God, I was so stupid.
The next morning,I awoke feeling just the tiniest bit better, but that counted for something. The first thing I needed to do was put Mark Tanchen out of my mind. That would be impossible, though, because I had to deal with Mr. DeVille to explain my leaving my position a day early.
As I sat on the edge of my bed getting ready for the day, I suddenly wondered if he would invoke that clause in my contract. I foolishly hadn't read it carefully, so when I found out that I'd have to leave after only a single month at Mark's office, my biggest concern had been not if I could break the contract but how often I'd get to see Mark after I stopped working for him.
That had been a misplaced worry, hadn't it?
Cringing at how wrong I'd been about Mark, I dug out the contract with DeVille Staffing and scanned it for that clause. As I read through the pages, I saw nothing about not being able to leave early from any assignment.
But then on the last page where the clause about only working for one month was I read the words that made things only worse. "Failure to fulfill any assignment will result in an end to the employee's ability to work for DeVille Staffing, barring extraordinary circumstances."
My body sagged as those words filled my brain. I had no extraordinary circumstances, unless being so humiliated and hurt that the man you thought cared about you other than for sex that you had to leave before you burst into tears counted.
I doubted that would work with Mr. DeVille. All the better. I needed a fresh start anyway.
And to do that, I grabbed my laptop and began searching for jobs. Whatever else I felt, I knew one thing for damn sure. I didn't want to lose my apartment over any man, whether he was a lame ex-boyfriend or a boss I should have never slept with.
After an hour, I'd found a few possibilities and filled out a handful of applications online. Pleased with myself for doing something proactive, I headed out to my kitchen for lunch and heard a knock at my door.
I didn't expect anyone to come to see me today, so immediately my brain went to the idea that Mark was my visitor. I quickly chastised myself for thinking that.
He never even bothered to stand up and tell his partner to stop hitting on you, Em. He's not going to make the effort to come to see you now either.
Standing on my tiptoes, I looked through the peephole and saw not Mark but Mr. DeVille standing on the other side of the door. Why was he here?
Unsure what he wanted, I opened the door and saw the owner of the staffing agency smiling at me. Oddly enough, it made him look more sinister, not less. I had a feeling the light blue eyes contrasted next to his jet black hair created that effect.
"Miss Cooper, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
I shook my head and smiled. "No, not interrupting. What can I do for you, Mr. DeVille?"
He stepped toward me as his smile faded. "I need to discuss a matter with you. May I come in?"
A tiny voice in the back of my mind warned that I shouldn't let strange men into my apartment. This was, after all, New York City. For a moment, I thought about telling him no, but I decided against it. He was technically my employer as much as Mark was, so whatever he had to discuss with me I had to deal with sooner or later.
So now seemed like as good a time as any to settle any issues with him and move on with my life.
I stepped back out of the way and extended my arm. "Please, come in. Take a seat at the table."
He did as I suggested, and I watched him place his black leather briefcase in front of him to pull out a file folder I assumed was about me. My stomach promptly knotted up when he laid it on the table, slowly opened it, and I saw a red arrow sticky note on the top sheet of paper.
Waiting for him to say something made me nervous, and I suddenly blurted out, "I just want to say that I think Mr. Tanchen and his partner were quite pleased with my work, Mr. DeVille."
For a moment, he simply nodded his head before looking up at me. "I see that."
"I'm sorry that I had to leave a day early, but I had extenuating circumstances. Really."
Mr. DeVille smiled and nodded again. "Mr. Tanchen said the same thing. I understand you had to deal with an uncomfortable situation with his partner. Can you tell me a little about that?"
An uncomfortable situation with Josh? Was he referring to the kissing?
I sheepishly looked at him and then turned away. "It wasn't that big a deal. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself, Mr. DeVille."
Lots of bigs in that answer.
"Well, I'm sorry if you found anything made your time there difficult, Miss Cooper. Mr. Tanchen has assured me you were a wonderful secretary and what you had to deal with was extraordinary, so there will be no penalty imposed on you for leaving early from that position."
"Oh. Okay," I said, shocked Mark had gone out of his way to help me.