HATING HIM

LAURA

“Laura Hayes, you'll be working directly under me for the year.”

The hall fell silent, and heads turned in my direction. 

I didn't move a muscle. I still stared in shock at the man that made me feel things I'd never felt before, last night.

Tristan Pierce. CEO.

What the hell? Didn't he say he was an intern? Was this some kind of joke? Why was he suddenly in a suit that clung to his ripped arms and body?

And why did he have to choose me? Things were bad enough, already!

I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.. because while I stood here losing my mind, this man looked at me with the same calm from that night. 

I'd been deceived.

“I knew it,” someone whispered behind me. “I saw the way they looked at each other, and I knew they had shagged. Why else would he choose a nobody like her?”

The words stung so much they brought tears to my eyes. I refused to look behind me, for I feared how much I would lose my temper if I did.

Tristan continued speaking and I watched him, not quite hearing those words that spilled from his lips. Lies! Lies! Lies! They were all I screamed in my head. 

What if I declined the offer? Would it affect my internship? Would I lose the contract? The last thing I wanted was to work closely with him. It would complicate matters. 

The meeting finally ended and Tristan made his way to the door. I inched close with the crowd of other interns mesmerized with him, wanting to slap him so hard, repeatedly, until I got better.

His eyes caught me in the crowd and he signaled me with a crook of his fingers. “Come with me.”

As I stormed out after him, I caught Madison's eyes on me, cold and deadly. The stare sent a thrill of fear down my spine. But I eventually brushed it off as nothing.

I didn't knock before I followed Tristan into his office. I just bulldozed through like we co-owned it.

“Why did you do it?”

He didn't look at me. Just pulled at his tie as he approached his desk. “Do what?”

“You lied to me.”

“I didn't lie. Just never mentioned I wasn't an intern. It's not my fault you thought I was.”

My eyes grew so wild in rage that they almost popped from their sockets. “Oh really?” I yelled. “Is that because you knew I'd never have let you touch me if I knew who you were?”

He turned and looked at me, and there in his eyes, was a glint of amusement. “You would have, love. It was me you wanted, not the title. And you still do.”

“Oh how wrong you are!” I trembled with each word that left my lips, frustrated and overwhelmed. Because he was right. Because even now, knowing who he was, I still wanted him.

The amusement in those blue eyes was immediately replaced with a dark seriousness. “No one can know what happened between us. Or what would happen in time to come.”

I scoffed and shoved my fingers through my hair. “You must be a joker. You crack stupid jokes all the time, huh?!”

“I'm definitely not cracking jokes right now,” he replied with a straight face, his jaw ticking. “I don't do relationships, Laura. You'll do yourself a favor by accepting that. What happened between us was what it was. A fling. Casual sex. Don't expect anything else. And if you want to keep seeing me, it'll be on those terms. Do you understand?”

My chest burned so hot I was unable to speak for a good while, staring at him in utter disbelief. 

“Fuck you,” I managed in a small, trembling voice. And I turned on my heels and stumbled out through a cloud of tears.

Tristan was a big asshole. How did I not see it last night? I'd been blinded by lust, now I regret it heavily. 

I shouldn't have trusted the words of a stranger.

******

The workplace became extremely hostile in the weeks that followed. 

From tiny group gossips to open bullying, especially orchestrated by Madison. It exploded to full-blown ridicule, where people laughed and pointed fingers while I walked past…where people avoided me like I was a plague. 

There was no sort of rumor that Madison did not spread about me. The more I wondered why she hated me so much, and for no reason, the more my own hatred for her nourished with each passing day.

She had soiled my name that no one wanted anything to do with me, within and outside the teams in the office. It hurt so much, but I endured. Because the job was important to me more than anything else. 

He did see me getting humiliated that day, yet he said nothing. All he could do was ask me behind closed doors, with that stupid sympathetic look in his eyes, if I was okay…

Fuck him.

The sympathy was gone from his eyes at my response, and a muscle worked in his jaw. The nonchalance was back in his face.

“Good. Prepare for a meeting with the board at twelve noon. You'll take the personal minutes for me. It's a delicate case and needs detailed documentation.” He paused, blue eyes moving over my face. “Prepare yourself.”

And I was dismissed. Just like that. 

Was he even really concerned for me in the first place? Or he simply put up an unnecessary act?

I returned to my desk and prepared for a board meeting I didn't have much details about. 

By twelve noon, I strode into the boardroom, behind Tristan. 

The meeting began and pretty less relevant stuff was thrown around. I took notes, just as Tristan wanted. 

I was a bit taken back when Madison walked in moments later with a stack of documents. Quietly, she passed them around. Then she went to the front, where everyone could see her.

“Good day, everyone. What you have in your hands, is the evidence of the corporate crime committed against Pierce Holdings, by one of its supposed staffers.”

Murmurs arose in the boardroom as these men and women perused the papers in their hands.

Tristan looked up, and those electric blue eyes rested on me. 

Behind them, I read a stark disbelief. And I knew something was wrong. 

The next words were what I never expected.

“This crime was committed by the very intern working under our CEO,” Madison continued, her gaze landing on me. “Laura Hayes.”