Page 88 of Start With A Slap

Incoming call: Le Mal

She canceled it.

Her phone buzzed again.

That was rude.

She tried again:

Why would I take your call? I’m at work. There are people here.

Come over. Problem solved.

She let out an exasperated sigh and wrote:

You obviously don’t know how jobs work.

I could fix it so you don’t have to work another day in your life.

That was it. With a growl, she began typing furiously:

I’m not gonna be your kept woman! I’m also never coming over there again. Or seeing you again. Goodbye.

Some time went by. She felt better. She got back to the work at hand.

Bzzzzzt.

With a heavy sigh, she looked at her phone.

And yet you haven’t blocked my number.

He was right. She’d almost done it… but couldn’t.

Someone walked by her open door, and she put her phone down. What was she doing? Why didn’t she block him?

What exactly did she want from Sever Mark?

“Oh, crap.”Ivy wiped the coffee splatter off her tank top. “Coffee, I love you but we’re just not working out lately. We might have to break up.”

“What’s that, babe?” Jason asked from the hallway linen closet, grabbing a fresh towel.

“Huey, no.” She intercepted the dog before he licked the floor, and cleaned the mess herself. “Nothing. Coffee eruption.”

“You get burned?”

“No, but my comfiest weekend shirt has seen better days.”

“Hop in the shower with me,” Jason said with a wink. “I’ll turn that frown upside down.”

“Shyeah.” Whenever they shared a shower, one of them would always be left in the cold, or suffocated by water, plus the slippery surfaces... The movies totally lied. “You go first. I’m gonna caffeinate and depress myself with world events.” She turned her iPad his way, theNew York Timesapp open.

“Sexy.” He smacked her ass. “Don’t finish the crossword without me, smartypants.”

“Whatever. How old were you when you graduated Stanford Law again? Five?”

“I was twenty-one.”

“Exactly. You’re a supergenius.”

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