Outside Melrose, Sarah sat down on the first bench she spotted. Her legs could no longer support her weight or the stress of her recent nightmare.
She had always hoped to run into Ezra one day, but the interaction she had just had was nowhere near what she envisioned. She never questioned his dislike for her, but not to the point where he would throw her outside his building like an animal.
Her phone beeped, it was Chelsea, her friend. After wiping away her tears, she turned to the message. Her friend was inquiring about her employment status.
She placed her phone away and began crying. She was a total failure or was she cursed? She wanted to go back to the day before, the interview was a nightmare that she wanted to wake up from.
As she sank into the bench, the phone rang. It was a new number. She decided to ignore it as well but afterward thought it was Ezra who had a change of heart.
Wiping away her tears, she picked up the call.
"Why aren't you working at your desk?" An icy voice asked.
Sarah briefly felt her heart quiver.
"Is this not Sarah Norwell's line?" The voice inquired, after a stretch of silence.
Sarah gasped, "Yes?"
The voice said, "This is your boss, half-boss, Liam, who you signed a contract with."
Sarah exhaled a sigh of relief, for unknown reasons she was glad it was not Ezra.
She began to explain, "Your... brother," but was cut off.
"Yes, I heard that he threw you outside the building. He did the same thing to the previous secretary," Liam said and asked her not to take it personally.
"What?"
Liam remarked, "I neglected to tell you that my brother is harsh, rude, ill-tempered, and mean to everything on two feet," he laughed.
"Anyway, take today off, but be in the office before 8 a.m. tomorrow and honor the contract," he hung up the phone.
Sarah's gaze fell silently on the phone. She was tempted to call back and alert the person on the other end of the line about her history with Ezra but an inner voice cautioned her against it.
The contract was not committing her to anything especially when Ezra did not intend to allow her in his office.
The phone rang again flipping her heart, she looked at the line and it was Chelsea. She chuckled and chose to pick up the phone. She was in a tricky situation and was hoping that her friend might help.
"You signed what?" Angry at her, Chelsea yelled.
Sarah sobbed, "I was desperate and we needed the money."
"Where are you?" Chelsea asked and ordered her to stay there.
*******
In Liam's office
Ezra could hear Sarah and Liam's conversation, breathing heavily, his fists folded.
"You have two choices here: run me over with your chair or wheel yourself to your office," Liam said after hanging up.
"You left this company when it was sinking, and I lifted it up alone, so this company is not even half yours!" Ezra yelled.
"I do not recall resigning when I left, and I thank you for lifting the company," Liam grinned as he sat down next to his brother and sneered;
"Do not mind my manners, but I think it's disrespectful to stand while you are seated," he added and started outlining how their late father divided up all the inheritance in half.
"Furthermore, given that you'll probably force the new secretary to resign, why are you getting so worked up about her?" He queried.
Ezra turned to face away realizing Liam was correct. He didn't fire any of the other clueless secretaries because they all quit. And unless Sarah had no self-respect, he didn't think Sarah would show her face again.
"What's up?" Liam's curiosity grew. "Does she know you? Is she your former sexual partner? Or did she insult you after your one-night stand ended in failure?"
Without warning, Ezra crashed his wheelchair into Liam's chair before he could finish his sentence, sending him tumbling backward on his back.
He then rolled himself out of the office with a warning, "Tame your stupid mouth, next time I will ram the chair between your legs.
Liam was left hissing in agony.
Regardless of how many times he insulted Ezra who was exceedingly irritable, he was never physically violent, which simply indicated that the woman he had employed was responsible.
He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he attempted to stand up but was hampered by a painful sting. Ezra had gone too far, he was going to make him pay.
Outside, Chelsea arrived and picked up Sarah. The two then proceeded to a pub for drinks.
Sarah narrated her past and described what happened at Melrose, leaving Chelsea's mouth hanging.
"Why on earth did you agree to spy for the brother?" She yelled.
Sarah sobbed, "I need the money; we need the money and when he was talking about his weird brother, he came out as if the brother was some obese lazy cripple pulling the company down."
Chelsea sipped on her beer.
"I never thought it was my hot, long-lost friend."
"Hot?" Chelsea's eyes opened wide.
Sarah looked away, embarrassed.
Chelsea took out her phone and googled who owned Melrose. Articles about Liam popped up. None of them had images of the other brother, who held the other 50% ownership stake in the business.
She raised an eyebrow at Sarah.
