Bedroom Bully by Harper West
27
Rebecca
I sat there all night.In the corner of my kitchen with only the light in my bedroom still on, I sat there and stared at the wall. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t move. I didn’t eat. I didn’t drink. I just sat there and turned everything over in my head as I tried to make sense of it all.
And somehow, it did make sense.
Maggie had always been so damn secretive when we were younger. She always kept these boxes at the top of her closet that she claimed were boxes of things her ex-boyfriends had given her that she never wanted to let go. I thought back to times where Maggie seemed closed off, then ecstatic, then energetic, then tired. Closed off, ecstatic, energetic, then tired.
Maggie hadn’t just been slinging drugs or trying to bat off men that wanted to force themselves onto her.
She was a recovering addict herself.
I didn’t move until my alarm started going off inside my purse. I pulled myself up from the ground, my joints aching and cracking with every step I took. I dug my phone out of my purse and turned off my alarm, then sent an email to Joseph, Kelly, and Brit.
And the email was simple.
I’m taking two weeks off. See you after the trial.
I turned my phone off and fell asleep on the couch, not waking up until it was dark outside. I sat up and groaned with the effort, but it wasn’t until I turned my phone back on that I saw I had a very simple email from Joseph in return.
With one word that sent me soaring into the office at nine in the evening.
No.
I didn’t bother changing clothes. I didn’t bother trying to make myself look presentable. I grabbed my purse, made my way downstairs, and flagged a taxi to take me to his office. I rode up the elevator, knowing damned good and well he’d have himself buried in work.
And the second I stormed into his office, he whipped his head up.
“Approve the time off,” I said.
His eyes dropped back to the folder in front of him. “No.”
“And why not?” I asked as I slammed the door behind me.
He shrugged. “Because I said so. Because we have a big account coming that we can’t afford to lose, so it’s all hands on deck. I gave you today because I figured you needed it, but I expect your ass in your office come tomorrow morning.”
“No.”
He chuckled. “You don’t have a choice.”
“Like you don’t have a choice?”
His eyes slowly rose to mine. “Be very careful what you say next. You never know who might be listening.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Ever since I took this job with you, I’ve been harassed, abused, and overworked. From beginning to end, I’ve fought with you to try and have some semblance of a personal life, when really all you want is someone else to be as tied down as you are for decisions you made--.”
He slammed his hands against his desk and stood. “Are you finished?”
“No!” I exclaimed. “No, I’m not finished, because whether or not you want to hear it, it has to be said: from the time I started working here, I’ve gotten no release. No reprieve. No break from the utter abuse that occurs beneath the roof of this place. You’re to blame for that. You’re to blame for everything you’ve put me through because you want someone to suffer the way you suffer. You don’t want to be alone in your misery, and I get it, but you won’t drag me down with you. This issue? It’s between you and Mags. It was never between you and me. So, you either back the fuck off and let me live my life, or I quit.”
He shrugged. “Then, quit. If you don’t show up tomorrow, I’ll place an ad to fill your position by the end of the week.”
And as he sat back down, seemingly unbothered by my threat, I realized something.
No one in my life cared as much about me as they did about saving their hides from my sister.
