Maya"Alex?" My voice came out like sandpaper. "What are you—it's seven in the morning."He looked like shit. Worse than shit. Hair sticking up like he'd been running his hands through it for days. Stubble that had crossed over from rugged into homeless territory. His shirt wrinkled to hell, probably slept in. Dark circles under his eyes that made him look—Fuck. He looked exactly how I felt."I know it's early." His voice was rough, like he'd been chain-smoking. "I just needed—"He stopped talking. Just fucking stopped, staring at me like I was some kind of ghost.I looked down at myself. The old Columbia shirt that barely covered my ass. No bra, nipples probably showing
AlexI didn't sleep that night.Sat in my living room with my phone in my hand, Maya's contact photo staring back at me. A photo from the launch before everything went to shit.I'd typed out maybe fifty different messages. Deleted every one.Maya, I need to tell you something...Delete.There's something you should know before the board meeting...Delete.Daniel has photos of us...Delete. Delete. Delete.The whiskey wasn't helping. Neither was the view of the city, a
AlexMarcus found me at the gym, which should have been my first warning. He never came to the gym. Said the smell of other people's ambition made him nauseous."Board meeting," he said without preamble, dropping onto the bench next to me. "Emergency session. Day after tomorrow."I set down the weights, sweat dripping onto the mat. "What kind of emergency?""The kind where they're gonna make a full mess of Maya." He pulled out his phone, showing me something—an email, maybe, or a document. The words blurred together. "Your girl's father's been busy. Got people talking about... stability issues, mental fitness, all that corporate bullshit.""She's not—" I stopped. Grabbed my water bottle just to have something to do with my hands. "How do you know this?"Marcus gave me that look. The one that said I was being particularly stupid. "I know things. It's literally what you pay me for.""Right."I drank water I didn't need, my mind already racing. Maya alone at that meeting. No preparation.
MayaVincent arrived at exactly 10 AM the next morning, carrying a leather briefcase."Ms. Vega." He took in my appearance without comment. He was professional to the core."Come in." I led him to the living room, which I'd attempted to clean. Mostly just meant shoving things into the kitchen.He set his briefcase on the coffee table, movements precise and deliberate. "How are you?""Never better." I collapsed onto the couch. "How's Grandfather?"Vincent's pause told me everything. "He's tired. The last few months have taken their toll.""Is it worse?"The blunt question made Vincent flinch slightly. "His doctors are... cautiously optimistic.""So yes.""Ms. Vega—""It's fine. I get it. The old man holds on just long enough to hand me everything, then checks out before I fuck it up completely." I pulled my knees to my chest. "That’s very on-brand for my life."Vincent pulled out a stack of documents instead of responding to my self-pity."We need to discuss the board's powers and your
MayaThe envelope slid under my door at 7:43 AM.I knew because I'd been staring at my coffee maker for the past twenty minutes, watching it drip like some kind of meditation exercise. Or maybe just because watching coffee brew was about all the human interaction I could handle these days.The sound—that soft whisper of paper on hardwood—made me freeze. Nobody slid things under doors anymore. They texted. They emailed. They left voicemails I could delete without listening to.This felt different. Official.Wrong.I approached it like it might explode. Cream-colored envelope, expensive paper. My name written in fountain pen—actual fountain pen—in handwriting I recognized but couldn't place.Inside, a single page with the Russo Designs letterhead. The kind of formal notice that made my stomach drop before I even read it.Ms. Maya Vega is hereby notified of an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors of Russo Designs, to be held...Two days. They were giving me two fucking days.My ph
OliviaI'd just started my fourth cup of coffee when Sarah walked in like she owned the place."You look terrible," she announced, setting a bakery box on my desk. "You don’t look like you have been eating"I have been eating. But stress just has its way of making you look miserable. "I'm fine.""Fatshit." She opened the box, revealing pastries that would cost more than my hourly rate. "Eat. We need to talk.""About?""Maya. How we're going to fix this mess.""We?" I selected a croissant, mainly to shut her up. "Since when is there a we?"Sarah settled into the chair across from my desk