Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3) (10 page)

"And if you have any ideas, don't hesitate to share
them. I see so much potential in each and every one of you and I'm not putting
a cap on anything. Work between departments. Don't let the colors of the walls
fool you, you're allowed to enter a color that your desk isn't in."

Everyone laughed.

"Putting what you learned in school into action is one
of the most rewarding feelings. The department heads are meant to foster that
experience, so go to them with any questions and insights. I think we have a
great new team here and I think we can all learn from each other. And trust me,
working in the real world is a lot more than just application of principles.
You still have so much to learn. Your education doesn't stop once you throw
your cap in the air. Welcome to the real world, class of 2018."

Everyone started clapping. James and I didn't talk about his
work very much. He had helped me study so often that his work had taken a spot
on the backburner recently. I knew about his current projects in principle, but
I didn't really know what he did on a daily basis. I had never thought about
myself as being self centered, but I had been recently. I wanted to do
something nice for him. To show him how much I appreciated everything he'd done
for me.

"You okay, Fight Club?" Zach asked. He was standing
up, looking down at me. I hadn't realized that everyone was leaving the room.

"Yeah." I quickly stood up. "And don't call me
that. I wasn't in a fight."

"Mhm."

I really hoped that nickname didn't stick. I looked over my
shoulder to see James talking to some of the interns in the front row. It was
only a few hours until lunch, but it felt like I hadn't gotten to talk to him
in forever. Or taste him.
What?
He wasn't an addict. I was. 

Monday

I was sitting in James' favorite pizza place, Totonno's
Pizzeria, which had become my favorite pizza in the city. It wasn't just that
the pizza was amazing, the people were so nice.

"Hi, dear. Where's James today?" Marie, the little
old woman who owned the place sat down across from me with a huge smile.

"He's meeting me here any minute."

"I'll go put your usual order in. I just wanted to come
over and see how your first day was going."

I smiled. I was glad I was on Marie's good side, because she
had seemed suspicious of me the first few times I had come here. That side of
her was scary intimidating, but now she was as nice as could be. It was so
sweet how much she seemed to care about James. "It's good. Kind of
overwhelming."

"You'll be used to it in no time."

"I know. And the other interns seem nice enough."
They had invited me to eat with them in the break room, but I had told them I
already had plans. Which resulted in Tavon teasing me about my overbearing
boyfriend. If only he knew. Maybe tomorrow I should eat lunch with them,
though. I wanted to be one of them. But right now all I wanted was a kiss from
James and to tell him how much I loved him.

 "Let me go put your order in so it's ready when he gets
here."

"Thank, Marie."

My phone started vibrating in my purse a minute after she
left. I pulled it out and ran my thumb across the screen. The caller ID said
Hunter Technologies. Hopefully I hadn't forgotten about some important meeting
for all the interns or something. "Hello?"

"Hi, Penny, it's Nita."

"Hi, Nita. Do you know if James has left for lunch
yet?" I looked out the window at the passing cars.

"That's why I'm calling. He had a last minute meeting.
He's tied up and can't make it."

"Oh. Okay, thanks for calling, Nita." I hung up and
looked down at my phone. I wished he had told me before I had taken the subway
all the way here.

***

I stepped out of the subway car with the pizza box in my hand
and made my way up the stairs. The sun was blinding as I made my way outside
after being underground. I wasn't sure how often I'd be able to go to Totonno's
with James during lunch. My break was already almost over and I had quickly
eaten a slice in the restaurant because I hated eating alone. I wasn't sure why
I thought leisurely lunches were in the job description for interns.

I walked into the building and got onto the elevator. The
last thing I wanted was to be late getting back from lunch when I was already
late this morning. Hopefully James' meeting would be over and I could drop the
pizza off for him real quick. I had five minutes to make my way through the
cubicle maze. I quickly got off the elevator and walked up to the reception
desk.

Nita wasn't sitting there. Maybe she was on her break. I
looked over at James' office. The blinds were closed. I hoped he hadn't left
and tried to meet me down there anyway. I walked over and put my face close to
the window to see if I could see him through the slants in the blinds.

What the fuck?!
I grabbed the handle of his office
door.

"Penny?"

I jumped. I released the doorknob and turned around to see
Nita staring at me. "Sorry, I wasn't sure if he was in..."

"He's still in his meeting, Penny. He asked me to make
sure no one disturbed him. I can give you a call when he's free if you
want?"

