Finally (Neighbor from Hell #12) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,6

before-

“There you are!” Kelly, the incredibly beautiful woman that Devin hired two years ago to take over customer service, said with one of those warm smiles that she gave everyone as she walked over to Charlie, carrying a white bakery box that probably had two jelly donuts because they were Charlie’s favorite, and-

Charlie didn’t trust her.

While everyone loved Kelly and couldn’t say enough nice things about her, Charlie didn’t like her and even though that probably made her a horrible person, she just couldn’t help it. It was something about the way that her smiles never quite matched the look in her eyes and the way she acted like everyone was her best friend, and…

She just seemed fake.

There really was no other way to explain it.

“Look what I got for you!” Kelly said with a conspiratory wink as she popped open the box and presented Charlie with two powdered jelly donuts.

“I actually already grabbed some on the way,” Charlie said, absently gesturing to her backpack with a disappointed sigh. “But thank you anyway, Kelly.”

With an over-the-top pout, Kelly said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, but thank you,” Charlie said, already moving to head down the back hallway.

“Okay,” Kelly said with a sad sigh, turning around only to get a calculating look in her eye that Charlie almost missed before it was gone and that fake smile that she was used to seeing slipped back in place.

Curious, Charlie followed the other woman’s gaze and-

Yup, definitely time to get to work, she decided when she saw Devin coming their way. With that in mind, Charlie headed down the back hallway, past the storage rooms and the supply closets until she reached the part of the hallway where the sunlight streaming in through the second-floor windows didn’t reach and kept going. She didn’t bother turning on any lights as she went since she already knew that nobody else was going to be coming down here. When she reached the door at the end of the dark hallway, she breathed a sigh of relief that she’d made it to her office without having to endure another glaring session from her boss.

In seconds, Charlie was stepping into her sanctuary. With a sigh, she toed off her shoes and kicked them aside into their customary spot. She placed her camera on the bookshelf that she’d helped herself to from one of the storage rooms, grabbed the lunch that she’d made to save money and the small white pastry bag holding her precious jelly donuts out of her backpack before dropping it by the door. She placed her lunch in the mini-fridge that she’d snuck in here a few years ago before dropping her donuts on her desk, which she may have also helped herself to from storage, grabbed the remote and turned on the large flat-screen television that she may have also been forced to sneak in here.

After selecting a movie for background noise, Charlie grabbed her second favorite Slytherin glass, walked back over to the mini-fridge, filled it with ice from the mini-ice machine that she probably wasn’t supposed to have in here either, grabbed a Coke out of the fridge, and placed it on her desk before she grabbed her camera and got to work. Twenty minutes later, she found herself staring at the beautiful armoire from downstairs, making sure that it looked perfect in this resolution while she tried to force her finger to click publish, knowing that it would probably be sold by the end of the day.

Maybe she could do this, Charlie told herself, absently nodding as she thought it over. She had the money in her account to cover it. She’d have to readjust a few things, push her deadline back a few months, but she could do this, she told herself only to sigh as she finally forced herself to hit save. As much as she would love to get her hands on that beautiful armoire, Charlie wanted to start her own business more. She’d already dragged her feet long enough. It was time to-

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” came the softly spoken words that had Charlie slowly turning her head and taking in the large man sitting in the oversized leather chair that she may have helped herself to from the waiting room and couldn’t help but wonder why Devin Bradford was in her office.

Well, technically it was his office since he owned the building, but since he hadn’t stepped foot in this room since