Page 59 of Chandelier Enthralled
Excuse me? Did he just demand I follow him to a place he could continue to berate me?
“Whatever you have to say, say it here,” I demanded, stepping out of the elevator.
I wanted witnesses who could observe his irrational behavior and defend me if things got out of hand. This was a man coiled too tight.
“Want everyone to know who you are?” he asked smugly.
The asshole stormed on ahead of me, and I followed, needing this to be resolved before my secret spread like wildfire amongst my coworkers.
You can’t stay at Pulse360.
Cameron’s right.
No real point. Not after what just went down in Julia’s office. Might as well pack up and leave now. Every second here made me feel like a fraud.
In the brightly lit breakroom, tension continued to crackle between us. The aroma of coffee filled the air, a reminder that they used the cheap stuff for employees.
Oh, God, I really was a coffee bean snob.
Even thinking this proved his point—that I was a snob over something as simple as the coffee beans. Even if my family did offer the finest blends in the world to the masses, and that was something I’d once felt pride in.
I should leave this room, walk away, and not have to deal with this.
I headed back toward the door.
“Seriously?” he snapped.
I was privileged and needed to remember that. I needed to see the world from his perspective and at least hear what he had to say. Maybe I could learn from it.
“Listening has become a lost art,” Cameron had told me, in that affable way of his.
He was always right about so many things, only not this, I hoped.
“Chad, what do you need?” I kept my tone calm.
Egg stained his tie, and his shirt looked rumpled, like he’d taken a nap and woken up disheveled.
I almost felt sorry for him.
“What were you doing up there?” he asked, anxiety present in his tone.
“On the executive floor? That’s kind of private.”
“Some of us have to work for our promotions.” He glared at me.
“That wasn’t it at all.”
“You’re a nepo baby.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Not giving away my sources.”
I pointed upward. “I was invited up there to meet with Julia Sterling about something I’m working on. A woman’s issue. She probably won’t run with it. Feel better?”
“You just got hired.”
I bit my lip, barely stopping myself from mentioning that he workedin the mailroom.That if he wanted to sit behind any of those desks out there, he should work harder.
