Jayded (37 page)

I
’
ve spoken to my brother Luke, and he knows I
’
m coming. He
’
s offered to help, which we totally need. I have movers boxing up and moving the office as well as Kinsey
’
s apartment and my house. It
’
s really going to be a big event. There are a lot of things to move between the both of us. I
’
m glad Kyle will be along to help, too.

During the past week, Kinsey has gotten very acquainted with the ins and outs of the Saunders Literary Agency. She and Junior have been working closely together. I was a little nervous at first, but as the week went on, they seemed to do okay. There was a lot of tension in the air between them, but all in all they still worked well together.

My partnering up with the agency was confirmed and announced yesterday. Greg and Connie set up an amazing luncheon for all of the employees to celebrate. I got familiarized with each and every one of my team members, one on one. I think that was the highlight of my day. Of course, I
’
m not too sure how I feel about Beth being under me. She sort of rubs me the wrong way.

I
’
ve been busy gathering all my things together in my hotel room. I took today off to get everything packed and ready to go. It
’
s definitely been an all-day process. My hotel room was a mess. Kinsey is still back at the office. She only brought one small suitcase, so she
’
s already packed.

I get ready to jump in the shower, but I hear a knock at the door. I look through the peephole
—
it
’
s Beth. I freeze for a moment. What the hell is she doing here? Shouldn
’
t she be at work? And why the hell would she want to see me?

I open the door.
“
Beth?
”

She looks angry.
“
Can we talk?
”
she asks in a monotone voice.

I move out of the way so she can enter. I shut the door and follow in behind her.

“
Is something wrong at the office?
”
I ask, not knowing what else to ask about.

She snaps her body around to face me.
“
Yes, something
is
wrong at the office. My boss is fucking my ex-boyfriend!
”
she unveils.

I freeze for one slight moment in panic but quickly recover.
“
I
’
m sorry, but I don
’
t know what you
’
re talking about,
”
I respond.

She shakes her head with a grin.
“
Oh, but you do. I saw you walking into Kyle
’
s apartment the other night, and you didn
’
t leave until the next morning. In fact, I
’
ve seen that quite a few nights. I
’
m sure you remember now, don
’
t you?
”

Now I
’
m pissed. How dare she?
“
Are you stalking me? Because I think you
’
re clearly mistaken or maybe a little delusional. Who the hell in their right mind follows people around?
”

She points her finger up at me.
“
You are not going to turn this around on me. You
’
re disgusting, sleeping with another girl
’
s man. How old are you anyways? You shouldn
’
t be messing with twenty-four-year-olds.
”

I take a step closer to her.
“
First of all, your
ex
-boyfriend is
not
your man. And second of all, my age has nothing to do with this. You can
’
t prove a damn thing anyways. I
’
ll be contacting Connie right after you walk yourself out. You are out of line and most definitely fired!
”
I growl.

She holds up her phone with a smile.
“
Oh, I have the proof.
”
She holds up her phone and has a picture of me exiting Kyle
’
s apartment and one of us walking in together holding hands. Kyle was right. This girl
is
crazy, and to think I was giving her the benefit of the doubt.

“
You have a gold car, don
’
t you?
”

“
Yes, why?
”

I shake my head in disgust. I knew there was something off about that car I saw sitting in the parking lot. I should have went with my gut feeling.
“
You
’
re pathetic and sick. No wonder why Kyle didn
’
t want to be with you. He saw right through you.
”

She storms past me to let herself out, but before she does, she turns to speak one last time.
“
I
’
ll be contacting Connie as well. I
’
m on my way to the office as we speak,
”
she informs me and walks out the door.

I am fuming! I can
’
t believe this crazy bitch. Who the hell does that? I walk around in circles; I
’
m so pissed. She has some goddamn nerve. But, then it hits me. She
’
s going to the office to tell Connie. Shit! I whip out my phone and dial Kyle
’
s number immediately.

“
Hey you.
”

“
Kyle, we have a big problem!
”

“
What
’
s the matter?
”
he asks quickly.

I take a deep breath.
“
Beth was just here. She
’
s been stalking us, and she came here to confront me about being with you,
”
I spit out.

