I folded my arms over my chest, waiting to hear her description. I wanted to hear her give in to calling me a name, wanted to break down the fluffy wall of clouds surrounding her.
“Come on, Victory, you can do it. I’m what?”
She licked her lips. “You’re not what I want. But I’m sure you are for someone else.”
“Good save. You almost gave into expressing how you really feel. We’ll have to work on that.”
“I’m not working on anything with you.”
“Oh you are, doll.” I pulled open the conference room door. “You work for me now. Starting next week, you’ll be working on everything with me.”
She scoffed.
When she tried to slide by me, I gripped her elbow again, leaning down to whisper, “I intend to start with working on your honesty. I don’t want rainbows and roses; I want the truth.”
She didn’t turn toward me. She kept her eyes on the hallway and mumbled, “My truth is rainbows and roses.”
I chuckled a little. “Would it be rainbows and roses if I took you back inside the conference room to fuck you in this dress? If you were going for conservative, you missed the target by a damn mile.”
“Get fucked, Jett.”
“I intend to.”
She yanked her arm away and stalked down the hall. “Not by me.”
“We’ll see, Pix. We’ll see.”
13
Vick
The day hadn’t goneas planned. I met up with our team and listened to starry-eyed Stevenoohandahhover being a part of the Stonewood team. I wanted to be frustrated with him, but he had done the smart thing, the thing I would have done, what anyone would have done.
I couldn’t be sure if he’d done it for himself or the company. Either way, it benefited everyone. Stonewood Enterprises always made companies better. I just worried that some of the team wouldn’t be able to move on with the rest of us.
When we got back to the office, it was nearing the end of the workday. None of us were allowed to share the news with the others but I knew some associate lawyers caught on. They eyed me with either sadness or disdain. One colleague, Liz, met me as I was exiting the building. “You don’t have to say what I already know, but I’m probably getting laid off. So, I think you should know that Mark and John have it out for you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not news to me. They would probably poison me if given the chance.”
Her brown hair blew in the wind as we stepped onto the city sidewalk to head toward the L, Chicago’s elevated subway. “They would probably poison every one of the associate lawyers if we weren’t doing all their legwork for them.”
I nodded and wove through the usual stream of people leaving work. “They don’t want anyone encroaching on their monopoly of Steven’s ear. They practically control his brain.”
She laughed. “But you have Steve’s ear too, right?”
I sighed. “We aren’t dating.”
“Really? Everyone says you are.”
I nodded when we reached the stairs up to the train tracks. “We’re not. Just friends for now. Maybe more in the future.” I shrugged. “I’m this way.” I pointed to the stairs and she eyed them like they might be infested with bedbugs.
“You want to do an Uber with me?”
I shook my head. “I like the L.”
“Huh. Wouldn’t have ever guessed that about you.” She put her hand on her hip, and I decided she meant no harm with that comment. Once, a very long time ago, I might have thought I would end up just like her, a little privileged by my parents’ money. Everything worked in my favor in high school. I saw myself exactly where she stood, with the same mentality, the same outfit, maybe even the same job.
I turned to the stairs that held so much more life above them than people gave them credit for. I surged forward, hearing the man with the guitar who I always listened to for an extra minute. He plucked at the strings and hummed a song that consumed him. I dropped money in his case, and he nodded a thank you without breaking from his song, without opening his eyes. The world had weathered him and his voice. Yet, when he rasped the words to his song, it flowed like a soft breeze through a field, like it was comfortable, like it was home, like it belonged and was right where it was supposed to be.