Page 51 of Rules in Love
“Yes, and we all know you always go along with what the boys say.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? In anger, I flopped around, then sat upright, slamming my fists into the pillows and releasing more stench. Finn had been right. I should have brought my own linens. ”If you’re being like this because of Finn, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I know you like him, but nothing is happening between us.”
She ignored me. And I couldn’t be arsed with a follow up.
Five minutes later, just as drool pooled on my chin, she sighed and turned so far to her side, she was almost face-down. “Please, I see you swanning around him and batting your lashes all day. And not just him, either. You love male attention. Look at the extremes you went to for that creep Herman Wise’s party. It’s pathetic.”
“What the hell are you on about?” I sleepily wiped my mouth and thought back. “Are you talking about his retirement party? I just did what they asked me to do. Creep or not, doesn’t the founder of our firm deserve a celebration?”
“Retirement party.” She scoffed. “God, you are so naive. He isn’t retiring, Scarlett. He was forced out.”
“Forced out? But…why?”
“Because, unlike you, I don’t enjoy his leering and advances and made a sexual harassment complaint. Jason has allowed him the dignity of early retirement, but it’s all a sham. He had no choice. It was this or a lawsuit.”
I sat in stunned silence. Yes, I’d seen Herman sleazing onto Victoria too, but…” I honestly had no idea. “I don’t know what to say, Victoria. Actually, yes, I do. I promise you, I never invited his attention, and I certainly don’t like it. I hate it.”
“Yeah?” she snapped, punching into the mattress. “Well, why didn’t you say anything, then? Why did you put up with it? All it did was condone and enable his behavior and make it harder for others. People like me. I was his assistant, Scarlett. I couldn’t just walk away and hide in the restroom or conference room. I had to be ogled and touched every day. It took me months to build up the nerve to say something, and when I did, it ruined any chance I had with—” She stopped, held her fingers over her mouth, and blinked away her tears.
Vomit rose in my throat. “With Finn?”
“Eww. God. No. Not with Finn. I know I flirted a bit with him, but it was stupid and… Look, it doesn’t matter now. It’s done. I’m moving on. We have a week or two left, then Herman will be gone, and I never have to see him again.”
I nodded and placed my hand on her shoulder. “I am sorry, Victoria. And I think you’re very brave. Reporting him was something I thought about, but I was too scared of the repercussions.” I swallowed the sickness that lingered and took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you know this about me, but I have a son.” Her head slowly turned to mine, but she didn’t look surprised. “Ben is his name. I had him when I was young, making me a bit of a target at school and at my last job. If I ever spoke up about anything, it only made things worse. I guess I just learned not to make waves. I never considered that I was helping make someone more vulnerable by protecting myself.”
“Yeah? Well, you did. But I guess I can’t blame you. Jason’s mum had him young. People gave her a hard time, too.”
“You know Jason’s mum?”
Her perfectly made-up cheeks flushed pink, and she turned away. “I’ve met her a few times.”
Leaning over to the table, she picked up the remote and switched on HBO. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell popped up on the screen, and we both snuggled back under the sheets, sans wall.
The first words purred from Marilyn’s lips,“It’s men like you that have made me the way I am,” seemed fitting.
“It’s a shame we spent all this time hating each other when we could have been helping one another,” Victoria eventually sighed.
With a sigh, I turned to face her. “I never hated you, Victoria. ”
She looked over her shoulder and grimaced. “Oh, that’s nice.”
Okay, then.
My roomie fell asleep five minutes later while I sat chewing my nails and eating the mini-bar contents.
The kilojoules consumed came in handy later at Jocelyn’s lot. All a bit grumpy after an afternoon nap, we must have circumnavigated that plot a hundred times, and as usual, I was in fine form. I almost careened down a ravine because I was watching the setting sun bounce off Finn’s hair. And when he stopped to look over the river and drank from his water bottle, a drip slipped from his lips. My eyes followed it down his chin and neck till it disappeared between his vast moob canal. That was when I walked into a tree.
It wasn’t all about Finn, though. Standing in the very space our design could soon inhabit brought the daunting enormity of the project into clearer focus. It was more than a smidge overwhelming, but being surrounded by centuries-old trees, each holding the secrets of generations who walked these paths before us while stoically keeping guard of their own small section of the river, was inspirational.
Despite our deep and meaningful talk, Victoria barely looked at me the whole time. It was a trend that continued at our boozy and flirtation-filled dinner. Keeping with our promise to stay friends, it wasn’t Finn and me trading longing glances and suggestive smiles—at least not much.
“Victoria and Jason are going at it hard, Red. I feel like one of those creeps that pays to watch.”
“Yes. It’s fascinating. I guess I’ve been so occupied with you…your aunt’s project that I’ve missed a few things.” I leaned over the table, and Finn did the same. “Herman Wise isn’t retiring. He’s been pushed out.”
Finn popped an ice cube in his mouth and crushed it as he watched Victoria feed Jason her carbonara. The flex and clench of his jaw had me biting my lip and forgetting what we were talking about. “I know.”
“You know what?”
