Elody's POV

When I wake up the next morning, I feel drained. I barely slept a wink last night, and when I did sleep, I was having terrible nightmares about what happened with Liam. I am still debating on whether or not I should go back to work today. Part of me says I need to go back, because I know I can’t lose my job, I won’t survive without one, I have to support myself. The other part of me says I can’t go back, not after what he did to me.

I sit on my bed, still in my pajamas, debating.I don’t know what to do. I can’t ask Juliet for help, because then I’d have to tell her what happened, and I can’t tell her. I can’t tell anyone, not that I have anyone else to tell. I wonder if his wife knows who he really is. I wonder if she knows about the relationship he had with me. I wonder if he treats her the way he treated me yesterday.

I finally break free from my thoughts, and decide to start getting ready to go to work. I take a quick shower, and dress myself in something that isn’t flattering, sexy, or tightfitting. I proceed to dry my hair, and throw it up into a tight bun, then work on my makeup. I decide on just mascara today. I don’t want to draw any attention to myself. I grab my purse, and car keys, and head out the door.

I go to Starbucks, first, as my usual morning routine. I don’t really care much for hot coffee drinks, but today I don’t complain when they screw up my order, and give me a hot drink, instead of cold. The guy sits it on the counter, and notices me looking at it, like I’m pondering something.

“Is something wrong?” He asks, and I look up at him. I must look concerned, or something. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. You ordered a Frappucino, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but that’s okay.”

“I’m so sorry. I’ll fix it for you, if you have a second to wait.”

“Actually, this will be fine. Thank you anyway.” I smile at him, hand him a tip, and walk out the door.

As I make it to the office parking lot, I see familiar cars there. Not just Liam’s car, but these other cars were just here yesterday. I realize that it must be the band guys, they must’ve changed their minds. Or, Liam changed it for them. Probably the second one. I grab my belongings, and head into the building, catching the elevator up to the next floor. As soon as I walk in, I get an overwhelming sense of dread, and I stop dead in my tracks. I don’t want to be here. Maybe I should just turn around, and go home. I can find another job, right? Not one that pays like this one, though.

I continue walking toward my office, and set my stuff down on my desk. I look over to the meeting room, and surely enough, the band guys are here. I wonder what Liam had to say to change their minds. I sit down at my desk, and start up my computer.

“Ms. James?” I hear Liam’s voice, and I look up to meet his gaze. I instantly regret my decision to stay here. “I’m glad to see that you’re here.” He looks at his watch. “And you’re on time. That’s great! Now, I just want you to know that I’m going to need you to print out the papers for my newest deal, so I can have them signed by our new clients. You’ve met them all, haven’t you?” I nod my head yes, and get to work on printing off the papers he needs. He starts to walk out of the office, but turns around. “Oh, and you’re going to be working late today to make up for leaving early the past two days. I hope you didn’t have any plans.”

Brian’s POV

While Liam is out of the room, I’m wondering what he’s talking to Elody about. Maybe he’s telling her about how he told us the truth about her. And here I thought that her friend was the slutty one, I guess I had that wrong.

“Gentleman,” Liam says, appearing back in the room. “I’m having my secretary bring us the papers to be signed, and then everything will be official. I’m so glad that you have chosen me to help you in business.”

“Not a problem. Thank you for choosing to do business with us, as well. I have faith that you will handle everything accordingly.” Matt says in return.

“Of course.” Liam smiles.

There’s a soft knock on the door, and then it opens. Elody is there, holding the papers to officiate our deal. She comes in, and sets the papers down in front of Liam, and he thanks her. She then walks out, shutting the door behind her. I can’t help but notice how much different she looks today, compared to the others that I’ve seen her. I also can’t help noticing that she seems sad, today. I’m assuming it’s because I was right about Liam telling her what he told us.

Liam lays out all of the papers, and goes over each one with us separately, afterward, having us sign each one. Once we are done, we exchange numbers, shake hands, and leave the office.

“Anyone hungry?” Matt asks, as we walk out of the building. We all nod our heads in agreement. “I say we all get some food and drinks to celebrate our new deal.”

“Sounds great!” Jimmy agrees, and we all agree to meet up at a local restaurant.

As I pull out of my parking spot, to leave, I look up at the second floor, and notice Elody looking down at us. Suddenly, Liam appears behind her, and her expression changes from sadness to fear. He leans down, and I assume he is whispering in her ear. I see one arm wrap around her waist, as the other reaches up to close the blinds, then they’re gone. I stop the car, and debate on going back in. A million thoughts are rushing through my head.

After Liam had called Matt last night, Matt had us all come over, so he could explain the phone call. He told us that Liam had apologized that we had to overhear his conversation, and that he had not planned on us finding out anything about Elody. He told Matt that she had a nasty habit of seducing him into sleeping with her, and anyone else she could get her hands on, which were mostly clients coming to and from the office. He told him about her problem with drugs and alcohol, and that she had a bad past with both, that had never really ended.

I couldn’t believe it, at first. It took a while for it all to sink in. When we were at the bar, she couldn’t have seemed less interested in the alcohol. It struck me as weird, until I realized that she probably hadn’t wanted us to see her drinking outside of work, for fear it might mess up our deal at the office. Liam had made a point in saying that, though she is the way she is, she would never want to hurt any deal he had with clients, and that she would probably try to make any effort she could to get into our pants.

Maybe what I saw, was nothing. For all I know, she could’ve asked him to come into her office, and take her on the desk. It’s none of my business, anyway. Yet, I still can’t help but worry, as I drive away.

Notes