My Life is Over
1127 Words
EMILY
Someone up there has it out for me.
I’m serious. There’s a celestial being lounging on a cloud right now, flipping through a giant bingo card that has my face in its center, under the square labeled Make Her Suffer. Extra credit if she cries in public.
Thirty one days. Thirty one miserable days of free falling, and the ground still hasn’t shown up.
I had been laughing but the sound died in my throat. The second reality crashed in.
Absolutely nothing is funny. I think I’m actually losing my mind.
Leo Ashford just called me his girlfriend in front of half of Manhattan’s elite. And now he’s kneeling here in this dingy service hallway, laughing at me like I’m the punchline to the best joke he’s heard all year. Let’s not forget what his hand was doing under that table, sliding up my thigh like he had every right, while I sat there waiting for the universe to drop the bomb.
He was studying me like I was a Rubik’s cube he couldn’t quite twist into place.
“What’s that crazy head of yours thinking right now, Emily?”
Great. He also thinks I’m crazy.
“Join the club, buddy,” I muttered under my breath. “We meet Tuesdays.”
Out loud I said, my voice cracking with mental exhaustion, “Why did you say that, Leo? Why?”
He tilted his head, as an infuriating half-smile played on his lips.
I pushed on before he could answer. “I get it. I should be on my knees thanking you. You chose me over her and defended me when no one else ever has. And that… that means more than you’ll ever know. But I might actually lose my job this time. For real. And now the entire city is going to think I seduced you. That I’m the girl who sleeps her way up the ladder while smiling pretty for the cameras.”
Leo’s eyebrows arched. “Well… if memory served me right, you did try to seduce me. Didn't you?”
“That’s not the point!” I snapped. I swear steam was hissing out of my ears. I could feel it.
I shoved myself up off the floor because having a meltdown while sitting like a sad puddle was just too pathetic. My legs wobbled, but I locked my knees and kept going.
“The point is I have to find another job. Again. And with my reputation now?” I laughed. “Do you know what happens to girls like me, Leo? We don’t get hired. We get looked at. We get cornered in warehouses in Queens by directors with coffee breath and wandering hands”
I dragged a shaky hand through my hair. “I have seventy-three dollars and twelve cents in my checking account. My apartment door has fresh scratch marks on it from whoever keeps trying to get in. I get silent calls at 3 a.m. And now…” I gestured wildly at the space between us, at the whole ridiculous night. “Now I’m your girlfriend. Publicly. What the hell do I do when the truth comes out? When everyone realizes this was just you being a white knight for five minutes, and I’m back to being the girl who got fired for sleeping with the boss?”
Leo watched me for a long second, dark eyes unreadable. Then he leaned in, voice low and calm, like he was discussing the weather.
“Well,” he said, “Next time, don’t seduce your boss, at least not halfway. Commit, Emily. Go big or go home.”
I opened my mouth to argue. No to scream, actually. This man was not hearing me, but he kept talking, stepping closer until the heat of him wrapped around me.
“That first night. You opened the door in nothing but a tiny robe. You had a plan, Emily. What was it? Tell me.”
Seduce you. Use you. Take something for once instead of always being the one who gives and gives until there’s nothing left.
But you already know that, don’t you?
“That’s not the point,” I repeated, but it came out weak, barely a whisper.
“No.” His voice dropped even lower. “The point is this.”
One hand slid to my waist, fingers splaying possessively. The other tilted my chin up with surprising gentleness. And then his mouth was on mine. Claiming my lips in his.
I kissed him back like I was drowning and he was oxygen. Somewhere in the back of my skull a tiny, responsible voice was shrieking.
This is a terrible idea, this will ruin you,
But my body had its own mind. My hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer.
He broke the kiss just enough to murmur against my lips, “You gave me a taste that night… and I want more. All of it.”
His mouth moved to my neck, slow and deliberate, and I shut my eyes, head falling back against the cinderblock as a helpless sound escaped me. My knees actually buckled.
The door to the hallway swung open with a bang.
I squealed but Leo was faster. He spun, shielding me completely behind his tall frame, one arm locking me against his back like I was the most precious thing in the building.
“Mr. Ashford, I just wanted to confirm if that'll be all for the night.”
Marco’s voice.
“GET OUT!”
Leo’s roar rattled the overhead lights. I heard Marco’s shoes squeak as he scrambled backward so fast he nearly face-planted. The door slammed shut with a decisive thud.
Silence for half a second.
Then I started laughing again, laughter that made my ribs hurt. Leo turned back to me, and damn it, that smile of his could end wars.
“Why are you still hiding?” he asked, voice warm with amusement. He tugged me out from behind him. “You’re mine now, remember? Let them see.”
I realized I was still clutching his shirt in two tight fists like it was a lifeline. I forced my fingers to relax, smoothing the expensive fabric over his chest, pretending to fix the wrinkles while shamelessly mapping every ridge of muscle underneath with my palms.
Leo caught my wrist, eyes glittering. “We’re leaving.”
He didn’t wait for agreement. He just laced his fingers through mine and pulled me down the hallway toward the service elevator like the entire world could burn, and he wouldn’t care.
I stumbled after him with my heart hammering and thoughts spinning.
This is crazy.
This is definitely, certifiably crazy.
But at least I’m not bored.
Not even a little.
- Writer
