****
When the alarm sounds at five thirty, it’s way too early.
“Why do you get up so early?” Gabby mutters.
“Big day today and every day,” I answer, more chipper than I actually feel.
Gabby rolls over and pulls the covers over her head. Through the sheets, I can barely hear, “I’ll check in with you later today.”
“Thanks for last night.” I pat her through the blanket and run out of her apartment. The sun is just peeking through the clouds when I catch the bus down to the financial district and march into Starbucks. I keep telling myself today is going to be a better day. I mean, Jackson did acknowledge me as a full-fledged human yesterday. That has to be a positive step forward.
Since I order our drinks from the mobile app on the drive in each morning, I whiz in and pick them up and prepare to walk across the street. I’m just leaving when Jackson calls.
Before I can speak, he yells, “Where are you?”
“I’m leaving Starbucks. I should be at the office in three minutes. Is everything okay?”
“Brian’s been ringing the buzzer at your apartment for the last thirty minutes.”
I look up to the sky and move even faster toward our building. “Crap. I’m sorry. I ended up staying with a friend last night. I forgot I agreed to have a ride in.”
“This is for your safety. We’ll talk when you get here.” He hangs up.
He’s grumpy this morning. So much for the fun we had last night. But I’m not going to let his mood affect me.
“I’m just downstairs. I’ll be right up,” I say to a dead phone line.
The elevator door is inches from shutting when I poke my hand through the door. It’s surprisingly full for this time of the morning.
“Sorry,” I mutter to the groans.
“Do you still have a job?” Dan, from our IT group, asks.
It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me. “Yes. Of course, I do.”
“You must really be good at giving blowjobs.” The people in the elevator snicker.
“Excuse me?” I’m sure I misheard him. No way someone would talk to me or anyone else like that.
“Anyone else who pulled a stunt like you did would’ve been fired,” he snottily explains.
My blood pressure is climbing. “What exactly did I do?”
“Everyone knows you sent that box to yourself. What? You didn’t feel like working that hard yesterday and thought emptying two city blocks over a fake bomb would give you the morning off? I had to come in early today because of you.”
“I don’t know who told you I sent that box to myself, but it isn’t true, and Mr. Graham and the police know that.”
“Right.” He gets off the elevator, along with most of the other employees.
I’m left standing with our CFO, Jeremy Knowles. “Can you believe that guy?”
He looks at me and seems to want to say something, but when the elevators open on the forty-second floor, he walks right by me, jostling me so I spill my mocha.
Great. What an asshole.
I walk to my desk and call maintenance to ask them to help me clean up the mess. Now even they are put out with me.
Jackson’s on the phone when I walk his coffee in, so I leave his drink on his desk and return to my office. I’m behind, too, and I continue to argue with Dan from IT in my mind. I’m never fast enough in the moment to say the right thing. Now I can think of a dozen things to say.
I know if I were to mention this to Mr. Graham, Dan would get in trouble, which gives me great satisfaction. But I will never say anything. Jackson’s not here to solve my problems. He’s busy solving the world’s problems.
Chapter 4
Corrine
Throughout the day I hear whispers, but I ignore them. It’s not worth it. After I had to listen to Mr. Graham explain to me again about the importance of getting a ride to and from the office this morning, I’ve stayed at my desk. I ordered lunch in for him and me, and we ate in our offices and pushed through.
It’s after seven now, and people have come and gone, and Jackson’s been on the phone all day. In my desk phone log, I look back through the day’s calls. He’s had over two hundred and fifty—it’s a record. At the moment, he’s finally off the phone.
I grab the phone log, take a deep breath, and knock on the door.
“Come in, Corrine,” he announces. He smiles up at me when I enter.
“You had several calls today.”
He nods. “No kidding. I’m impressed you were able to order lunch. Thank you for getting me my favorite.”
“You’re easy to please.” I smile. Ever since dinner, I feel more comfortable with our relationship. “The big calls that merit your attention include Ronny Huddleston, who called nine times, insisting you wanted him on your calendar. I explained that he misread you, and that was not the case, but he kept calling.”
“I’ll call his boss, Tim Lucas, over at Golden Gate Capital and let him know.” Jackson writes himself a note.
“Your mother called and wanted to know your plans for her birthday. You have four days late next week, including the weekend. Would you like to take her to Maui with you?”
“We can plan Maui for me on those days, but not with my mother. Too much pressure. Let me think about what she might like. What did I do for her last year?”
I smile because it’s going to be hard to beat. I had just started, and that was
