Page 22 of Bound By Words

“I’ll be checking in by email with her, so make sure to relay anything you need me to go over through her.”

Oh, shit. With how his eyebrows rose, I could tell he was unhappy about Thomas telling him that he had to go through me. While I appreciated that Thomas reinforced that I was in charge in his absence, Trent was clearly unhappy with me.

Probably because when I’d turned him down more than a dozen times in the last two years, like I had last night, he was an arrogant jerk every single time. His ego had difficulty seeing when a woman was not interested in him. He was likely one dick punch––from me––or sexual harassment complaint––from every other person with a vagina in the office––away from being fired, but he continued to make us all miserable until he pushed it too far.

He was also permanently attached to Deacon’s right ass cheek. If Trent’s terrible self-tanning lotion didn’t make him look like an Oompa Loompa, you’d be able to see how brown the tip of his nose was from all the time he spent with it up our boss’ ass.

“I’ll run any questions I have while you’re gone through Deacon, but I’m sure Kelly will do fine while you’re off with your wife and baby.”

Motherfucker…this again.

“Yeah, poor Thomas off with his super-hot wife and adorable new baby, and me here for eighteen hours a day picking up the slack.”

Thomas grunted, probably trying to hold in a laugh, but I was so tired of the men in this office thinking I was a decorative prop. I gave my life to this job, and it wasn’t like I had anything else to distract me from kicking ass at it. An entitled douche canoe with a God complex wouldn’t put me down to make himself feel better for being hung like a chipmunk.

“Anyway, good talk, Trent.” Thomas cleared his throat as he stood from the desk. Trent stepped to the side but lingered in the doorway as Tom left, eyeing me suspiciously as he gripped the edge of my door frame in his tiny hand.

“Was there something you wanted?” I asked as I scooted my chair back up to my desk, opening the folder Tom had left me. “If you hadn’t noticed, my plate is full.”

“Your mouth, too,” he muttered, and my jaw clenched, my hand tensing on the paper in my hand.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, it has to be good for something,” he smirked as he started to push my door closed. “I’m sure you’re a greedy little bitch.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Don’t you dare close that door,” I hissed, pushing back from my desk, standing from my chair, and straightening my skirt.

“What are you going to do about it?” Trent taunted as he took a menacing step toward my desk. “Just because your big mouth has gotten you in Tom’s good graces doesn’t mean anyone else in this office has to respect you. Whores like you are replaceable.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Is this because I wouldn’t let you take me home last night?” As he stopped in front of my desk, I shook my head as he reached over to pick up my abandoned folder. Slamming my hand down on the edge of it, I leaned into his face, trying my best to keep my voice quiet. “This is work that was assigned to me by our supervisor. It’d be in your best interests if you took your hands off this confidential paperwork and went back to your office. If you leave now, I’ll even skip my trip to HR to file a harassment complaint about the blatant lies and inappropriate language that came out of your big mouth a few seconds ago.”

“Bitch,” he hissed as he released the folder.

“Yup, that’s me. A total bitch. But for the next few weeks, I’m the bitch you’re reporting to, so get used to it.”

He growled, narrowing his eyes at me as he leaned in, his breath stale with coffee wafting into my personal space. “You think I don’t know how you got where you are? Maybe Deacon didn’t need to worry about that gold-digging assistant of his. He’s got a little skank ready to get on her knees and open her mouth to further her career a few doors down from his office.”

“Get out,” I growled through clenched teeth. I didn’t have time to deal with his shit, but I wasn’t about to sit here and take his abuse. “Walk back through that door and stay the fuck out of my way while Thomas is gone, or I’ll make your life hell. You’re taking it too far this time.”

He shook his head, backing off and heading for the door, tucking his middle finger behind his back as he stopped in the open doorway.

“Good luck keeping shit together. You’re going to need it.”

“Fucking dick,” I sighed, my hands shaking as I collapsed back into my chair.

While I knew I should be drafting a report to HR about his increasingly aggressive behavior toward me, I also knew that I didn’t have time.

We were already in a crunch to get one of my client’s internal web infrastructures into place before the end of the quarter, but adding the preliminary planning from the Jacobsen account would keep me here half the night. I could easily work from home after hours, but the servers here were faster, and if I was going to do a final test of the system, I needed the extra boost.

My unpleasant interaction with Trent was forgotten as I lost myself in work, my lunch sitting uneaten in the mini fridge in the corner. Most people hated working until their eyes crossed, but it helped keep my mind off the other things in my life that weren’t going to plan. Not having anyone at home to give a crap if I was still at work made it easier to keep going.

“Kelly,” the speaker on my phone chimed with an interoffice page, and I pulled off my blue-light blocking glasses, hitting the speakerphone button to connect with Deacon’s assistant, Angela.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I responded, distracted as I continued to verify I had completed all the changes the clients had requested before I moved on to proofing the copy on the next part of the site.

“Deacon would like to speak to you in his office.”

“Right now?” I asked as I took my hand off the mouse and sat back in my chair.

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