Peyton announced to Mia, who was staring at her as if she would pass out, "I'm going for a shower." "Cassie will arrive shortly."
Mia remarked, "I might take off then." Mia avoided spending as much time as possible with Cassie since she intimidated her.Peyton responded, "You don't have to leave.""Yes, I believe I do."Peyton pulled Mia into an embrace and whispered, "I don't blame you, Mia, and neither will Cassie.""Nevertheless, I'd rather not be here just in case," Mia remarked.Peyton cluckingly responded, "Okay, chicken," as Mia made her way to the front door.Peyton took a deep breath and fought back the tears when she was alone herself. How could she always get caught up in this?Chloe and Becky accompanied Cassie as they arrived. They carried gifts that could be eaten when they entered Peyton's flat. Chloe was ready to break into any database in order to assist Peyton—she had already purchased her laptop. Peyton felt her tears well up again as Becky gave her a firm hug.She followed them into the kitchen, blinking back tears as Becky started preparing breakfast. Eggs with bacon. Just what Peyton needed to ease her upset tummy from the hangover."So," Cassie remarked while seated at the kitchen counter next to Peyton on a stool. "Tell me what took place."With a sigh, Peyton tried not to get upset with her flawless sister. While Cassie appeared to be in charge of her life, Peyton's life felt distinctly out of control.She went to Chloe and said, "I got home from work yesterday. It was a really shit party too." Chloe just smiled and caressed her baby's belly. "I finished my dinner and dozed off in front of the TV."Becky arched an eyebrow as she turned from her bacon-frying station. "Did all of this occur while you were asleep?""Well, not quite," Peyton sighed. "Mia stopped by. She pounded on my door to wake me awake. It was she who first informed me about Dale.Cassie raised a hand and whispered, "Wait." I take it that Dale failed to inform you directly?"Peyton gave a headshake. "I was sorry," was all that was in his text message when I checked my phone later."The idiot! Cassie spat out. She gave herself a shake, inhaled deeply, and turned back to face Peyton. Alright. Proceed now.Peyton bit her lip and spat the word "wife" as if it tasted horrible. "So Mia showed me F******k and Dale's new relationship status and then we checked out the photos of his new wife." "And after that, we drank."There was silence for a while. The sound of the cooking bacon and the scrape of Becky's spatula were the only sounds coming from the flat."And what about the video? Chloe timidly enquired."At the time, it seemed like a good idea," Peyton said, lowering her gaze to the counter. "I don't think I really thought Mia would share it."It's been viral, Chloe reported.Peyton let out a puff of breath. With defeat, she murmured, "I gathered that." "My first clue was the five million notifications on my phone."Chloe replied, "I can try to delete it, but I don't think it will do much good right now."Yes, Peyton groaned. "I suspected that as well." Mia removed the original, but a blog named In Like Finn found it and shared it along with a plethora of other websites.Like, Finn? Cassie enquired. "I am aware of them.""Have you? Peyton gave her a startled glance.Cassie gave a nod. "Our PR company collaborated with them and a men's magazine on certain cross-promotional projects. It is a really well-liked blog. a blog that costs money."A blog that costs money?"To read it, men must subscribe to it. I'm not sure if this is a single individual or a group of authors, but this guy delivers dating advice. Similar to a hybrid between Hitch and a sidekick.Fantastic, Peyton replied. "I'm not going to be laid again, are I?"With a laugh from the girls, Cassie wrapped an arm around her. Remember, you don't even need a man for that."Peyton let out a moan. "I really am such a fool."No, sweetheart, you're not. Just now, a cowardly asshole injured you. It would be a blessing for any person to have someone like you in his life.Peyton gave Chloe a grin. Despite being Cassie's buddy initially, she was a fantastic employer and friend as well.What then will I do?"Becky said, putting a full plate in front of her, "Nothing until we eat."Peyton felt her tummy churn with eagerness.Cassie handed them the to-go cups from their favorite espresso café and remarked, "Oh, I forgot the coffee."Closing her eyes, Peyton took a big sip of the life-giving coffee and enjoyed every bite. If she drank enough coffee, she could handle this new problem in her life.As she stood across from them, savoring a large mouthful of bacon and eggs, Becky murmured, "You know." "The video has received some really wonderful comments.""Mia expressed the same thing, but I was unable to look."It's accurate, Chloe stated. Many ladies agree with you and what you said. It's true that some men view the equal rights movement as an opportunity to kick back and do nothing. They hire a lady who puts in a lot of work, gets paid handsomely, and then comes home to take care of the cooking and cleaning.Cassie gave a snort. "It's not me," she murmured. "I divided the tasks equally with Brian. It's only fair that he works as hard at home as I do, considering how hard I work as much as he does outside the house.Yes, but Brian is not a Neanderthal; he is an advanced guy.She said with a dreamy smile, "True."Dale, not in that way."Aside from your fit of rage, you don't seem overly upset about the split."Peyton sighed once more. She remarked, "It made me realize something.""What is that? Chloe enquired.Perhaps I wasn't as infatuated with him as I thought. You know, all I wanted was to be married and stable. He appeared to be the ideal man. He has decent but not spectacular looks. He was kind to me and did an excellent job. Although the sex wasn't great, you know it was consoling as well? Like, maybe I wouldn't have to worry that I wasn't enough for him if he was a true dynamo in the sack. I was confident that he wouldn't cheat because he was just mediocre.In the increasingly silent kitchen, that final sentence was met with silence. The truth was that he had cheated, even on a showgirl.She complained, "I'm destined to be alone for the rest of my life," and then shoved a large piece of bacon into her mouth.After being fed and checked on by her pals, Peyton was left alone once again. She took a seat with her laptop and confronted her worries. She saw the video that she had brought up.Indeed. Even though it was just as embarrassing as she had anticipated, there was something unsettl
