CHAPTER 5

EMILY

“Have a seat,” he said as he clicked the door shut. The sound echoed through the office, making me flinch.

I was still standing there when he moved past me like a lion in its territory.

His perfectly tailored suit stretched across his broad frame as he settled into his chair.

“I hate repeating myself, Ms. Carter.” He gestured toward the seat in front of him.

His eyes followed every movement I made as I quickly sat down.

“Sorry, sir,” I apologized quietly.

Silence settled between us as he studied me, his steady gaze making me squirm in my seat.

He cleared his throat.

“So, Ms. Carter, how does it feel being one of the luckiest people who get to work at Way’s Enterprise?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but suddenly forgot how to speak.

He seemed so casual.

Too casual.

Like he didn’t remember who I was.

Not even from the bar.

Which only made me wonder why a man who promised to make my life miserable was acting like this.

“I asked a question.”

His voice was firm enough to send a chill down my spine.

“Uh…” I cleared my throat and wet my dry lips. “It… it feels amazing.”

“Hm.”

He leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on me.

“Do you remember me, Ms. Carter?”

The way he dragged my name made my stomach tighten instantly.

So he did remember.

My palms grew damp.

“Yes, sir,” I answered softly.

“Very good.”

He stood and walked toward the massive window overlooking Manhattan.

“Then you must also remember how displeased I was with your service last month.”

My chest tightened immediately.

The conversation he had with Elle flashed through my mind, and for a moment, I considered apologizing just to keep this job.

“About that day, Mr. Calloway—”

He turned so quickly it startled me.

“I wasn’t done speaking.” His jaw tightened slightly. “You’ll speak when I ask you to. Understood?”

I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded.

“Understood.”

“Good.”

He returned to his seat, the faint scent of coffee and cinnamon following him.

“I would’ve fired you the moment I reviewed your file,” he said calmly. “But unfortunately for me, it says impressive things about your work ethic.”

A small smile almost touched my lips.

Almost.

“However,” he continued, “based on what I encountered at Terry’s, I can’t say I fully believe those reviews.”

And just like that, the tiny bit of relief I felt disappeared.

“Still,” he added, folding his hands together, “now that you work here, I suppose I’ll judge that for myself.”

I lowered my eyes to my lap.

So much for hoping this place would be different.

“Well, Ms. Carter.”

I forced myself to look back up.

“I’d love to see what you contribute to this company.” A slow smile appeared on his face. “And welcome to Way’s Enterprise.”

His smile should’ve looked warm.

Instead, it made my stomach twist.

Every instinct inside me screamed to run.

But I couldn’t.

This was my dream job.

I refused to let him ruin it.

“Thank you sir.”

“Good.” He gave a small nod. “Since this is your first day, you can leave early if you’d like. Actual work starts tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

And with that, I was dismissed.

I got up so fast my chair nearly scraped loudly against the floor.

I hurried out of the office, down the hallway, and straight toward my cubicle before grabbing my phone and rushing into the restroom.

Relief instantly flooded through me when Drew answered on the first ring.

“Emily?”

His sleepy voice came through the speaker.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Drew,” I breathed out, gripping the sink tightly. “Please tell me you’re fully awake because I think I’m about to lose my mind.”

“Okay, okay. Listen to me.” I heard movement in the background as his tone became calmer and firmer. “Take a deep breath with me, alright?”

“Okay.”

“One.”

I inhaled deeply.

“Two.”

“Three.”

I slowly exhaled, and some of the pressure in my chest eased immediately.

“Better?” He asked.

“A little.”

There was a brief pause.

“So…” he said carefully. “How’s your first day at your big girl job?”

I let out a long sigh.

“That bad, huh?” He chuckled softly. “You know, I did warn you about working at that fancy company. ”

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me.

Because he absolutely did.

“Enough about me,” I said quickly, turning toward the mirror to fix myself up. “How’s the gallery renovation going?”

“It’s going well,” he replied. “But I’ll probably need to be in New York in a few months. A friend invited me to display some of my work at the gallery event.”

“Drew, that’s amazing.”

“Yeah.” He sighed softly. “ I just have a lot to finish before then.”

“You’ll manage it. You always do.” I smiled faintly. “Besides, at least I’ll have a familiar face around when you get here.”

He laughed quietly.

“We’ll definitely hang out.”

“Good. Now let me get back to pretending I’m not losing my mind.”

“Have a lovely day, Emily.”

“You too.”

I ended the call and stared at myself in the mirror for a second.

Somehow, I actually looked calmer.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By 4:47 pm, I had finally finished setting up my workspace and was getting ready to leave when Sara suddenly appeared beside my desk.

“Hello, Emily.”

“Hi, Sara.” I smiled politely. “Do you need something?”

Her expression shifted awkwardly.

“Not for me. For Mr. Calloway.”

My smile instantly faded.

“Mr. Calloway?”

“Trust me, I reacted the same way.” She lifted a large stack of files. “He asked me to give these to you.”

My jaw nearly dropped.

“But I’m not supposed to officially start until tomorrow.”

Sara winched sympathetically.

“Emily, I would’ve said something, but I enjoy having a job.”

I sighed quietly.

“No, I understand.”

“Thank you.” She offered me an apologetic smile before grabbing her purse. “Oh, and he asked you to send everything to his personal email once you’re done.”

Wonderful.

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, Emily.”

“Goodnight, Sara.”

Once she left, I stared down at the pile of files sitting on my desk.

A wave of determination slowly replaced my frustration.

Cole Calloway might have the power here.

But I refuse to let him bully me out of this job.

Not this time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time I finished the last file, my entire body ached.

I checked the time and nearly choked.

2:43 am.

No wonder my eyes felt like they were burning.

I quickly sent the completed documents to his email before shutting down my computer.

Almost immediately, the message showed as read.

Was he seriously awake waiting for it?

Before I could think too much about it, an email popped onto the screen.

I clicked it open.

colecalloway@g***l.com:- Miss Carter, I mixed the documents up. These aren’t due till next week.

And once again, welcome to Way’s Enterprise.

I stared at the email in disbelief, my chest tightening.

My fingers froze on the keyboard.

Then another notification popped up.

colecalloway@g***l.com:- VIEWING YOUR SCREEN…

My breath caught.

Because I hadn’t sent him anything yet.