REFINED ROMANCE

He is angry

Chapter 18

935 Word Update date:2023-08-18 09:40:40

"I mean, do you honestly believe that he fired Terry?" Ruben checked his nails. "Unbelievable. The best guy ever in this building. That was brutal though. Everyone's talking about it. If he wants us to hate him, well now's the time."

They had to be lies. This newspaper article. All lies. I reread it and stared at Ruben.He knew everything around there and would know if they were lies or not. So I asked him I asked him boldly if any of it was true.

"All of it except the part about the miscarriage. It's highly possible his wife was with the ex way before they were married."

"And these wild flings with women half her age?" I held my breath.

"Yep, all true. I know because I directed their calls to him ,and was paid when they broke up to say he wasn't ever in. He took me to France, had a fling there with a twenty year old who owned a club. Took me to Spain, had a fling with another young woman that I had the hots for right before my eyes. I had to sit in the front seat whilst he made out with them in the back. Pathetic."

I swallowed hard and stared at the closed office door.

"But the sanity and the trauma and stuff after he caught his wife in bed with him," Ruben sighed, "that's all true. He was a mess after that. I walked in on him crying in his office one time. Plus he was overusing pills. Missing appointments. I had to get him home a lot of times."

I was still fuming over the fact that he never told me half the story. Just the parts that made him look like the victim. The fact that he slept with these girls and threw himself around. The possibility of him getting in between his brother and the woman his brother loved? It's funny how it takes one person to convince you of so much when you want to believe. Because Ruben did that. I trusted Ruben Ruben was his personal assistant and knew more than 100% about Liam than anyone working here.

If Ruben said it, then it was true.

"I'd like to see which psycho actually chooses to date him after this s**t. Any woman will run in the other direction. Just imagine the names they're calling him. Sugar daddy is a popular one. Now he'll be called a woman eater and a bitch."

"Well we all know he's a b***h to begin with," I said, a slight headache coming on.

Ruben cleared his throat.

I was sorting files when the light in front of me was blocked. The smell of the perfume i know very well grew stronger and my heart stopped.

"Miss Lawrence, did you move my call with Bookers Limited to 3?"

Oh mother of New York.

Choking on air, I stared up with wide eyes. Brown eyes blinked at me and he seriously looked pissed. So pissed, I was glared at. Did he hear when I called him a b***h?

"I...didn't do it as yet," I stumbled upon words.

"Well that's obvious since they just rang me to enter the conference," his tone was bitter. "And I had to explain that I advised my assistant to move the meeting to 3. Now you can imagine their rude remarks after. I gather that one of you has an excuse for this?"

Ruben sat silently, staring.

Telephones rang around us.

"I am not in the mood to have slip ups today," he stated in a stern voice. The newspaper was snatched from my desk and tossed in the bin. "So instead of wasting your time on reading trash, why don't you get back to work!" His eyes flicked to Ruben. "Both of you!"

"Sorry, boss," Ruben muttered.

I bit my lips. My eyes burned. I blinked and held back tears.

"Get your head out of the clouds, Miss Lawrence ,"he wouldn't stop sassing me. I avoided eye contact. "I'm paying you to do a job, so do it or I'll be damned."

Lifting my head, I stared at him. He looked back with that same bitterness in his eyes and blinked. It was then when I realized that yeah, maybe this had been a mistake to begin with. Diverting my stare, I glared at the water cooler in the corner.

"Lucas, fix my appointments before I sack another person today. Now!"

Jumping in my seat, so did Ruben and he scrambled for the phone. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't lift my eyes. I waited when he walked away and handed Ruben the adjustments made to the appointments. Biting my lips, tears escaped anyway and I reached up to wipe them. Hot tears. The type that comes when yeah you're strong as usual, but to disappoint is overwhelming. Plus, speaking to me like that was out of order.

"Hey," Ruben reached over to pat me on the back, "don't let him get to you, okay?"

I shook my head, covered my face and felt the tears slip down my arms. All around us were cubicles. Obviously people were watching and they must have heard everything. He had never shouted at us like this before. Well...me. He had never met me here to begin with. And to have them witness that kind of confrontation, I could already hear them whispering.

"Look, right now he's s**t, okay?" my arm was squeezed as he dialed someone. "he's a b***h and he's not worth it."

"Yeah but he did it in front of everyone," I said hoarsely