"Carter Beckett! As he raced inside the office, Finn shouted.A few heads peered out from behind workstation dividers, quickly dissipating again when they noticed the meerkat-like grimace on his face. Finn showed no concern. He was angry, and he wanted everyone to know how angry he was.As Finn entered his office and closed the door behind him, his buddy and editor called him "Finn."Finn replied, "Fucking hell, Carter," and he fell back into the chair across from the desk. "I take a weekend trip, no, not even a weekend trip—""Finn—"Finn snarled, "You don't get to talk yet." "After spending a weekend away, you write this garbage on my blog? Carter, please, I thought we were capable of more than this.Carter only stared at Finn, who gave a gruff grunt at the back of his throat, without responding. Alright?""Now that I can talk, okay? Carter enquired while grinning pitifully.Finn flashed his fangs, and Carter raised his hands in submission."Okay," Carter said. Indeed. That video is
What happens then if I do? Carter responded, glaring at Finn with a no-nonsense expression. "You work for me, and I manage this goddamn website." You will write the fucking snot out of this if you want to carry on with your extremely successful profession as the man people go to for anything with women and dating."First off, we collaborate; I don't work for you. Secondly, don't you think that alienating every woman on the fucking globe would hurt my readership?""Finn, women don't read your blog.""No, but they are dated by men who do." How do you think this will turn out when more ladies become aware of what I'm doing?"Therefore, keep them from learning.And how would you suggest that I accomplish that while also writing about it?"Recall that your blog is exclusive to members. Furthermore, the males who are reading it won't be foolish enough to tell the ladies what you're doing since they will definitely not want them to know.Finn whispered, "I believe you're giving them more cre
He leaned back in his chair, looked over the statistics, and muttered a curse. Yes. They were not good. Up until a few months ago, the drop-off had been slow; after that, they were dropping like flies. He wondered how many of his regular readers had been lured to the bright new Man About Town website, which was giving away a free six-month membership with every new register since there was a new site, a rival site. Although The Playbook provided a tonne of free stuff (they would be crazy not to), there was a fee to read his blog as well as some of the other blogs on the site. It was comparable to the cost of a print magazine membership, so it was understandable why his viewership was declining when Man About Town offered six months of free material.Fuck it.He had no desire to engage in a sexual rivalry with another website. And what was even more unappealing than that was opening fire in a conflict that would harm only men and women worldwide. None of us would benefit from a conflic
Jack glanced at his kid in the hospital bed for a little minute, a moment of agonizing doubt, but he ultimately nodded and walked out. Readjusting his seat, Finn turned to face Riley.So, he uttered. "Rugby?"Riley gave a shrug. "Lunchtime was just a muck-around game." I was tackled, but it didn't really matter how I fell on my arm.Finn looked over the cast. "Is there space for writing on it?"Riley smiled. "Not with this particular one. Until my arm is less swollen, this is only a fictitious one. You can write on one of those colored ones that I get to keep."Very cool," Finn remarked. "What game are you playing? He gave the Nintendo a nod."Zelda.""The most recent one?"Riley gave a headshake. Nope. They just have this old console instead of the new one, but because it's Ocarina of Time, it's still cool, he shrugged.Finn gave a wise nod. He was aware of how much Jack and Riley enjoyed playing video games, particularly the whole Legend of Zelda series.When Finn opened the door af
Peyton swore. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” The rain was pouring down and drenching her to the bone. Rivulets ran down her neck and under her shirt, not that her shirt wasn’t already wet through. She gripped the lug wrench and pulled, willing the nut to loosen so she could replace the tire and get the hell off the side of the road. All she wanted to do was go home and sink into a hot bath with a glass of wine and a good book. She did not want to be stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire in the pouring rain after the shitty day she had already had. It’s not that she hated her job, but ever since her ill-advised YouTube drunken rant, nobody was making her life easy. She saw the snide looks and heard the barely contained sniggers when she’d walked in that morning. Thankfully none of the kids knew anything about the incident and once she was in her costume, none of the parents did either. Dressing up as Wonder Woman was meant to be empowering, but today it just felt like an exc
Finn saw the stranded car and the blinking hazard lights before he saw the woman. He probably wouldn’t have stopped except that she looked so…pitiful. She was sitting in a muddy puddle wet to the skin and looked about ready to burst into tears with a moment’s provocation. He slowed and pulled over, coming to a stop behind her car, and contemplated the situation. She had a flat tire and it looked like she had been trying to get the wheel nuts loose. Her spare sat beside the car ready to go and the lug wrench was still attached to the wheel nut. He opened the door and stepped out into the rain. He quickly pulled on his waterproof jacket, although the summer heat made it uncomfortable. He locked his car and walked over to where the woman was sitting. She looked up at him and blinked resolute blue eyes at him. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her. “Do you need some help?” he asked. “Thank you Captain Obvious,” she muttered and he raised an eyebrow at her. “I
Of all the people to stop and help her, it had to be him. Peyton couldn’t believe that ‘Uncle Finn’ from the hospital had been the only person in all of the city and surrounding suburbs who would pull over to help someone in distress. When she had first walked into Riley’s room and saw him sitting there, her traitorous body had perked up. When she found out that he wasn’t Riley’s dad but his uncle, all her girl parts cheered. She had even flirted with him a bit. And then Riley had commented that ‘Uncle Finn’ was only there to perv on the nurses. Of course, he was. Hadn’t she learned that men were all the same? Had the whole Dale saga taught her nothing? Peyton pulled her car into the underground parking garage and found a place to park. Her building didn’t have its own parking and she paid a tidy sum to walk two blocks to her apartment, but at least her car was safe. With a sigh she climbed out of the car, grimacing at the mess she had made on the front seat. She would need to co