"Well, the Liam brother is hot too, and it says here that Liam stepped back two years ago, but there is still no picture of the other brother," she said.
Sarah picked up the phone and read the articles, to her surprise Chelsea was right. There was no picture or mention of Ezra's name. She now understood why she had no idea who owned the company when she went for the interview.
Chelsea explained, "I believe the two brothers are at war, and I believe the other brother is using you to get eyes on the crippled brother."
"Oh my god, I should warn Ezra and tell him," Sarah thought as she reached for her phone.
In an instant, Chelsea seized her hands and stopped her.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
Sarah answered, fidgeting, "Ezra has to know what his brother hired me for."
"Don't you read books or watch movies?" Chelsea asked.
Sarah was almost rolling her eyes; her friend was very irritating when it came to her stupid novels.
"Cripple's brother obviously knows the hot brother is after the company, and perhaps that's why he keeps firing all the secretaries."
Sarah put an end to her bag-flicking.
"From the way you described how he chased you out of the building, he wouldn't even give you a second to snitch on his brother," Chelsea added.
Sarah sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. She responded, "I can't just watch and do nothing."
"Yes, you can, or you can choose to pursue the second course of action and go to work. But instead of spying on the cripple, you spy on the hottie and uncover information that the cripple can use to fire the hottie from the company. You and the cripple can then reconcile and live happily ever after," Chelsea explained and clapped for herself.
Sarah remained motionless, Chelsea's phrases were laced with a strange mixture of hotties and cripples, confusing her.
"What?"
Chelsea said, taking a drink of her beer, "We need the money for rent."
Sarah knew that but everything was a total mess.
"Don't you want to share your side of your story with Cripple?" she inquired. "As in? Why you left him in the cave?"
In agreement, Sarah nodded.
In plain English, Chelsea said, "Then go to work and spy on Liam for Ezra."
Sarah's eyes bulged; "Chelsea, you are so brilliant. Oh my God!"
Standing up, Sarah gave her friend a bear hug.
"It will be hell," Chelsea cautioned, "Remember, the cripple hates you?"
Sarah finally smiled, "I once left him in hell, so I am ready to go through hell for him," she replied.
Chelsea raised her glass. "Cheers to hell and rent money," she joked.
Sarah lifted her glass of water and hit Chelsea's glass, her heart beating fast.
Finally, in the comfort of her bed, Sarah couldn't get any sleep and was constantly rolling over in her bed. A vision of Ezra's angry face kept resurfacing every time she closed her eyes. It was no secret that she made a mistake and dug herself a sinkhole into which she was gradually sinking.Her staying on the job was going to either sink her deeply or raise her out of the sinkhole.She turned around once more, this time examining her watch. She was still having trouble falling asleep at three in the morning. How could she when she had been told not to show her face again but was going to go against those orders? Another person who could not sleep was Ezra; he kept debating whether Sarah was going to show up or not.He doubted it, but from the phone call that Liam made to her in his presence, it appeared that she was going to show up.He clenched his hands. His childhood nightmare had teamed up with his obnoxious brother.He turned and found Penelope deep in sleep. He admired how s
Ezra needed a whole minute to gather himself after her surprising threats. The brazenness with which she threatened him made him speechless. Instead of giving up and developing some self-respect, the useless girl threatened him.He maneuvered his wheelchair but halted moments from the door, gasping."You want to play this way, then, okay?" He said untying his tie. When he opened the door, she was staring at him intently as if she was expecting him to storm out."Pack and leave before I make you!" he warned her."Good morning sir," she replied and began going through her files. "I need to make your schedule; please send me a draft of your timetable," she said instead."Are you stupid or just slow in the brain?" he yelled.Sarah smiled and said, "I will go and organize the desk for you," she kept ignoring him. "Do you still take coffee?" she asked. "Be silent! Shut up!" he shouted, gripping his head. He was about to have a headache. His nerves were starting to fray due to her foolish
Sarah could feel and smell the sewage content all over her body, in her mouth, her eyes, her hair, and everywhere else. She attempted to move, but all she managed to do was slip on some of the sewer that was on the floor.She could hardly breathe because the odour was obstructing her nose. She struggled to hold her stomach contents in because the entire room was drenched in sewer, and eventually all of the meal she had eaten spat over the floor.She needed to leave the room. In her attempt to get up and find an exit, she slipped and fell again on a mixture of her own vomit and sewage.She landed hard on the floor, hitting her entire back and sending her into more crying.Ezra smiled as he wheeled towards the toilet door. The fake toilet prank always worked, and all the useless secretaries fail for the Temp button.He never understood why they pushed the button. Even if it was to check if the temperature worked, it was supposed to be the last button to click, but they all clicked on it
