Page 46 of Power
Ten. I stood, eyeing the escape route through ten people on my left.
“Excuse me, need to get by.”
Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.
Nine.
“Scarlett?” Dakota whispered.
Sorry, can’t talk. Emergency evacuation in progress.
Eight. I tripped over someone’s legs. Fantastic. Nothing said professional like stumbling through a company meeting.
Seven.
I could feel eyes on me, so many eyes, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up at that stage.
Six.
Finally, I broke free from the aisle and ignored the glowers as I speed-walked toward the door.
Five.
I hated that I was racing out of here. Because make no mistake, I was not racing out of here with my tail between my legs. It was just that the only thing more pathetic than the current state of my life would be vomiting in front of five hundred people.
Four.
I made it out of the room.
Three.
I opened the ladies’ room door.
Two. I made it to the stall.
One.
Liftoff.
After my stomach finished its exorcism, I slumped against the cool tiled wall. Note to self: Ask Blake, Tessa’s doctor boyfriend, why the stomach was basically anxiety’s personal punching bag.
After cleaning myself up, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, wondering how the hell this happened. Here I thought the biggest problem at work today was gonna be a meeting with HR. Now I had a whole new problem:
That HR team now reported to Jace.
And I had no idea what was about to happen …
23
JACE
SINNERS AND SAINTS GROUP CHAT
Blake: Congrats on the acquisition, Jace. Saw the press release. Another company falls to the Lockwood empire.
Ryker: I take it, you survived the weekend without committing felonies against your board members?
Axel: More importantly, he spent the ENTIRE weekend with ONE woman. TWO DAYS. Same woman. *mind blown emoji* *calendar emoji* *question mark emoji*
