EVERETT
When I get home from work, it's already too late, and I find Caiti snuggling with our cat on the sofa, a bowl of chips next to them as they watch some new crime thriller series without me. I bang the door a little more loudly than I need to on my way in to capture their attention, and it works. The cat mewls noisily, jumping from the couch cushion to follow me as I stroll to the kitchen, where I pour myself a glass of water and throw her some cat treats on the kitchen floor.
Walking back to the living room, I take my place next to Caiti, resting my head on her shoulder. She doesn't move or say anything but puts her hand on the side of my face as her other free hand continues to feed her mouth with chips.
"You work too much. You know that, right?"
"They are always on my back with new targets that I have to fulfill, and you know how badly I need this job."
Caiti tilts her face to gaze at me.
"What if you found a new position in a different company where they aren't working you to the bone?" She runs her fingers through my hair. "You might have already filled your resume with all the skills you need since you have been working so hard every day. That's to count for something."
"Yeah, that's right." I blow out a harsh breath. "As if finding the thing you want is easy since there are always too many people vying for the same position. I'm lucky to even have a job in this economic downturn."
She scoffs.
"You have to start trying somewhere. If this company is making your life hell, then there's no sense in you clinging to it. Am I right?"
I nod.
"You're right." I rub the tender spot on the back of my shoulder. "Whenever I find the time between working at my two jobs, I'd start looking for a new opportunity somewhere else."
She bites onto more chips.
"You sure would, honey."
At that exact moment, my phone rings and buzzes in my pants pocket. I reach for the phone, and as soon as my eyes fall on the screen, I inadvertently sigh. Caiti proceeds to give me a look.
"So, that horndog is calling you the second you get home?" She rubs her fingers under her chin. "Why are you even with him, Evie?"
"I love him."
"You love him too much." She shakes her head. "He still won't fuck you?"
"He keeps saying that we have to wait till we get married. Well, according to him, doing it before getting engaged is a sin."
She laughs at that.
"Oh, sure. Sign me right up for some of that." Her green eyes are gleaming under the light coming from the television. "But hold up, him calling you three times a day for phone sex isn't a sin?"
I shake my head.
"No."
"Oh, sweetie." She exhales. "Well then, go on, help your boyfriend get off."
"Hey!" I protest. "I get off sometimes too, you know?"
"Yeah, now, we are lying to ourselves, aren't we, sweetie?"
I throw a cushion over her face before exiting the living room to lock myself in my bedroom.
***
WAYLON
My dad's business is a mess. I didn't realise how bad it was when I joined the company, but now I can see all the chips falling together into their places. They held back so much of that information within themselves, so I didn't get an even playing ground when I started managing the different departments. All the expenses reports were held up, the accounting people were obnoxious and ill-equipped, the public relations team was basically one woman answering all the emails, and there was no actual legal team to run things down here. I had to go through so much trouble fixing the necessary cogs to ramp up our supply chains.
Nonetheless, it made me wary of why my dad wanted me to manage the largest media company he owns when he could have easily hired anyone much more capable for his bidding? He could have had literally anyone else participate in this mundane business work, but he chose me.
Even a media company that sometimes dabbles itself in manufacturing paper needs to know how to work things around here. The instant I came to work, I fired the presiding CEO because his mouth was full of shit and lies. He didn't know what was happening under the parent company's roof, let alone figure out how things work for the small and medium-sized businesses we have functioning under us.
And he was not the only one I fired. I fired employees one after another after I did the monthly and annual appraisals.
There was so much lack of vigor, spirit, and professionalism that sometimes I just sent them an email saying, 'they're fired.'
Most of them didn't know the first thing about their jobs which further pissed me off. I wonder how my dad kept such a giant multinational corporation working all these years when it was run by no one other than incompetent idiots.
Every little thing about this company was a piece of an overwhelming puzzle that needed sorting out.
All these sister companies looped around one parent company, and all the different offices synonymous with one department to another buried under the same building can drive anyone insane. Not just me.
Someone knocks on my door.
"Come in."
