I walk out of Mr. Crawford’s office and approach the desk across from it. “Hello,” I say to Vivienne. “I can’t believe you didn’t take the money. How much more money do you want?” “Excuse me, how do you know he offered me money?” “You just want to work here so you can seduce Jason and get more money out of him,” she says, ignoring my question. I’m surprised she called him by his first name. They must be really close. “No, that’s not why I want to work here. Why would you make such an accusation?” “I’m going to tell you right now, it’s not going to happen. Jason already has enough office romances. Your plan of seducing him isn’t going to work,” she says, ignoring my question again. “I don’t plan to seduce Mr. Crawford. Can you stop hurtling accusations, please?” I’m starting to get annoyed. “Honey, you can pretend all you like, but don’t worry. The day you try to seduce Jason, he’ll reject you and throw you out. And I’ll be smiling and telling you, ‘I told you so,’” she says wit

“Eleanor, I don’t pay you to sit around and look sad about your miserable life. Get to work,” Dave, my grumpy new boss, says. “Sorry,” I say, standing up from a chair in the kitchen. I just finished having lunch and was taking a break. “I don’t want your ‘sorry.’ I need you out there helping customers, so beat it,” he says, pushing me toward the entrance of the kitchen. Before I walk over to a table, I adjust my hair and check my uniform for any food stains. Once I look presentable, I approach the closest table to take their order. This is my life now—waiting tables. I was lucky to get this job. Uncle Jack had to beg his manager to hire me. It’s been two weeks since I was fired from the Crawford Wine Company. I’ve been avoiding Carson phone calls ever since. I don’t want to come between him and his grandson. They have a good relationship, and I can’t bear to be the person who ruins it. So I made a choice and decided I should stop being friends with Carson. “Welcome. What can I get

It’s been a few minutes since we got back to the office. I can’t help the feeling of dread that something terrible is going to happen to me. After the meeting finished, Mr. Crawford didn’t say a word to me the whole ride back to the office. I could feel his eyes glaring at the back of my head whole way. The worst part in all of this is, I don’t know what I did wrong. I’ve been pacing up and down around my desk while biting my nails. It’s a bad habit I do when I am nervous. I’m scared of Mr. Crawford doing something harmful to me. The bruise on my arm might not have been intentional, but it hurt. I imagine it could be much worse if he wants to hurt me intentionally. I jump in fear when I hear the phone ringing. I knew he’d call me to come to his office, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. I take my time to pick up the phone and answer. Before words can form in my mouth, he speaks and cuts the call. I’m lucky I was able to hear him before he hung up. I take three deep breaths bef

The following day starts off as usual until after lunch. I don’t know what they put in the burger I ate, but I’m sure I have food poisoning. I’ve been to the bathroom three times today in one hour. I don’t know how there’s anything left in my stomach. I go to Mr. Crawford’s office to drop off some papers he asked me to type. He’s not in his office, so I enter without knocking. He went out for a meeting with Vivienne. I place the documents on his desk, and as I’m about to take a step, I halt in my tracks. No, stomach, you can’t do this to me. I need to use the bathroom but I’m scared if I take a step the food in my stomach will take a step closer to leaving my body. Taking a deep breath, I try to move, but stop when I feel my body ready to betray me. If I can barely take a step, how am I going to make it to the restroom? I see Mr. Crawford’s bathroom only five feet away. I debate if I should use it. My stomach doesn’t give me enough time to think about the pros and cons of such a risk

An hour later, I finally stop smiling. Carson introduced me to so many people my face felt like it was going to fall off if I smile at anyone else. I walk around, looking for something to eat and drink. I haven’t had anything in my stomach since I arrived. While I’m sipping my wine, someone startles me and I almost pour my drink on myself. “Do you have a death wish?” Mr. Crawford asks. We’re away from the party, so no one can see or hear us. I left the crowd to enjoy some time alone, but I think I made a mistake. Mr. Crawford looks like he wants to kill me, and there’s no one here to save me. “What do you mean?” I ask, taking a step away from him. His close proximity scares me right now. “You think I didn’t see you out there, getting to know all the board of directors? And to make it worse, you made sure to introduce yourself as my grandfather’s goddaughter.” “Mr. Crawford, I didn’t know the people your grandfather introduced me to were members of the board. He only introduced me