"No. That's okay, Nita."
What the hell?
I
started to walk away but quickly went back over to her. "Could you give
him this though?" I put the pizza box down on the reception desk.
"Thanks," I said and walked away without waiting for her response.

My heart was beating out of my chest. Maybe I was wrong. It
was just the back of her head.
Fuck. No.
It was definitely Isabella. I
kept my eyes on the ground as I made my way toward my desk. What was he doing
talking to her? Did he seriously stand me up to have lunch with that bitch? I
knew there was nothing going on between them, but I couldn't help the jealously
that seemed to surge through me. What on earth could they be talking about?
After she had slapped me, I thought he'd never speak to her again. Instead they
were having a nice, private chat in his office. Why couldn't she just leave us
alone?

"You okay, Fight Club?" Tavon asked. "You look
like you've seen a ghost."

Had that nickname seriously already spread to him too? I sat
down in my chair without looking up. "I'm fine. Are you two seriously
going to call me that for the whole summer?"

"That's what happens when you ditch us for lunch,"
he said. "And when you come to work the first day with a black eye."

"It's just a tiny little bruise, it's not a black eye.
You're exaggerating. I just ran into something."

"That's rather vague. Did you run into something like
someone's fist?"

"Ignore them," Sierra said. "How was lunch
with your fiancé?"

"Great," I lied and turned on my computer. We were
supposed to be doing research the rest of the afternoon and I had a feeling
that meant all of us were going to be chatting while we did it. I didn't feel
like talking. I felt like killing Isabella.

"Where did you go to school?" Sierra asked.

"NYCU," I said. Maybe conversation would help me
not explode. "What about you guys?"

"I went there too," Zach said. "I'm surprised
we didn't have any classes together."

"It's a big school."

"Yeah but they lump all the freshman in those huge
lecture halls. We were probably at least in one of those together and didn't
realize it."

"I wasn't there freshman year though."

"Where did you go before that?"

"The University of New Castle."

"Why the switch?" Sierra asked. "I went to my
state school in South Dakota and I loved it. Moving here has been quite the
transition. I guess it was for you at first too?"

I had been right about her not being from around here. South
Dakota was pretty far away. I shrugged my shoulders. "It was at first. I
love it now though, you will too. And I wasn't bashing state schools. I loved
my old school at first too." I was talking too much.

"So what changed?" she asked.

I turned my attention back to my screen.
"Just...personal reasons."

Tavon laughed.

Of all the things to say. I should have just made up
something super believable. Like my parents moved. But no, I said personal
reasons. I could feel my face turning red.

"Fight Club, you can't just dangle that in front of us
and not explain."

My phone started vibrating.
Thank God.
I pulled it out
of my purse and saw that James was calling me. I'd talk to him after work. I
put it down on my desk, ignoring it. It took me a second to realize that all
three of them were staring at me.

"What? I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Secret fiancé, secret troubled past, a secret black
eye..." Tavon had counted off the secrets on his fingers so that he was
holding them up in front of him. "You're quite mysterious, Penny."

"Shouldn't we be working?"

"The boss said we're supposed to bond. And the three of
us already did while you were sneaking off somewhere secretive for lunch. Yet
another secret."

My phone started buzzing again. I didn't bother looking at
the caller ID, I just ignored it.

"And you're trying to avoid someone."

"Leave her alone," Zach said. "Clearly she
doesn't want to talk about it."

I couldn't help but think he was being nice because he
thought I had an abusive fiancé. And he probably thought that I had tried to
escape from the abuse by moving to New York. Why had I said personal reasons?

My phone vibrated again. I picked it up. "I'm a little
busy right now. Can this wait till after work?"

James sighed. "I figured you saw her when I had pizza
waiting for me. I'm sorry about lunch. Can you please come to my office real
quick so I can explain?"

I tried to lower my voice. "After work. Please,
James."

"You're upset. I just want to tell you why she was here.
If you're worried about people knowing, just say you need to go to the bathroom
and excuse yourself."

I didn't care why Isabella was there. I didn't care about
anything she had to say. What I cared about was why he decided to talk to her
and keep me out of the loop. He let me wander off to Brooklyn so I'd be out of
the way. It felt dirty and I just needed some time to calm down about it.
"Later. Please." I hung up.

All three of my pod mates were staring at me. I glued my eyes
to my computer screen and tried to read the article I had found earlier about
one of Hunter Tech's competitors.

"Was that your fiancé?" Tavon asked. "Seems a
little controlling."

