Chapter 2. Fired

Olivia Barnett POV

I stared at my boss’ receding figure. My eyes shut heavily while my body jumped in anxiousness after he banged his door shut, leaving a tangible echo around the room.

Josh Morgan Sterling, CEO of Sterling Enterprises and the sole heir to the vast Sterling wealth, fired me.

I bent my head. This is not the first time Josh has angrily confronted me in front of everyone over a mistake since I worked for him six months ago.

Josh is a good boss - fair and decent to everyone but me.  

Every time he catches sight of me, all fairness and decency leaves him. His demeanor would instantly change. It was like transforming into a milder version of Hulk. 

My coworkers sometimes teased me. I bring out the worst in our boss. I have to agree with them.

Josh does not like me, and he lets me know about it at every turn.

But why do I stay? Why torment myself all the time?

It was simple, really. I have liked Josh Morgan Sterling since his grandfather took me in at thirteen.  

After my parents died, I was sent to an orphanage. You don’t just live in an orphanage, you survive. I learnt early how to be obedient to be granted enough food, how to spend less time in the dark punishment room. No one’s on your side. No one will look out for you. You are alone, with no family.

Until Grandpa stepped in. Until Josh came into my life.

Other “family members” looked down upon me, too. They treated me more like a freeloader that Grandpa took pity on. To them,  I’m always the outsider.

Well, screw them.

I’ll take little craps from them just to feel a sense of family again.

I bit my lip hard, feeling a wave of shame rush through me, horrified at the look of pity my co-workers directed at me. The same people who had become witnesses to how I ate Mr. Sterling’s reproach for breakfast. How his yelling, even the tick of his jaw, leaves me shaken.

Today was no better. Mr. Sterling showed no remorse.

Until now, the tension in the room carried an echo  around my heart. It made me want to cry right there and then.   It’s nothing new, really. I should have been mentally and emotionally prepared for it.

But why does my vision become blurry all of a sudden?

“He’ll change his mind. Don’t worry. It’s just all bark.” Lucy Cole, my best friend, tried to assure me, but I knew better.

Josh wanted me out.

Ignoring Lucy, I took a deep breath, sank back on my desk, and waited for the inevitable. It came out too soon. A few minutes was all it took before HR’s call came through.

I am being served my walking papers. Just like that. No warning, no two-week notice. I am being fired. Today.

My body trembled with each breath I took.

Once upon a time, Josh and I were friends. But I made the mistake of telling him that I like him. I was fifteen then, and he was seventeen. He was telling me about this girl he liked, which I ironically presumed was me. I told him I liked him, too, and saw disbelief before a sneer crossed over his features.

Later, I learned that it was Daisy Cobbs that he liked, and it broke my young heart because, since then, Josh had never been the same. He avoided me like I was the plague, and he would always treat me harshly while being kind to everyone else.

“I am sorry,” Lucy told me when we sat down that night on a VIP table at the bar to celebrate my joblessness.  

I waved my hand off.

“It’s not your fault,” I told Lucy, tasting the bitterness in my mouth.

Josh Morgan Sterling wanted to fire me out the moment I stepped foot in his office, holding my transfer order.

“I think it is just a matter of time before he finds another way to sack me if I don't go and quit first.”

Lucy snickered before putting the rim of her shot glass to her lips to drink her martini. I did the same.

I picked my cocktail glass, made a mocking salute Lucy’s way, and downed its contents.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Lucy and Todd, our other friend, exchanging secret looks.

Lucy faced me, cocktail glass in hand.

“I don’t know what you had seen in that man. He was so bad to you.” The waspish tone in Lucy’s voice turned dreamy when she added, “ Though, there’s no doubt about it. Josh Morgan Sterling had the face and the body of a Greek god.  I really can’t blame you, girl, for liking him. ”

I barked a hollow laugh.

It’s more than the money or looks, actually. Once upon a time, Josh was so good to me. He was the first person, aside from Grandpa Jonathan, who saw my grief and insecurity. I just lost my parents and came out of the orphanage. I can’t trust anyone, I physically can’t. But Josh persistently visited me, bringing gifts, coaxing me out of my shell.

I looked at the friendship bracelet he gave me when I was fifteen. I haven’t thrown it away or discarded it because it was the last gift he gave me before our falling out.

A remembrance that once upon a time, Josh Morgan Sterling had been good to me.

“But that does not excuse him for being an as*hat to you now.”

That’s what I like about Lucy. One moment, she would tease me madly about my teenage crush on Josh, and the next, she would berate him totally.

“I think one of the reasons Mr. Sterling picks on you is that he believes you haven’t outgrown that high school crush. Maybe it was about time you showed him.” Lucy said, pointing in the direction of our other friend in college, Todd Higgins.

“Lucy….” I tried to warn her. Her mouth is going off like missiles today. It must be the drink. “I think you had enough.”

There was an awkward silence. I had known Todd way back in college.

“Alright, Alright, you are right. I’m drunk, I gotta go home now.” Lucy waved the white flag and left, deliberately leaving Todd and me alone.

“I agree with Lucy. Mr. Sterling would stop picking on you when it sank into his head that you were over him.” He said without looking at me.

“I am over him,” I responded indignantly.

It was a lie, though. One that Todd saw through when he shook his head.

“Then, date me.” He challenged.  

I stared at him. Hard.

Todd had been asking to date me for years, but I always turned him down.

I was not ready.

But I figured I was not ready because I don’t want to be ready.

I looked at Todd as possibilities whirred inside my head. Todd reached out a hand to gently cup my cheek.

He was offering an option. He was giving me a choice. Should I dare take it?

But before I could react, someone grabbed Todd’s hand, shoving it off of me. Then he pushed Todd. The poor guy lost his balance and landed on the floor.

A gasp escaped my lips.

Todd reacted. He got back up, recovering quickly, but the man swung at him. One punch and Todd was knocked out.  

I saw his eyes roll, then his head lolled before the intruder dragged me away.