Annihilate Me (Vol. 1) (The Annihilate Me Series) (19 page)

“The
element of surprise can be a powerful thing.
 
Alex was prepared for you to look
beautiful tonight, but he had no idea just
how
beautiful or, frankly, just how intelligent
you are.
 
There’s no way he was
prepared to see in action just how smart you are, or that, on the fly, you
could map out a way for him to land a potentially lucrative deal.
 
You’re the complete package.
 
I have to agree.
 
He probably was unaware of it, and
threatened by it.”

“Why
threatened?”

“What
if someone else got to you first?
 
What if he lost you to Cyrus?
 
Or to those men who sent you drinks?
 
It obviously bothered him that you found
Cyrus attractive.
 
That’s when he
turned into an ass.”
 
She shrugged.
 
“But who can figure men out?
 
I can’t.
 
I know zombies, not billionaires.
 
But I think I’m on the right course.”

“I
gave him back the jewels,” I said.
 
“The dress and the shoes go back to Blackwell in the morning.
 
I said I expected to be paid for today
because I don’t work for free.
 
I
plan on looking for a server’s position in the morning.”
 
I took a sip of my martini, which was a
necessary bit of heaven, and looked at Lisa over the rim.
 
“So, give it to me.
 
Did I do the right thing?”

“You
and I both know why you’ve never been in a relationship.
 
You saw something in him tonight that
made you run.
 
If you think you did
the right thing, you know you have my support.”

“That’s
a careful answer.”

“I
think this is more complicated than you realize.
 
I think he reacted stupidly and
hurtfully, and he’s probably kicking himself over it now.
 
That’s why he chased after you.
 
I don’t think it’s over between you yet.
 
You’ll either hear from him or from
Blackwell.”

“Let
them call.
 
I won’t be mistreated
like that.
 
It reminded me of my
father.
 
I won’t let it happen
again.”
 
I held up my drink.
 
“Actually, that’s naïve.
 
It will happen again—of course it
will happen again—and when it does, I’ll walk again.”

“Jennifer,
I just want you to be prepared for what’s coming.”

“What’s
that?”

“By
standing up to him, by quitting your job, by giving back the jewels, the dress,
and the shoes, and by leaving him tonight, I think you created an avalanche
that’s going to crash behind you in ways that you’re not even aware of.”

“What
does that mean?”

“Nobody
says no to a billionaire,” she said.
 
“You’ll see.”

CHAPTER TW
ENTY-TWO

By
five the next morning, I was up and showered, the dress and the shoes were
carefully packed in a box, and I had a twenty-four-hour courier service on the
way to deliver them back to Blackwell at Wenn.
 

The
cost of the service was more expensive than I had hoped it would be, but I had
money left over from the cab fare the older gentleman had given me the night
before, so I was good.
 
And as there
was no way I was going to deliver the box myself, this was the only way to go.

Lisa
woke just after six, and I put on a pot of coffee for her.
 
We said our good mornings, and I thanked
her for listening to me the night before.
 
She asked why I was up so early.

“The
dress and the shoes are going back.
 
A courier is on the way to deliver them to Blackwell.”

“You’re
wasting no time.”

“I
want this behind me.
 
I need a
job.
 
Hopefully I’ll have one by the
end of the day.
 
Or maybe tomorrow.
 
I have a few places lined up, and I plan
on putting on the Prada and the pumps to see if I can get into one of the
better restaurants.
 
Maybe something
will work out.”

“I
don’t see you having any issues.
 
I
think you’ll land something.”

The
buzzer sounded.

“Courier.”
 
I grabbed the box off the kitchen
counter.
 
“I’ll be back in a
minute.”

“Do
you need money?”

“Got
it covered.
 
Thank you!”

I
shut the door behind me and hurried down the four flights of stairs.
 
It was still too early to be hot, though
the humidity was rising, which was somehow worse.
 
I rounded the corner, walked over to the
door, and opened it to face Blackwell herself.

Surprised,
I just stared at her.

“What
are you doing to me, Maine?
 
Seriously?
 
It’s six o’clock
and I’m standing in one of the worst parts of the city.”

“Sorry
about that, Blackwell.
 
Some of us
have to live here.
 
Be grateful that
you don’t.”
 
I handed her the box.
 
“The dress and the shoes are
inside.
 
I thought you were the
courier I hired.
 
I don’t have the
garment bag the dress came in, but you’ll find that it’s protected.
 
Hopefully, you can take it and the shoes
back.”

“You’ve
worn the shoes—the heels will be scuffed.
 
The dress was fitted to your body.
 
We own them now.”

“Just
a drop in the Wenn bucket, right?
 
Maybe a nice girl in the office who has a similar figure to mine might
like to have the dress and the shoes.
 
Because I don’t want either of them.”
 

“Maine,”
she said.
 
“Nobody has what you’re
packing.
 
Nobody comes close to
having your body.
 
Don’t you get it?
 
