Page 63 of Duplicity

‘Sure,’ he says without looking up from Strava. I roll my eyes at the side of his stupidly handsome face. So hot, but so rude. It’s a standard correlation in men. Just as today’s little threesome is probably standard for guys like Brendan—though usually he’s probably juggling multiple women.

‘I’ve been selected for jury duty, I’m afraid. It starts in two weeks and they expect to need me for another two.’

He looks over at me, frowns, then returns to his phone.

‘That’s fine. We can get you out of it. Elaine can help you.’

‘I’m afraid I’ve already tried. I got the call-up a week ago and I’ve been fighting it, but they’re resolute.’

That gets his attention. He throws his phone onto the expanse of leather between us. ‘Fuck’s sake. Escalate it. I can’t spare you.’

‘I have escalated it,’ I say, trying to keep my voice steady. ‘They won’t budge. I’ve declined it twice before, which hasn’t helped my case.’

He glares at me. ‘What the fuck am I supposed to do while you’re away?’

‘I checked the protocol with Camille. She said they can send in a replacement.’ Though the thought of sending in another woman to bend over for my gorgeous, entitled boss while I’m away is strangely horrifying. Maybe it’s just because our entire setup is so strange, or maybe it’s because having someone else take over both sides of my role would underscore precisely howdisposable, how replaceable, I really am. ‘Or I can ask Elaine to cover,’ I add. ‘And I can get online every evening and play catch-up, too.’

In reality, I’ll be logging in from the hospital, but he doesn’t need to know that.

He’s still scowling. That good-looking face of his gives excellent petulance. He’s actually sticking that plump, suckable lower lip out. He’s so sulky it makes me want to burst out laughing, but it also hardens my resolve.

‘It’s ridiculous,’ he spits out. ‘Let me know who to call and I’ll do it. People like us don’t need to bother with shit like that. There are enough lazy tossers sitting around on their arses and collecting the dole while we hold down actual jobs. Why can’t they find someone else to do it?’

This is the problem with people like Brendan—people who’ve accumulated so much wealth and power that they believe it absolves them from any civic responsibility, or any responsibility that causes them the remotest inconvenience, for that matter. He thinks that because he and his company pay billions in taxes, that lets him off the hook, and it bloody well doesn’t. His attitude is the epitome of entitlement, and elitism, and double standards, and just—grrrrr.

I may not be doing jury duty this time—I may be taking the time to save my daughter’s life—but what Mr Sullivan doesn’t know is that I’ve done it before. I’ve never turned it down. I did a week’s worth of it two years ago, and it was, as a working single mother, a gigantic pain in the arse to juggle it. But I did it, because I believe that every person in the UK has the right to be tried before a jury of their peers. My sense of being inconvenienced, and Brendan’s, should come a distant second to that.

‘That’s a terrible attitude. Having everyone pull their weight is part of our democratic process. Besides, I like to think I’d addsomething to the process. We need our juries to be a good mix of professions and intellects and emotional intelligence.’ I clear my throat. ‘So I’m not interested in trying to wriggle out of my duty. I’m genuinely sorry to have to take leave so early on in this role. But I’ll speak to Elaine later, and I mean it when I say I’ll pick up as much of the slack as I can out of hours.’

‘Shit!’ he says suddenly. ‘You’ll miss the summit. I was counting on having you there.’

I grimace. I know what a big deal this summit is for Brendan and the management team as a whole, and I hate that I’ll be AWOL. At the very least, I suspect he could do with a cheeky blow job to take the edge off before he goes on stage to deliver his address.

‘I know, and I’m so, so sorry. I really am. But I’m going to include Elaine on all the handover stuff from here on in. It seems like the strategy team is planning on doing the whole presentation, and Elaine seems to be a font of knowledge about the event.’ It’s true. Apparently she’s managed the firm’s appearances at all the previous summits, which I believe have been dotted around Europe.

He gives me a death stare and picks up his phone again. ‘Fucking idealistic bullshit. This had better not affect me or mess up the summit in any way. Just because you’re a fantastic lay doesn’t mean you’re indispensable, you know.’

Whata gigantic wanker. The hurt slices through me like a jagged knife. It’s not that I expect the guy to fall in love with me, but to put me in a position like the one back there and then to dismiss me out of hand is disgustingly obnoxious. By focusing solely on his own needs, he’s made me feel cheap. Disposable.Dispensable.

When people show you who they really are, you should take heed.

One more payday. One more payday.I chant my mantra as I silently plot his castration all the way back to the office.

CHAPTER 30

Marlowe

Soph, I met Ethan Kingsley today

Sophia:

Oooh

Thoughts?

Athena:

Hang on

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