Page 52 of The Monster I Loved
Thaddeus looked at me. “If you hadn’t snuck into my room that night, Melissa wouldn’t have any issues.”
I rolled my eyes. Thaddeus knew damn well I went to kill him. “Where do you want me...” I cleared my throat. “I mean, where’s my office?”
He let out a hollow chuckle. “Screw that. You can grab a seat at that cubicle. Offices are for those who earn them.”
“Like you did after your unjustified early release? Rumor is you walked right in and got a big office the next day.”
Thaddeus didn’t flinch at my snarky reply.
“Soon, I’ll run the whole company, and then you and the other idiots will have even more to gossip about.”
My feet hurried to the cubicle he’d pointed at, and my pulse matched their speed.
My nausea cared just as muchas I did about my first day working at Fitzgerald. I spent half the time in the bathroom throwing up, and the other half in Thaddeus’s office, surrounded by my new colleagues. These were the people who got to decide what structure would sit on my once-favorite place in Tarrytown. The day we got engaged, Thaddeus promised he’d restore it so we could have our wedding there. Now, he had blueprints spread across his desk for the new structure.
Prison was starting to feel like a better option than helping build the monstrosity that would replace my once-favorite building.
“Summer, Melissa will deal with all the permits and important things. You can help these guys on the construction team. I recall you weren’t afraid of wrecking balls.”
Ignoring his reference to my previous comment, I turned to the others in the office. “I’ll do my best.”
My best not to jump over this desk and smash the nearby lamp over his head.
Thaddeus
This morning,I flew out of bed and then smiled deliriously into my bowl of oatmeal. I’d almost finished eating when Aston commented on my strange behavior.
“Why do you look so happy today?”
Fixing my expression, I stared at him. “Who, me?”
Aston glanced around the empty dining room and narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t see anyone but us in here.”
“Very funny,” I snapped, then chewed while I thought. Why was I in such a great mood? Nothing was happening today that didn’t happen any other day. I glanced at my watch and stood quickly. “I have to go. I don’t want to be late.”
“Since when?” Aston called after me.
I hurried away before he reminded me I’d only ever been on time for my first day reporting to work. Since then, I’d been anywhere from three to five hours late. What was my deal today? I took the key to the black SUV and then drove the backroads, staying up in the hills, passing Benedict Street and a few others until I was on the other side of town and at the office. When I exited the car, I straightened my new black suit. Inside, I alerted security of Summer’s employment.
“Mr. Fitzgerald already told us.”
I nodded as everything was already set. Then, I turned to walk away until my feet froze. “Oh, by the way, make sure that particular employee walks through the metal detectors daily.”
As expected, the security guard’s eyes widened. “Do you expect trouble?”
“If you do your job properly, there shouldn’t be,” I said, not wanting to go into details, and went to the elevator. Inside the box, I saw my reflection in a mirror, and the smile I had over breakfast had returned. What was up with me today?
Shrugging, I gave myself a break. Why shouldn’t I smile? I was a free man. I was financially well-off. Not an unattractive man if you asked the ladies. I had every reason to be cheerful. This had absolutely nothing to do with Summer, who should be arriving in a matter of minutes to work side by side with me. To rebuild the place we once made many plans around. There were no thoughts swirling in my head about a do-over or us picking up where we left off. Too much time had passed.
“Mr. Fitzgerald,” a cold, serious voice said when the elevator door opened on my floor.
Unless my father was behind me, that was aimed at me.
“Yes?”
“Today, we should visit the site?—”
“Let’s do this all in a meeting when Sum—the new employee arrives.” I cleared my throat, hoping I sounded casual.
