Page 17 of Over My Dead Boss
“All two of them?”
Phoenix laughs and almost chokes on his food. “Yes, actually. All two of them.”
“Do they encourage your behavior?”
“No, they’re bad friends in that regard.”
“I see,” I acknowledge and reluctantly nibble on what could have been an enjoyable lunch. “What’s in Noël’s books?”
Phoenix stops eating and looks up at me. He has probably heard that question hundreds of times and, to my knowledge, never answered it. “Words.”
And maybe he never will,I think, and steer the topic back to his person. If he isn’t willing to discuss his works, I might at least get some info on him. “What do you do for fun around here? Other than gazing angrily into the distance, nurturing your alcoholism and trying to poison your best employee?”
Phoenix puts both his elbows on the table. “Given the right circumstances, I can be quite charming, I’ll have you know.”
“What are those circumstances you speak of? A gun to your head? Plank under your feet?”A beautiful brunette with perfect hair you want to sleep with,I think to myself instead of saying it out loud.
“Usually it’s enough to not be a blackmailing trash panda.”
“That’s just half the truth. Plus, racoons are adorable.”
Phoenix grunts, gets up, points to my boobs and walks off into the bathroom.
Rude…
I look down at myself and see the quote in big letters on my chest.
Hamlet, Act III, Scene III, Line 87, “No.”
Walked right into that. I consider throwing away my pizza before he comes back but am overruled by my decree to never throw away something edible so instead I eat up as quickly as possible and retreat to my room for a bit to update Sienna and to not have to eat more of this ‘food’.
Olivia: It takes a lot of willpower to not murder him sometimes.
Sienna: When you say ‘murder’, you mean ‘fuck’, right?
Olivia: Not even if hell froze over, we were the last remaining humans (well, one of us at least) and I could conceive children out of utero.
Sienna: So you’re already thinking about having kids with him? That was quicker than I would have expected.
Olivia: I’m just going to ignore that because I actually need your help. I only brought clothes that make me look like a bum. Can you send me some of my clothes for the office? I need to look more professional around here or I’ll never be taken seriously. I’ll send you the address in a bit and wire you the cost for shipping.
Sienna: Don’t worry about it. Professional. I got you.
Olivia: Thanks. Is everything good with you and the chairman?
Sienna: Oh, definitely. You know how much we love to walk around the apartment naked. Well, mostly me. He’s a bit of a prude. We can’t wait for you to get back though.
I send her the address later that day, after Phoenix and Dog return from their walk, to which I was once again not invited. The rest of the night is spent by me laying on the couch while simultaneously petting Dog and pretending to read a book while secretly observing Phoenix work at his desk. He writes by hand, into a notebook, like in the movies, and to my excitement, he seems to be writing without interruptions until eventually a crumbled up note hits my head and he looks at me with his arms crossed.
I understand you might have the urge to keep staring, but I would appreciate it if you could avert your eyes. I can tell what you’re thinking and we don’t want you to have to go to hell, do we?
Busted. My eyes slowly wander from the piece of paper to the dark eyes staring at me from across the room. Instead of arguing, I sigh and get up to turn in for the night.
I awake a couple hours later when my phone goes off in the middle of the night. It’s still pitch black, and I wish the darkness would swallow me whole when I see Isabella’s name on my display. I’m drenched in sweat, and my fingers can barely use the touchscreen to answer the call.
“Isabella,” I whisper, not entirely sure why. “What can I do for you?” Expecting her to launch into a tirade right away, I close my eyes in anticipation.
Instead, all I can hear is silence. Isabella isn’t saying a word. Which is weird. She hasn’t screamed at me in days. It makes sense that she’d call me at 3 o’clock in the morning to make up for lost times.
