—Andrew
I deleted his email and read Petrova’s letter again.
I needed to research the New York City Ballet auditions tonight.
Malfeasance (n.):
Intentionally doing something either legally or morally wrong which one had no right to do.
Andrew
I opened my left drawer, searching for a bottle of aspirin. I hadn’t slept well in over a week, and I was certain that most of that had to do with the half-assed reports the interns were giving me. That, or Aubrey was poisoning my lunch.
I flipped through her most recent report and groaned as I read her handwritten remarks: “I find it very ironic that you can give us an assignment on the importance of trust and relationships, when you have no idea what either of those words mean. PS—You did not “devour” my pussy.”
I tore off her note and tossed it into the trash, reading the next one: “A case that deals with a boss fucking his employee? At least this boss had the balls to come clean and admit that he actually liked her, instead of tossing her away like trash. PS—Yesterday’s extra ingredient in your coffee was flakes of melted super glue. I hope you enjoyed it.”
“Mr. Hamilton?” Jessica stepped into my office.
“Yes?”
“Would you like me to send your Armani suit to another dry cleaning company?” she asked. “This is the third time you’ve sent them those pants. I don’t think that brown stain is coming out.”
“No, thank you.” I sighed. “Just order me some new ones please.”
“Will do!” She batted her eyes at me as she left, and I immediately emailed Aubrey.
Subject: Super Glue.
I no longer drink your fucking coffee, but since you’ve once again proven how much of a novice you are when it comes to the law, I’ll be saving your handwritten note so my friends will know who to charge with my murder.
Grow up.
—Andrew
Subject: Re: Super Glue.
You don’t have any friends. I was your only one. And I don’t care if you save my handwritten note because I’ve saved all of your EMAILS—especially the ones that say, “Come to my office so I can eat your pussy on my lunch break,” or “I love the way your mouth looks when you wrap it around my cock.”
You first.
—Aubrey.
I started typing my response—not willing to give her the last word, but I heard Jessica clearing her throat.
“Something else I can help you with today?” I looked up. “I could’ve sworn you just left my office.”
“Word around the firm is that today is your birthday.”
“Today is notmy birthday.”
“That’s not what HR said.”
“HR is full of shit.” I looked at the coffee mug on the edge of my desk, noticing that the coffee wasn’t even brown. It was orange. “But speaking of HR, could you have them ban Miss Everhart from touching the coffee machines?”
“Doubt it.” She stepped closer. “Between you and me, we’re throwing you a surprise party in the break room. Like, right now. We’ve been waiting for you to take a break but you haven’t, so…Can you step in for a second?”
“Did you just tell me no about my coffee machine request?”
“I’ll handle it after you come to your party.” She smiled and reached for my hand, but I stood on my own.
“I’ve told your grandfather on multiple occasions that I don’t appreciate his employee birthday parties.”
She shrugged and led me down the hall. “Make sure you look surprised. I put a lot of work into this…I always go the extra mile for you.”
I ignored the way she was licking her lips.
She pushed the door open, and all of the staff tossed confetti into the air and shouted, “Happy Birthday, Mr. Hamilton!” Then they began to sing the birthday song—out of tune and terribly off key.
I walked over to the windows where they’d placed a small white cake with blue candles, and blew them out before the song ended.
“Happy Birthday, Andrew!” Mr. Greenwood handed me a blue envelope. “How old are you today?”
“Seeing as though today is not my birthday, I’m the same age as I was yesterday.”
He laughed, still incapable of catching when I was being short with him. Holding his stomach in jest, he motioned for one of the interns to take our photo.
As the camera flashed, I spotted Aubrey standing in a corner with her arms crossed. She was shaking her head at everyone, and when her eyes finally met mine, she scowled.
“I got you something…” Jessica pressed a small black box into my hand. “But I think you need to open it behind closed doors, when you’re alone and thinking about me.” She blushed and walked away.
I made a mental note to toss whatever it was into the trash. And instead of immediately leaving the party, I walked around the room and said thank you to everyone—reminding each intern that “birthday” or not, the assignments were still due at the end of the day.
I approached Aubrey with my hand outstretched, but she recoiled and walked into the adjoining ante-room.
“Are you seriously this immature, Miss Everhart?” I followed her, spinning her around to face me as the door shut.
“Are you seriously this cruel?” She glared at me. “You gave me more work than anyone else this morning just so you could berate me in front of them later, just because you think I embarrassed you in court again.”
“You’d actually have to know what the fuck you were doing if you wanted to embarrass me in court.” I unintentionally grabbed her hands, rubbing my fingers against her skin. “And I gave you more work so you wouldn’t have time to make my coffee, which up until this morning, I only assumedyou were poisoning.”
“Since when is ‘spit’ poison?”
“You owe me another fucking suit…” I lowered my voice. “Do you have any idea how much—”
“ No.” She cut me off. “Do you have any idea how much you’ve changed? I actually miss when I was Alyssa and you were Thoreau.”
“Back when you were a fucking liar?”
“Back when you treated me better…” She stared into my eyes—giving a look of longing, and my hands went around her waist, pulling her against me.
My mouth was on hers in seconds and we were kissing like we hadn’t seen each other in years—fighting each other for control. I trailed my fingers against the zipper at the back of her dress, feeling my cock hardening against her thigh.
She pressed herself against my chest and let me slip my tongue deeper into her mouth, but she eventually tore away and pushed me.
Looking absolutely disgusted, she turned away and stormed out of the room.
I straightened my tie before following her into the party room, but she was no longer there.
“Are you going to cut the cake, Andrew?” Mr. Bach called out. “Or do you want Jessica to do it for another year in a row?”
Jessica held up the knife and winked at me.
“Jessica can cut it,” I said. “I’ll be right back.” I stepped out and headed for the interns’ offices—walking straight toward Aubrey’s cubicle.
Her face was beet red and she was stuffing folders into her bag.
“I didn’t give you permission to leave early.” I stepped in front of her.
“I didn’t give you permission to treat me like shit, but you’ve done one hell of a job, haven’t you?”
“You just said that I wasn’t treating you like shit when I thought your name was Alyssa, when I thought you were a fucking lawyer.”
“That makes your current treatment of me acceptable?”
“It makes it justifiable.”
Silence.
“I can’t do this anymore, Andrew…” She shook her head.
“Does that mean you’ll stop acting like a child in court? Does it mean—”
“Here.” She cut me off and pressed a silver box against my chest. “I bought this for you a few weeks ago, back when Jessica was planning your birthday party.”