Page 33 of Texting the CEO's Obsession
On my way out to lunch, I adjust my bag over my shoulder and step into the elevator, pressing the button for my old work floor before slumping back against the mirrored wall. The coffee mug Taylor got me last Christmas is still in the break room cupboard. I don’t want it to fall victim to Sloane’s wrath. I’ll need to call Taylor once I rescue it and tell her everything before she vibrates out of her skin in curious excitement. She nearly burst my eardrum with how loud she screamed when I told her I got my own office.
She’s almost as thrilled about my career advancement as she is about the fact that I’m still talking to Mystery Man, even if she’s more impatient than I am to find out who he really is.
I think the intrigue is kind of fun.
Plus, if I don’t know who he is, I don’t have to feel so guilty about harboring feelings for Nick.
The elevator chimes pleasantly just before the doors slide open. I step out onto my old floor, glancing down the hallway at the familiar scenery. Like going back home after a semester at college—even if nothing’s changed, it feels inherentlydifferent. The grey-blue carpet is still worn down the center, potted plants are still half-wilted, corporate-approved art is nailed up on off-white walls, and fluorescents are flickering overhead.
I walk toward the break room, my mood plummeting when I recognize who’s speaking.
“I can’tbelievethat little bitch thinks she’s going to get away with this.” Sloane’s voice is all vitriol and hate, leaving no doubt in my mind that I’m the bitch in question. “Like I don’t have enough on my plate, now I have to stay after hours to play catch up. It’s ridiculous!”
Vindictively, the thought of her having to work late to meet her own quota sparks pleasure in my gut.
A hesitant, noncommittal hum sounds from further in the break room, and my bad mood settles a bit when I recognize the noise as Cassie’s. It’s the same one she makes whenever Sloane is spouting bullshit and she’s just trying to get out of the conversation.
“And Nick said he moved her up because she impressed him with herwork,” Sloane drawls sarcastically. “Like I don’t know when someone is spreading their legs for a promotion.”
Anger flares in me at both the implication that I’d do that and the utterhypocrisy. Sloane’s been trying to get into Nick’s pants for as long as I’ve been around, and she’s not at all subtle about it. Cassie’s a hundred times braver than I am and a million times more willing to argue, and she clicks her tongue in distaste.
“I think you’re being a bit much,” she says, her tone carefully teasing. I know she’s not any more excited to get on Sloane’s bad side than anyone else is, but she’s more outspoken than I ever was. “That doesn’t sound like the Riley I know. She’s super shy, she wouldn’t?—”
“She’s nothere, stop playing kiss-ass,” Sloane cuts her off ruthlessly.
I hear Cassie’s teeth clack together with how fast she shuts her mouth.
“Stupid bitch is probably spending her breaks on her knees beneath his desk, thinking he’ll stay interested for more than two weeks.” The coffee maker beeps to announce the end of its cycle, and the clattering of cups sounds beyond the doorway. “Just admit it’s pathetic. I thought she was going to put actual effort into her career, but if she wants to whore herself out…”
I already know the look Sloane is leveling at Cassie right now, daring her to disagree so she has an excuse to dump all her work on someone else, but I know Cassie. There’s no way she’s going to agree with her. Cassie and I might not be super close like I am with Taylor, but we’re still friends.
“Yeah,” she says softly, the word coming out like she’s forcing it out through her teeth. “Sure.”
Disappointment fills me when I hear Cassie agree with her. How could she agree… she didn’t even bother to stick up for me. Not that I can really blame Cassie for wanting to stay out of Sloane’s warpath, but the small sliver of hope that budded when I realized she was here disappears and leaves me with a sinking hole in my gut.
“Whatever,” Sloane bites out, clearly not happy with Cassie’s level of enthusiasm. “I’m getting tired of sharing his attention, but it won’t be long until she’s out of here. Morgan will regret this, and I can’t wait to watch her cry like the baby she is when he fires her.”
Hatred and hurt well in equal measures, making my breaths come in shallow bursts, tears blurring my vision.
I whirl on my heel and stalk back toward the elevator, unwilling to hear any more of the shit she’s spewing. My coffee mug can wait until the next day she decides not to show up, but Ican’t keep listening to this. It’s already hard enough to convince myself that I deserve these projects, the new responsibilities I’ve been charged with simply because I didn’t have my sights set on them. I’m so used to working my ass off for everything.
Nick said he gave me these files because I impressed him, but I can’t help feeling like they were handed to me.
The trip downstairs goes by in a blur, elevator walls fading to the darkened lobby and melting into the cold grey cement of the parking garage. My hands shake in a mix of rage and anxiety as I fumble to unlock my car and throw myself into the driver’s seat.
The first breath I manage to suck in hurts. I can’t stop the tears that slip down my cheeks as I tug my phone out of my blazer pocket and rush to call Taylor.
She answers on the second ring, and I blurt everything out before she even has a chance to say hello. The words just spew out like vomit, scraping their way up my throat as I repeat the vile things Sloane said about me, Cassie’s hesitant agreement, my own terrified self-doubt and conflicted feelings of guilt.
“That bitch,” Taylor hisses venomously when I finally pause to suck in a shaky breath. “Both of them can fucking rot.”
I shake my head even though she can’t see me, slumping forward against my steering wheel and squeezing my eyes shut in an attempt to stop my tears from falling.
“I should’ve just stayed in my stupid little cubicle and kept my head down,” I say shakily.
“Fuck that!” Taylor barks, her voice halfway between furious and supportive. “You deserve the office and the important clients and everything else you’re getting because you’ve workedyourself half to death since the day you stepped foot in that company! You can’t let some petty little cunt like Sloane stand in the way of your career, Riley.”
I struggle for air, repeating her words in my brain in an attempt to make myself believe them, but tears still burn behind my eyelids. My worries are so crippling that I can’t even force out a half-hearted agreement.