You might as well just keep these.”

“So,
it’s all about my body?
 
I take
offense to that.
 
What about my
mind?
 
I lynched a deal for him last
night.
 
I gave him that idea and I
made it happen.”

“I
understand that.”

“Then
give me the credit I deserve.”

“Alex
knows what you did for him.”

“Does
he?
 
Really?
 
He certainly didn’t show it.”

“He
does.”

“Then
it came too late.
 
He physically
hurt me and he tried to humiliate me.
 
I will not be treated like that—ever.
 
He can screw himself.”

“What
happened between you two last night?
 
I’ve only heard one side of the story.”

So,
she’d even consider hearing my side of it?
 
That set me back.
 
But I
wasn’t going to answer, because I was finished with this.

“Look,”
she said.
 
“Alex wanted to come
himself.
 
I told him not to.
 
We talked for an hour last night.
 
I told you, I’ve known him since he was
a boy.
 
He thinks of me as an
aunt.
 
I asked him to let me speak
to you first.
 
In person.
 
No phone calls.
 
Just you and me with no promises between
us.
 
Just a talk.
 
What do you say?”

“I’ve
resigned from the position, Ms. Blackwell.
 
There’s nothing to say.”

“I
think there is.
 
I think there’s
been a misunderstanding.
 
So does
Alex.”

How
many times in my life had I heard from my father that whatever he’d done to me
the day or night before was just the result of a misunderstanding?
 
That it was just a mistake?
 
That things had gotten out of hand, and
that he was sorry for hitting me?
 
Too many times.
 
And it never
got better.
 
In fact, it only got
worse.
 
The same would be true with
Alex, who obviously had issues.

“There
was no misunderstanding.
 
Alex was
rude to me last night in ways that I never will accept.
 
Well, that’s not true.
 
Actually, Alex was beyond rude.
 
He turned into a bastard.
 
He hurt my arm, he publicly tried to
make me look like a fool, and I won’t have that in my life.
 
At least not if I can help it.
 
I may have no money, Ms. Blackwell, but
what I do have is priceless.
 
I have
self-respect; I know how people should be treated, and I won’t let anyone treat
me like that.
 
I’m sure others would
put up with Alex’s behavior because of his money, but I’m not one of them.”

“So
I’ve noted.
 
I know you gave back
the jewels.”

“I
did.”

“And
I respect that, Jennifer.
 
More than
you know.”
 

“Great.
 
What I do expect is a check for my time
yesterday.”

“You’ll
be paid—I’ll see to it.”
 
She
motioned behind her, where a black limousine was waiting along the
curbside.
 
“Just give me an hour.
 
We’ll drive around the city and
talk.
 
I have Starbucks and donuts
waiting in the car for us.
 
How can
you go wrong?”
 
Her face
softened.
 
“You know, if I didn’t
think there was a very good reason for me to be here, I wouldn’t be here.
 
I could have told Alex to just drop
it.
 
I could have let him come on
his own, and things probably would have gotten worse.
 
But I didn’t.
 
There’s a reason for that.
 
Please, come with me so we can talk
about it.”

I
nodded at the box in her hands.
 

“I’m
sorry, but there’s nothing to say.”
 
I started to close the door.
 
“You’ll be fine, Ms. Blackwell.
 
You won’t have any trouble finding someone else to hold on to your boss’
arm, and she’ll likely give you a far easier time than I have.
 
You know—like Immaculata.
 
You should contact her.
 
She’d jump at the chance.”

“Alex
said he’d never find anyone else like you.”

“Alex
was right.
 
Have a good day.”

CHAPTER TWE
NTY-THREE

When
I returned to the apartment, I went immediately for my cell and canceled the
courier.
 
At this point, I needed to
save whatever money I could.
 
I was
in luck.
 
I was able to cancel the
service and keep my sixty dollars, which, at that point in my life, was a
blessing.

Lisa
was having her coffee, but she wasn’t in bed, which was folded back into a
sofa.
 
Instead, she was seated in
the chair next to the open window that overlooked the street.
 
As I came into the room, I knew she’d
heard everything.

“So?”
I asked.

“He
obviously doesn’t want to let you go.”

“Why
should he?
 
I got him Stavros
Shipping.”

She
blew on her coffee and nodded at me before she sipped.

“What’s
on your mind?” I asked as I sat on the sofa and curled my legs beneath me.

“Like
I said last night, this is just the start.
 
I write about people for a living.
 
Specifically, people running from zombies.
 
But that could be a metaphor for
anything.
 
I think I know human
behavior and motivation fairly well.
 
Alex is a billionaire, which gives him a leg up on other men.
 
I bet he hasn’t heard the word ‘no’ that
often in his life, and he doesn’t know how to process it.
 
He probably can’t believe that you
actually denied him the privilege of being with you.
 
And I mean that.
 
It is a privilege.
 
That is one man who is going to be back
in your life before you know it, Jennifer.”