Bedroom Bully by Harper West

14

Rebecca

“Sweetheart, we really need to talk,”Mom said after she finished her coffee.

Dad nudged her. “Let’s at least get settled in before we talk to her about this.”

Mom scoffed. “What I think we need to do is check in on our daughter more than we do. I always tell you that just because she’s more stable than Maggie doesn’t mean she doesn’t need us.”

I held up my hands. “Can you two stop talking about me like I’m not in the room?”

Dad sighed. “We’re sorry, sweetheart. It’s just--.”

Mom shook her head. “All of those things, it’s unnatural, you know? You could really get yourself hurt.”

Dad nodded. “Yeah, we see the news headlines sometimes about people choking on things or getting things inserted into them that they can’t get out.”

“What if you have to go to the hospital because something breaks?”

“Or what if you have an allergic reaction to something?”

They went back and forth, talking about all the ways my new toys could kill me, and I was thankful when my phone vibrated. I quickly pulled it out and saw that I had a message from JoJo, and I answered it in the hopes that he was calling me into the office.

And finally, luck smiled upon me.

JoJo: I need you in the office now. It won’t take long.

“Sorry, guys,” I said as I stuffed my phone back into my purse, “I left something at work that I need to retrieve. You two make yourselves at home and I’ll be right back.”

Dad held out his arm. “See? You scared her off.”

Mom snickered. “I didn’t scare her off, but all the stuff she bought will do that to her eventually.”

I rolled my eyes as I slipped out of the apartment, leaving my bickering parents to deal with themselves. I raced down to my beat-up car in the underground garage below the building to try and save on cab fare and fired up the engine. I raced to my place of work. I took my time getting up to JoJo’s office. At this point, I didn’t even care if he was about to ream me for more accounting errors. I was simply glad to be out of a space my family had invaded.

Little did I know what was waiting for me the second I slipped into his office.

“What the hell is this?” he asked.

He slapped a stapled set of papers onto his desk, and I closed his office door behind me. I dropped my purse in the chair in front of his desk and picked up the papers, flipping through them to find the culprit of his annoyance. His face wasn’t red with anger, but he was clearly not okay, and it wasn’t until I flipped back to the first page that I saw it.

“Oh, no,” I murmured.

“Oh, yeah,” he said flatly.

I slowly looked up at him. “Mr. Ryker, I am so beyond sorry. I thought I used my card. I-I-I--.”

He snatched the papers out of my hand. “Mind telling me why you charged over five-hundred dollars’ worth of shit from Happy Haven’s to your company card?”

God, you can take me now. “I’m so sorry. I just—I was in such a hurry, and I was flustered, and I must’ve pulled the wrong card out of my wallet. I’ll pay you back every cent. I never meant—it was just—you know, a spur of the moment—Jesus fuck.”

I bowed my head and flopped into the chair, and I swear I felt my cell phone jam all the way into my asshole. I didn’t care anymore, though. I was so mortified and so embarrassed that the tears effortlessly flowed right there in my fucking boss’s office. I put my head in my hands and sobbed. I didn’t care what JoJo thought of my display of emotions or even if he’d punish me for them.

All I wanted was to rewind time so that I could make the sound decision to never go into that store in the first place.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

I wiped at my tears and did as he asked. “I’ll cut you a check right now. I have the money. I swear, I just pulled the wrong--.”

He bent down and placed his hands on the arms of the chair, effectively blocking me in. “I don’t give a shit about the money, Rebecca. The charge is already there for the world to see. And when we get audited, they will find it.”

Blood drained from my face. “So, there’s no way to make this right at all, then. That’s what you’re telling me.”

He gripped my chin, forcing my gaze to stay locked with his. “Now, I didn’t say that.”

I swallowed hard. “I’ll do anything to make this right. I’m so horrified and so fucking embarrassed. Whatever it takes to make sure the company doesn’t get penalized for me being flustered in a sex shop, I’ll do.”

He grinned. “First of all, you know you’re not allowed to use those toys with anyone. Ever. Right?”

I scoffed. “At this point, I wouldn’t want to.”

