Page 37 of The CEO

If things were better between King and me, I’d try to talk him into firing her. She was the worst secretary on the planet. Laying down on the couch the dogs jumped up with me. One cuddled me on each side like they were giving me a sweet hug. I was going to miss them when I left.

Orvy placed his head on my arm and looked up at me. His eyes looked sad as if he knew what was going on. “Why is your daddy being such an asshole?” Orvy’s only response was to lift his head and place it a little closer to my shoulder. God, he was so sweet. Even Jimmy wasn’t humping me. Luckily, he only seemed to try and hump me when one foot was on the ground. He was such a strange but lovable little dog.

It was unbelievable that earlier in the day, I’d wanted to slowly peel King’s expensive suit off his body and trace every inch of his skin with my mouth and hands, and now I wanted to take scissors to every suit in his closet before I ripped off his balls.

With the dogs snuggled up to me, and my body warmed, I started to relax. My eyelids started to droop and thoughts of my asshole boss slowly drifted away.

I woke with a start. Haider’s ringtone blared in the quiet of the room causing me to bolt upright. Jimmy and Orvy grumbled beside me as I hit the power button to silence the offending noise. I didn’t want to talk to him now or ever. There was nothing he could possibly need to say to me. The only person I wanted to talk to didn’t seem to want to talk to me. Now that I’d slept some, I’d calmed down and was only more bewildered by his swift change of behavior.

After serving the dogs their dinner, I picked up my phone and tried to call King again but it went straight to voicemail. It had been hours and I hoped with some time he’d realized he’d overreacted and was ready to talk. It baffled my mind what could have set him off. I’d agreed to be his date even against my better judgment. I didn’t want to think of what would happen if anyone found out about us or what we’d done. King’s thought on how the no fraternization policy didn’t apply to him because he was the boss was so like him. Nothing seemed to faze him, but he needed to understand, just because no one would think much about him fucking an employee, I wouldn’t be taken seriously. How could I enforce the same policy I was defying?

The smell of his cologne permeated the place almost making me dizzy. It was intoxicating and heartbreaking now that he wasn’t there. How had I let him wedge himself so far into my heart in such a short amount of time? Everywhere I looked I could see him smiling down at his dogs or wrapping his arms around me and nuzzling into my neck. Deciding I needed to get out of his space, I grabbed the dogs’ leashes. We were going to go for a nice long walk and maybe even pick up some food on the way back. The cool fall air would hopefully do wonders for my mood and maybe give me some clarity on the events of the day.

The dogs wagged their little and big butts by the door as I hooked their leashes on. Even Sarah was excited to go out withus. Hopefully, she wouldn’t make me regret my decision to bring her along.

The sun had set an hour ago making the air cooler than it had been during the day. I zipped my sweatshirt up to keep the chill at bay. Of course, the dogs didn’t seem to notice, and I doubted they would until it was winter. I headed in the direction of the dog park even though we weren’t going there. I wasn’t sure of the hours, but it was probably closed.

I quickly figured out there was no way in hell I was going to be able to get any food with three dogs in tow. It wasn’t to say places weren’t friendly because they were. It was all because I had two giant dogs that could pull me this way and that without any trouble at all. If I wanted something to eat, I’d get it after I took the dogs home. They’d be fine without me and I liked the idea of being away from King’s place. I wasn’t sure where I’d go, but the longer I thought about it the more I liked the idea. I picked up my pace as we made our way back to their home. I had to remind myself it wasn’t mine. It was a temporary residence I would soon leave.

Unclipping the dogs from their leashes, I hung them up and looked down at my clothes before deciding to stay in what I had on. I’d changed into yoga pants, a T-shirt, a sweatshirt over it, and a pair of tennis shoes for their walk since there was no way in hell I could walk in heels and a skirt with them. Grabbing my purse, I gave each of the dogs a pat on the head before I headed out.