"Hey Wayne, these were the reports you asked for." She hands me the files. "Let me know if you need anything." Then she heads for the door and halfway towards it, pivots on her feet. "Why are you still here? Don't you want to go home? It's after nine, almost."
"I can't, Kyra." I mince my words. "I have some things to take care of. Do you have something else you want to tell me?"
She shakes her head.
"No, I'll be on my way, then."
"Sure, good night."
"You, too." She smiles at me with a longing look weighing heavily in her eyes. "Have a nice night."
She struts out of the room, her skirt tight around her ass. Without really wanting to, my eyes latch on to the way her butt wobbles as she moves from the front corridor to the back.
I can't fuck her.
I remind myself.
To pursue and fuck her is not why I am here.
Leaving through the files she left for my perusal, I catch some errors that the marketing team has made, and I wonder if they need firing too. I put my head in my hands, massaging the prominent nerve that throbs under pressure.
My mind accidentally goes back to the thought of the meeting fixed with my doctor a week from now. I wonder why I need to make such a desperate move to secure the financial stability that is my birthright. Losing my sense of humility, I cuss under my breath.
I won't let him win.
I will find a way to work around my dad's new will.
He won't have the last laugh because I will dish out the best joke of his life that he has ever heard.
I will give him the heir he so desperately wants out of marriage.
The doctor wants to meet me so they can check the feasibility of me freezing my sperm for the right woman that I'd have to find by myself to use as a surrogate. I have a plan brewing in my head. Since my dad didn't leave me another choice, I'd have to find a loophole to beat him at his own game.
EVERETT"Hey, how are you doing, buddy?" I speak over the static as I pour myself a cup of coffee in the kitchen. I was up late last night talking to my boyfriend talking about things he'd like to do to me. After I fell asleep during the call, the first thing I thought about in the middle of the night when I woke up to pee was the promise I made to my brother at the beginning of this week. I texted him that I would call him. Then I kicked myself for not calling him during the entire week. "Are you feeling okay?""I'm fine, Evie." My brother's voice is crisp and void of emotion, as it has been since we lost our parents last year during a tragic car accident. He hasn't shown much emotion or talked about anything more than was requisite. I can't blame him. "They told me you're behind on paying my quarterly fees." There's a gruff intonation to his voice. "The counsellor suggested I talk to you and sort the payments out. Are you going to pay my fees soon?""Yeah, buddy, I think I will be a
WAYLON"You wouldn't believe how much damage-control I had to do at work this week?" My breath comes out in spurts. "They are hopeless, completely hopeless. How come my dad didn't fire half of these useless assholes?" I stare at Finn's hands as he fidgets with a stress toy sitting at my desk. "I almost wish-I wish I had a calmer head on my shoulders because I can't deal with half of this bullshit.""Whew, Way, you need to learn how to relax." He throws the duck towards me, and I barely catch it before it hits me in the face. "I know your dad has been cruel to you, keeping you away from partying and women. . .but cut the guy some slack. He knows you better than you do." He clicks his tongue. "That's how he gets to push all of your buttons." Then he centres his gaze over me. "Don't you think?""Hey, whose side are you on?" I thin my lips. "Mine or his?" I fold my hands over my chest. "Because from my field of vision, you're blatantly on his side. And I'm not surprised.""Why doesn't it
EVERETTHe's such a jerk!What an insolent jerk!I'll fire you in a flash because that's my management style.You made the kind of mistake that gets people fired.Oh, I'm such an asshole because I love firing people, ha, ha, ha, ha.The moment I turned my back on him and left his spacious office, I let myself feel my anger steaming under my skin. How do people get away with being such a pain in the ass of their employees?His style can kiss my ass.Gosh! Why do all the assholes sit in all the top positions in this company?First, I only had Kyra to deal with, and now him?Waylon Thorne, from the gates of hell himself?As soon as I get in the elevators and watch the doors shut in front of me, I yell loudly inside the thick metal-enclosed walls. I yell, yell, and yell, till I can't anymore. It looks like this is how I will be processing my emotions from now on.What else I'm supposed to do?Does he think he can bother me? He can be the goddamn president of all the successful multinati
