.

“Get your hand off of me,” I sneer, ready to either spit in his face for touching me or punch him in his stupid nose.

Another hand grabs my other arm, and together, he overtakes me. He quickly walks me backward into the wall, pinning my arms above my head as I realize my struggling is just making him happier.

“Is this how you treat a woman?” I snap, bringing my voice up another decibel.

He rolls his eyes at me.

“You really believe I’ll choose to sit here and take anything from you? Some pathetic, exhausted-looking woman who is clearly in over her head. Your hair is dirty, your makeup is sloppy and a joke, and your outfit reeks of filth.”

“You’re one to talk,” I growl. I try to spit in his face, but to my surprise, he dodges out of my way before he starts to laugh in my face.

His hand immediately grabs my breast, and that’s it. My entire body starts to shut down.

Fight, flight, or freeze. Those are the three threat responses I was taught in school. It seems that my body wants to freeze.

Oh God. I’m already pregnant, barely sleeping, and now I’m going to have to add being sexually assaulted in the middle of my own office?

I fight the tears that threaten to slip down my cheeks, not wanting to give this bastard a single reaction. I just let myself begin to dissociate.

Pretend you’re not here.

Just like in the past.

“Excuse me!”

The boom of Derek Anderson’s voice is enough to shock me back to life, Ken’s body leaping away from me so fast it’s almost as if I punched him in the throat.

My body, however, stays plastered to the wall as I watch Derek enter my office with more anger than I’ve ever seen him display.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing in my office, assaulting my staff?!” He snaps with so much conviction I swear the entire building begins to shake.

Ken, for his part, looks like he’s going to shit his pants. His words come out a sputtered mess. “I-I-s-sir i-it’s—”

Derek looks as if he’s going to grab Ken and throw him up against the wall as if to give him a taste of his own medicine.

“You listen to me, you worm!” He barks. “You come into my office. You come into my staff’s office. You inappropriately touch my employee as if she is nothing but a toy!”

Ken’s shaking his head, finally at a loss for words.

“I would ask you who raised you, but then I’d have to kick their asses to the curb as hard as yours! Get out of here, now!”

That seems to get Ken’s attention. “Max has a deal! If you’re going to break it, I demand compensation!”

Derek must think this is the funniest thing he’s ever heard and bursts into hearty laughter.

“Oh! So, the little man thinks he can tell me what to do!”

That makes Ken shrink back again, but he still bothers to open his mouth. “Yes!”

“You go back to your office, and you tell your partners at Max that our deal is off.”

The blonde’s eyes widen. “You can’t do that!”

“I just did! And don’t worry, I’ll tell them exactly why this little deal is no longer on the table.” Derek barks. “Now get the fuck out of my office, and if I ever see you again, you small, pathetic man, I will make sure that your bones never heal.”

If Ken hasn’t shit himself yet, that might work now. He bolts out of the office, running so fast I half-expect to see dust being left behind.

Good fucking riddance.