I felt lighter the moment I stepped out of the building. All thoughts of King, Haider, and my dad were long gone. I slipped my earbuds in and pulled up Spotify. I hit whatever the daily mix was and set out in the opposite direction than I’d taken the dogs. There weren’t many food places in that direction, which was why I always walked that way with the three amigos.

One thing King’s area didn’t have was an abundance of trees. I missed seeing all the leaves changing color in the fall. I knew all I had to do was head to Central Park to get my fill, but I missed it, nonetheless.

My head swiveled back and forth as I took in everything around me. I wasn’t accustomed to the area and didn’t really know what was around. When King had been home, he ordered out every night. I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for, only that I’d know when I saw or smelled it. The only thing I knew I didn’t want was Chinese food. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever eat it again with how much it had been crammed down my throat first by my family and then Haider. Didn’t they know variety was the spice of life?

A hard push from behind sent me into a quiet side street that was full of trash and smelled like piss. Whirling around I was caught short by a hand to my throat and rank breath wafting over my face.

“Give me your purse and you won’t get hurt,” a deep and snarling voice said hidden behind a dark hood.

There was no way to know if I gave him my purse, he would let me go. In that moment, I wished I knew some sort of self-defense, but my dad had never let me do any extracurricular activities but play the piano and the violin. Neither would help me now.

Still, I had to do something. If this guy was willing to steal from me who was to say he wasn’t willing to go further. He could rape or kill me.

Throwing all of my one hundred and ten pounds into his hulking frame I tried to get away. I must have shocked him because he stumbled back a few steps. I thought I’d make the short distance out of the quiet street until he grabbed the back of my sweatshirt. When it ripped, I still thought I might get away until he grabbed my arm and pulled it back at a jarringangle. Pain shot through me, but I continued to fight for my life. I scratched down his arm with my other hand; I was about to scream for help like I should have done the moment he trapped me in the alley when he punched me in the eye. The hit sent shockwaves through my head and neck as I saw stars. A guttural moan came out as I clutched my eye with my other hand. I’d never once even been slapped in my entire life let alone been hit. The pain felt like a shot of blinding fire through my eye socket, causing me to stagger back into the wall.

“You shouldn’t have done that, bitch. If you only would have cooperated…” He ripped my purse from my shoulder. I was amazed it had stayed in place and not fallen to the ground. He towered over me as one hand pinned my hands above my head and the other went to the waistband of my yoga pants and slipped his hand inside. Agonizing pain shot down my arm, but I fought through it. I had no other choice.

No.

No.

No.

I would rather die than have this man rape me. When two fingers slipped into my panties my entire body started to shake and I knew I had to act. Lifting one knee, I rammed it into his groin as hard as I could, but it didn’t seem to affect him at all. My only chance and I’d ruined it.

“You fucking bitch,” he howled. Rearing back his arm, he let it fly. I tried to block it to no avail. His fist slammed into my temple and I went down. My vision started to go black as he sat on top of me and continued to pound into my face and stomach.

The last thing I remembered before everything went black was someone yelling. It sounded so far away, I only hoped they got to me before he raped or killed me.

Groggily,I woke up to machines beeping and the smell of antiseptic. I tried to turn over on my side but stopped as pain ricocheted through my upper body. I let out a low groan and attempted to bring my hands to my face when I felt a tug and pinch in my left hand. Cracking my eyes open, I examined my surroundings. White ceilings and walls surrounded me. I looked down at my hand and saw an IV attached. I was definitely in the hospital. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten there. Before I passed out from the pain and injury, I’d heard someone, but that was all I remembered.

“Hey, honey,” a soft voice said from the other side of the room. “You’re finally awake.”

Finally? How long had I been out?

“You’ve been here for…” she looked down at her watch. “A little over an hour, give or take. I’m glad to see you’re awake. I’ll get the doctor in here to talk to you and we’ll get you some pain meds. You’ve got to be hurting.”

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