Page 16 of Ignite
Susan curled her lip in distaste and turned away. “Did you hear about Marcia in accounting?” she askedFiona.
“No,” was her reply. “Whathappened?”
Rolling my eyes, I resumed making my coffee. Talk about underwhelming, but a niggling sensation at the back of my mind began to work its way forward. The way I looked wasn’t theproblem.
Back at my desk, there was a message waiting for me on my phone. It was fromFaye.
How did the grand entrancego?
Texting back, I wrote,It was a nonevent, but at least they didn’t bitch about me. Not yet,anyway.
Don’t worry about them. Shortsighted bitches. Are we going to see you this week? Liam’s got a fight on Wednesday,Fayereplied.
I glanced at my computer, my thoughts on anything but work. The last few days had been something out of a fairy tale. I’d found a place where I was beginning to shine, and I didn’t want it to end. The Underground was bad news, but I found myself wanting togo.
I wanted to hang out with Faye, but I wanted to see Liam more. Pressing my fingers to my lips, Ismiled.
Texting Faye, I typed,Sure. I’ll bethere.
“If you’re quitedone…”
I glanced up to find Susan, aka the stringy haired bitch, standing over my desk with a pout on her thin lips. It was our usual morning ritual. She would sneer down at me while handing off three-quarters of her daily workload. I would mutter something incomprehensible, and she’d smile triumphantly. At the end of each fortnight, she was paid twice what I did for doing next to nothing while I was still stuck on an entry-level wage, busting my guts for peanuts so I didn’t end uphomeless.
Nottoday.
“I need these done by five,” Susan declared, handing me the shipping schedule, four manifests, and a pile of bookings that needed to be manually loaded into thesystem.
I stared at the pile, then glanced up into Susan’s smug face. She was testing me, that much was clear. Well, if she wanted a bite, she would get her whole arm takenoff.
“I have time to do the schedule this afternoon, but the rest I can’t help you with.” I smiled sweetly. “Sorry.”
Her mouth flapped uselessly as she stared at me in shock. “Excuseme?”
“I don’t have time,” I repeated, holding my ground. Picking up the paperwork, I shoved it back into herarms.
She took the folders, her forehead creasing into one hell of a dirty look. The daggers were flying thick andfast.
“If you have a problem with it, take it up with Matt,” I said, pointing to the office that housed the head of customer relations. “I simply don’t have time to dothese.”
“You were late today, and you’re sitting here on your phone,” she argued, clutching atstraws.
“It’s five minutes to nine,” I retorted. “I’m not required to start for another five minutes. Unless you want me to ask for three years worth of back pay? Half an hour a day,times…”
Susan scoffed loudly and turned on her heel, stalking across the office. I watched her go, the entire floor suddenly bursting into life. Smiling to myself, I flicked my hair over my shoulder and swirled around in my chair. Opening up my email and prioritizing my tasks for the day, I chalked up one win for AlisonAnders.
Today was going to be a breezy day. Still, I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here and go back to TheUnderground.
Wednesday couldn’t come fastenough.
8
Liam
Faye toldme Ali was comingtonight.
Apparently, they’d gotten on like a house on fire and had been texting all week. I was glad she was making friends, and it was me who’d introduced them, but it was becomingawkward.
Faye was my fuck buddy. Ali… Well, things were a little complicated there. If the lines blurred, then their friendship would blow up. The more time I had to think about her, the more I realized she’d come here because she’d had nothing to lose. Not in the ultimate life or death kind of way. No, it was more about connection. She seemed unsatisfied, lonelyalmost.
