Page 58 of It Starts With A No

By the time Clary got to the meeting room, the already angry customers had been irate. No one would listen. They didn’t care that there was a miscommunication. There was lots of yelling. A chair was thrown before security intervened and the customers were eventually led out of the bank.

But right now, Clary’s mind was only screaming one thought: I don’t care!

Which sounded incredibly selfish, but she didn’t care about that either.

Still feeling Neil’s grip on her shoulders, Clary shrugged off her jacket. She’d have to burn it.

The boys’ club had always spoken to her that way, but none of them—not even Neil—had tried to make an actual move. They’d stepped into her personal space, but they never actually touched her.

So much so that Clary thought they were simply bluffing.

Well, Neil wasn’t.

And he had the audacity to make his move in front of Tamara. Which was worse? Him not caring that Tamara was there? Or Tamara pretending that nothing was happening?

Clary would never do that. She could never step aside and let a wrong happen.

But that was because of what she’d been through.

She’d been sidelined before, and she’d lost her parents then. So she’d made it a point to always step up when something was wrong. All that was necessary for evil to triumph was for good men to stand by and do nothing.

Tamara wasn’t her, though. Clary couldn’t apply her own standards to another person.

A sourness gathered in Clary’s mouth as she draped her jacket over her arm, and she pressed a hand to her abdomen, feeling like she was going to be sick.

“I swear, Clary, I—”

“Stop.” Clary drew a breath through her nose. I can’t blame Tamara for what happened. It was her own fault. She should have put a stop to this instead of putting up with it for so long.

This was just a natural escalation.

As for Tamara, that moment had made it clear: Clary couldn’t work with her anymore. It was time for her to find her own personal assistant.

Mr. E could have his trusted secretary back.

“Just stop.” Clary rubbed a hand over her mouth. “Forget it.” She drew a deep breath through her nose and swallowed hard. “What’s happened has happened.” She strode toward her office. “What’s that?” she asked Tamara as she pointed toward the parcel sitting right outside her office.

“I don’t know. I was with you the whole time.” The corners of Tamara’s lips turned down. “Maybe it’s Mr. Eolenfeld’s Christmas present for you. I already got mine.”

Clary’s was always two open first-class tickets, so she and Grandma Moretti could go wherever they wanted for a vacation. So whatever the package was, it wasn’t her Christmas present from Mr. E.

Clary and Tamara reached for the parcel at the same time, only to realize what the other was doing and pull back—both at the same time.

As Clary dropped her hand and straightened, her bracelet’s chain caught on a corner of one of the prongs holding the row of diamonds on Tamara’s bracelet.

Her assistant gasped loudly. “Don’t move,” she cried out.

Clary laughed softly at Tamara’s reaction. A diamond bracelet drew a more panicked cry from her assistant than what Neil had done to her in the elevator.

“It’s okay.” Clary unhooked her rose gold bracelet. “Mine’s only thirty dollars.” It was just a thin, rose-gold plate with the word ‘Beloved’ engraved on it, something she’d purchased at her church’s fundraiser.

Once the bracelet was off her wrist, Clary picked up the package.

Tamara returned to her seat, fussing with the bracelets.

Clary entered her office and closed the door behind her. She plodded over to her desk, her exhaustion from all that had happened weighing down her feet. “I’m so tired, Jesus.”

She dropped the package on the desk and plopped into her chair.

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