Page 3 of Big & Bossy

I’d only agreed to it in the first place on two conditions—Harry would be the sole representative between our businesses, meaning I wouldn’t have to see him; and J.B. Tech had to give us enough business to fund us for at least the next year.

And one of those conditions was already falling apart.

I fought the burning in the backs of my eyes as I turned to Harry, my hands starting to cramp from their vice-like grip on my bag. “I can’t do it, Harry. I don’t want to see him. I don’t.”

“I know. I know you have a history with him, but just this once, you have to look past it.”

I threw my bag over my shoulder. “I need to think about it,” I mumbled. “Please. Just give me a day.”

Harry sighed as he collapsed into the chair beside the table, shoving his hands through his hair in frustration. “Fine. You need to tell me by tomorrow, okay? I want to call them back sooner rather than later.”

————

The clinking of glasses, low music, and scraping of silverware on plates wasn’t enough to keep my mind off the upcoming meeting with J.B. Tech and every single thing that came with it. Even Amanda’s buzzing praise of our new product lineup as she babbled at me over dinner wasn’t enough. My mind kept traveling back to him, to why he was insisting on my attendance. I hadn’t seen him in ten years. Why now? Why me?

“Mandy.”

I looked up from my empty serving plate, locking eyes with Amanda as she sipped her fruity cocktail. “What?”

“Were you even listening?”

No. Of course not. I have bigger problems than your boss sleeping with his secretary. “Of course I was.”

She rolled her eyes at me as she shoved the little tiki umbrella into her straw, stirring around the colors in her glass. “I’ve known you since we were, like, five. I know when you’re lying. Your nostrils flare.”

Instinctively, I covered my nose as I let a glare seep through the facade I was desperately trying to keep up. I hated when she was right.

“What’s going on?” She pressed, resting her chin on her intertwined knuckles as she leaned forward on the table. “You’re normally attentive. Something’s gotta be bothering you.”

I chewed the flesh of my cheek as I thought about the best way to bring it up to her. She’d been there every step of the way, through the rise and fall and rise again. “You remember Jackson?”

Her body stiffened as she narrowed her eyes. “I haven’t heard that name in a long time. Have you been, uh, thinking about him recently?”

“Not intentionally,” I mumbled, slumping back in my seat. “You remember how we got that massive client? The one that’s moving their tech business to town?”

Slowly, Amanda’s eyes widened, the realization I’d painfully had to make a few weeks ago sinking into her now. “Don’t tell me it’s J.B. Tech.”

“It’s J.B. Tech.”

“Fuck,” she spat, sitting upright. “Can you at least avoid him?”

“He’s insisting I attend the first meeting or he’ll pull the contract,” I explained. Just saying the words made the pit in my stomach grow larger, stealing my appetite. I wanted to be home, in my bed, with my face shoved into the pillow and a scream ripping from my throat. “We need the contract.”

“Oh my God, what a fucking psycho,” she said, her body recoiling. “He shatters your heart into a million pieces and then expects you to just agree to see him ten years later? At a business meeting of all things? I mean, fuck, if L&V needs the cash I can have my mom wire it to you. Don’t go near him if you can help it.”

I sighed the best chuckle I could muster. “That’s a lovely offer but if my business is going to stay afloat, I’d rather it be because of me and my hard work.”

“I get that. I do. But if it’s between seeing Jackson fucking Big and your business going under, I’d rather you didn’t have to?—”

“Don’t worry about it, okay? If it comes down to it and I have to work with him, I’ll just make sure his life is a living hell,” I laughed. If he thinks abandoning me in the middle of the night after taking my virginity is an okay thing to do, then he can withstand my bitchiness.

“Okay, okay. But I’m serious. If you need the money?—”

My phone buzzed loudly from the table, preventing her from finishing the sentence. We stared at the screen in tandem, the number unknown to either of us.

I didn’t normally answer unknown numbers.

And I don’t know what compelled me to this time.

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