Page 61 of Strings

On Friday, Amy and I decide to work from the Round Theater after we find out Mercer has meetings all day at the office. We owe McKinnze for that information. I end up having to fill her in and to my surprise she thinks we’re hysterical and agrees to help us.

On Monday morning, I arrive a little early, hoping to beat Mercer to the office. From what I heard from Amy and McKinnze, he’s getting pissed off that I’m avoiding him.

I enter through a side door and see McKinnze already seated at her desk.

“Psst… psst,” I whisper from behind a wall.

McKinnze’s head swirls left and right as she tries to decide where the sound is coming from. When she sees me waving at her, she laughs.

“Is he here yet?”

“I haven’t seen him. Hold on.” She picks up her phone and makes a call. “Hi, Jaiden, it’s Kinnze. Has Mr. Mercer arrived at his office yet, I have a call for him. No?”

She faces me and shakes her head. I sigh in relief.

“Okay. Yeah I’ll send it to you or take a message. No problem. Bye.” She sets down the phone. “You’re all clear. His assistant said he’s not here yet.”

“You’re the best!” I say, hugging her from behind.

“I know.” She laughs. “I’ll text you when he comes in. And hey… Nordstrom has a sale starting Wednesday. You in?”

“Absolutely!”

I take the elevator to my office in complete relief. Maybe he won’t come in today at all. Amy hasn’t arrived and my office door is still locked. I use my key and push open the door.

My desk chair spins around and Derrick Mercer is sitting in it. My mouth gapes and I gasp loudly.

“Well, there she is. If I didn’t know better, Natalia, I’d say you were avoiding me.”

“Mr. Mercer… what a… pleasant surprise. I’ve been meaning to come see you.”

“Have you now?” he asks, standing and walking around my desk. He leans on it and crosses his arms. “Please…” he says, motioning to my chair. “Go ahead and place your things down and get situated. I’ll wait.”

His eyes trail up and down my body and I feel sick. I take the long way around to avoid being anywhere near him and place my things on my desk.

“I hope you don’t mind my letting myself in. Having keys to everything is a perk of being the CEO.”

I half smile. “What can I do for you?” I need to get this over with as soon as possible.

He stands and faces me. “Sit down. Let’s catch up.”

I pull out my chair and slowly slide into it, never taking my eyes off him.

He points to my head. “You cut and colored your hair?”

“I wanted a change.”

“It’s almost as if you didn’t want me to recognize you.”

“No. I wanted a fresh start.”

He purses his lips and sighs as he places his hands on my desk and leans forward toward me. “It’s a shame. I enjoyed holding on to it while we fucked last I saw you.”

And there it is. That didn’t take long. “Derrick… may I call you Derrick? Since you mentioned we had sex, it seems we should be on a first-name basis?”

“I’d prefer you called me Derrick. I like hearing my name fall off your lips.”

I grit my teeth. I want to tell him to go fuck himself. He’s a sick son of a bitch.