*FICTION AWARDS CHICKLIT WINNER 2017*
Lies. Betrayal. Secrets. Corruption. Just your average day in an American corporation.
Sebastian Harrison has successfully secured his spot as Harrison Incorporated's Chief Executive Officer. And although the g...
"How does Monday at 6:00 pm sound?" it says. He's talking about me meeting up with him and his uncle, and even though Monday sounds fine, I remember that we have Sebastian's GQ photo shoot that afternoon. I'll just have to be out of there before 5:30.
I sneak my phone underneath the table to reply. "Hey, Alejandro. I think Monday after six will fit right into my schedule. Your place or mine?"
It isn't until I hit 'send' that I realize how stupid that sounded—it's a freaking business meeting, of course it wouldn't be at anybody's house!
Alejandro's reply is taking forever. I'm starting to get heartburn, how anxious I am. I can't even focus on the damn presentation. God, why am I this anxious?
"It's important that we also monitor who Sebastian is following. Interactors always look at who influencers are following, so anyone questionable would raise questions..."
I hear a vibration from the table, but my hopes only dwindle when I realize it's someone else's phone vibrating. This is ridiculous; he shouldn't be taking this long. Caught in my impatience, I pick up my phone and check my messages, but my heart drops when I see the message didn't send. Well, it did send, but not to Alejandro.
Of course, the message would send to Sebastian on accident.
It says that he's 'read' it already. Quickly, I look up at Sebastian to see him frowning intensely at his screen for a moment until he looks up at me with furrowed brows. I feel my face growing hot with embarrassment; he can't possibly think that 'text' was an invitation for sex.
"I'm assuming this wasn't for me?" Sebastian whispers to me, leaning over Lucas.
"Of course, it wasn't," I whisper back.
"If you're sending me these messages 'accidentally' to make me upset—"
"Oh, please!" I snap quietly. "I told you yesterday that the world doesn't revolve around you; I'm over you, Sebastian. Really, I am."
"For the record," Lucas buts in, laughing slightly. "I'm really uncomfortable right now."
"It seems the meeting went well," Sebastian continues, unenthusiastic smile on that handsome, patronizing face of his.
"That text wasn't an invitation for sex," I clarify.
"Alright."
"It wasn't!"
"I said 'alright,'"
Why do I still need to prove my case to this man? If anything, I shouldn't have responded to him about the accidentally-sent text in the first place. But the smug look he gives me still manages to make me mad.
"Why can't I have business relations with anyone but you?" I ask him, maintaining the whisper I started.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're so possessive. The minute I told you that I was taking on Alejandro as a client, you got upset because he's 'dangerous.' But what's the real reason?"
"There is no real reason, Leslie. I was upset, but now I'm over it. If you want to work with him, be my guest. Hell, if you want to ride his dick into the sunset, be my fucking guest!"
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"Lord Jesus, have mercy," Lucas cries at Sebastian's language. And that's when I lose it.
"You'd rather I have sex with you instead?!" I ask him. "You'd rather I be with you instead?"
"Yes!" he replies angrily. "That's exactly—"
Sebastian catches himself, but much too late. And that is when the entire room is painfully quiet.
**
Any reply I expected from Sebastian was far from that one.
In honesty, I didn't know how to react. Shit, I still don't know how to react now, staring at him like a deer in headlights. He regrets even saying the word the minute it leaves his mouth; his face fell when he realized what he just said.
And when he saw that the entire room was watching us.
"I didn't mean that," he said to me—everyone—lowly. "That's not what I...I didn't mean it that way I just..."
Frustrated, Sebastian opts for getting out of his chair—refusing to look at me—and leaving the room. The awkwardness is overwhelming, but I can't leave; my limbs won't let me.
Sarah is the next one to leave to go check on him. Still, no one says a word. And I don't know what to do or say—should I go talk to him? No, that would make things worse. Should I continue on with the meeting? How could I possibly continue on with the meeting after this? Knowing that nothing can immediately repair the damage, I sink deeper into my chair and try to suppress the knot in my throat.
"So," Lucas says to everyone, gathering my files. "About those emoji's."
