Chapter 118 Plummeting
ALICE
I was relieved that Francesca was home and that she was back to her normal self. I would have to pay her a visit one of these days or at least call her to make sure she was truly doing okay.
God, seeing the relief on Theo's face when he talked about her really broke my heart. I didn't even want to think about how things would be once he discovered the truth.
Would he be mad at me when he discovered that I knew about her condition all along?
I ate the quick lunch I put together in the morning and stared at my computer screen. Since I didn't come into work yesterday, I had a lot of meetings to reschedule and of course, tons of clients requested meetings with Theo all the time, so I had to fit them in somewhere.
My hand froze over the keyboard when I heard something that sounded a lot like shouting.
Alarmed, I stood up and moved closer to my door. Sure enough, I hadn't been wrong. Someone was yelling somewhere in the office and I couldn't imagine why. This had never happened before and Theo wasn't in.
Security would deal with it, no doubt.
I started returning to my seat, but the person—the man—just got louder.
And because of that, I was able to hear the accent.
My hand went to the door handle right away and I stepped outside. Almost everyone from our floor was gathered around, watching as Felix caused a huge scene. He stood in the middle of the lobby, throwing his arms in the air like a clown as he spat out word after word against Theo.
His face was...Jeez. If it weren't for his accent, I wouldn't have recognized him.
"See what he did?" he said, whirling around so everyone would see him. He was pointing at his face. "See what your boss did to me? He's a violent animal and has no place here! He doesn't care about any of you! All he wants is more and more money, and he doesn't care that he's working all of you like donkeys!"
I drowned and shook my head. Anger washed over me all of a sudden. He was so ridiculous. What the hell was his problem?
What did he think he'd achieve by doing this?
"Acts like a serious man with so much class and dignity," he continued before scoffing. "You should see the kind of shit he's into. He only gets off by tying women to crosses and—"
"Hey!" I said loudly enough for every eye in the room to turn to me. I stepped toward Felix, practically vibrating with anger. Was it a good idea? Absolutely not. But I couldn't stand by and listen to him talking about things that don't concern him. "What do you think you're going? You're just embarrassing yourself."
Felix put his hands on his knees and let out a laugh so fake that it made my ears ring. "Ha! Look who it is, ladies and gentlemen! The boss's whore."
My cheeks turned red. Finally, security showed up.
They started toward him and he fought against them, shouting, "Let me go! Do you know who I am? You two are fired once I take my rightful place as CEO of this company! And you!" He pointed right at me. "You're the cause of all this! You have him wrapped around your little finger, don't you? You have Theo right by the balls! I bet he gets down on his knees every night and sucks your cock!"
A hand on my shoulder made me jump, but it was just Freddie. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Nobody should be paying any attention to that lunatic."
"Everyone, get back to work," Mr. Landon said before glancing at me.
God, I felt so ashamed.
"Don't feel bad," Freddie whispered to me as we headed toward my office. "It was very clear to see that that guy was out of it. What the hell even happened to his face?"
I opened my mouth to explain, then decided against it. I didn't want to talk about Felix. In fact, I wanted to find a hole deep enough to disappear into.
That was awful. How could he say those things about Theo? About me? He didn't even know us! What gave him the right?
"Do you need anything? Water?"
"No, thank you, Freddie. Really. If it weren't for you, I'd—"
He placed his hands on my shoulders. "You don't have to thank me, Alice. I know you. And I've heard enough about that guy from Miss O to know that he's not right in the head. Relax, okay?"
I breathed in deeply and nodded.
Theo burst into my office before Freddie and I could exchange another word. His eyes were on me when he said, "I heard what happened. Son of a bitch. Are you alright, baby?"
Freddie headed out the open door and closed it without looking back at us. Theo grabbed my face between his hands and peered into my eyes. I wanted to cry, but I didn't.
I breathed in deeply.
"Alice, talk to me. What did he say?"
"Nothing special. Just awful things. He's so hateful."
Theo blinked slowly. "He must've said something to leave you in this state. Tell me what he said."
"What would the point be?"
"Alice. I want to know."
"I don't think any of it's worth repeating," I insisted. God, tears were pricking my eyes. No. I didn't want to cry. It would give Felix so much more power if I did. "It's just jargon. Hate speech. We shouldn't be listening to those kinds of things."
"He called you names, didn't he?"
I didn't give him a negative answer on time, so he understood right away. He inhaled deeply and a humorless chuckle escaped his lips. "You know, Granny told me not half an hour ago that I should stay out of his way and ignore him. I knew this would fucking happen. I knew it!"
I started shaking my head. "He's not worth your time, Theo."
"When he thinks he can talk to you however he—"
He cut himself off and pinched the bridge of his nose. I walked up to him and put my hands on his arms. I didn't want to repeat myself, so I just held him.
"I'm sick of this," he finally said, voice all raw. "All of it. I'm sick of them thinking they can treat you however they want."
"I don't care about what they think."
"I do," he gritted out. His eyes met mine. "I do, baby, and I think we should end this."