The Other Side of Greed (The Seven Sins #5) - Lily Zante Page 0,81
factory having returned the food and supplies to the restaurants, I have never seen anyone loitering around.
“Sounds to me like they’re getting desperate and need us gone from here,” someone shouts out.
“The city people don’t want us here. They’re always trying to get us to move.” This was way in the back row.
Agitation spreads like wildfire around the hall. We’re accustomed to these requests and we’ve managed to thwart them successfully up until now. A middle-aged man in the middle row stands up. “I’ve been here since I was a kid, ever since my mom and dad started their business. I ain’t going nowhere.”
The commotion amplifies as people become indignant and bitter at the idea that there are underhanded reasons behind this complaint.
“They can’t physically remove us,” the woman in the front row shouts. I give her a smile which is anything but convincing. I’m sure they can. I wouldn’t put anything past these government officials, and I have a sneaky suspicion about this most recent complaint. I try to reassure the crowd. “Why don’t we keep our heads down and just carry on as we’re doing?” I suggest. “I don’t see any of the problems they’re complaining about. Y’all know about our weekly food nights, and you also know that there is not a scrap of litter to be found in that space the next day.” I survey them all, looking at me with hope, as if I am their fearless leader.
They cry out in agreement. “As long as you’re speaking for us, Kyra. As long as you’ve got our back.”
I muster a smile, even though there is nothing to feel happy about.
“Moving swiftly along. What’s next on the agenda?”
I groan inwardly. The rest of the evening will be painstakingly dull. There are so many work-related things I could be doing. Between this and the weekly food nights, the time I have to spend on my business is significantly reduced.
And, after spending time with Brad, I have come to see that there are other things to do. Pleasures to be had.
I don’t have the hour to spend here.
I chose to be on the committee because I don’t want to be pushed around, and because very few people speak up for what they believe in. But my stance has recently changed. I am torn about what to do. A part of me wants to relocate. Another proud and stubborn part of me wants to stay. I have to fix the roof, and then there are a few other parts of the factory that could do with fixing up. And I’m still waiting on one of the factory owners on either side of me to sell and leave so that I can expand out.
It seems like an awful lot of wishful thinking and maybes. Brad is right. I should cut my losses and go.
As we walk out, it’s just me and Fredrich because Simona left earlier, slipping out from the first few rows where she and Fredrich were sitting. I’m grateful that he stayed, but now I am eager to get home.
“What was all that about? You and Brad, as we were getting ready to leave?”
I stare straight ahead because I can’t bring myself to look Fredrich in the eye. “Nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing to me.”
We’re in such a small office and even though I’ve tried to focus on my work, Simona and Fredrich have obviously noticed how cold Brad and I have been, especially because we’ve been getting on so well lately. We’ve shared an easy familiarity and now that it has turned stone cold, it’s no wonder that my colleagues have noticed.
He left me when we were about to have sex. He turned me down. It wasn’t quite like that. I get it, but still, it’s an embarrassment I can’t erase from memory. The idea that we have seen each other naked, that he has probed my most private of places, that we came so close to having sex.
“Has he done something?” Fredrich asks.
My head spins so fast as I turn to look at him. “What? No.” My rebuke is too loud. The denial a little too forced.
“I thought the two of you were getting on really well, especially after how you were with him in the start.”
“I don’t trust him,” I mumble. Even now, days later, the imprint of his lips is all over my body. I can’t wash it off. I lie in bed thinking of his mouth on mine and his fingers ...