Page 92 of Stuck On Them

Ethan:That’s red flag number one.

Me:He hasn’t said anything about me yet, has he?

Ethan:No. They are all too busy stuffing their faces. Don’t worry, I’m keeping my stank eye on him. Ready for red flag number two?

Me:I don’t think I have a choice.

Ethan:You can tell me to stop. I just thought it would cheer you up hearing me rip apart all his flaws.

Me:Go for it.

Ethan:He’s got a really long stray nose hair.

I nearly spit out the sip of soda I’d just taken. It gave me great joy to know he’d missed a hair trimming.

“There’s that smile that was missing when you ordered.” Jay set a tray with my sandwich in front of me. “Extra mustard, good day pastrami only.”

“Thank you.” I’d barely met this guy, yet he treated me like an old friend.

“Whatever might be the cause of your sadness, you did the right thing coming here. Nothing is more important than taking care of yourself.” He knocked on the table and then left me to my lunch.

He was right. Taking care of myself was important and trying to sit through any more of that meeting with that asshole was only going to hurt me.

As I started eating, I started making my own red flag list. I’d ignored so much and just become complacent with a mediocre relationship. Now that I had three men who treated me like a queen, it made me realize how truly shitty Daniel treated me.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t see Daniel’s reasoning behind me paying him rent and paying for some of the wedding, but to dump every single cent I had to my name? I’d done it because he’d said we were partners, and it wouldn’t have mattered after we were married anyway. But we should have already been partners even before we were engaged.

He really didn’t deserve any more space in my brain, but knowing he was back at LRG with my men and potentially ruining a big deal for them almost made my pastrami sandwich unpalatable.

Then he threw in my face that they’d get bored of me just like he did. And I’d just… ran. I ran away instead of telling him there was nothing boring about me. Maybe he’d been the problem all along.

I finished my sandwich and pulled out my phone.

Me:Text me when the deal is signed. I’ll be waiting on the sixty-ninth floor.

Ethan:I just got glared at for snort laughing about sixty-ninth. What are you going to be waiting for exactly?

Me:Don’t you worry.

Ethan:Should I get some popcorn?

Me:No… I don’t think.

I had no clue what I was doing, but I knew that I needed to do something, or the weight of Daniel was going to continue to bring me down.

* * *

It didn’t surprise me when Ethan texted me a little over an hour later that the contract had been signed. The negotiations in the morning had gone well since both parties had been prepared and willing to compromise.

I’d hung out in the breakroom, mostly keeping to myself. Most people knew me since an email had gone out when I’d come back. I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone knew I was also in a relationship with my three bosses. But when I found myself thinking about if I cared, I didn’t.

I used the stairs to get to the seventieth floor, not wanting to miss Daniel. My plan was pretty straightforward and was what I needed to do to finally let go.

Ethan was leaving the conference room as I approached, Fatima, the company’s head lawyer following him out. His eyes widened at the sight of me. “You were actually serious about waiting?” He shut the door so no one could hear.

Fatima gave me a nod and headed for the elevators, her phone already to her ear. I was grateful she didn’t stick around because the fewer people that knew about this the better.

“Yes, I was serious. Are they all still in there?” I had expected them to all be filing out and I could just pull Daniel to the side and say what needed to be said. The things I should have said to him in the bathroom.

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