Page 144 of The Bonus

I try to call my mother, again her phone is also switched off.

I’m about to explode.

My phone rings, it’s Mark.

“Bad news,” he answers.

“What now?”

“We can’t get clearance to leave the airport until seven tonight.”

“Why not?”

“The airspace is full, that’s the earliest we can leave.”

“This is the day from hell.” I drag my hands through my hair. “Fine, that will have to do.” I hang up in a rush and my intercom buzzes. “What?” I scream as I lose the last of my patience.

“Mr. Ferrara, are you continuing your meeting, the attendees are all waiting online, sir.”

Fuck…the meeting, I forgot all about it.

Umm…I try to refocus.

“Get them to break for lunch, restart the meeting in half an hour.” I hang up and call my mother again.

The phone number you have called is not

available right now

My blood boils as the sky turns red.

I’m going to kill her with my bare hands.

Grace

I sit in the darkness and stare out over the lake from my back porch. It’s 9 p.m. The children are tucked tightly in bed and yet I still can’t calm down.

I’m livid, furious beyond belief.

Deb has been over here trying to damage control my heart, but it’s impossible.

Mrs. Ferrara’s hurtful words keep coming back to me, over and over again like a megaphone on repeat.

If you think you can hold my son ransom with your bastard illegitimate children, think again.

I hate that I let her get to me.

Let me guess… You seduced him on his desk one night after work? I’m assuming you were wearing something sexy, maybe a suspender belt that you purposely let him see? And the earth moved for you…but he wanted nothing to do with you after? I’ll let you in on a little secret, Grace Porter. Gabriel has had sex with most of his PAs. You are nothing special…I mean, look at you.

You know what, she hit the nail on the head…that’s exactly how it happened. I went to his office late at night and…oh, my heart constricts with shame.

I wipe a lone tear that escapes from my eye.

His family are nothing to us, why should I care what they think of me?

My history with Gabriel Ferrara seems to be repeating itself; he’s been back for not even two weeks and already I feel like a worthless piece of crap.

Him being around is just not good for me, everything about him reminds me of a time when I felt weak and vulnerable.

---