Like a Boss - Annabelle Costa Page 0,69

button. I know what the conversation will be. He’ll beg me to forgive him, and I still can’t. It will just be frustrating. So instead, I let it go to voicemail.

“Listen, I’m going to be at my office at Mediapp later today, in case you want to talk. I’d really like to see you. I… I love you, Ellie. Please consider it.”

I don’t call him back. But I do listen to the message at least a dozen times.

Given how much I hate the new owner of our company and he fired half my staff, it would make sense for me to blow off our project. But somehow, it’s just the opposite. This project is my baby, and I want to get it done before he makes me leave. So instead of going home at five, I burn the midnight oil.

It’s not like I have any social life to speak of.

It’s nearly nine o’clock when I finally decide to call it quits. I’ll probably continue working from home tonight though, and maybe all through the weekend. If I leave this company, I don’t know who will continue my work. I want this project to be done right. It’s too important to me, even if Luke is the one who will profit from its success.

When I get out of my office, I’m shocked to see Nathan coming out of his own office, down the hall from me. I thought he was fired. What is he doing here?

“Nathan!” I call out. “What are you doing here?”

Nathan lifts his bloodshot eyes. He’s wearing a dress shirt and pants, but they’re wrinkled and his shirt is untucked. He’s swaying slightly on his feet and I smell vodka—he’s drunk. I’ve seen Nathan drunk once before, at an office Christmas party, and he wasn’t a particularly nice drunk. Probably better not to engage him.

Too late.

“Well, well, well,” he says, “if it isn’t little Ellie Jensen. How is your boyfriend doing?”

I drop my eyes. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, right. Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Nathan…”

He’s practically spitting at me. “I saw you coming out of his office. I know what you were doing.”

“No, I mean…” I clear my throat. “I broke up with him. After what he did, I didn’t want to have anything to do with him.”

Nathan stares at me for one tense moment, then his eyes soften. “Oh. I didn’t realize…”

“Yeah, well…” I shrug. “I should’ve known better.”

He kicks the ground with his shoe. He’s wearing his work clothes, but paired with sneakers for some reason. “No, he was very smooth. When I talked to him, he acted like he thought my project was the best thing in the world and he was trying to convince me to stay. What a fucking liar.”

That’s the thing. Nathan is a really good worker, and his project was worth continuing. I can see why Luke might have let Jenna or George go, but why Nathan?

“Hey,” Nathan says. “Do you want to get a drink?”

For a moment, I’m tempted. I could use a drink. But if I go out to a bar with Nathan, he’s going to get grabby with me. Nathan and I might look good on paper, but I feel nothing for him. I don’t find him attractive, for starters, but I could put that aside if he wasn’t such a jerk. Anyway, I don’t want him to think I’m on the rebound, so it will be easy for him. “Sorry, no.”

Nathan’s face reddens. “Seriously, I don’t get you, Ellie. I’d say your standards are too high, but look who you went out with. Are you after money? Is that your deal? Because it’s not about looks if you dated that guy.”

If I explained how hot Luke is, he wouldn’t get it. There’s no point in having this conversation. “I don’t know what to say. But I’ve got to get going.”

“No.” Nathan stands blocking my path out of the office. For the first time, I feel a twinge of fear in the pit of my stomach. “I want an answer from you, Ellie. How come you don’t want to go out with me? Tell me the real reason. Because I’m sick of the excuses.”

He’s close enough that I can smell the alcohol on his breath. My heart is pounding—what if he attacks me? It’s just the two of us here. There’s no one to help me.

But I’ve got a tube of pepper spray in my purse. As furtively as I can, I stick my hand into my purse.