Page 86 of His White Moonlight
He nodded, and I dropped my friendly smile the second the doors closed.Bennett didn’t try to touch me again.
When we reached the administrative floor, almost everyone was already at their desks, and I felt the stares of the women as Bennett walked beside me.
Whatever was going on in their minds really needed to stay there.I had enough bruises, thanks to the she-bitches circling him, and didn’t need to add to the collection.
Thankfully, Bennett shut himself in his office and closed the blinds as soon as we got there, so I didn’t have to worry about him.Unfortunately, the first woman approached a minute later.
“Is Bennett in?”she asked.
“You just saw him walk past.Unless he can teleport, he’s in.And if you’re asking because you’re looking for permission to interrupt him, I don’t get paid enough to be his abused gatekeeper.So do what you want.Just don’t hold me accountable for his shitty mood swings.”I said all of it while booting up my laptop and opening the spreadsheet I’d worked on the day before.“Oh, and if you can pass the word that I lost theprivilegeof eating unsupervised this week, I’d appreciate it.I’d really like to go back to how things were.”
I lifted my gaze to meet hers.She studied me for a long, silent moment.
“If there’s nothing that I can do for you, I’m going to get to work.”
When she still didn’t say anything, I ignored her and focused on the mind-numbing task of judging other people’s expenses.The expenses for the original companies I’d looked at had been easy to spot the financial bleed.However, it was becoming increasingly harder with each new company, mostly because I didn’t know what some of the companies did, which meant I spent time searching the internet.Could I knock on the door and ask?Sure.But I didn’t want to.
A few minutes later, one of the office women walked by me, knocked on the door, and went in.She left almost immediately.In what mood, I didn’t know because I didn’t look up from what I was doing.Not even when I felt the weight of Bennett’s stare.
The soft snick of the door was surprising.
No tantrum?
The blinds suddenly opened.Had I been looking at them, I probably would have jumped.Instead, I pretended he hadn’t startled me and didn’t exist.
The next woman hesitated when she saw the blinds were open, and I could feel her looking at me.
“Not my monkey; not my circus,” I said without looking up.
She walked away without trying the door.
It didn’t end.The stream of women was non-stop.Why they kept wanting to talk to me made no sense when Iknewthe message I’d given the first girl had been passed around.
Just before ten, I picked up my phone and walked away from my desk.
Me: Do you have any headphones I can use?
Mom: Ask Bennett.He can get you whatever you want.
I paused outside the bathroom and stared at the message with growing anger, which got the better of me because I typed out a fast reply and hit send without cooling off.
Me: Is Bennett my parent, or are you?I can’t tell anymore.If I’m a burden, just say so, and stop passing me off like the unwanted charity case they all say I am.
Something banged loudly on the other side of the floor as Miranda came out of the bathroom.We both looked in that direction before looking at each other.
“Heard your lunch times in Bennett’s office are a punishment,” she said.
“If I had even an ounce of interest in Bennett, maybe I would see them as an opportunity like you do, but I don’t.I’ve been here less than a week and am ready to sacrifice a small goat to whatever species deity is willing to listen to get me out of here as fast as it can.Now, can you do me a favor and tell my mom I went out to get my own stuff when she comes looking for me?”
I turned on my heel before Miranda could respond and went to catch the elevator down to the lobby.
My phone started to ring.I looked at it and saw it was Mom.Ignoring it, I sent her another text.
Me: I’ll see you at dinner.We’ll talk then.
Mom: You are my daughter.Always.From the first moment I saw you, I’ve loved you.You aren’t a burden.You are wanted more than you know.
My eyes started to water in anger and hurt as I read her text.Then why had I grown up a foster and not adopted?Why did they send me away?
