Page 26 of Take the Blame (Seaside Mergers #3)

Chapter Fifteen

ALTA

“What are you doing?”

I immediately snapped my open planner closed at the sound of the familiar voice above my head.

Lately work had been a tedious place to be.

My brother was nowhere to be found, I was avoiding my sister, and Grace hated me every bit as much as always.

Maybe even more after I’d left her to clean up my mess last time.

It was a hostile environment to say the least. So no one could blame me for letting myself actually enjoy my desk-time when I was bored all day, right?

It was the week of the Halloween block party and I had a lot to do.

I was already running around like crazy, verifying vendors, organizing schedules, checking equipment, attempting attendance predictions from social media interactions, and on and on.

A part of me wanted to take the week off at my family’s company just to focus on all that I had on my plate, but the fighter in me wouldn’t allow it.

I could do this. I’d been juggling both jobs for almost a year now, this was no different.

If it was going to wear me as thin as tissue paper then so be it.

“I’ve entered the data from the Steinberg meeting, the Claustermier deal, and I’ve prepped the conference room for the development team’s one o’ clock,” I answered.

Narrowed eyes set on me and I was sure when I looked up I would see Grace’s pursed lips. Yep—she’d even crossed her arms distrustfully too. Lucky me.

“I asked what you were doing, not what you’ve done,” she clipped, snarky tone in place with the rest of her rotten persona.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes while tension rolled through my body instead. “Just looking at my plan for the day.”

“What’s on your docket?” she interrogated.

My teeth scraped together. I was leaving soon, so there wasn’t much left to be honest, but I’m sure Grace would find something to pick at regardless. Still, I wasn’t able to think of another excuse, and by the way the heeled foot in front of my desk was tapping, I assumed she wanted an answer now.

I sighed. “Nothing. I was just wrapping up for today, actually. I have outside clients soon.”

“Ah,” she said, nodding. “I understand. So on top of using special treatment to constantly leave work early, you’re also stalling the clock well before it’s time for you to scamper out of here.”

“Grace, I already told you what I’ve worked on. If you would give me something else to do other than make copies, I’d be happy to,” I gritted.

“Obviously you aren’t even reliable enough to do that correctly,” she snapped. Pulling a stack of papers from underneath her arm she slapped them down onto my desk in front of me .

I jumped.

Blinking down at the papers, I recognized them as the ones I’d printed off for the meeting. One-hundred and seventy-five slices of tree stacked and stapled when these stiff-necks could just use a laptop instead—all wasted.

Grace saw the confusion in my stare but I doubt she saw the anger.

“The agenda has changed.” She sniffed. “Development will be meeting with project management in the large conference room with Mr. Fernandez present. They’re heading there now and yet, they have no material.”

I bristled. “When was this change made?”

“Twenty minutes ago.”

“I had no idea.”

“How could you, when you’re too busy daydreaming as per usual?” she said. “We needed those new documents prepared twenty minutes ago, Ms. Fernandez. Please bring them to the conference room when you’re done and I’ll go make an excuse for you in the meantime.”

My eyes slipped down to my watch. It was half past, I had already skipped lunch to stay later than normal since I’d be working on my party later in the week. My first appointment was in a half an hour. I didn’t have time for this.

“I can’t now, Grace. I was just leaving,” I said

“Why?”

“I just told you, I have clients.”

“That has nothing to do with this business, Alta. You have a responsibility to this job first. Then you can go frolicking around town playing games all you want,” she seethed. “If you can’t be a reliable source here, why do you even show up?”

Anger pulsed through me so hard I felt it behind my eyes, but for once it wasn’t tears. For once I wanted to put my foot down. I wanted to stand up for myself. I didn’t want to be treated like this .

“Grace…” my voice was low as I tried hard not to raise it. “That’s not fair and you know it. I always do everything I’m supposed to. You can’t just point the finger at me when there was virtually no notice for this change. I’m on my way out, I can’t do it .”

“Well.” Her eyes shot down to the papers she slapped in front of me. “Not quite everything you’re supposed to do, if this is unfinished, no?”

I wanted to scream. I truly did. So much so, that I wasn’t quite sure what was going to come out of my mouth when I opened it.

Luckily, the soft clearing of a throat cut through the air.

“Al?” Melissa’s voice filled the room of her office suite. “Can you come in here for a second? I need your help.”

