Page 32 of Hurt Me Not
I looked up at Cristian and gave him a smile as he walked toward me.
He was overall a happy-go-lucky guy, which was probably strange as a VP, but it was like a breath of fresh air compared tothe snotty manager and entitled customers I had to serve at the restaurant on a daily basis.
“Wanna come to lunch with us?”
He’s asking me?
My knee-jerk reaction was to refuse. Painful memories of what happened in college came back, no matter how hard I tried to push them down.
Don't get close to anyone else, or you know what will happen.
It's your fault.
You did this.
I tried to force the thoughts away.It's not like that. He's gone now.
My eyes flashed to Emerson's office, where she was typing away at her computer.
“I'm guessing… Emerson doesn't want to go?” I asked, hesitating slightly, still unsure if I was supposed to use her first name, but Cristian didn’t bat an eye.
“Nah, she doesn't usually like to come with us,” he said. “She's very strict on boundaries and all that.”
I nodded and asked Cristian for a couple of minutes to get my things. Then, I texted Emerson through the internal messaging platform.
P. Meadows
Do you need me to do anything before I clock out for lunch?
She didn't even look up at me before she typed back.
E. Blackwell:
Go ahead.
I hesitated, almost wishing she’d have refused only because it meant that I would have to socialize.
The easiest thing to do would be to hide in the shadows. Say no. And hopefully they would never ask me again.
But I should be trying different things, right?
I was going back to school. I had been auctioned off at a BDSM club and was a million dollars richer—give or take. I was Emerson's personal sex toy. Was going to lunch with coworkers really that big of a deal?
It suddenly didn't seem like it.
“Let's go.”
“Isn't she cute?” Leslie asked as she showed me the lock screen on her phone while we were waiting for our number to be called at a local sandwich shop.
It was a cute baby with two pigtails on top of her head and striking blue eyes.
“Adorable,” I said with a smile. “How old is she?”
“Just over a year,” Leslie replied, beaming with pride. “It's hard leaving her, but I have to remind myself how lucky I was to get a full year of maternity leave. Not all companies are like that.”
“I didn't know Emerson was so…”
“Generous?” she provided. “I know, I never expected it either. And she gave me full pay.Crazy. She looks like a hard-ass, but she cares a lot about her employees. I mean, when Cristian got sick and was out for a month, he had full payandhis job waiting for him when he came back, no questions asked.She didn't even consider replacing him. Just took all the work herself.”
