Page 217 of Callan

He notices the trembling of my chin, and his features soften, his grip becoming more forgiving.

“What are you doing here, Mackenzie?”

“You heard the woman,” I toss at him in spite. “I’m here for a job,” I say, my words having the taste of sand on my lips. “And if my boss signs off on that––meaning you––I will be working for you. Or maybe that is not possible, especially since you’ve ghosted me,” I bark.

He pulls me away from the door, his other hand coming to my shoulder.

Clutching my shoulders, he pins me with his glare.

“What are you talking about?”he growls quietly.

“Oh, please.”

I press my hands into his chest and try to push him away, not moving him an inch.

“You pulled off your men, so no one was watching me, and that woman who works for you no longer lives there.”

His eyes dart back and forth before his expression changes, and a dark chuckle falls from his lips.

“And you thought I’d ghosted you?

“Didn’t you? You said you needed to travel. You have traveled, I assume. You look like a pool boy who fell asleep in a lounge chair by the pool. Your tan…” I say, wiggling my fingers and pointing to his face. “And you returned, obviously. For the job interviews, I guess. It must’ve been so damn important to you to meet your new secretaries.”

Sarcasm bleeds in my voice.

“And yet, none of this time…” I wag my finger at him. “Has it crossed your mind to send me a message that you were still outthere? Alive and well? Even now, you’re angry with me. When, in fact, I should be angry with you. And I am. And I’d been angry before you arrived. So please wait your turn to express your anger.”

His lips press into a tight line while he straightens and crosses his arms over his chest, his stare cutting glass.

“How did you get here?”

“You mean to your building? I shared a cab with Kayla.”

“Don’t play cute with me.”

“Do I?”

I move closer.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this job? I got laid off way before we met. I was frantically looking for work and almost ran out of money when you fell onto my balcony. Thank God you needed someone to run your errands. The money that you gave me helped me buy some food. And do you think it was easy to wait for Mrs. Goodman to call me back? To deal with the uncertainty of it all, as the woman, rightfully so, said, that she could only schedule me for an interview in January? Meaning this year. And then, she called again and postponed the interview. I can only guess you weren’t back from your ‘vacation’, so I waited and waited. And that’s not all.”

I stop and suck in a long breath.

“While not knowing whether I’d have the money to pay the next month’s rent and get my first paycheck on time, I was twisted into a pretzel, torn beyond disbelief because I hadn’t heard from you. You were the proverbial man going out to buy a pack of cigarettes and never coming back. I know what we talked about,” I say bluntly as he gets ready to argue with me. “But that thing that you said to me does nothing for me now. This is not you protecting me. This is my life getting unraveled because you are––allegedly––protecting me. All this time, it hasn’t crossed your mind to tell me that I might run into you in one of thesebuildings in Manhattan? And all this time, I've been applying for a job position with your firm? To work for you?? And what is your real name, by the way,Callan? You never bothered to give me your last name. Maybe that would’ve helped.”

“Callan Bard. My name is Callan Bard.”

“Well. Congratulations, Mr. Bard, and good luck finding a new secretary. I quit.”

Just like that, I spin around and grab the doorknob. I struggle with it since I can’t figure out how to unlock it, but not for long.

He uncrosses his arms and swiftly grabs my wrist.

“Not so fast, baby girl.”

“I am not your baby girl.”

His eyes go over my outfit disapprovingly.

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