Page 54 of As the World Falls

“Yes, it has,” he grouses. “What are you doing? When are you coming home?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I should be coming home soon. I think.”

“You think? Are you just going to forget about all your responsibilities, too? This isn’t like you.”

Anger bubbles inside me so fast, like a volcano, that I can’t stop from erupting. Did I mention I was really, really tired?

“This is like me,” I shout into the phone, completely losing it. “This is like me because it’s me doing it. Quit acting like you always know everything about me or everything that’s right for me. I told you I needed you to cover me for a while, and if you can’t do it, then fine. Just say that. But quit acting like you can control what I do just because you don’t like it.”

The line is silent. Eerily silent. My brain has officially short-circuited and fizzled into nothing. I had nothing else to say. I just wanted him to get off my back for once.

“I think it’s time you talk to someone,” he finally says, and I swear, I think my body has reached a medically concerning state of heat because I was boiling hot. Filled with frustration so potent it made me want to shove my fist through the phone and just Hulk smash his face. “You’ve been acting crazy ever since your brother came back. You’re not handling things well,” he finishes.

“You know what Lance? Screw you! When I get home, you better not even?—”

My phone is ripped from my hand, and I growl in more frustration as I turn behind me, finding James with my phone.His eyes are narrowed on me with a mixture of shock and concern as he observes this heated version of me.

I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he shook his head once. He is so calm yet demanding. He holds his pointer finger out, intending to silence me completely. I was outraged, but then I was curiously struck silent when he lifted my phone to his ear and began speaking into it.

“Cecilia can’t come to the phone right now as she’s in a state of distress, and I suggest if you ever want to speak to her again, you’ll do it with more respect. Are we clear?” He waits silently before a faint smirk curves his mouth. “Very good. Do not call her for the rest of the day.” He then lowers the phone and disconnects the call before handing it back to me.

I’m struck speechless. Did James just come to my defense? I could only imagine what Lance was doing right now. He was probably reeling over the way James just spoke to him. I couldn’t find it in me to care, though. He deserved it after talking to me that way.

Greg leaves the meeting, and everyone else filters out of the room. I notice him walking toward me, and I internally sigh. I didn’t have it in me to socialize today, and James was still searing a hole through me with his stare.

“Hey, Cecilia,” he says as he approaches us. “I just wanted to make sure you were all right. You seemed a little off today in there.”

“Sorry, yeah, I’m ok?—”

“She’s fine,” James growls out, facing him now. “I have her.” Greg’s eyebrows draw together, but he does the smart thing by nodding and leaving. I turn back to James, opening my mouth to ask him what that was all about, but he cuts me off. “My office. Now.”

I follow him as he strides to his office, the air around us feeling heavier the closer we get. He was in a crankier mood thanI was. When the door is shut behind us, and we’re alone in his office, he whirls on me, his eyes dark and thin, his teeth bared like he was ready to bite my throat out.

“I’m not sure what kind of bloody barn animal raised you, but when you are in my place of work, even in my vicinity, for that matter, you will act polite. You will not shout and act like an unreserved lunatic, and you sure as hell will listen and pay attention when you are working around my other employees.”

I laugh incredulously. “Firstly, you’re not going to tell me what to do when you can’t even ask nicely, and secondly, I have no reason to pay attention to anything. None of this is what I wanted,” I shout at him. “I was supposed to see what my brother does around here, and I’ve only seen him once in passing. What the hell am I even doing here?”

His eyes widen as his irritation flows into his voice. “I’ve been asking myself the same thing.”

I point my finger in his direction. “You said I would see Tobias around, but so far, all you’ve done is lock me in your office and send me off into different departments, all while being a complete and total asshole about everything.”

“Your brother has important work to do. I’m sorry I can’t stop and bend the world to your will, Cecilia, but life doesn’t work that way. I needed him to take care of other responsibilities while I was here babysitting you.”

Suddenly, it feels like time slows down.

“So, you…you kept him from me on purpose?” My voice was small, and I hated how he reduced me to it. “You let me come here, knowing I wouldn’t see him. This was all just a big game to you, wasn’t it?” My voice is shaky now, full of emotion I didn’t think he was capable of bringing out of me.

He shuts his mouth, breathing hard in his chest as he stares at me. “I think you should leave,” he says, his voice softer now. You need rest.”

I laugh again, but this time, it's full of defeat. I walk to the chair in front of his desk, swipe my purse that sat in it, and throw it over my shoulder before walking to the door. I leave without saying anything else, and he lets me, also not sparing anything more to say.

When I’m outside, the first number I call belongs to someone I should’ve completely turned to sooner.

“You got something for me, doll face?” Hodge’s thick voice filters through the phone.

“Meet me at our spot in an hour. I have something I think you’ll want.”

His venomous laugh slithers through me like ice. “See you in an hour.” I hang up the phone and hail a taxi back to my hotel to grab James’s hidden ledger under my mattress.

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