EVERETTSomeone orders a large red velvet cake for their twenty-fifth anniversary as they are busy having the three-course meal in the restaurant. My eyes glaze over the decoration as I remember I have to pipe out the names when I bring the cake to their table. Whether I like it or not, the fast-paced work atmosphere at my marketing job and the exhaustion I have from toiling in it are finally catching up with me. I find it hard to spell the name, Lina. It's a simple name, but I struggle to design the alphabet with the frosting.I also hold back a big yawn that threatens to fan the icing on the cake and spew my germs all over it.A loud scream rends the air, almost sudden and quick. It feels like something comes crashing down on the floor, or it might be a man in the background working through his pain from a paper cut."What do you think you are doing?" When I finally look at the woman sitting at the table across from me, I see that I have piped the icing all over the back of her hand
EVERETT"What were you thinking was going to happen, Everett?" Juan speaks to me with anger lacing his words. "Was that the best way to get rid of a problematic customer?" He shakes his head. "How many times I have told you to not get into a verbal confrontation with an angry jerk? They always deflect blame, but you end up putting your physical safety and dignity at risk." He puts some more distance between us. "What if he had hurt you?" He glares at me. "What if I hadn't stepped in at the right moment or if I wasn't around?"Priscilla steps into the conversation, breaking his line of thought."This situation is entirely your own making, Juan." She scoffs. "How are you any better than that asswipe you just threw out minutes ago? You're the pot calling the kettle black.""Don't interrupt me like that again, darling." He runs a hand to the back of his head. "I'm just trying to put some sense into Evie's head. She keeps getting herself involved in physical altercations. Some day she's go
WAYLONThere is a painful bind in my lower back, and I put my fingers to massage the pinched nerve straining heavily on my spine. I exhale as I try to relax in my bed. Twisting to my sides, I stretch against the mattress. My fingers reach for the TV remote as I turn on the television to watch some mindless show playing at a low volume in the background.My phone rings on the nightstand, sending vibrations across its wooden surface. Exhaling a long breath, I reach for it. I have a faint idea who's calling me at this hour."Hi, honey." The woman on the other side of the static whispers seductively. "I haven't seen you around my bar lately. Where have you been?" She chuckles. "Are you ignoring me?" She takes a beat. "Do you think it's a good idea to ignore me?""Andie, why are you calling me at this hour?" I take a beat. "Have you seen what time it is?"She laughs, not even fazed by my hostility."Sweetie, have you checked what time it is?" She mimics my question. "I have called you, lik
EVERETTThe noises are coming from the door. Someone opening and closing it over and over wakes me up at once. I sit up, yawning and running my fingers around my face."Hey!" Caiti talks. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry about it if I did. I didn't mean to make such a ruckus coming in through the door."I stretch my arms behind my back as I sit upright, resting my neck on our waterfall backrest of the couch. I run my fingers on the cushioned seat and then the pleated arm, hoping the friction against my palms would awaken me completely."Hey," I say, licking my lips. Then I fix my wavy hair behind my ear, wiping the spit from the corner of my mouth. "Where did you go? I waited for you so long that I fell asleep here on the couch.""Oh, Evie!" She sits down right next to me as I'm still waking up and then side-hugs me. "You didn't have to do that!""I know I didn't, but you know what I am like, right?" I stretch some more against the backrest. "My mind goes to places without wanting it to
EVERETTWhen I get into the washroom, I wipe my knee with clean tap water from the sink. I fish for a bandage and then put it on the mouth of the wound. Thankfully, there aren't any rips to my beautiful skirt, and I glide the fabric against the wind to recheck it. It looks fine.Phew!Now I won't have to hurry home after work to change again.I wasn't lying when I told the boss of my boss that I didn't have a spare change of clothes on me. Maybe admitting that would not have made him care about me snared up in a predicament like the one I saw myself mired in the lobby.After I called the maintenance to retrieve and remove the art installation, I came straight here. I had to because I was so nervous about what had happened and needed a quiet moment to catch my breath.Now that I'm here, I can see that my makeup needs a bit of retouching.So, I search for my makeup bag in my purse and luckily see I have it on me because of my date later tonight. I take a moment to set it on the counter