CHAPTER 66

MELANIE,

TAYLOR WAS A CROOK.

I knew it the moment Jordan turned his back on her and she gave me the dirtiest look I've ever received, which is saying something.

She still had that look even as she pleaded with Jordan and I knew it was going to be a very bad idea if she did. I was wondering how long I had to pretend I couldn't hear every word before Jordan uttered those ground-shaking words. I looked up at me with a metric ton of betrayal in my eyes. I knew he didn't like me but I thought we at least understood each other by now.

“How could you?” I said in a low tone. If I didn't know any better I would say he flinched but he regained his composure too quickly for me to tell.

“You are my assistant. Your job is to help with the things I can't attend to and right now, I can't attend to her”, he said.

“Bullshit”, I seethed. “You don't have anything scheduled for the next two hours. You’re just trying to foist your little girlfriend off on me because you don't want to deal with her.”

I knew my accusation was spot on; the way he'd looked at me when he asked me to stay spoke volumes, and she was on the first chapter.

Taylor folded her arms, “Did you tell her I was your girlfriend? Oh, Jordan!” she said with a delighted smile. God. If delusion was a person!

“You are not my girlfriend, and you won't be. I made that clear to you already. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do”, Jordan said in a voice that could induce frostbite and walked into his office.

I heard the locks turned and mentally cussed him for being a coward. I was once again left with Taylor, who clapped her hands.

“Okay. My luggage is downstairs. See that you handle it very carefully because you can't afford to pay for anything you break”, she sniffed.

Luggage? The bitch had luggage? She'd made it seem like she was stranded but she was hauling bags? She definitely planned this. I was immediately confronted with another problem. What car was I going to use to take her to Jordan's house? I haven't been able to fix mine, and she could tell Jordan if I ordered an Uber. Shit. She hasn't even been here for an hour and she was already messing things up for me.

Well, I had the rest of the day to think about what to do. I suddenly noticed she was snapping her fingers in my face. “Hello? Are you deaf or just slow? Did you hear what I said?” Taylor glared down at me.

An image of me grabbing her hand and ripping off one or two of her French tips floated in my mind's eye and I smiled.

“Look, girl, I'm under no obligation to take any of your bullshit. If you want your stuff brought up, today's your lucky day because look!”, I pointed at her with a look of utter astonishment on my face.

“You were born with two hands! Isn't that wonderful?”

She looked at me like I'd sprouted a beard and I dropped the act as I turned back to my computer.

“Get them up yourself. He said I should take you when it's convenient for me, and right now it isn't. So go play or something”, I made a shooing motion with my hand and focused on the list of chefs I'd compiled to interview for the new canteen.

“Oh I get it. You think you're someone because you work for the big boss now. Let me tell you something”, Taylor said, leaning in close enough that I could count every single one of her fake lashes.

“You’re still a nobody, so do not even dare to take me on. I don't know what the deal is between you and Jordan, but you will not spoil this for me. You will not take what's mine.”

I lazily arched a brow. “If you're done with your clumsy villain speech, there are restaurants on the fourth floor. Knock yourself out”, I hope she did.

She stared at me for a few more seconds before turning on her heel and flouncing out. I glared at her retreating figure, wondering if anyone else saw the snake under all the glitz and glamour or if she had everyone deceived.

I turned back to my list and started to go through resumes. I just finished making the short list of chefs I would physically interview when Jordan's door opened. I didn't turn to look at him and he cleared his throat.

“So…She's gone.”

“Probably on the fourth floor giving some poor waitress grief for placing her cutlery wrong”… I replied, looking at the photo of one Martin Price.

He lived in Connecticut but he was good enough that we could consider flying him over here.

“So”, I finally turned to face him, “first Imelda, now a tabloid princess. You get around, don't you?” I drawled lazily.

“Does my sex life bother you, little bird?” he asked in return and I averted my eyes, refusing to acknowledge the flutter in my belly at his low tone.

“It bothers me when your bed partners are psychotic, delusional women who think we're fucking. Great taste in women you've got”, I retorted.

He looked almost surprised, “She thinks we're what?”

I rolled my eyes, “Fucking. Doing the horizontal tango. Baking a potato. Planting the parsnip. Other weird euphemisms”, I reeled off.

Instead of giving me the look I'd expected, he laughed.

“And did you set the record straight?”, I grinned.

“Why would I when the thought seemed to drive her crazy?” He laughed again- it was an oddly pleasant sound- and shook his head.

“That is exactly why I put her in your hands. Nobody else would handle it as expertly as you do.”

My cheeks heated at the compliment but I crossed my arms. “I’m doing you a solid. You owe me one”, I said.

“Yes, Melanie. I owe you one”, he repeated while going back into his office.

The small smile on my face was immediately wiped when I remembered I still didn't have transport. I chewed on my bottom lip as an idea came into my head. I took out my phone, allowing myself a moment of hesitation then quickly sending the text. It showed three dots almost immediately, like he'd known I would contact him. His answering text made me breathe out a sigh of relief.

Might as well get it over with. I packed up my stuff, let Jordan know I was leaving and took the elevator down to the fourth floor. I hadn't had lunch so I was considering my options as I walked into one of the restaurants. There wasn't much of a crowd but a group of people were huddled at one side.

Curiosity had me sliding a glance over and who else did I see but Taylor sitting in a plush desk chair that had probably been brought out of the manager's office. Somehow she had managed to convince one of the wait staff to give her a massage and another was vigorously working to get the coffee stain off her shirt while the rest just looked happy to be in her presence. She met my eyes and smirked at me and I just knew things were going to go downhill from here.