Once Upon A Time(45)

I shook my head.

“There’s something really wrong with you, you know that?”

“You know, Quinn said the exact same thing last night. Huh.”

I laughed, pushing her out the door as we made our way to work, running five minutes behind.

The moment Kylie and I walked into the office, we were greeted by Kylie’s boss, Phil.

“You two,” he pointed, his other hand on his hip, “are late.”

Kylie chuckled under her breath and waved me off as she walked to her cubicle beside Phil’s. I scurried to my office, thankful when I noticed Kate wasn't in her office opposite mine. Throwing my purse down behind my desk, I pulled out a handful of dry erase markers and started getting to work on planning the opening night for Alpha.

I worked tirelessly all day, figuring out what catering companies to work with and brokering deals for the grand opening night. I’d gotten in touch with other companies to sponsor the opening and in return, we’d promote their partnership with Black Enterprises. Once I’d finished with that, I got in touch with Gabriel’s secretary, asking for the exclusive guest list, ensuring we had the right kind of crowd to draw attention.

Throughout the day, Kylie dropped by my office, bringing me endless supplies of coffee and food to keep me going. I noticed Kate still wasn't in and decided to check her calendar to find out where she was; she hadn’t informed me of any meetings or that she’d be out of the office for the day. Not like she needed a business meeting to stay out of the office.

Sitting at my desk at 4pm, I opened Kate’s calendar, only to have the shit shocked right out of me. She was in a meeting – Mr. Black of Black Enterprises – but it wasn't linked with my calendar. I leaned back in my chair and groaned. What a fucking surprise. She went behind my back, no doubt to get the details she thought I wasn't telling her.

I pulled my cell from my purse, deciding on a break. I opened up my text messages and fired a text to Kylie, even though she was only down the hall.



ME: You, me, Quinn and a whole lot of alcohol and food tonight?

KYLIE: Oooooh! You read my mind. Wait, what’s wrong?

ME: Why does there have to be something wrong?

KYLIE: You’re pretty much a social misfit. That’s what’s wrong.

ME: Shut up and enjoy the fact that I want to be seen in public with you both.

KYLIE: Hey! Don’t hate the player.

ME: Yeah, yeah. Hate the game. Tell Quinn to meet us at our place at 7.

KYLIE: No problem. I love you.

ME: You too.



I threw my cell back into my purse. Sitting back, I wondered what Kate and Gabriel could be meeting about. Then panic struck. What if he let slip about what happened in Omega? Oh my god. I’d pushed him to his limit and told him he wasn't worth it. What if he wanted revenge for not putting out and took it out on my job? Shit! Why hadn’t I thought about this before?

Oh sweet Jesus.

Grabbing my cell, I fired a text to him.



ME: Are you with Kate?



I waited for nearly an hour for a response, glancing at my cell every couple of minutes while I tried to get back to work on the opening. Nothing came and I prayed for my job and my damn sanity.

At 5:30, I decided to leave work on time for the first time since my first day at Blue Stone PR. Kate hadn’t come back to the office, so I took a chance on grabbing Kylie and getting the hell out of there. She looked at me like I’d lost my mind as I dragged her out of the building and flagged down a cab. I didn't say anything the entire ride back to our apartment, no matter how hard she begged me; I told her I’d fill her in at our place.

After paying the cab driver, I pretty much dragged her all the way up to our floor and through the door of our apartment before she ripped her wrist out of my grasp and looked at me in utter confusion.

“What the hell is going on?” she shrieked, rubbing her wrist where I'd clearly held on a little too tight.

“Oh my god,” I fumed, making a beeline for the kitchen, seeking out the one thing that might help me calm down. Rifling through the cupboards, I did a happy dance in my head as I pulled out the jar of chocolaty goodness. Pulling off the lid, I grabbed a spoon and dug in.

“That’s disgusting.” Kylie pointed at the offending jar of chocolate and rolled her eyes. “Start talking.”

She took a seat at the breakfast table and stared at me, indicating I had to spill now or she’d take away my jar.

“He was in a meeting with Kate today,” I muttered, the spoon hanging from my mouth as I savored the nutty chocolate.

“Okay, either you and Quinn are related or I’m just deaf. Will you take that thing out of your mouth so I can actually understand a word you're saying?” She sighed and when I didn't discard the spoon, she leaned over the table and ripped it from my mouth.