Corinne Michaels - Beloved

It applies to me. I can keep on handling things the way I have with Jackson and protect myself, push him away, and keep building the fortress around my heart, or I can rip down that fortress and see where it goes. If I give him the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming he’ll devastate me, we might have a chance.

I glance at my watch. I’ve been enjoying this serenity for over an hour. With a little lighter heart, I trudge back to my office to finish securing my position in the company. Time to be epic.

“Did I miss anything?” I ask Tay as I walk past her.

She jumps a little, holding her hand against her heart. Taking a second to recover, she responds, “I forwarded a few calls to your voicemail. Also, I grabbed the upcoming accounts in the cue, in case you wanted to look.” She smiles and hands me a few papers.

“Perfect. Please hold my calls for the rest of the day. I have a ton of stuff to get done before for tomorrow.”

“No problem,” she replies.

With the door closed, I gather the latest sales figures and start getting everything together. We have a press release going out this week and need to finalize everything, which means I’ll see him again tomorrow. I’m terrified. When he’s around it’s hard to keep things in perspective or focus on anything but him. And he has a way of seeing through my mask, so I know I’ll need to be extremely careful.

Closing my eyes, I remember his touch, the way he says my name, and his smell. I can almost feel his hands moving over my skin, touching every part of my body as I give myself over to him. I remember the feel of him filling me over and over, the sound of his voice calling out my name as he came.

The door bursts open, pulling me from my erotic memories. I look up to see Piper glaring at me as Taylor tries to stop her from entering. Well, this is unexpected and unwelcome.

“Catherine, I’m sorry. I tried to stop her!” Taylor says quickly.

I stand, needing to be on equal ground with her.

“It’s fine. She wouldn’t have listened anyway. She obviously has no class or tact,” I tell Taylor.

“Do you want me to call security?” she asks, glaring at Piper.

While that’s probably the smart thing to do, Piper must be desperate to come to my office and barge in like this.

“No, I’d love to hear why she felt the need to show up unannounced.” I give Taylor a small nod. “You can go ahead and close the door. I’ll yell if I need you.”

My gaze returns to Piper as Taylor closes the door. “Why are you here?” I ask coldly.

She walks forward and sits in a chair, seemingly unaffected by my glacial tone. Piper looks around, picking at her fingernails. “You got me fired.” Her eyes lift as she purses her lips.

“I have no clue what the hell you’re talking about.” Clearly I’m thrown by how she figures I have anything to do with her losing a client.

“Right,” she scoffs. “You had nothing to do with your boyfriend firing me? I doubt that.”

“Piper, I don’t have time for your shit. You come to my office—uninvited—and start talking about something I have no knowledge of.” I roll my eyes at her ridiculous riddle, but I have a feeling there’s more to this. Considering everything that happened on Friday, she could be using this to try to get information. Subtly, I reach for my phone. I press the voice recorder, hoping it works. I don’t trust her at all and I won’t leave her any chance to spin this meeting.

She steps toward me with her hands on her hips. “You owe me a client. A big one.”

I don’t try to hide the short laugh that escapes me. Owe her? I don’t think so. “I owe you absolutely nothing. And it’s not my problem. Maybe you can talk to your boyfriend and he can get you a new client. Plus, I’ve never spoken to Jackson about you.” I give a snide smile. “You’re not worth my time.”

Taking another step, she leans on my desk. “Here’s how I see it. Not only did your boyfriend assault Neil, he then fired me because I refused to sleep with him.” Piper leans back and smiles. “I hope he has a fantastic lawyer because I’m going to bury him.”

Right. This is absolutely insane. No matter what she says, there’s no way I believe Jackson tried to sleep with her. If he fired her for any reason, it’s because she’s incompetent.

“Gosh, Piper. I’m so sorry you lost your client, but I couldn’t give two flying fucks. And you really don’t want to threaten me or Jackson.” I smile, sarcasm oozing out of my mouth. I start to walk toward her. With each step I find more strength to confront her. She’s on my turf, in my office, and there’s no way she’s going to make me cower. “If Jackson—sorry, I mean Mr. Cole. Isn’t that what you called him?” I ask petulantly. “Well, if Mr. Cole fired you, I’m sure there was a good reason. Maybe he didn’t like the fact that you,”—I wave my hand in a casual way as if searching for the words—“oh, I don’t know, are a complete idiot and a liar.”

