Page 2 of Maid to Desire
“What?” she asked innocently.
“You really shouldn’t say stuff like that,” he said faintly.
At least he has half a backbone. More than most of Caroline’s toys,I thought, looking at Travis.
“Oh, I’m just kidding with Melinda. She knows I’m joking. Right, Melinda?” she turned and faced me.
“I don’t find any of this funny,” I replied flatly. “I’ll clear out my desk.”
“Oh, come on, Melinda. Don’t have your panties in a wad,” she rolled her eyes. “How much time do you need off?”
“From this job?” she nodded in response. “A fucking eternity.”
With that, I turned and walked back towards my office. All eyes were on me as my heels clicked loudly on the tile floor. I didn’t care. They knew just as much as I knew that Caroline was a bitch. A cold-hearted bitch.
“What?” I asked, looking at a few of my coworkers. They quickly shook their heads and went back to working-- or pretending to work.
A few minutes later, I had my belongings gathered in a box under one arm. My purse was over my other shoulder and I held my coffee mug. I looked around my office. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes.
“Shitty ass job,” I sobbed, fighting back the tears.
Truth be told, I didn’t really give a damn about this job. Sure the pay was good and I got to tinker with graphics throughout the day, but it didn’t complete me. At the end of the day, it was simply a paycheck.
“Are you really going to quit?” Travis asked, standing in the doorway of my soon-to-be ex-office. I turned towards him and nodded. He gave me a sympathetic look. “Things won’t be the same around here without you.”
I bit back a laugh. Travis and I had exchanged very few words over the past two weeks of him working at the company. In fact, I talked to the copier machine more than I did him. He was always too busy in Caroline’s officeworking.
“I wish you luck,” I said, walking over to the door.
“Thanks,” he smiled somewhat and then stepped aside, allowing me to pass by him. I headed towards the elevators with chattering of my now ex-coworkers filling the air behind me.
“She’s really going to do it,” one of them gasped.
“We’re all fucked if she leaves,” another one muttered. “Someone stop her.”
“You stop her,” I heard Jan from marketing hiss as I pushed the elevator button.
If anyone was watching the cameras they were probably rolling on the ground laughing because I was wearing the biggest shit-eating grin on the planet. The thought of Caroline having to do work for once gave me sweet satisfaction. After three years of working for her and cleaning up all of her messes, I was finally free.
Ding,the elevator sounded and the doors slid open. I stepped inside the elevator and turned to face the opening. All eyes were on me.
I held my head up high, smiled gracefully, and said my final words, “McArthur’s account is due in one hour.”
And just like that, the elevator doors closed as did another chapter of my life.
ChapterTwo
Three days later…
In less than forty-eight hours, I had canceled my gym membership, sold most of my things, and driven across the country back home to California. The place I hated the most.
I loved my mom and sisters dearly, but I hated loudness. It was why I was about to move out of our current place; however, now my hand had once again been forced to live with my sisters. A house full of women could get pretty chaotic, especially now with everyone moving back into our small childhood home.
I expected nothing less. It was only natural for us Reyes' girls to cancel the lease on our apartment in New York and run home after Luna had told us all about mom’s diagnosis and her business potentially going down in smoke. Family sticks together.
Let’s get this party started,I sighed to myself and slowly walked up the basement stairs from the bedroom I shared with Catalina and Margo. Catalina was currently deep in thought looking over notes of some sort and I didn’t want to disturb her by turning on my light and reading.
As I walked up the stairs, every floorboard creaked. I stepped lighter, hoping to tone down the noise. However, the steps seemed to creak more.
