Having not a single vindictive bone in my body, I thought about lying and telling Bill some random had jumped me on the way in. But then if I didn’t tell the truth, Sunday would roll around, and she’d possibly make good on her threat, there was no reason to believe she wouldn’t carry it out. CeeCee had talked a good game up the alleyway, she’d also shown she could carry through if that was her intent.
There was very little to my life, I had few aspirations or goals, no one close enough they’d miss me, except maybe Carol, but I liked what I had, and I enjoyed breathing.
Standing and steadying myself against the wall with one hand, I dragged the bands out of my ruined hair with the other, shaking out the buns. Leaving it down, I hoped it was enough to disguise at least some of the damage on my cheek where I could tell a bruise was rapidly forming. I’d have to wash out the blood in my hair, but if I could just get to work and sneak in before anyone noticed, then all would be good.
What an idiot. I hung my head and dared to take in a few sharp breaths while I furiously wiped at the tears I couldn’t stop. CeeCee had got the jump on me, the severity of the assault finally catching up, my adrenalin waning. I was scared, had been scared, because CeeCee was an unknown, and unpredictable women were usually women you stayed far away from.
Shoving off the wall, I grabbed up my bag and sluggishly made my way to the bar, arriving sooner than I was ready. I wasn’t as early as I’d intended to be and just hoped I could get in the door and down to the bathroom before anyone saw me. The back corridor was dim, and I thought I’d got lucky, until a firm hand grasped my upper arm and hauled me around.
“Bill!” I gasped, surprised for the second time that evening.
“Is that blood running down the back of your neck?” he asked in horror.
“What? No,” I retorted immediately, squirming out of his hold.
Bill whirled me around again, his warm hand gentle on my shoulder. “Jolie, there’s blood down the back of your jacket. What the hell?”
With little chance to answer, he propelled me carefully toward his office, throwing the door wide and prompting me inside. He hit the light switch, and the brightness hurt my eyes so much I groaned and cursed, wobbling on my feet. Bill pushed a chair behind me and made me sit, then stood in front with his hands on his hips looking madder than a hatter. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Lost my balance is all.”
He waved a hand in front of his cheek. “And this? I see goddamn fingerprints, Jolie.”
I sat there and blinked up at him before bursting into tears, an ugly sob escaping as I wrapped my arms around my middle, fighting the onslaught about to overwhelm me. Sickness surged, and I wrenched forward, vomiting onto his pristine shoes.
“Shit.” Bill hunched over me a second later, rubbing his hand up and down my back. “Hey, Jolie. It’s all right. We’ll get cleaned up and sort this out, whatever it is.” He stuffed a handkerchief into my hand, which I used to dab at my mouth, the foul remnants of puke tasting disgusting.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop, no need. Get up off the chair and come sit on the sofa, you’ll be comfier there. I’ll grab you some water and see if Carol’s on the rota.”
Before leaving the room, he threw a bar towel over the puddle of mess I’d made on his floor which made me feel ten times worse. Not a moment later, he was back with two chilled bottles of water and more towels. Handing one to me, he cracked the lid on the other.
“Drink, don’t gulp.”
Tilting forward, I didn’t argue, desperately wanting to freshen my mouth. I let the tears fall while Bill parted the hair at the back of my head and patted a damp towel there.
“Doesn’t need stitches, I don’t think. The head bleeds a lot, always looks worse than it is. Here, hold that firmly against your head.”
I took over while my boss got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up what my stomach had unceremoniously expelled.
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
Bill wouldn’t hear of it. “Yeah, not happening, Jolie.” My head ached worse than it did ten minutes ago, my neck feeling stiff, and I was feeling sick again. “You need the lights down?”
“Please.” It wasn’t really any better, but I appreciated the dull light in the room. All I wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep, a terrible idea, considering the blow to the head.
“I should take you to the hospital.”
“I’ll be fine,” I insisted. “Just give me ten minutes, please?”
Once Bill had finished cleaning the floor, he shoved the obscene towels into a black bag and threw it out into the hallway, shutting the door again and coming back to where I was to take over with the towel at my head.
“So, who jumped you? I can guess but I’d rather hear it from you.”
Well, there was no point in lying as it was clear someone had swung at me. “CeeCee.”
“Thought as much,” he hummed.
“She wants her job back.”
“And she decided knocking you around was the answer? Yeah, not likely, I should never have hired her in the first place.”
“You need to stop thinking with your dick, Bill.” I laughed, wincing again when my head pounded.
“I do.” He plopped down on the sofa next to me. “Jolie, I like you, you’re a good girl. My staff like
