Abigail

"You’re seriously going back there?"

Annette stood in the bathroom doorway, an oversized orange sleep shirt draped across her body.

Her arms were crossed over her chest as she watched me adjust my sunglasses in the mirror.

I looked like shit. I mean, the sunglasses were doing their best, but nothing could hide my swollen and red-rimmed eyes.

It felt like someone had rubbed sand into them.

It turns out that when you cry for four hours, your eyes get all pinpricky like someone shoved a thousand needles in them.

"I’ll be fine," I cleared my throat, trying to reduce the hoarseness in my voice. I didn’t think I had cried this much when Drake cheated on me.

On second thought, I probably had, time had just passed enough for it to seem like I hadn’t.

Hilarious, wasn’t it?

My world had gotten thrown upside down when I found Drake cheating on me.

Now it was I who was being cheated with. I had enabled a cheater.

Every single time I screamed his name and begged for him to fuck me harder, he had a wife and kid at home!

Screw this. Screw him.

The tears pricked the corner of my eyes again, and with a low, strangled sob, I bit them back.

"Abby."

"I can’t just ’not go’, Annie." I smoothed the front of my blouse with both hands, the scene at work yesterday replaying over and over in my head.

"I have a job to do. Personal issues cannot mix with work, that would be so unserious of me. And I can’t quit."

"Nobody’s saying quit. I’m saying take a sick day. You’re entitled to sick days. This..." she gestured at me, "This qualifies for a sick day. Take a leave or something, babes,"

My throat tightened, and I dug my nails into my palm hard enough to feel it. I forced myself to breathe out.

"He has a daughter, Annie," I whispered. "A fourteen-year-old daughter,"

"Stop." Annette crossed the room. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, her chin on my shoulder, her eyes meeting mine in the mirror. "Stop replaying it. It doesn’t help."

"I know."

"He didn’t tell you. You didn’t know. That’s on him, not you."

"I know." I sniffed, bringing my hands over my face. " I know. I never thought he could do this. Not in a million years, even now, some part of me doesn’t want to believe it."

"You didn’t know." Annette rocked me gently.

"I’ll be fine," I snifled, patting her arm and holding my chin up. No more tears, I was tired of them.

Annette held on for one more second. Then she let go and stepped back.

"Text me every hour."

"Isn’t that excessive?"

"Every hour, Abigail." She replied sternly, her brows drawn together in a non negotiable manner.

"Okay, okay," I mumbled, giving her a tight hug before walking out of the bathroom.

***

It was unfair that his corporation remained the same. I got my whole world rocked in this building yesterday, but no one would know.

When I arrived on the top floor, he was already in the office, behind his desk, tapping rapidly on his computer.

My stomach grew queasy when his eyes flicked up to meet mine. I fixed my eyes on his forehead instead before I burst into another round of tears.

How dare he turn me into a homewrecker? It was so hard seeing him as a cheat.

Moral lesson : Never sleep with your boss, you never know the can of worms you’ll find under his bed.

"Good morning, Mr Wolfe," I opened my tablet.

"You have a call with the Singapore office at nine, which I’ve moved to nine-fifteen because their team lead is traveling. They sent a revised copy for the engine mechanics yesterday."

"The board summary from yesterday has been sent as well. The meeting with the team from Dorian is at eleven-thirty, and James will have the car ready at eleven."

I lowered the tablet, aware of his gaze burning holes into my skin.

"Are you okay, Abby?"

Was I okay? Oh yeah, I’m fine as a fucking peach. I bit back the retort and droned on instead. "Is there anything on the schedule you would like to adjust?"

His jaw tightened. "We need to talk about yesterday."

"Your nine o’clock call will be connecting in a few minutes, sir."

"Abigail." His voice dropped to that low, deep tone, and the memory of him calling my name in his bathroom had me gripping the tablet harder. "Please, can we talk. You don’t-"

"Once again," I spat, keeping my eyes fixed on his forehead. "Is there anything on the schedule you would like to adjust, Mr Wolfe?!"

He exhaled through his nose. "Dorian is calling off the partnership."

My eyes left his forehead to meet his, against my better judgment. "What?"

"I got the call yesterday. They want to terminate the contract. The meeting today is to find out why and to discuss the settlement terms."

Why would they suddenly pull out of a contract that they had been working with us on for months?

"Noted, sir," I bit out, strutting out of his office before he said anything more.

After the calls, around ten am, we were in the elevator, ready to leave for the meeting at Dorian company.

Staying in an enclosed space, in the same elevator where he had teased me with his fingers in the middle of several other workers, shittiest idea ever.

The doors closed, and it was just us, the two of us in a metal box going down. I fixed my eyes on the numbers above the door and counted my own breaths.

In. Out. In. The sunglasses were still on.

"I can explain," he rasped. "I know you don’t want to hear it right now but I need you to know, Abigail. I am a very private man and-"

"Mr. Wolfe, Please don’t."

"Abigail," His hand reached for my arm, and I stepped sideways immediately as if it were a knife and he would stab me. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Touching me without my consent," I gritted out, keeping my eyes on the numbers, "would be a violation of my rights."

From the corner of my eye, I saw him stiffen. His eyes flashed with hurt as he curled the hand reaching for me into a fist.

"Violation of your rights? How could you say that to me?"

My throat tightened. My nails found my palm again and dug into it, the pain stopping me from melting or softening. How could I not say that to him?

Once the doors opened, I launched out of the Corp like a freaking catapult and made my way to the car park. The nape of my neck prickled with awareness as if someone... someone was watching me.