Page 45 of Marcus in Retrograde
She hovered in the door and clearly wanted to say something. I held up my hand and turned back to the soundboard. “Just go. Trust me, just go.”
She pulled the door closed after a moment and I stared at the lights, knobs, and sliders in front of me.
This sucked.
I stared at the board. I just stared at it. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t function. When Sorcha had mentioned Ed, I had hoped it was a one off. Now…I’d been in the same room with him—and I still had a restraining order out against him. I wasn’t even supposed to be legally in the same building.
Thumping my head on the board, I stared at the rug. I would have literally been better off with anyone else except Ed. I could handle even the worst of the gang as long as it wasn’t Ed.
But it was. And now I had to figure out what the hell to do because I didn’t want to lose my job, but I didn’t want to invite him into my life, and into the parameters of the restraining order.
Not that there was anything I could do now to stop him. He’d found me, and I was sure he was the same amazing douche he’d been in college.
There was a hand on my shoulder and I looked up. It was Jerry with his tie was undone and he looked frazzled.
“You okay, Marcus?”
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you in the conference room—”
“It’s all done, Marc. It’s two in the afternoon.”
I hadlostfive hours of my life. All because of that son of a bitch. He’d managed to black me out again. I struggled to push to my feet. “Jerry, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that...”
He waved his hand to cut me off. “What happened?”
“I…”
He closed the door. “First. What happened just now? Why are you so disoriented?”
“Blacked out apparently,” I said. “Not the first time.”
“Drinking? Medical issue?”
“Does bullying count?”
“Yeah, it sure does,” Jerry said. “Ed Roberts?”
“Can I not talk about it?”
He shook his head slowly. “No. Because you’re on the team, and I want to know what the obstacles are we’re up against.”
I sat up a little straighter in the chair. “I’m what?”
“You’re on the team,” he said. “It was non-negotiable. I told them to walk if they thought I was taking you off.”
“You…”
“You’re part of the team, you’re on the team.” He nodded. “Now, what’s going on, and do I need to know to call 911, or is there something I can do without that?”
I pursed my lips and chewed on my cheek. “I literally cannot legally be in the room with Ed Roberts. There’s a restraining order involved. He and I had…some run ins during college and I just felt better with a legal shield against him.”
“Dude, I had no idea. I would never—”
Holding up my hand, I stopped him. “I moved here to get away from the last of the fallout. The last of the fallout was in Troy. I moved back to Troy to get away from the fucking mess that consumed me at Boston Conservatory. It’s been five years since I barely made it out alive with a degree. There is absolutelyno wayyou could have known that Ed Roberts was my mortal enemy.”
His eyebrow rose. “Mortal enemy.”
I huffed out a breath. “Yes. Mortal enemy. He fucked me overso hardin college.” I gasped, “Oh, shit, Chase.”
