Novels by Melanin Borders

Andrea couldn't sleep. She'd spent the whole night tossing and turning her mind replaying the email from HR over and over until the words were burned into her brain.By the time her alarm went off at 6 AM, Andrea was already awake and absolutely livid. She got dressed with sharp, angry movements; pulled her hair back into a sleek ponytail and applied her makeup perfectly because she'd be damned if she walked in there looking rattled.If Henry Moore wanted to play games, fine.She could play too.Andrea arrived at Crestview at 8:12 AM, her jaw set and her hands steady despite the fury simmering beneath her skin.When she walked past the analytics department, her old desk was already cleared. Everything was gone; her coffee mug, notebooks and even the small succulent Rachel had given her. All of it packed neatly into a cardboard box sitting on an empty chair. Like she'd never existed there at all.Rachel and Emily weren't in yet, but Alex was. He looked up as Andrea approached, his expr

In the afternoon, Henry had back-to-back meetings. The last one was a department presentation on Q4 projections, normally something he'd send Marcus to handle. But when he saw Andrea's name on the attendee list, he cleared his schedule.He told himself it was because he wanted to see how she handled herself in a corporate setting but that was a lie.The conference room was packed when Henry walked in at 2:48 PM. Conversations died instantly and people straightened in their seats quickly.Henry didn't acknowledge anyone just moved straight to the head of the table and sat down, his expression unreadable."You can continue," he said.Robert Harrington, the senior manager running the presentation nodded quickly "of course, Mr. Moore."Henry's gaze swept the room and landed on Andrea.She was sitting near the middle of the table, a folder open in front of her and pen in hand. She looked professional, focused and completely unaware that he was watching her.Harrington launched into the pre

Monday morning hit Andrea like a freight train. She'd spent the entire weekend trying and failing not to think about the elevator incident and now she had to face him at work.Andrea arrived at 8:55 AM, clutching her coffee like a lifeline. She'd finished the Hillcrest analysis on Sunday night, printed it out, and left it on Henry's desk before anyone else arrived this morning. She wasn't giving him any excuse to fire her, she needs this job.She made her way to her desk, keeping her head down. Rachel was already there, scrolling through emails while Emily sat across from them, organizing a stack of files."Morning," Rachel said, glancing up with a smile. "You survived your first week.""Barely," Andrea muttered, dropping into her chair.Emily laughed. "It gets easier or you get numb to it. One of the two."Andrea was about to respond when Alex one of their team members appeared, practically vibrating with excitement."Did you guys hear?" he said, leaning against Rachel's desk.Rachel

Saturday MorningAndrea woke up to sunlight streaming through her bedroom window and the sound of her phone buzzing on the nightstand.She reached for it, squinting at the screen.Mindy: Morning! Picking you up in an hour. Grandma's expecting us at noon. Don't be late!Andrea groaned as she sat up, Henry’s whisper still echoing in her mind. I want you. She shoved the covers aside. “Stop thinking about that arrogant man.”A few minutes later, she pulled on dark jeans and a soft beige sweater, tying her hair into a simple ponytail. By the time Mindy knocked on her door forty-five minutes later, Andrea was ready."Morning, sunshine," Mindy said cheerfully, handing Andrea a coffee cup "You look like you didn't sleep." "You always know exactly what I need." She muttered, taking the coffee.Mindy grinned. "That's why you love me. Come on, let's go before your grandma thinks we forgot about her."The drive to Grandma's house took about forty minutes. Mindy drove while Andrea stared out the

By Friday afternoon, Andrea was exhausted. She'd spent the entire week trying to understand the Hillcrest deal. Harrington had barely helped, just threw files at her and said "figure it out." She stayed late every night, analyzing data and trying not to drown.And through it all, she'd been avoiding Henry. She made sure to take the stairs instead of the elevator, leave her desk when he walked by and keep her head down in meetings to avoid his gaze. Now it was past six on Friday, and she just wanted to go home and rest. She grabbed her bag and headed for the elevators. The floor was mostly empty.Andrea pressed the button, her mind already on her apartment, a hot shower and her bed. The doors opened and Henry was inside. Their eyes met and for a moment neither of them moved. Henry's hand shot out, holding the door. "Getting in?"She should say no and wait for the next ride but Andrea was tired, bone-deep tired, and after all it was just an elevator ride. "Yeah," she said quietly, step

It was three days into her new job, and Andrea hadn't embarrassed herself yet. That felt like a win. She'd watched about six training videos, filled out a bunch of HR forms so when Harrington told her about the meeting, it almost sounded like a break. "Department meeting with CEO in conference room A. Ten o'clock. Don't be late." He didn't explain what it was about. Just walked away before she could ask anything else.Andrea arrived five minutes early. The conference room was huge, long glass table, leather chairs, elegant windows overlooking the city. About fifteen people were already there, mostly from the analytics department. A few executives she'd never seen before sat at the head of the table.She took a seat near the back and opened her notebook, trying to look like she belonged. The room filled up quickly. People were talking quietly, but there was tension in the air. Like everyone was waiting for something.Then the door opened again. Andrea glanced up and her entire life fl