Page 59 of The Operators

Mack:Like that wasn’t your fault.

Me:I told you I was fine.

Mack:You always say that. Doesn’t mean it’s true.

Me:And how did you know I was home?

Mack:I tracked your phone.

I forgot I had shared my location with him and never turned it back off. I remedy that immediately.

Me:Stalker much?

Mack:Keep pretending you don’t like it.

My jaw drops. Who does this fucker think he is? He’s right, but still.

Me:Goodnight, Carver.

Mack:No. No, not goodnight. Is he there with you?

Me:You don’t get to play that game with me.

Mack:I’m not trying to play games with you. What can I do to fix this?

Me:I don’t know. Figure it out.

Mack:Let me come over.

Me:Absolutely not.

Mack:Why not?

Me:Because you’re just trying to figure out if John is staying over.

Mack:Is he?

Me:You haven’t earned the privilege of knowing that intimate of details about my life.

Mack:Like fuck I haven’t!

Me:Mm, so sorry, I’m getting sooooo sleepy.

Mack:Thea!

Mack:Don’t you dare!

Mack:Thea Marie! You come back right now!

I don’t.

Not even ten minutes later I get a notification from work about a text response. “This motherfucker can not be serious.”

Of course he did. Of course he fucking did. Mack paid to have me respond to him. I can’t just ignore it or I’ll have Melissa all over my ass about not responding to clients on time. Although, technically I have forty eight hours to respond because I’m off today. I open my work app and click on the message anyway.

Client message:Call me. Now.

Molly:No problem. I can get online, but I have to warn you that you’ll be paying off hours rates.

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