Keeping my eyes on the evil woman in front of me, I spoke through my teeth. “Can’t right now, Lis. I apparently have some documents to print.”

“Oh, Grace can take care of that. You should be going soon, right?” she asked. She didn’t wait for my response. “Grace, please get it sorted, thanks. Ahora, Alta. ”

She disappeared into her office before either of us could say otherwise.

Lifting from my seat, I kept my eyes on Grace. She looked like she had swallowed an entire lemon and for some deranged reason I sort of felt bad. Which is probably why I sighed and asked, “Do you need me to send you the correct files so?—”

“Alta,” that voice called again from Melissa’s open doorway. “In here, please?”

Pressing my lips together, I dropped my eyes and stepped from behind my desk. Never mind then. Grace would just have to figure it out on her own. And I could feel just how much she hated that by the burning glare searing into my back as I left.

As soon as I stepped into my sister’s office she shut the door behind me. Moving over to the little window she lifted the blinds so she could peek out.

A nervous laugh dropped out of my throat. “What are you doing?”

Throwing a glance over her shoulder she let go of the shade and sighed. “She’s gone.”

Straightening, I eyed my sister suspiciously. “You didn’t actually need me?”

“Of course not. I just wanted to help you,” she said. “You shouldn’t let her talk to you like that, you know?”

Of course not.

Folding my arms over my middle I tried to fight the pathetic slide of humiliation that spread through my body. “She’s sort of my boss, Lis. I don’t have a choice.”

“You could tell Ox,” she said.

I don’t know what it was about everyone telling me I needed to have somebody else stand up for me rather than pushing me to do it myself, but it ticked me off. “I don’t want to hide behind Ox for every little thing, Melissa.”

She sucked in a breath, the expression she turned on me full of hurt and confusion. Her lip wobbled, and I immediately felt terrible.

Most people thought I was the sensitive one between Lis and I, and sometimes they would be right. But when it came to feelings, Melissa’s were hurt easily.

“Did I do something to you?” she asked, her voice unmistakably sad. “Ceci already hates me. What did I do to make you mad too?”

“Lis, no. I just?—”

She shook her head, and I startled as her palms came together on her own cheeks in a hard slap. “No. I can’t cry right now. I have to get to that meeting with Ox. I can’t do this now.”

“Right,” I nodded slowly.

Because of course she had some important meeting with important things to do. She’d only stepped in to bail me out to do whatever “frivolous meandering about” they thought I did every day.

I opened the door and stepped out before her. “Don’t let me hold you, then.”

I burst through the tattoo shop forty minutes late with a lot of unresolved issues trailing in my wake.

“Woah!” I think I heard Ryan’s voice call out. “Big Al coming in hot.”

I never saw the owner of the voice. My eyes instead stripped the place bare, taking in every inch of the full room. Bodies occupied the area like they normally did, but I saw no one in tattoo chairs, which meant there were no appointments.

Well, at least there was that. There would be no strangers here to witness me spontaneously combust.

Pacing the front of the store, I raked my hands through my hair hard enough I feared it might pull out. I didn’t care what the ponytail looked like, I just needed it out of my face. But even with my hair tied back I still felt icky, too bothered and suffocated by everything , and I wanted it gone.

Gone, off, out, whatever it took to free up some space for me to just breathe.

My jacket came off next. Then my cardigan.

Hoots and whistles filled the room, but I didn’t pay them any mind. I was hot. Sticky. And I didn't think it had to do with the temperature of the room at all.

Everything had gone down wrong. With Grace, with my sister, with everything .

I felt myself start to sweat, and I yanked my sweater down my arms next, leaving me in just a camisole and my slacks. The hollers got louder, and my hands started to move again.

I’m not sure what there was even left to take off without leaving me naked, but before I could find out, large warm hands seared into my wrists, pulling me out of my spiral and directly into brown, brown eyes.

“Hey,” Harper’s gaze hooked onto mine and reeled me out of my tornado spiral. His voice was just as grounding as he gently asked, “Where’s the fire, Boss?”

Whatever had ignited in me suddenly felt tamed looking into his eyes. Still burning but less out of control. I turned my palms onto his skin and held tight to his stable forearms, siphoning some of his steadiness for myself.

“Can I vent for a second?” I asked, surprised when I addressed the entire room, not just the man in front of me.

Cheers of encouragement lifted throughout the tattoo shop as they all encouraged my insanity.