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Chapter 19: Unexpected Questions
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The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 20: Sign My Life Away
I roll my eyes and then give a silent thanks to the sky he's already ahead of me and doesn't see. The most surprising thing is that he didn't already own it. Valiant is slacking. There's a rumor he owns half the buildings downtown, even a few used by state employees. Real estate such as office space and apartment buildings make up a large portion of the assets Valiant started with so it wouldn't surprise me if the rumors were true.Valiant holds open the door, and I walk in to be greeted by a smiling woman in a cute spring dress. White fabric with little pink flowers all over it in a light shade make her look absolutely gorgeous. I dressed for powerful professional and here she is likely going to an afternoon tea party. I didn't even curl my hair, choosing instead to wear it straight and loose.She holds a water bottle out to Valiant. Water dribbles off the edges and falls to the tile floor. "Water, Mr. Valiant?" she asks, her smile never wobbling as she speaks. It can't be human.
The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 21: Lunch Date with... a non-jerk?
My cell phone dings, but I don't catch the email before the notification disappears from the screen. Not wanting to unlock my phone I check the company email on my computer in front of me.Bright and early Monday morning a wonderful gentleman from IT staff visited my desk and asked to take my cell phone for an hour. I wasn't going to let him. My cell phone is my life. I wouldn't pass it over like a first child or something. But then he informed me he'd put email on my phone so I could check it easier.I suspect it would also make it easier for Vincent to contact me when he's feeling needy or wants me to show up for work on a weekend with dry cleaning.Now less than thirty minutes later my phone returns the first email.Vincent ValiantSubject: LunchBe ready for a working lunch in fifteen.Vincent ValiantValiant Industries CEOI DON'T HAVE a problem with a working lunch, besides the fact I'll be working during it, but he doesn't give me any more details. Should I bri
The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 22: Seriously? More Woman?
He's so serious in his response I'm forced to take another bite of sub so I don't laugh. Who would have guessed Vincent Valiant doesn't eat jelly?Making as much noise as I can, I open the small bag of chips which came on the tray just to annoy him. He seems like a man who would hate too much noise.From the pinch of his lips, it works. "I've scheduled the moving crew to be at your current place tonight. You and Davis need to leave here by five in order to meet them."At first, I nod in agreement because I'm only half listening. I'm finishing a bite of food before I realize what he's said."I haven't said yes to the apartment yet.""This apartment's location is perfect for you and your roommate. Why wouldn't you say yes? It would be stupid to turn the offer away."I lift a shoulder. Who cares if he's right. I should get to decide myself. Does he plan to strong-arm all his other employees into his fancy apartment building? "We're still looking at places and my ex said we cou
The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 23: Moving Day... I guess
"Holy crap. What is that?" The car jostles over a pothole and I twist in my seat to get a better view of the massive moving truck parked in front of our townhouse. It wider than my home. When Vincent said the movers would be here tonight, I didn't realize he planned to hire a semi-truck. How much stuff does he think we own?"That's your moving truck," Davis says, looking in the rearview mirror like I'm a moron.I sigh and rub a hand over my temple, worried about the headache that started around three o'clock today when Vincent made me hand edit a report that came from accounting. And then he made me do it again since I didn't use a red pen the first time. "I know it's a moving truck, but for whom? Does he plan to move the whole complex?"Davis stops the town car and as usual I get out of the backseat before giving him time to open my door. It's a ridiculous gesture. I'm capable of opening my own door. Right now bigger issues are happening in my life.The door to my townhouse is
The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 24: He's Not My Boyfriend
In front of that are the rails that make up my bed frame and my mattress. We could have moved these items in a small car.Most of the things in our apartment—the furniture, Ashley's bed, and almost all the dishes and pots and pans in the kitchen—belong to Jonathan. We were two broke college students, and he was working a full-time job. At the time it made sense he would buy everything, but now as my entire life doesn't come close to filling up a moving truck, it's sadder than I want to admit to myself or anyone else."I have extra boxes packed in my car." Ashley looks to me as if she wants me to grab them and add them to the semi, but it won't be enough to help the sad situation.One mover who'd taken apart my bed steps forward away from the group. "We can move those boxes to the truck." He smiles and never once looks at me.Does he have a thing for my best friend? Just like Ashley. She's literally moving out of a townhouse with one boyfriend and already has a fresh guy interes
The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 25: Unexpected Visitor
"Ashley?" I call out into the living room, which separates the hallway from our two bedrooms.The only answer I received is a long snore. I retreat to my room, shaking my head. If you asked her, she'd swear up and down she doesn't snore. At one point in the relationship Jonathan even recorded a playback for her the next morning, but Ashley still refuses to admit the bearlike sounds were coming from her. She accused him of stealing audio from the internet.Memories of their argument clench my heart as I remember the pain and anger associated with Jonathan now. None of us will look back at the last two years the same. And what causes someone you thought you knew so well to become a completely different person overnight?Has Jonathan always possessed the capacity to cheat lingering within him or did something recently set him on a different course? Why is he so angry? If I consider the last two times Ashley's been near Jonathan or his new girlfriend, it's ended in violence. I don't
The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 26: Was that a Kiss?
It's not a long walk, six steps or so to my room on the left side of the apartment, and with each one he's right behind me. Good smelling and tall. Damn him.Valiant walks into the bedroom right up to the window, finding his building before he smiles."Vincent, what are you doing here?" I ask again.He turns, his smile bigger. "I like when you say my name. No more of this Mr. Valiant stuff.""Okay," I agree, sure he'll forget this tomorrow morning and yell at me the first time I call him Vincent. I remember the whole Mr. Valiant rule from my first day on the job. It was one of the few instructions I'd been given."I don't know what to do with you," he says, turning back to look through the window. "I keep making choices I can't take back. Each one leads me closer.""Closer to what?" I step to his side and search out the top floor of his building with him."To you, Ms. Marshal, and my impending doom," he says, the last part quieter, almost solemn. Like he's accepted a weir
The Valiant Trilogy Chapter 27: Scaredy Cat
Another day, another dollar, right? Isn't every day about that? Getting ready for work should not be this mind altering. But when your boss almost kisses you in the apartment he owns the night before, going to work on Tuesday morning is terrifying.Will he remember what happened last night? Will he regret it? What would be worse, a man forgetting your first kiss—even if it was only a brush of lips—or him regretting it?"You're up early," I say sticking my head out of the large walk-in closet when Ashley plops down on my bed.She shakes her head, her eyes still half closed as if she crawled off her air mattress less than a minute ago. "I'm exhausted from the last week. I need to get my shit together today.""It's not like you didn't have an excuse." She spent the last week dealing with an abusive boyfriend. I think the world can cut her slack.She lays back on my bed. "The bar exam waits for no one, Kens.""You don't need to study. You've got this," I say pulling a lilac-col
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