Page 25 of Hate Notes

"I don't know," I said again. "I get this feeling there's more to him."

"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Kora said. "His cult. That's the 'more' you're sensing. He's going to sacrifice you on an altar of pure ruby and rub your blood all over his naked body. Actually...that sounds kind of hot. Maybe you should give this a chance and keep me posted.With pictures."

I laughed. "You know what I mean. I just don't believe anybody can actually be that mean and cold all the time. It makes me want to know what his deal is. Why isn't he happier? Who hurt him? You know?"

"Oh, girl," Kora said sadly. "Why are you always like this? I love you, but you are the queen of lost puppies. You know that, right?"

"I don't even know what that's supposed to mean."

"It means you think every lost puppy deserves a chance. Even the mean ones who bite people and smell bad. You see somebody perfect, and you think there must be some hidden problem that'll surface over time, like my cousin. So, instead, you go for the obviously flawed guys because you think you can fix what you can see. But, girl, if they're walking around with flaws on display, they're already too far gone. When will you learn?"

I sighed.

"See?" she said. "That was a sigh of acceptance because you know I'm right, and you're still going to do it."

"Nope! Wrong. He broke things off before they started. He said the kiss never happened, and I agreed. I'm Ember Hartwell, the newest employee of Foster Real Estate and nothing else."

"And yet you're coming with me toward Northman Group to report to Cole. Weird."

I gave an irritated jerk of my head to get us walking again. "Briefly," I said. "Cole needs to know I'm making progress so hekeeps paying my salary. I need the money, and I'm going to do whatever I can to keep both men paying me as long as possible."

"What about your hate notes job? Any chance you can keep collecting that paycheck?"

"No chance. Orion's bribery attempts have any employee serving him on super close watch. The moment I don't show this morning, I’m sure I’ll get a call from Patricia Rosh letting me know I’m fired. But it’s fine. Those pants gave me wedgies."

“What if you convinced Orion to let you keep reading him the notes? Make it part of your sales pitch. You could keepthreesalaries.”

I grinned. “As tempting as that is, I know he won’t go for it. Imagine the questions it would raise if my co-workers saw me reading hate notes to the boss every morning before I reported to my desk.”

“Yeah,” Kora said. “Good point.”

We walked quietly for a little ways before Kora gave me an odd look. "Okay, so I'm gathering that you're already planning something stupid like falling for this Orion Foster guy. The fact that he tried to break things off with you probably just made it a hundred times more likely, given that you are the way you are."

"Hey!" I said, giving her a whack with my bag.

"And," she continued. "I'm just wondering if you're ready to risk screwing up your new infatuation's project for the sake of your petty revenge."

"Excuse me?" I said, deeply offended. "This is not petty revenge. This is justice. It's divine retribution. It's as far from petty as it can get."

Kora rolled her eyes, eyes twinkling. "I know. I just wanted to watch you get all worked up. Cole deserves to dip his dong in piranha-infested waters. But seriously, what happens if you have to choose between risking a Foster Real Estate project to keep Cole off your case?"

I frowned. "You keep assuming I'm head-over-heels for Orion. I'm not. I'm only curious, and by all accounts, he's a terrible boss. I may decide that sabotaging his project and collecting a paycheck from Cole as long as possible are both noble goals. So... yeah."

Kora didn't look convinced, but she nodded. "Well, I'm going to lurk near Cole's office and eavesdrop when you tell him all of this."

"All of this?" I said, grinning. "He's getting crumbs, and he's going to like it. All Cole needs to know is that I've been hired and will work toward getting into a position of importance. No need to tell him I'm already on the team, right?"

"Ahh," Kora tapped her temple, nodding. "Smart. I like that. It’ll buy you some time while he thinks you’re trying to get promoted or whatever."

Yeah, I thought.Smart.I hoped that word accurately described the mess I was currently wading neck-deep into.

When I got home that night, Catman was waiting for me on my bed, watching as I held up different outfits for my first day at Foster Real Estate.

"Too slutty?" I asked, holding up a pencil skirt.

His one eye seemed to say "you're fooling nobody."

"You're right," I sighed, tossing the skirt aside. "I should probably go with something more professional. Something that says 'I definitely didn't make out with the boss last night.'"

---