How to Have Your Boss's Secret Baby - London Casey Page 0,40
Cody. Take a woman with you. Take a guitar or some painting stuff, I don’t know.”
“You want to pay me off to shut the fuck up,” Cody said. “There’s family love.”
“You’re taking things out of context.”
“No, I’m not. I’m saying it the way you won’t. You don’t have the balls to say it, Cole.”
“I think we know the truth here,” I said. “My phone rings when you want money.”
“Maybe I should go steal a car and crash it. And then run from the cops. All the while screaming that you’re my brother. How would that work for you?”
“Fuck you, Cody,” I said.
I slammed the phone down.
I ground my teeth and wanted to punch a hole in the wall.
That was typical Cody.
Getting messed up on pills and causing problems for everyone.
I walked around my desk and Maya appeared in the doorway.
I pointed to her.
“Cole…”
“Where’s my coffee?” I barked. “What the hell are you doing here if you’re not going to work? Go home if you’re sick. And then stay there. I don’t have time for weakness right now.”
The words were cruel and they weren’t meant for Maya.
But sometimes that’s how it went.
Normally she just listened, turned red, and did what she was told.
Today, she burst into tears.
I sat in my chair and Maya put my coffee and bagel sandwich down in front of me.
“Did you get something for yourself?” I asked.
“No,” she said.
I had no choice but to look at her.
Her eyes were puffy and red.
Fuck. She’s been crying for a bit.
“That’s on you then,” I said. “We have work to do now. I have a meeting with Mr. Pickle tomorrow and I want to show him all of our functioning assets. I want to make sure he sees the non-performing ones too, with a plan on what we’re going to do with them.”
“Of course,” Maya said. “Anything you need.”
“Good. Now go.”
I hated myself for still snapping at her.
But I couldn’t let myself slip.
One night in a cabin after some drinks wasn’t going to dictate the rest of my life.
When Maya got to the office door, she paused and looked back.
“I do have something to talk to you about,” she said.
“Does it have anything to do with this deal I’ve been killing myself for?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then I don’t want to hear about it. If you’re quitting, just go. I’ll write you a letter of recommendation.”
Maya hurried away.
I figured she was probably crying again.
I told myself to care, but I forced myself not to.
We worked the rest of the day apart from each other, except phone calls, and when Maya brought me files that I needed.
Something was off about her and it wasn’t my business to ask.
She was too emotional, and if it was just a bad day, that was fine, but if it kept up, I was going to have to let her go.
I went for a walk at one point in the day to clear my head.
As I passed by Maya’s office, I saw her standing at the window, biting the nails of her right hand. She was crying again.
I reached for the door handle and stopped myself.
Something had happened. Obviously.
It had nothing to do with me so that meant it wasn’t my business.
There was a lot of work on her desk still, and I could have easily been a really big dick to her and knock on the glass to scare her and point to her desk.
But I gave her a break.
I went for my walk around the office.
The deal with Mr. Pickle was right there. It was in my hand and all I had to do was close it.
There was zero reason for me to feel anything but excitement at that point.
Yeah, I thought about Cody. A little. Chances were he was going to stay high, pass out, and sleep for days. That’s what he did. I couldn’t fix him. It wasn’t my job to fix him either. It also wasn’t my job to give him money the way I did, and at some point I knew I’d have to stop. But, right now, I had to take care of myself.
Which I was.
I returned back to my office, my thoughts of Cody gone. My thoughts of Maya gone. My thoughts of anything fucking up this deal gone.
I poured myself a drink because it was almost one in the afternoon.
A deep breath and a good drink could ease a lot of things.
I noticed my desk had a bright green folder on it.