Page 33 of Middle Ground

She rolls her eyes. “Excuse me for trying to be nice. I won’t make that mistake again.”

I laugh as she heads for the exit. “Goodnight, Ellison.”

She waves over her shoulder and then shuts the door behind her.

I should go find something to have for dinner, but my body is calling for my bed, so I flop onto the mattress and settle against the pillows. I inhale deeply and then let it out slowly, trying to convince my body to relax.

It isn’t until the next morning that I wake, actually feeling rested for once. When I turn toward the window, I notice the sun is high in the sky. It’s long after I should’vebeen roused by the beep of my alarm. I turn to the bedside table, and a scowl tugs at my lips.

Last night while she was in my room, Meyer unplugged my fucking alarm clock.

CHAPTER 13

MEYER

“You can’t be fucking serious!”

I flinch at the tone of his voice. Naively, I thought this conversation would go a lot smoother. We both know he messed up—the proverbial final nail in his coffin.

“Reggie,” I say, trying to inject some remorse into my voice. Even though I’m the farthest from remorseful. “It’s unfortunate, but we need someone we can rely on to get the job done. And…someone who doesn’t steal.”

Ihateto admit it, but Jackson was right about this. About Reggie. I should have listened and cut him loose before he decided to try his hand at lifting money from the register.

After Jackson spilled the beans about his interviews with the rest of the kitchen staff, I went and spoke to them myself. They admitted the same thing to me—that Reggie makes their jobs harder by not doing his fair share. Then I went and spoke to him. Itoldhim what would happen if he didn’t clean up his act. Yet here we are.

We’re sitting in the office, me in the chair behind the desk and him directly across from me. I called him in here a few minutes ago, despite the nerves that plagued me. But I got us into this mess, so I’ll be the one to get us out.

My phone buzzes on the desk beside my elbow, an irritated text from Jackson flashing on the screen, but I ignore it and focus on the task at hand.

“That’s a bullshit accusation,” he replies. His fingers are wrapped around the arms of his chair, his knuckles white.

I sigh. “I checked the cameras. I saw you.” Not to mention, Ashley had brought it to my attention as soon as she noticed the float was short.

“Bullshit.”

“Reggie, I know this is hard, but?—”

The door to the office swings open then, and Jackson enters looking none too pleased. I figured he probably wouldn’t be happy when he realized I sabotaged his wakeup time. It only takes him a second to register what’s going on, though, and then he rounds the desk to stand beside me, crossing his arms.

Reggie glares. “Oh, so now you need backup so you can gang up on me?”

I shake my head. “No. Jackson is my business partner, he has every right to be here. But this meeting is between you and me.”

Because this Reggie is not the Reggie that I know. I’m firing him, yes, but I also want to help him. If something is going on in his personal life, I want to be there for him. Up until this year, he was a model employee.

“I can no longer have you working here,” I reiterate. “Butif something is going on with you, Reggie, I want to help. I?—”

“You’re a fucking bitch, Meyer Ellison,” he spits, cutting me off. “A certified, ice cold bitch.”

The words slam into me as if he physically threw out his palm and let it connect with my cheek in a reverberatingsmack. My ears ring with his words.

Jackson tenses beside me. “What did you just say?”

Reggie is stupid enough to meet his eyes. “You heard me.”

This meeting is devolving, quickly turning into something it was never meant to be. The urge to cry hits me then, but I can’t. I won’t. Irefuse.

“You need to leave. Get out,” Jackson says. Pure ire coats his words, leaving no room for argument. “You are no longer welcome on the premises.”