Chapter 10: Natalie
What a way to start the week. I can’t believe I was just called a bitch in front of all of management. It didn’t matter so much that they heard it—they already thought it, anyways. Something like that was going to circle around the office, and there would be a lot of talking behind my back. Thanks a million, Jim.
To add insult to injury, Patrick Reinhardt took it upon himself to try and console me. What a joke. We had just met earlier in the day, and he’d decided it would be okay to call me Ice Queen. Everyone else thought he was so charming, but he was actually just a pain in the ass.
Each click of my heel increased in tempo as I got angrier. It was the only outward signal that something was bothering me. I had no expression on my face, but my insides were burning something hot. An inferno had begun to brew in the pit of my stomach. If I had been at home, I would be able to go for a run. The slapping of my feet on pavement and burning in my lungs would calm me down. But it was still two hours until I could leave, so I’d have to find a different way to distract myself.
I knew a conversation with Major would make me feel better. But it was only Monday. My throat and chest tightened at the thought of having to wait five days for our next meeting. It was unlike me to be so emotional, but I enjoyed spending time with him. And fucking him, but that was obvious.
After we had finished, we talked for hours. Although some things we discussed were trivial, like favorite ice cream, our conversation flowed so naturally. I smiled as I thought back to Friday night.
“Are there any weird facts about you?” Major asked.
“Weird?” I responded.
He laughed. “Yeah, weird. For example, I’m left-handed.”
“Oh. That’s not that weird.”
“Okay, how about ‘different’ facts?”
“Um…I have a birthmark shaped like an orca,” I offered.
He burst out laughing. “I’m sure it doesn’t look like an orca.”
“It really does, though.”
It had taken me years to tell Michaela things I told Major. But he had managed to coax it out of me in two weeks.
I wondered how long our glory hole relationship would last. Would he just stop coming one day? Being called a bitch was fine. Public embarrassment was fine. Patrick Reinhardt trying to console me was fine. But the idea of Major dropping out of my life had a lump forming in my throat.
I shook my head as I walked into my office—that was not something I should be thinking about. Right now, I just needed to get to the end of the day. I clicked through my calendar, looking for a task I could submerse myself in for two hours.
Donovan burst into my office without knocking. “Hey!”
“You should knock, you know that?”
“Okay, whatever. I just heard what happened!”
“How do you already know?” It had only been thirty minutes. Surely, office gossip couldn’t travel that fast. Somehow, Donovan was always on top of the latest news.
“Office gossip spreads fast. Oh my god, you’ll never guess what though.”
I wish he had asked me how I was, or if I needed anything. But he seemed to be overly excited about how I had been called a bitch. “What?”
“It totally vilified Jim. Everyone hates him now. Well, the people who have heard the story.”
“Seriously?” I blurted.
“Serious. What an ass, calling you a bitch. It’s obviously just your Ice Queen fabulousness.”
What the hell am I doing, engaging in this kind of talk. I need to stop. “Well, I’m glad someone thinks so. Speaking of Ice Queen.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You heard Patrick today. I told you not to call me that in front of other people.”
“Sorry,” he pouted.
Any other day I wouldn’t let him off the hook. But right now, I was so happy that calling me a bitch had backfired on Jim. “It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.”
“Okay, I’ve got to get going. I want to see what everyone else is saying about it!”
“Wait a second—” I started, but he was already out the door.
Oh well. The metaphorical fire was spreading in my favor, so it didn’t matter if he talked about it. And I knew Donovan would keep the story on my side.
What a turn of events.
* * *
The week had passed at a painfully slow pace. Julie was still on edge with the acquisition, and she was lashing out at anyone in her path. Because I was the accounting manager, often that person was me. When Friday came, I was nearly jumping for joy.
Getting to see Major was the best part of my week. It didn’t matter how much garbage went on in those six days we didn’t see each other—he could make me feel better. I was always vague when talking about things, though.
“And I was embarrassed in front of a group of people,” I sighed.
“People are stupid, Daisy. We’re hardwired to put ourselves first.”
“I know. It’s just…it hurt.” I clapped my hand to my mouth. “I can’t believe I told you that.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t really talk about my feelings.”
“Why wouldn’t you?” he asked.
“Um, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Major paused. “Okay. Well, let me tell you about the time I uploaded a naked selfie, to make you feel better.”
I laughed. “Anyone would be lucky to see that.”
“I have my family on social media.”
Unfortunately, every Friday must come to an end. Today was Sunday, and I was already counting down to the coming Friday. It was also the date Mark and Michaela had set for rock climbing. I still hadn’t had the nerve to tell her I went back to Vertigo. When I told her about the first time I ended up in the basement, I had made it sound like the end of the world. She would commit me if she knew I was still going there, with no plans on stopping.
“This doesn’t look very sturdy,” I mumbled as Michaela clipped me into my harness.
“Well if it wasn’t sturdy, there would be a lot of lawsuits now, wouldn’t there?”
