Chapter 0003

Evie

The boss had called me into his office this morning. Dread settled in my stomach as I stepped inside and Jasper was standing there too.

“Miss Sinclair,” he says simply. “Mister Morgan. I called you both in here to discuss a rather important matter. I can’t have two interns. One of you will be let go.”

I bristle at his statement.

“The one I keep here has to demonstrate a knowledge of client acquisition that exceeds our expectations for interns. Whoever brings me the next big client will receive the role here in this office. The other will have to go.”

Jasper chuckles smugly beside me.

“Certainly, sir,” he says. “Excellence in everything, isn’t that right, Evie?”

My nails bit into my palms as anger started boiling over.

“Absolutely,” I say, feigning sweetness.

“I expect to see your client portfolios in three days,” our boss said. “I look forward to seeing what you guys bring to the table.”

As soon as we step outside his office, Jasper began his trash talk again.

“Prepare to lose, Evie,” he says with a smirk.

“I won’t lose,” I say proudly.

“Don’t lie to yourself,” he snorts. “I know you have zero prospects. It must be hard being you.”

“Oh yea? What do you have that I don’t,” I ask, folding my arms.

“My family owns the largest shipping company in the world,” he says plainly, picking at his nails.

“That’s a cowards way out,” I snort.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said quickly, a grin plastered on his face. “A client is a client. It’s not about what you know, but about who you know. It won’t matter how smart you are when you show up with nothing. I hold it all in the palm of my hand.”

I felt my stomach drop. I hated when he was right. Jasper was second on my list of most hated people I knew. Which means he was first place loser.

How fitting.

“It might be better for you to just give up,” he says, lowering his tone. “It’s obvious you don’t belong here. You’d never understand how to deal with the one percent. I mean, look at you. You taped your heels.”

My jaw tightens. “Your attempts at scaring me are childish at best. I’d suggest you focus on your clients.”

I strode back to my cubicle, aware of how my heel wobbled beneath me. I cursed, feeling embarrassed creep onto my face.

God, I was so out of my league. It felt like I dropped right into the deep end without my floaties.

I didn’t let his words deter me. I kept reaching out and searching for the client of my boss’s dreams.

I just had to keep looking.

As the day came to a close, I felt my first wave of defeat. Not a single bite. It was like no one would come near me with a ten foot pole. I would suspect sabotage from my colleague, but something told me Jasper was much too confident in his abilities to want to put in the extra effort.

So I packed up for the night.

My phone started buzzing. I pulled it from my purse and looked down at the screen.

Aria.

I picked up her call, pressing the phone to my ear. “Hey.”

For a second, all I could hear was soft sniffles coming from the other end of the phone. “Hey,” Aria repeated. Her voice was wobbly and quiet.

I frowned. “What is it,” I ask worriedly. “Aria, what’s wrong?”

“He dumped me,” she wailed. “Ryan, dumped me!”

I inhaled deeply. “Aria, I’m so sorry,” I say apologetically. “What can I do?”

Her sniffles grew louder. “I don’t want to be alone,” she whimpers.

I nod quickly. “No, absolutely. Come over,” I urge. “We can order takeout and open a bottle of wine. Maybe watch a movie?”

Aria laughed sadly. “You’re too good for this world, Evie,” she says tiredly. “Are you finally off work?”

“Yea,” I answer. “I’m just heading onto the elevator.”

“Okay,” she sniffled again.

“I’ll see you soon,” I promise gently.

“Okay. Bye.”

She hangs up, and I move double time to get home. I’ve gotten much better at hailing a cab. I used to be much less assertive than I am now. Once inside the cab, I place an order at our favorite Italian restaurant. I got us the whole thing– pizza, pasta, salad, you name it.

All of it was set to arrive about the time I was.

When I stepped into my shabby little apartment, I kicked off my heels and shrugged off my blazer, throwing it on the couch.

My doorbell rang just then and I run to grab it. A tearful Aria stands at my door, still wiping her cheeks of their dampness.

“Come in,” I say quickly, ushering her inside with a gentle hand. “What happened?”

“He broke it off because he was ‘working’ on himself,” she says with air quotations. “But we all know what that means.”

I felt bad that I didn’t know what that meant. “What does that mean?”

Aria breaks down again, sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m going to die alone!”

“Oh, no, babe,” I say, laughing quietly as I drew her in for a hug. “You’re not going to die alone. You’ll always have me.”

Honestly, if anyone was going to die alone, it was probably me.

“I hate men,” she whines in frustration.

“Me too,” I admit softly. “Jasper was a real a-hole today. There’s a reason he’s number two on my hit list.”

“You never told me who’s number one on that list,” Aria says, with almost pleading eyes.

“It doesn’t matter,” I sigh tiredly. “Men suck in general.”

Aria groaned. “I mean, why can’t they all just be like Timothy Hayes,” she whined. “He’s so hot. Ugh.”

The name is my number one.

“Yea,” I croaked. “That would be… interesting.”

I sit her down on the couch, tossing a fuzzy blanket to her.

“Thanks,” she says gratefully. “You didn’t have to do this, you know.”

I laugh softly. “I think I needed this too,” I admit. “Things have been tough lately.”

“What’s up,” she asks.

“It’s nothing, just work,” I answer, keeping it vague. She didn’t need to pile my problems on top of hers.

“Evie, you know you can talk to me too,” she says pleadingly. “I can’t be the only one word vomiting tonight.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I say dismissively. “I’m just tired.”

“Evie–”

“I just don’t need you to get involved,” I say sharply. I regretted my tone the moment the words had left my lips. “Ari, I didn’t mean–”

She remained quiet for a moment, hurt filling her eyes. “It’s fine,” she finally says. “But I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to solve everything by yourself. I’m your best friend, I just want to help you too. You work so hard. You’re literally falling apart at the seams and I just have to sit by and watch you rip yourself to shreds.”

I inhaled quietly at her words. Aria was the one person who truly had a heart of gold. She could be a little messy sometimes and chaotic, but she truly meant well. And she at least deserved an explanation as to why I was the way I was.

“I know you’re worried about me, Ari,” I began, swallowing quietly. “But this is something that I need to do on my own.”

Aria nods quietly. “You need to learn how to relax. Come with me to a Thunderbolts game,” she pleaded innocently. “It’s a birthday present to myself. I’m hoping for glass seats. That way, I can see Hayes up close and personal.”

I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Let me check my calendar,” I concede.

She continues giving me her puppy dog eyes. “Please?”

I look through quickly, not seeing any conflicts on the day of Aria’s birthday.

“Ugh, fine. You win. I’ll go,” I laugh.

She claps her hands together. “You know I love you,” Aria grins.

As much as I loved making Aria happy, anxiety rippled through me. I would be willingly putting myself within close proximity with my mortal enemy.

God help me now.