CHAPTER THIRTEEN
KIRA
A week had passed, and I still hadn’t gotten over what Blade had said to me. I was still mad that he’d left me alone at the winery without a ride home. I found it hard to believe that Blade would walk out on me and call me a random girl. I felt stupid; I had actually fantasized us being together and traveling with him on his tours. I was a fool because he never said he wanted me to follow him on his tours anyway.
“Damn.” I dropped the paper I was working on.
I found it hard to concentrate, to do my job. I was pretty messed up, and it was all my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten into Blade’s bed in the first place.
“You okay, Kira?” Tom walked towards my desk.
Penny had given me an article to edit, and they all knew I was the fastest when it came to editing. But I had taken over two hours doing nothing but staring at the manuscript on my computer screen.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied.
“You look pretty washed out, you should get some rest.” He tapped my shoulder.
“Yes, I should.” I nodded and watched as he strolled away.
Today was the longest day I’d ever had, it seemed. That really wasn’t saying a whole lot, since I didn’t get much sleep this past week.
I fought with my thoughts until I conquered and eventually forced Blade out of my mind. I quickly edited the manuscript Penny had given to me.
I walked over to the copy machine to run off the required copies, held the sheets of paper in my hand with confidence, then rode the elevator up to my boss’s office. I tapped on the door twice.
“Come in!” Penny called out.
“Hi. Penny, I finished up with the editing,” I said, marching into her office.
My boss glanced up at me with an unreadable look in her eyes.
I was shocked to see Edel and Tom in her office. I became curious at once. I hadn’t been informed about a meeting. I wondered: what was going on?
“Just the person we needed. Have a seat, please,” Penny said, and Edel stood and offered me a swivel chair that was close to Penny’s desk.
“Thank you, Edel,” I replied as I sat in the cushioned seat that had been occupied by her.
She nodded and pulled up another chair to sit on the other side of Tom.
Truth be told, I was not comfortable sitting in front of my boss right now. Penny had a pinched frown around her mouth as she regarded me.
“I know you are all wondering why you are here. I’ll not waste precious time and get straight to the point. I called you all here to tell you about the changes I want to make to your department,” my boss went on to elaborate.
“Ahem…” Edel cleared her throat and fidgeted in her seat.
I peered over at her and Tom. Edel threw me a worried glance, but Tom just stared ahead at Penny with a furrow between his brows.
“First off—” Penny had not finished talking when my cell phone buzzed from my messenger bag.
I checked the caller ID and realized it was Blade. He had sent me over at least ten messages. Damn, what was wrong with this guy? I didn’t have time to read them since I was in a meeting.
“I am sorry,” I apologized to Penny.
“No problem. But as I was saying earlier, there are changes ahead in your department. First off, I want us to have an erotica column which would explore male and female sexuality. I want a platform where we could talk about the things people are ashamed to talk about. Things like male genitalia size, um, women faking orgasms and such…”
My phone buzzed again, interrupting my train of thought.
I felt thoroughly embarrassed.
“Ahh, I’m sorry…it’s my contact for the big story I am working on.” I had to explain because they were all staring at me curiously.
“Really? Wow, you work fast. Tell me a bit about the story?” Penny asked.
I went numb. I had nothing to say.
“Um… I don’t want to share it just yet. Not until the first draft is ready. Right now, I have data, so I am still analyzing what I have.” I dodged her question.
“Is that so?” Edel asked.
“Yes, indeed.” I nodded.
“Okay, take all the time you need, Kira.” Penny shrugged.
I felt relieved.
I wondered: why is Blade calling and texting a random girl like me? I thought with sarcasm. I was still outraged that he would interrupt the meeting I had with my boss and even angrier that he’d abandoned me last week the way he had. On top of that, Blade had allowed an entire week to pass without a word from him. He could kiss my black ass, I inwardly fumed.