“Right?” he asked curtly.

My cheeks, somehow, grew to an even deeper shade of red. “I have no plans to use them with anyone, ever. I simply bought them because I was curious.”

He stood up and released my chin. “Good. Now, there is one thing you can do if you’re really feeling bad about it.”

I shot to my feet. “Whatever it takes to make this right. I fucked up and I get that.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “Return them.”

“What?”

“You said it yourself: you don’t ever plan on using them, so what’s the point? Return what you can, throw away what you can’t, and the reversal of the charge on the card should sweep beneath the radar of an audit.”

“I mean, wouldn’t me cutting you a check to pay it off sort of look the same way?”

He shook his head. “It’ll look like a payment, not a reversal, and you do too much for this company not to have a company card.”

I sighed. “But, JoJo, I--.”

He shot up and wrapped his hand tightly around my throat. “You will return those toys so that this company isn’t punished for your blatant disregard, or you’ll be indebted to me. You’ll owe me more than you’ve ever owed anyone in your entire life because the fine that will come down on this company’s head will be because of your actions. So, unless you’re willing to do some serious favors for me for the foreseeable future, I suggest you return everything and right your wrong. Got it?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes, I understand.”

He released my neck and cupped my cheek. “Good girl.”

He smoothed his thumb along my skin, and I wanted to melt into him. I wanted to show him everything that I had purchased and beg that he try them out on me. My eyes fluttered closed and, for the smallest of moments, I forgot that my parents were hanging out in my apartment with the aforementioned blunder of my ways.

Then, an idea hit me.

If I don’t return them, I’ll owe him.

The idea shivered me to my core.

“You’re free to go,” he said dismissively as his hand fell away from my cheek.

The loss of his touch pulled me out of my trance. “I’ll see you Monday morning, Mr. Ryker.”

“Return the toys,” he said with his back to me, “or suffer the consequences of your actions.”

I rubbed my neck as I slipped silently out of his office. I eased the door closed before I drew in a deep breath and decided on taking the long way back to my place. I rode the elevator down to the parking garage and slipped into my car. I leaned my head back, trying to gather the last of my strength to face the rest of this horrid day that had gone so very, very wrong. I heard my phone vibrating in my purse and fished around for it. I saw that I had a couple of missed texts from Mom, followed by a call from Dad that I allowed to slip to voicemail.

Then, I answered Mom back.

Me: Leaving work now. Just had to talk to my boss about a few things for this upcoming work week. What do you guys want for dinner? I can pick something up.

Mom didn’t hesitate to write back.

Mom: Your father just called. Why didn’t you pick up?

Me: Are you guys hungry or not?

Mom: I don’t really enjoy the tone of voice you’ve been using. We come to surprise you, and this is how you treat us?

I’d had enough of their shit.

Me: While I’m happy to see you guys, it wasn’t as if I had any way to plan for your surprise visit. You walked in on my life, so you don’t get a right to judge what you see. So, do you want dinner, or am I booking you a hotel room?

Mom: Don’t worry. I already told your father to book us a room down the road. We’re heading there now.

Guilt flooded my gut, and my knee-jerk reaction was to apologize. But, for what? It wasn’t as if I had done anything wrong. So, I swallowed down the guilt and reminded myself that I was a fully-grown adult woman with my own bills, my own career, and my own life.

And I didn’t have to conform to my traditional parents’ expectations of me.

Me: Well, if you guys want to get dinner together, let me know. I know of some great places you and Dad would love. Especially this fish taco place that has the best guac I’ve found yet.

She read my message but didn’t respond, so I decided to drive around the city for a while. It gave me a chance to clear my head, it enabled me to pick out what I wanted for dinner, and it gave my parents ample time to clear out of my place. I didn’t have enough time to race home so I could return the toys, which meant I could do that tomorrow.

But really, all I needed to do was return my things and then pay for them with my own money.

“Sucks to be you, JoJo,” I murmured to myself.

And with a plan hatched in my mind, my nostrils filled with the smell of soup and salad as I made my way back to my apartment.

My unlocked, lonely, empty apartment.