"Nope. Telemarketer."

"The mystery grows."

My phone vibrated again.

"Aren't you going to answer James the telemarketer's
phone call?" Tavon asked.

"I'll let it go to voicemail this time," I said and
continued to stare at the computer screen without actually reading anything.
"Dirty spammers."

"Oh my God, he's coming over here," Sierra said.

I looked over my shoulder. James was walking toward our pod
of desks. I looked back at my computer. "I'm sure he's on his way to talk
to Anderson or something."

"I think he's coming to talk to us!" Sierra sounded
way too excited.

"Chill out, stalker," Tavon said.

"How's the new marketing team getting on?" James
asked as he stopped by my desk.

Son of a bitch.
I glanced at him from out of the
corner of my eye.

"Really great," Sierra said. Her voice oozed with
charm.

"And what about you guys?" James asked.
"Settling in okay?"

They both nodded their heads. "This place is
awesome," Tavon said. "So much cooler than the place I interned at
last summer."

"Glad to hear it." James tapped on the top of my
desk with the knuckle of his index finger. "Can I have a quick word, Miss
Taylor?"

"We have these assignments from Anderson that we really
have to get done by the end of the day," I said.

Sierra's jaw visibly dropped.

"Trust me, Anderson won't mind," James said.
"It'll just take a minute."

Now he calls him Anderson.
"Of course." I
got up and followed James away from my desk.

"Fight Club has connections," I heard Tavon say as
I walked away.

It felt like everyone's eyes were on me as I followed James
to his office. This kind of thing was exactly what I hadn't wanted. The other
marketing interns were probably looking me up right now. I'd get back to my
desk in a minute and they'd all know. I was going to tell them eventually. But
I wanted to make friends with them first. I didn't want them to judge me.
Shouldn't they though? The only reason I got this job was because of James.

He opened up his office door for me and I walked in past him.
The pizza box was open on his desk and a few slices were missing. My anger and
self doubt had made me hungry after barely eating anything for lunch. I grabbed
a slice and sat down in one of the chairs by his desk, not making eye contact
with him.

"How's your first day going?" James sat down on the
edge of his desk directly in front of me. It was the same place he had been
sitting when Isabella was there. Luckily she had been standing or I'd want to
burn the chair.

"Really great. They're all calling me Fight Club because
of my black eye that your lunch date, who you stood me up for, gave me."

He laughed but quickly stopped when he saw my facial
expression. "She actually came to apologize about that. And for the
surprise appearance at the party."

"Maybe she should have talked to me instead of you then.
You seriously couldn't take two seconds to tell me you couldn't make
lunch?"

"I thought she came to make a scene. It wouldn't be the
first time. And now I have you here to worry about embarrassing too. It seemed
like the best option was to hear her out."

"So is that how it's going to be our whole lives? You're
just constantly going to put her first?" I knew it wasn't fair. He had
talked to her in part to avoid her embarrassing me. But I was pissed. And hadn't
he just embarrassed me? He knew I wanted to keep things professional here and
he just completely threw that out the window because I asked him if we could
wait and talk after work. He hadn't gotten his way so he disregarded everything
I had asked him not to do. He was being ridiculous.

"No. She actually came to tell me that she wants me to
be happy. She won't be bothering us anymore."

"Well, I'm glad you got the closure you needed. I
thought the divorce had handled that. But what do I know?"

"You're seriously upset that I talked to Isabella for a
few minutes?" He crossed him arms in front of his chest. "You know
how I feel about her. There's no reason to be upset."

"I'm allowed to be upset! You can't control my emotions
when you control everything else."

"I don't..."

"Why am I here, James? I applied to dozens of places.
How could I not have heard back from a single one? What did you do?"

"I thought you'd want to work with..."

"I would have told you if this was what I wanted. It's
not. I know that everyone is going to judge me when they find out we're
together. Which you kind of just gave away. I needed to do this on my own. I
want to be independent. I don't want to have to rely on you for
everything."

"Penny..."

"You don't respect me." I stood up and threw the
rest of my pizza slice in the trashcan. "At all. Now can we please just
talk about this at home like a normal couple?"

His mouth was set in a straight line. I knew I had hurt him.
But for one second I wanted to focus on what I wanted instead of what he did.
Ever since we had moved here I had tried to give him everything he needed. I
had been hyper focused on making him happy. And I had completely forgotten
about what I wanted somewhere along the way. He couldn't always get his way.
This was my life too.