Chapter 46

I take it back. I definitely should have let her get hit by that car. The thought had become more and more solid, less and less alien as the hours had passed with me still in that chair crawling through that thick stack of paperwork. I had been working there for maybe a week when I realized that I truly, truly meant it.

It wasn't the work exactly. It was the environment and the shitty oversight. I could see why the company's connection to Dominic's parents company wasn't published anywhere. Either they were a new acquisition, or they had only ever been a way to funnel good talent from shitty companies into the main company. Goddess, I hoped I would be one of those people who would be shuffled to the main company soon. I would have to check my internship contract to be sure how long I had to work in this position before I could transfer.

Co-workers, even the other interns, kept to themselves and were mostly sneering at each other in competition, as if it was such an honor to work here. It wasn't until I learned that it was tradition that the best interns got offered a position in the main company that I understood what the hard competition was about.

And for someone who said, or at least implied, that they had such high standards, he was really fucking sloppy. At first, I'd wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just busy. Maybe there was just a lot on his desk. Maybe he was just a terrible manager who didn't need to be in that position and was overwhelmed. I had tried to give him grace, but at every turn, he showed me he didn't deserve it.

I'd had to go and find him three different times to get the right papers in the right order from the right places to even do a fair first check. And then there was the endless nitpicking things. He would get maybe a page in, find something he didn't like, point it out, and tell me to go back and do it all over again, even though he hadn't looked through the rest of the paperwork. He wouldn't even tell me what exactly his issue was.

I was supposed to be learning from this man, but he wasn't interested in teaching.

It was, in short, a lot of wasted time.

And the fact that he seemed to be completely averse to working in the current century and doing at least a portion of this reconciliation online was bizarre to me. If this kept up, I was just going to do it online and print it out for him because he could go to hell. Him, the shitty ball point pens, the highlighters that were half dry already, and all of his crappy handwriting, too.

I spent most nights that I did manage to make it home, complaining to Arielle, who always offered to kill him for the asking. I wondered more and more exactly how much longer it would take for me to take her up on that offer.

I dragged myself out of the building, blinking against the evening sunlight, feeling like a zombie crawling out of a cave. It was all ridiculous. Luckily, I only had really half a schedule that I had to actually be present for, and it was all evening classes, so when my supervisor left and hadn't had a chance to look over my work, I got to leave.

My feet felt like they were moving through syrup, every step heavier than the last. If it weren’t for the promise of my caffeine fix and the threat of missing my evening class, I might’ve collapsed right there on the curb. I hadn’t slept more than four hours a night in weeks. I was living off coffee, vending machine granola bars, and pure spite.

Vivian's influence had put me under the worst possible person, that much was clear. This was way more than basic intern hazing. I’d seen the way his face relaxed whenever Vivian dropped by. The little conspiratorial smiles. The sudden assignments dumped on my desk right after a Vivian sighting. The way he always found something wrong.

Still, the manager was clever. He never said anything that would give me real grounds to go to HR. There were no insults, no raised voices. Just impossible deadlines and expectations so high they brushed the ceiling tiles. He wasn’t going to give me anything I could hold up and say look, this is abuse. It was death by a thousand paper cuts.

And it was working.

My back ached from hunching over spreadsheets. My eyes burned. My brain was running on fumes. I was exhausted, frustrated, and mostly just angry.

But I couldn’t quit. I wouldn’t.

This internship was my best shot. I needed the hours to get my license by the end of the semester. And despite the hellish conditions, I was learning more than I’d ever expected to. I knew I was getting stronger, sharper, better. The job was brutal, but it was shaping me. And I was grateful. At least… I was trying to be.

I bought a very tall cup of coffe, whatever was bigger than Venti. A gallon, I guess. I gripped it hard, my fingers nearly cramping from the pressure and holding shitty pens.

I wasn’t going to give Vivian the satisfaction of quitting. They could both kick rocks. I just had to hold out long enough.

I would.

I wouldn't give myself a choice.

At least my little castle was doing exactly what it was supposed to: keeping me from snapping.

I barely made it to my seat before class started, slumping into the chair like my bones had melted. My eyelids felt like sandpaper, and my stomach let out a low, traitorous growl I hoped no one heard.

Of course, someone did.

Neil slid into the seat beside me with a paper bag and a cup in hand, giving me a once-over

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” I said, too quickly. The lie tasted bitter on my tongue, but it came out smooth. I even tacked on a weak smile for good measure.

Neil didn’t buy it.

Without a word, he plunked the bag and the cup down in front of me, taking my coffee cup.

"But—"

“Eat,” he said. “And drink this. You look like you’re about to pass out or have a heart attack. You do not need more coffee.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off with a look, firm but not unkind.

"Eat. Drink."

I was about to protest again, but I sighed and peeked inside the bag. A warm sandwich and a blueberry muffin. The smell alone made my stomach twist with sudden hunger. Blueberry was my favorite after lemon poppy seed, and I didn't get to indulge often. The sandwich was stacked high with roast beef, and every topping imaginable. It was my ideal sandwich and the only thing I had eaten all day.

“You didn’t have to do this,” I muttered, but I didn’t give the food back. I took a bite and felt the tension in my jaw ease just a little.

Neil leaned back in his seat, watching me. “Your supervisor’s a jerk.”

I blinked. “What?”

"Balding, always wearing a red tie? Asshole."

He shrugged. “I’m on the other team. Same company. Everyone talks about him. He’s got a reputation for chewing interns up and spitting them out. You’re not the only one he’s done this to.”

I stared at him, stunned. “You’re at Nordwell too?”

“Yeah. Started a couple of weeks before you. Different floor, different department.” He smirked a little. “Guess we’re coworkers now.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The idea of someone I knew being there was strangely comforting. I’d felt so isolated these past few weeks, buried in numbers and nitpicking.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, taking a sip of the drink, finding that it was some superfood smoothie that tasted like a supercharged orange juice. It was nice and cold.

He shrugged again, like it was nothing. “Figured you could use the backup.”

I glanced at him, properly this time. Neil was attractive—there was no denying that. Tall, clean-cut, with a strong jaw and kind eyes. The kind of guy most girls would trip over themselves for.

But as I watched him smile at something the professor said, my thoughts drifted again. Not to Neil.

To Dominic.

I didn’t want them to. I shouldn’t want them to. But they did.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face. That intensity in his eyes when he defended me. The steel in his voice when he asked me about my interactions with Vivian and Tyler. The quiet, thoughtful way he listened when I talked.

I shook my head slightly and forced myself to focus on the lecture. I couldn’t afford distractions right now. Not even the complicated, infuriatingly handsome kind.

Especially now when his daughter and one of his employees was trying to sabotage me.