Piper steps back with each step I take in her direction. “He came on to me. How does it feel to have two men you’ve slept with want me instead of you?”

For a half-second I almost believe her. It would be so easy to think it’s true. She’s trying to use her words like knives, but this time they’re not cutting. She’s desperate and it shows. I don’t think Jackson would purposely hurt me that way. He told me I was it for him.

“If I believed you, that might’ve actually hurt. But since I don’t and I can see you’re grasping at straws, I don’t feel a damn thing but pity.” I give a cynical laugh.

“Fuck you and your pity,” she yells back.

“Oh Piper, you poor, poor girl. It must suck to have nothing. Your workload just got a whole lot lighter and you’re dating a cheating asshole that can’t fight. And here I am with my dream job, an extremely sexy boyfriend,”—I lean in and whisper with a huge grin—“who’s a hundred times better than Neil in every possible way, if you know what I mean.” I wink and move closer to the door.

God, it feels good to say this to her. I’m completely calm, enjoying Piper’s unease. She’s got nothing and for once I have it all. She doesn’t know Jackson and I aren’t speaking, but he fired her. No matter what his reason is, it feels good to see karma finally making the rounds to someone other than me.

Piper sneers but recovers quickly. “You don’t have to believe me. The truth will show itself in time. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She smiles, walking toward the door. “You could’ve avoided all this.” Piper shrugs, patting my arm. “Just remember, all you had to do was get me a client.”

I grab the door handle, opening the door as Taylor looks up. “Tay, could you please take out the trash?”

“Sure thing.” She smiles and turns to Piper. “Right this way, Ms. Carlson.” She extends her arm, showing Piper where to go.

Piper stops, turning back toward me. “It’s only a matter of time and you’ll be alone. Again.”

I step toward her, trying to make sure I don’t cause a scene in my office. “I’d rather be alone than be with a man who cheats, steals, and assaults women.” I take a step back with a plastic smile. “Have a great day, Piper.”

I make it back into my office feeling strong. Jackson fired her. There could be hundreds of reasons, but I want to believe it’s because he learned the truth. He saw who she was and was protecting me in some small way. Or it could be because she really screwed up. Whatever the reason, it’s one more way she’s gone and out of my life. I have too much to get done to sit and ponder over Jackson’s decisions. I stop the recording and check to make sure it worked. I hear some of it and shut it off. I didn’t want to hear what she had to say the first time and I certainly don’t want to hear it again.

I take a few minutes to refocus. There are papers all over, I’ve got to return about a hundred emails, and I still need to get my notes done. Time to kick a little ass. I immerse myself in my project, putting everything else in the back of my mind.

Time goes by, but I have no idea how long it’s been when Taylor buzzes through on the intercom. “Hey, Cat, it’s almost seven. Did you still need me to stay?”

Wow. I didn’t notice it was so late. I pick up the receiver. “I don’t think so. I’m going to head home to finish this. Ashton is staying in the city again this week, so it’ll be quiet. I can probably get a lot of this done there,” I reply.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Taylor says sweetly.

“Have a great night.” I smile and hang up.

Sighing, I gather all my papers to take home, prepared to get this done.

With a large box filled with everything I needed, I made it home before the rain started. My table is now covered in papers and diagrams while the storm rages outside. I’ve got my music going, comfy clothes on, and copious amounts of coffee in a gigantic cup. I never should’ve called out on Monday. This meeting will be a disaster because I’m not prepared. Looks like an all-nighter is in my future. My phone keeps ringing. It’s the fifth time in the last hour, but I don’t have time to deal with it.

Finally, after the tenth missed call, I grab it and see Jackson’s name across the screen. My heart starts pounding and my throat goes dry. With shaking fingers, I swipe across the screen.

“Hi,” I say softly.

“Hello, Catherine. Sorry to call so late but I just got out of a meeting.” His tone is all business.

Hearing him is a shock to my system. I’ve missed the sound of his voice. The way he says my name—it’s like home. However, he doesn’t sound like he returns the sentiment.