Page 49 of Don't Quit the Day Job

I watch as she goes to her desk, then I head back to mine and sit down. My phone rings and I groan when I see it's my father.

"Hi, Dad," I say, answering quickly. "Can't talk long. I'm busy doing work."

"It's not even eight o'clock in the morning yet."

"I know, but as an attorney, that's when I’m at the top of my game?—"

"Marie says that she is going to be living with you?" My father cuts me off and I sigh.

I had wanted to speak to him before Marie. "Dad, she seems like she's having a hard time there and?—"

"I mean, if you think you can deal with her and her attitude, go right ahead."

"What?" I say in surprise. "You and?—"

"If you want to deal with Marie, let her go to New York. She'll realize very quickly that the life she has here is amazing and cannot be beat."

"Dad…"

"What? You're her big brother and you know best, right? Just like you knew that I?—"

"Dad, we're not getting into this right now," I say, cutting him off.

"Whatever. Just know that I'm going to be putting her on a plane next week."

"Fine. You know I love her and she can stay with me as long as she needs to."

"Good. I suppose she told you that her mother and I are having some issues."

"Yes, Dad," I say snidely. "That's part of the reason why she wants to leave the house."

He sighs. "Well, that's none of her business, is it? She shouldn't involve herself in grown people's issues."

"Dad, I'm going to go now. Okay?"

I hang up before he can answer and put my face in my hands and squeeze my temples. "Oh, Marie," I think out loud. "Oh, Marie."

Chapter Fourteen

Lila

"Who the hell is Marie?” I mumble to myself as I sit at my desk and try not to look back into Max’s office. I’m supposed to be trying to figure out if Mrs. Whittington is an innocent or guilty party, but all I can think about is the name I had just heard Max mumbling to himself. Is Marie his girlfriend? His ex-girlfriend? A woman he wants to be with? I have no clue, but just the thought of her makes me annoyed.

Why was he sitting at his desk mumbling her name like he was concerned about her?

It really shouldn't matter to me, but I feel annoyed for her and for me, because if she’s someone special in his life, why the hell was he flirting with me so much, and why was he giving me those looks that told me he wanted to rip my clothes off? Why is he making me feel like we’re in a chemistry lab and about to explode together? It doesn’t make sense. I take a deep breath and open my company-issued laptop. I cannot fixate on the Marie issue.

"Hey, Lila, I'm just going to?—"

"Yes," I look up and snap at Max, who raises a single eyebrow.

"So I guess the Stepford wife thing is done already?"

"It wasn't a thing. I was just trying to be the perfect employee for the not-so-perfect boss. But I don't think that you actually deserve me to be perfect."

"Erm, okay…" He looks confused. "Number one, I never said you needed to be perfect. Number two, even when you were doing the Stepford wife thing, you weren't perfect. And number three, what's with the attitude? Two seconds ago you were smiling and laughing, and now?"

"And now nothing, Mr. Spector," I say, glaring at him. "I have work to do, and I think you do as well."

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