Chapter five
1205 Words
MILLICENT TOOK THE stairs. She walked down to the eleventh floor, steeling her nerves for when she had to go back out there and face the people.
When she appeared in the doorway, the stares were still there but some of them were looking sorry now.
She walked to her office.
“Millie!” Bethany sprang up from her chair, excitedly.
“Miss Millie...” two of her other colleagues— Tom and Rick— said as they got up. Millie knew that they had seen the pictures.
She gave them a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, really. Don’t worry.” She walked over to her cubicle that was next to Tom.
“What happened to your glasses?” Bethany asked.
Millie reached up to touch it as she took her seat. “It fell.”
“Millie?” Margaret Lee called, watching her young employee.
“Yes, ma’am?” She turned in her chair to look at her.
“Congratulations, the CEO loved your product ideas.” She smiled, like a proud mother.
The office exploded in confetti and cheer, and her co-workers began to clap. Some passerbys peered through the glass walls at them.
Millie smiled. At least, she still had people who supported her despite everything.
“He loved it so much that he wants to work side by side with team two,” Rick said.
“Wait, what?” Millie looked at their faces for answers.
“Yes, but, he actually wants to work with you to see to the finish. He wants team two to be in charge of the whole process. The other teams are to answer to us.” Bethany did a little victory dance.
“It means that we could even win an award this year.” Tom added. He and Bethany did a high five over their cubicles.
“We have Millie to thank for this. She worked really hard, it shows just how much of wonderful employee, and person, she is.” Margaret Lee smiled warmly and so did the rest of the team.
“We’re lucky that we even have you, Miss Mille,” Rick said.
Millie smiled back the tears trying to form. “Let’s do this!”
MILLICENT got down from the bus a while away from her stop. She decided to walk, thinking about how she got into this mess in the first place. She couldn’t understand why Theodore would do this to her and she also didn’t understand why Logan Forest would want her to be his girlfriend.
There were so many things she didn’t understand right now.
She climbed the short steps that led to her apartment. It was small, hemmed between two tall, large buildings. It was the first thing she could afford after she left home to work at Forest Skin. It was home.
She unlocked the door and walked in, shutting it behind her. The keys were tossed in a bowl on the shelf that was pressed against a wall.
Millie pushed out of her shoes and walked to her couch. She dropped into it tiredly, exhaling loudly.
Whore.
One word. It echoed in her head and reminded her of the stares and remarks from people at work.
Millie sat up, brought her feet to the ground and buried her head in the palm of her hands. Her shoulders shook as she began to sob.
She was crying but tears were refusing to fall. She hated herself for being so weak. If she was someone else, she would have ignored everyone and flipped Theodore off the moment she saw him. She would find Theodore and hit him.
She wasn’t that girl and she wasn’t the w***e they thought she was.
Her phone chimed and she fished it out of her jacket pocket.
I’m outside. Come meet me.
It was Theodore. Millie read the text three times. She got off the couch and hurried out the door.
Theodore was leaning on his old Volvo. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and black jeans.
He didn’t try to smile when he saw her.
“Theo...” Millie called. She wanted to hug him, she wanted to kill him, she wanted to kiss him, she wanted to see him dead.
Theodore held out his hand and shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he started. His blond hair was combed back, away from his deep blue eyes. Millie could tell that he wasn’t the least sorry.
“For what?” Millie asked. For lying to me or ruining my life?
“For letting those pictures get out,” Theo said like it was obvious. “Someone must have seen them on my phone and sent out that post. I’m sorry.”
Millie nodded and pressed her bare toes into the concrete. She hadn’t even bothered to put on shoes.
How she must look to him... Childish, stupid, naive.
“Why are you so silent?” Theodore asked.
Millie stared at his black shoes. She had gotten them for him at his last birthday. It seemed like years ago now.
“Do you blame me?” He asked.
Millie looked up at him.
“You think I did this?” Theodore asked, pushing off from his car towards her.
“Why was it only your face that was taken out?” Millie asked.
“How would I know?!” He tried to hold her.
Millie stepped back. “Why don’t you just call me a b***h to my face?”
Theodore smiled. “Finally. I’m so f*****g tired of pretending.”
Millie flinched. He had never sworn at her.
“You’re so clingy and quiet. You barely go against anything I say.”
“That’s because you liked that! I did everything you wanted to make you happy.”
“Oh, Millie.” he shook his head laughing, “you were always so predictable. It was boring, you were boring.”
“Leave,” Millie said, trying to sound firm.
“Want to know why I played along until now?”
Millie shook her head and tried to go back into her house. Theo grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him.
“You were so good, Millie. You told me about the job opening before the public announcement. You told me what to say to impress them. You helped me fit in,” He rubbed her arm with his thumb and Millie hated how her body reacted to him.
“Let me go,” she spat out.
“You were always there. It was tiring. I waited until I had gotten my ground for this, Millie. I used you.” He continued like he didn’t hear her.
And then he chuckled. “Besides, the s*x was good. I’ll miss that. You always came when I called, like a good little whore.”
Millie shoved him, hard. It took Theodore by surprise and he staggered, letting go of her.
She fled into her home and locked the door behind her. Her palms cupped her mouth as she slid down the door, her back to it, willing herself not to scream.
It wasn’t until she heard his car pulling out that the first tear rolled down her cheek.
- Writer