Sarah's breath became raged; she could not believe the nerve. She was sure she had cleaned the stupid toilet spotlessly.She walked back to the bathroom and found Ezra barricading the door with his wheelchair."Did I tell you to leave?" he asked.Sarah breathed in and out, her chest pressing up and down."I asked you a question," he insisted."I cleaned the filthy, sir; what more do you want?" she was almost yelling and shading tears.Ezra moved closer to her. "I can smell the stench," he said to her. "Clear the stench, then you can go, or better go, but I need a resignation letter by tomorrow," he ordered and rolled to his desk.Any reasonable person would have insulted him and left; instead, he looked up and watched her enter the bathroom. He had not anticipated that she would go back to cleaning.He gaped in disbelief and began to question if he was dealing with a psychologically unstable individual.He gave up and collapsed into his wheelchair; none of the other secretaries had ma
Sarah arrived at the apartment she shared with her friend Chelsea at almost 9 p.m. Her friend Chelsea was impatiently waiting as she walked in."What kind of job allows you to be this late?" she asked. "what happened? Did something go wrong?" Chelsea kept asking.Sarah dropped her bag on the verge of crying."Do you need a hug?" Chelsea asked.Sarah finally broke down. "You said crying helps, so I am going to cry and take a shower," she said as she walked to the bathroom.Chelsea grabbed her hand and asked, "What did cripple do?""He made me..." Sarah tried to speak, but an image of the disgusting toilet popped up.Chelsea grabbed both her hands and asked her to take small breaths."He made me clean his toilet, and I pressed a button, and all the shit went in my mouth, eyes, and hair," Sarah cried out.Chelsea's jaw dropped as she let go of her friend's hands."I had to puke and take a shower, but I can smell it," Sarah went on."You mean his shit? As in, fecal matter was in your mout
Liam quickly grabbed her, "The boss ordered you to get out! He yelled at her and began pulling her to the door."No wait!" Sarah tried to push on him."I swear, Sarah, I will call security to show you out of this building, and you will never walk in again!" he threatened.The directors and Ezra watched not sure why Liam was on Ezra's side for the first time. The two brothers were known to disagree on everything.Sarah looked up at him, but the second he let go of her, she ran to Ezra's side of the table and smashed the file really hard on the table, forcing Ezra to move back a bit in shock.She gave him a long look, with tears still rolling down her face, before walking out of the room as everyone watched in disbelief.Liam remained at the door, breathing heavily, his face as red as a peach, ready to burst open.Ezra closed his eyes, his hand rubbing his temple. The meeting was important, he needed to concentrate on that and then deal with her later."I apologize for that. Can we cont
Ezra was lost for words, and a lot of questions began popping into his head. Something was wrong with the girl. It was the only explanation for why a woman would allow herself to be degraded in such a manner.He looked up at her, but this time his mouth closed.Sarah walked to her desk and grabbed a writing pad, waiting for the biggest scumbag to educate her on the best brand of tampons that he preferred his secretaries to be wearing."Sir, I am waiting," she insisted."Get out of my way!" he yelled and wheeled his chair back to his office, pissed."The woman was crazy," he said to himself. He grabbed his phone and began googling signs for a mentally impaired secretary. A lot of articles began popping up, but none of them made sense.Irritated, he threw his phone on his desk and leaned back. He was sure the sanitary humiliation was going to work. It was supposed to, but it looked like the stupid woman had an empty brain.For the second time, he was back to square one.In the next roo
The entire sushi began tasting stile, and Ezra's throat became heavy, making it very difficult for him to push the food down.He lifted his eyes to meet hers and found her with a very big, beautiful smile. He folded his hand over his mouth and waited for the terrible feeling to go away before he packed up everything, threw it into Dustin, and disappeared using the back elevator without saying a single word.Sarah looked at the back elevator and the bin back and forth. She rubbed the back of her neck, realizing the man had just thrown away food, knowing she was hungry too.She let out a chuckle in disbelief.Given a chance, the man would kill her or watch her starve to death while he stamped on food.Her stomach made the rumbling noise again. She looked up at the elevator, debating whether he had gone somewhere else to eat.If so, she had a small window of time to go down the building and grab something for herself.On second thought, she talked herself out of it and got to work. She h