I hear silence for a moment.
“
What?!
”
he screeches quietly.
“
Hold on.
”
I hear him walk out of the office.
“
What the fuck do you mean she
’
s been stalking us?
”

I pace back and forth in my small room.
“
She has pictures of us, Kyle. She
’
s on the way to the office now to tell your mom.
”

“
Dude, I knew that bitch was crazy. Let her go ahead and tell my mother. My mom will put her in her place,
”
he says.

My hand flares out.
“
What do you mean
‘
let her
’
? Are you kidding me?
”
I yell. Has he lost his mind?

“
Listen, calm down. My mother already knows about us,
”
he reveals.

I stop in mid-pace.
“
What do you mean she already knows? How does she know? You told her?
”
I growl. I
’
m feeling a little betrayed. He promised me he wouldn
’
t say a word.

“
No, of course not. She confronted me last night about us. She said she
’
s known for a while now; she just hasn
’
t said anything about it. Max, it
’
s okay. She doesn
’
t have a problem with us seeing each other. And she won
’
t be mentioning this to my father, if you
’
re concerned about that.
”

“
So your mother knew just from seeing us together?
”
I plop down on the bed.

“
Yeah.
”

“
Then how many others do you think have noticed?
”
I ask him.

“
Listen, my mother is very in tune with me. She saw it coming before I even did. There
’
s no need to worry. I
’
m going to speak with my mom quickly so she knows what to expect, and then I
’
m coming over to help you finish packing. I have my bag all set in the car. We can leave as soon as Kinsey is done. Okay?
”

I nod my head as though he can see me doing it.
“
Okay,
”
I agree before hanging up.

I can
’
t pack now. I don
’
t even know what to think or how to feel about all of this. I know it
’
s not his fault that we have a stalker on our hands, but maybe we could have been more discreet. We should have been more careful.

I close my eyes for what seems like only a minute and wake up to my phone ringing and someone knocking at the door. I wipe my eyes from the sleepiness and head toward the door.

I see it's Kinsey calling my phone.

“
Hey,
”
I say to her while opening the door for Kyle. I walk back to the bed to sit down.

“
Did you hear all the drama?
”
she asks, exasperated.

I look at Kyle with my brows furrowed.
“
What drama?
”
I can only imagine what she
’
s going to say.

“
That girl, Elizabeth, got fired today. I guess Kyle used to date her, and she became all stalker-ish on him. Connie had security remove her from her office,
”
she says.

Kyle waits for me to finish.
“
Kinsey, Kyle just got here. Are you on your way so we can leave? We
’
ll talk about this on the drive.
”

“
Yeah, Jonathan
’
s going to bring me now.
”

“
Okay.
”
I hang up the phone.

I turn to Kyle.
“
What the hell happened?
”

Kyle blows out a deep breath.
“
She
’
s freaking nuts. I saw her walk into my mom
’
s office, so I followed her in. She told my mom about us and showed her the pics. I asked to see them, and when she handed me her phone, I erased them. She went all apeshit. My mother called security to walk her out after she fired her,
”
he finishes.

My mouth hangs open in shock.
“
Holy crap! What did your father say?
”

“
Luckily he wasn
’
t in the office. He had a lunch meeting. I
’
m just hoping Junior doesn
’
t get a whiff of what happened. He will surely tell my father if he does.
”

“
Yeah, that would not be good. I
’
m lucky Connie is okay with it all.
”
My heart
’
s beating a mile a minute. How the hell did this get so messy?

Kyle takes a seat next to me and wraps his arm around me.
“
Honestly, I don
’
t give a fuck who knows. We
’
re two grown adults who can do whatever we want. Not my father, not anyone can tell us what to do.
”

I admire his strength and his bravery to want to stand up to anyone and everyone, but it
’
s not needed. We
’
re not even together like that. Does he think that is what
’
s happening here? I feel like every time our line is drawn it gets blurred all over again.

“
Okay, relax. Don
’
t get all crazy on me. Beth
’
s gone, so we don
’
t have to worry about her any longer. Let
’
s just get my stuff down to the car so we can leave as soon as Kinsey gets here, okay?
”

He snuggles his nose into my neck sweetly.
“
Okay.
”