“But there’s always the chance it could break.” I tried to reason with her. Not everything is one hundred percent.
“Well, I hope you grab a rock on your way down, then. Now get on this wall,” Michaela demanded.
“It’s a lot higher than I imagined.” I was doing my best to stall. “Are you sure you don’t want to go first?”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. Quit putting it off and just go.”
“Yeah, Natalie.” Mark urged from the wall beside us. Our level of climbing required a partner, so he had brought one of his buddies from work.
“Okay.” I hesitantly grabbed ahold of a wall mount.
“You’ve got to put your foot on one or else you won’t go anywhere.” Michaela tried to turn her laughter into a coughing fit. I knew I looked ridiculous—afraid to climb a wall that was meant for ten-year-olds.
“I know, I know.” I put my right foot on the lowest wall mount and pushed up. It wasn’t so bad. My feet were small so they fit in each hold pretty well. I’d just get my left foot going. Before I knew it, I had climbed a few steps. Proud of my progress, I turned to look at Michaela. “Oh god.” I scrunched my eyes shut.
“You’re like five feet off of the ground,” Michaela sighed.
“It’s five feet higher than I’d like to be.” I grabbed on to the holds for dear life.
“Just keep going!”
“Easy to say when you’re on the floor.” My stomach shifted, and I felt the contents of my breakfast turning.
“Natalie.” Patrick fucking Reinhardt stood on the floor below me.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed. I was pissed that he was seeing me afraid of something.
He shot me one of his signature smirks. “I work out here. Just look up as you climb, okay?”
“I just—okay.” I didn’t need to chicken out in front of someone I worked with, especially Patrick fucking Reinhardt. My hand trembled as I reached for the next hold.
I followed his advice and just looked up. My hands and feet began to synchronize with each other, and I managed to reach the top of the rock wall.
“Yes,” I said to myself.
“Okay, come down now!” Michaela called.
“Right.” I wasn’t interested in testing if the harness was secure, but I didn’t have much of a choice. My stomach fluttered as I kicked away from the wall. I exhaled in relief when my feet touched the floor—maybe these things were relatively safe
“Good job.” Patrick smiled at me.
Ugh. I did not feel like being belittled by him today. “Thank you.” I managed to squeeze out.
“How do you two know each other?” Michaela asked. I could tell by her tone of voice she was trying to ask if we had been on a date.
“Work,” I deadpanned.
“Oh.” She immediately lost interest. Michaela knew once I started talking about work, it could go on for ages. “Well, I’m just going to check on Mark while you guys talk.”
“Oh, you don’t have to—" I started, but she was already walking away.
“I’ve never seen you here before,” Patrick commented.
“Yeah…I wanted to try something new.”
“So, you picked rock climbing then?”
Picked wouldn’t exactly be the right word. Appointed would have been a better verb. Although I was the one who wanted to be adventurous, so really, I had no say in the matter. “It was picked for me,” I said.
“Well, how do you like it? You were holding on to that wall for dear life.”
I turned bright red. “I just wanted to be safe for my first time.” I paused. “And it was actually kind of fun. After I got over the height, and how the harness might break.”
He burst out laughing. “I’ve never heard of that happening.”
“That’s good to know, I guess.”
“Yeah.” He scratched the back of his head. “I wanted to apologize for calling you Ice Queen. It was probably out of line for me to do that.”
I had to admit, I was taken aback. Patrick Reinhardt did not seem like the type to apologize. Every time we’d interacted he had come off as rather cocky. Maybe I was wrong. “It’s fine.”
“If it’s fine, can I still call you that?” he smirked.
I frowned. I was still right about him being cocky. “No.”
“See, it’s not fine.”
“Only Donovan can call me that. You can call me Natalie or Ms. Lane.”
He chuckled. “Okay, Ms. Lane. I’ll leave you to rock climbing.”
“Actually, maybe just Nata—”
“Oh no, Ms. Lane. See you at work.” He stuck his tongue out at me and walked away.
Did he seriously just stick his tongue out at me? My face turned bright red as I watched him walk towards the advanced walls. He was so full of himself. This guy thinks he’s so charming because all of the girls at the office fawn over him. Patrick fucking Reinhardt is just a cocky bastard.
“I figured that’d take longer.” Michaela walked up to me. “Who is that fine specimen?”
“He’s not a fine specimen. He’s irritating.” I grabbed the harness and started clipping Michaela in without asking.
“Oh, really now?”
“Yes, really. Now start climbing.”
“Well I would, but you clipped me in wrong. And you’re the one worried about falling to your death?”
“Sorry.”
“Sounds like you’re in love.” She extended the last word.
“I’m really not though.” I was pretty infatuated with Major, though. But I couldn’t let her know that. “If anything, I’m still pissed about Nathan,” I lied.
“Hm, I can see that. Well, let’s get some of that anger out with rock climbing, yeah?”
“Let’s.”