Bosshole by Jagger Cole
3
Delphine
“Whoa, you’re home early?”
“Yeah, well…”
Ella, my across the hall neighbor and friend, has her door wide open. She’s painting as usual. The open door is her trying to get airflow through her loft. I know some of the other tenants have complained about smelling paint or listening to her loud indie music. But I like it. Also, she’s the best.
“So, how’d it go?”
“It didn’t,” I grumble.
Ella quickly looks up and puts her brush down. “Oh my God, what happened?”
“I got fired.”
She gasps. “What?! Oh fuck, Delphine!” She rushes over to hug me. But I quickly put my hands up and out.
“Sorry…paint.”
“Shit, sorry.” She glances down at the streaks of blue and green all over her painting smock and hands. She looks back up at me and frowns. “Wait on day one? What the fuck did you do?”
“I flashed my boss.”
She stares. “You did what?”
I roll my eyes and turn away from her. I flip up the back of my skirt to show my bare ass. Ella gasps and that completely loses her shit laughing.
“Oh. My. God. Um, why?” She giggles.
“It wasn’t my fucking fault! I got hit with a freaking snowplow on the way in.”
“What?! Are you okay?!”
“No, not…” I almost laugh. “Not the truck. I mean it splashed me with slush and road salt gunk. The woman who hired me saw me about to lose it outside the office. She gave me this skirt of hers to wear, but…”
“Oh my God,” Ella groans. “Delphine…”
“And then I tripped. And…yeah. He pretty much saw everything.”
She shakes her head. “So, you got fired for flashing your cooch?
I groan. “Gross? And I didn’t flash him, I tripped!”
She laughs again. But at least she makes a really good attempt at hiding it. “Girl, that is fucked. I’m so sorry!” She sighs and pouts. “And we thought the big deal would be your family.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that exactly helped things just now when he found out,” I mutter.
She frowns. “Wait, did he not know?!”
“He didn’t do the actual hiring, Ella. He had no idea who I was. Then it clicked for him and he freaking lost it. If I wasn’t fired before for the flashing thing, I’m definitely fired for being my idiot brother’s half-sister.”
“Shit, that sucks.”
“Yeah,” I grunt. “Tell me about it.”
“Wanna get drunk?”
I giggle. “Does the Pope wear a big hat?”
Ella laughs and gestures for me to follow her. “Come on in. The bar is definitely open.”
I sigh. “Yeah. Let me shower and get cleaned up first and I’ll head over.”
“Sure thing.”
Ella disappears back into her place. I close my door and head to the bathroom to shower. The water feels like a shroud hiding my shame away. The warmth after traipsing home with a freaking draft under my skirt helps too. When I’m done, I wrap a towel around myself and step out. I make it to the couch before I slump down and groan in embarrassment.
Okay, so that was awful. My mind wanders to Barrett—the current him, and the him I knew ten year ago. God, I had such a crush on him. Hell, I was in love with him when we were kids. I daydreamed about him constantly that year he spent mostly at our house. When he was gone, and when I got older, those daydreams turned into extremely dirty fantasies.
I drop my burning face into my hands. Truth be told, I’ve been fantasizing about him ever since. That’s what makes this even worse. It’s not just that I flashed my pussy at my hot, grouchy boss on day one. It’s not even that I’ve been lusting after him for ten freaking years.
Ella knocks on my door, loudly. I startle up from the couch. “Shit, sorry!” I call out. “Hang on!” I rush over to the door to tell her I’m about to get dressed. I fling it open. “Sorry! Should we open red or white— FUCK!”
I almost fall on my ass again in shock. Instead, I just jump about a foot off the ground. And my towel drops.
“Fuck!” I scream again and yank it up. My entire freaking body trembles and burns. My eyes wince as they slide up to meet Barrett King’s smirking ones.
“You seem to have trouble keeping yourself covered,” he growls quietly. He’s filling my fucking doorway, and I tremble.
“I…I don’t…” I frown. “Not normally, no,” I mutter.
“So just with me.”
I blush even harder. My lips purse tightly. “What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in?”
My eyes narrow. “No, you cannot.”
Barrett glares at me. But his lips curl into a smile. “I didn’t recognize you.”
“No shit.”
He frowns. “It’s been ten years, Delphine.”
“I know,” I frown. “Well, I’m not a kid anymore.”
“I’ve noticed,” he growls. I tremble when his eyes blaze hotly for a second. “I didn’t realize Helen had already vetted you,” he grunts. “I mean regarding your brother.”
“I don’t see my family, Barrett. I haven’t spoken to them in a long time, least of all my brother.”
He grits his teeth. “I was….” He clears his throat. It’s like he’s trying to find the words. Or he has them, he’s just trying to swallow his pride and say them. “I was hasty, earlier.”
“About which part?”
“All of it.” He frowns. “Most of it, at least. I…spoke out of turn.”
“About?” I grin. The power balance here, now, versus in his office earlier is flipped. And it’s making me smirk.
“You’re going to get what you want, Delphine,” he growls. “Don’t gloat.”
I grin. “So, I’m not fired?”
“You’re not fired.” He eyes narrow. I try and fight it. I remind myself what a prick he was earlier. But I can’t help but tremble under the heat in his gaze.
“That’s an impressive resume. You really graduated high school and college early?”
“I told you, I’m smart.”
His lips curl into a hint of smile. “Well, we’ll see. Tomorrow, Delph…” he frowns. “Ms. Laurent. I forgot you had your mom’s name.”
“Barrett, about—”
“I’ll see you at work, Ms. Laurent,” he grunts, sounding all business all of a sudden.
“Barrett, I’m so sorry about…”
“It’s fine. People trip.”
“No, I mean…” I clear my throat. “I mean what happened with my brother…”
“It’s fine,” he hisses.
“No, Barrett, it’s not. What happened was—”
“It’s fine!” He snaps suddenly. Anger blooms across his face. His jaw clenches, and I tremble.
“Sorry,” I mumble. I just…”
“Just leave it, Delphine,” he growls.
I nod. “Thank you. I mean for…you know. Not firing me.”
“Not today,” he grunts. I look up to see him smirking. “But tomorrow’s a whole new day, Delphine.”
His eyes slide over me once more. I tremble, feeling hot and tingly all over. Without another word, he turns and storms down the hall and into the freight elevator. The doors close, and I let out the breath of air I didn’t even realize I was holding.
Yeah, tomorrow is a whole new day…
