Halftime

chapter 34

It was Halloween and I was stuck at work waiting for Rebecca to let me leave. I'd been here since nine in the morning, and it was five in the evening now. With my luck, Rebecca would let me leave after another hour. But that would still make me late for the halloween party happening at Hayden's house later tonight.

The party started at seven but it would take me more than an hour to get back to my house, change and then get to the party.

It had since been my birthday, which was at the start of October and I was now a whopping twenty four years old. I wasn't a massive fan of my birthday. The one's I celebrated in Australia were, for the most part, fun, but always dampened by my father's lack of presence. And the one's I had in America usually ended with a fresh set of bruises. But Hayden made me forget all of that. And now, I loved my birthday. And I was unbelievably excited to see what Hayden would have planned for me next year.

But those thoughts weren't going to help me now. I still had another meeting to go to with Rebecca and I wouldn't be able to leave until after that.

Hayden had been texting me for the past half an hour asking if I needed a ride to the party. But I told him no. Especially since I knew he was helping set it up with the rest of his house mates.

I was seated in Rebecca's office at her desk doing some banking for her when she walked in.

Like usual, she was dressed in a sleek dress, similar to the one that I was wearing. Except, unlike me, her hair was tied up into a tight bun on top of her head. It was somewhat of her signature hairstyle. It suited her.

I stopped typing and glanced up at her. She gave me a pointed look, "you are going to be late to the meeting."

I glanced at the time and immediately shot out of my seat, "oh god. Time got away from me. Sorry."

She stared at me, "you'll need your computer Violet."

I doubled back and picked up the laptop. "Right. Got it."

"And the coffee," she said. I nodded and grabbed the two cups I'd bought a while before. Luckily, they were still hot. It was a ritual, kind of. I would either go to the meeting with Rebecca, Stacey or Charlotte, and sit and type out notes of the meeting while they just got to zone out. Or in most cases, they didn't even need to go and I'd be the one to sit through the brain numbing meetings.

We made sure to bring a coffee to every meeting. It was a necessity if we planned on staying awake for the meeting. Today Rebecca would be joining me for the meeting. For what reason, I had no clue.

I nodded and grabbed our cups, handing one to her and clutching the other in my free hand.

I walked to where she was standing at the door but she didn't move. She just raised a perfectly arched brow. "Your phone."

I groaned and snatched it off the table, shoving it into my pocket, feeling myself flush in embarrassment. "Sorry."

She finally stepped away from the door, letting me walk through first. "Distracted?" Rebecca asked.

"Oh uh," I said nervously. My phone buzzed in my pocket, either a text from Hayden or another text from Harley asking when I'd be home.

Rebecca raised her brows again and pressed the elevator button, sipping on her coffee, "I understand."

I glanced up at her, "you do?"

She gave a delicate shrug, "it's halloween isn't it? What college student doesn't attend a halloween party? What time does it start?"

"Seven," I told her, "but it's fine. I don't mind if I'm late."

Rebecca scoffed, "oh stop it. Tell me if you'd like to leave early."