Meredith got off the elevator on the thirty-seventh floor. There was a large desk directly across from the elevator in the lobby area where a woman sat. The area was the same as two times Meredith had previously been there. There was a seating area to the left with a black modern leather couch and two matching arm chairs. A small glass coffee table was between them. There was a large potted plant in the corner between the couch and one of the arm chairs. She hadn’t noticed the other times she had come but there was an identical seating area to the right of the elevator as well. There were matching potted plants on either side of the large black desk.
The woman behind the desk was mid-twenties, thin, with long dark brown hair parted to the side and cascading down around her shoulders and back. From what Meredith could see the woman wore a white silk V-neck sleeveless shirt and had a navy blue jacket
Meredith watched as her best friend walked out the door. Taylor gave Meredith a wink before closing the door. Meredith signed but didn’t say anything. Brayden was silent next to her. She looked down at his hand that was still on her thigh and then up at him. He was watching her as she raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked and raised an eyebrow back at her. Meredith rolled her eyes.According to their battle plan strategy, they never knew when someone was listening and considered home the only safe place to talk freely. Meredith took a breath.“Babe?” She prompted. It was also part of the strategy that she call him Babe or something endearing. She hadn’t thought anything else up, so she stuck with Babe. He yet again set her up during lunch and used it as an opportunity to show off how in love they were.
Brayden walked Meredith out after lunch. He gathered his jacket near the door and put it on before taking Meredith’s hand and leading her down the hall.“I have a meeting with my father on floor forty.” Brayden was telling her as he casually strolled down the hall with her as though he hadn’t just been...well she wasn’t entirely sure what it was he had been doing.“Oh?” Meredith had yet to meet Brayden’s father. From what she had heard so far about him, he seemed like someone she would like. “What do you meet with him about?”“Business.” Brayden said vaguely. “Though this time I am pretty sure he will want to talk about you.”“Oh…” Meredith was surprised by that. She kn
Meredith’s momentary breather didn’t last long as the elevator was very quick to deposit her on her floor seeing as the elevator god was not with her. She sighed and headed towards her desk. The brief time that the elevator did allow her to collect herself would have to do. She needed to go over the notes from her meeting with Henry and get to work.Once she got to her desk she pulled the piece of paper out of her purse and read over what she had written down. She googled some of the pieces Henry referenced and created a packet to give her team. Meredith messaged Karen and the others who were working with them on the project and they met in the small meeting room to go over the ideas and how they could incorporate them into the entire campaign.Meredith still had her confidence from earlier although she was confused about Brayden and was very
Meredith expected Brayden to leave her in peace after their talk. But he stayed in the bedroom watching as she finished pulling up her pants. She closed the dresser drawer and turned around to look at him. She stood there and stared at him waiting for whatever he wanted seeing as he was not quite finished with her yet. He stared right back seeming to be waiting for her for some reason.Meredith raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. She then recalled he had just told her not to come into his shower. Her mind began to drift to their shower earlier and how he had stared at her as they dripped water down the drain. She thought he looked...hungry. But she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. If he didn’t want her in his shower, did that mean she was a temptation to him? Was it a sort of shower at your own risk sort of thing, she wondered. She was still thinking it through when Brayden interr
“Greta...Meredith...Meredith!” Meredith looked up from her computer and saw Brayden standing in front of her. She had no clue how long he had been standing there or why he wasn’t still sitting in his office chair next to her working but it seemed as though he had been trying to get her attention for some time. “Huh?” Meredith responded. She had been in a zone knocking out her projects, refining the ones she didn’t have time to earlier at work. She had no idea what time it was or how long she had been at it. This was one reason why she didn’t like to work at home. If she stayed late at work she could always tell what time it was based on the cleaning crew. They always emptied her garbage around 7:05 p.m. almost to the minute each night. But at home she didn’t have a cleaning crew to alert her that it was getting late. “I’ve been calling your name.” Brayden loo
**Author's Note: There was an error in this chapter when posting. The entire novel was posted rather than just the one chapter. I have corrected the error. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Meredith woke up the next morning early. Not as early as her husband who she knew little about but each day learned more and still she felt she couldn’t figure him out. She needed a moment to breathe. Ever since she had told him she would agree to his ridiculous death contract she had been with him nearly twenty-four seven. The only reprieve she received was when she had her moments in Dino’s room. She was still surrounded by everything Brayden even when in that room full of her things. She still knew what awaited her as soon as she stepped out. Even more so Brayden had full access to her wherever she went whenever he could easily enter her little bubble
Meredith didn’t know how to cope with all the stress. She had to let Brayden know where she was or rather where she wasn’t. She took a breath and sent Brayden a message that said she had gone home early and that she was feeling under the weather. He responded immediately asking what was wrong and when he offered to leave and check in on her she was even more nervous. Brayden kept insisting to come and check in on her and but she wasn't at home and she couldn’t let him find that out. She finally convinced him she would be fine and then he stopped messaging her. Meredith got in line to get something to eat and looked around the market area at everything that was available before deciding on going across to the opposite restaurant for pizza. She was just sitting down to enjoy her meal when she got a call from Brayden.
Meredith left Macy’s. She walked out onto State street and began walking down the street sipped her coffee. She had grabbed a vanilla latte on her way out of the store. She had just finished shopping for her outfit for the next day. She had spent $377.98 on it and sighed before handing her bank card to the clerk. Meredith had no bills to pay now that she was married to Brayden and lived in his house. Her rent, utilities, even her phone bill were no more. Brayden insisted on paying for her phone and having her migrate her number to his plan. She didn’t have to budget money for food really; she just paid for the lunches she and Taylor had during work but Estrella kept the condo well stocked and Meredith never was in need of anything. But even with all that in mind Meredith had hesitated when the clerk read the total amount. The clerk had looked at Meredit