Shayna woke up with the shittiest headache she had ever had in her life. The last night's events blurred with the most excruciating pain she had ever experienced.
Almost as if someone was drilling into her head and pouring the contents out.
Shayna picked up her phone from her bedside table when her eyes fell on something large right behind the door.
A large stuffed plastic bag.
On closer look, it appeared almost reddish-brown, like dried blood.
What the hell?
Shayna grabbed a knife from the bedside table, cursing in her mind. This was supposed to be a safer area than the ruckus she used to live in.
If this turned out to be another one of Lucas's attempts to intimidate her.....
She prodded the bag with the knife from a distance, almost as if it contained a time bomb.
Just don't turn out to be what I think you are.
The bag fell sideways, and its contents spilled on the bare floor.
It was beef jerky.
Around 20 pounds of it.
Shayna checked around and found a slap chop, ten rubber ducks, handcuffs and three cans of Flex Seal.
Sober Shayna and drunk Shayna clearly had very different thinking styles.
She went to grab her phone and checked her online shopping history.
Yep, ordered it all.
What was the drunk me planning with the cuffs and the rubber duck?
Never mind, I'd rather not know.
Owwww....
A sharp jab of pain hit her head again, penetrating slowly from the outside to the inner skull. She just wanted to order an ice pack and collapse on the bed.
But she couldn't.
It was fucking Monday.
Outside the underworld, Shayna worked a normal corporate job in a tech company. This month had been specifically brutal for the existing employees as there had been major layoffs in the last month to cut costs, and everybody was forced to carry the work of 2 - 3 people.
There was no way in hell that she would be given leave.
Not that I need that money, though. I could just sit and relax.
And then get arrested when I won't have any answer on how I got so much money.
She sighed inwardly as her eyes landed on her own tired reflection in the mirror.
At least I have 20 pounds of beef jerky to cheer me up.
She somehow managed to shower, swallow two painkillers, throw on the first clean blouse she found and left the apartment feeling particularly bizarre about life.
Two hours later, Shayna was finally at her office building's front door. Monday mornings were especially bad when she had to return to her prison after two days of freedom.
Not to mention the headache, which was gnawing itself out of her skull.
"Morning, ", she nodded to a group of slightly nervous young people waiting outside her lobby.
Interns.
Like a bunch of five-year-olds in Disneyland.
"Morning", an excited intern rang out, his voice standing out amongst the rest of the murmuring voices," How are you doing ?"
"None of your damn business."
The group collectively exchanged glances.
She ignored them and stepped into her cubicle. The last thing she needed was to entertain a bunch of interns. The job already sucked as it is.
"Ma'am ? ", a small voice sounded behind her. It was Mei, Shayna's 22-year-old, freshly joined assistant. Despite her bubbly voice and personality, she had a strong work ethic and got the work done on time.
Shayna mostly preferred her until she would start talking about all the BL she read.
Thanks to it, Shayna now had crushes on married gay men that didn't exist.
"Yes ? ", Shayna asked, turning back slightly.
"Is your head alright? Should I get you an ice pack ?" Mei noticed immediately.
"That would be nice ", Shayna nodded, gratefully," You were saying something? "
"Yes, you're scheduled to meet a new hire for the data analyst role at 10 am. "
Shit, that was today.
"Can we postpone it ?" Shayna asked, internally praying that the new intern would end up with a bad case of food poisoning.
Not really bad, though.
"I'd rather not, ma'am ", Mei warned," Graham might find out and use it to his own advantage. "
Graham was Shayna's colleague and one of those men who thought that hiring fertile women between the ages of 20 and 40 was a complete waste of the company's resources, as they would just go and have babies.
So, naturally, he had trouble digesting the fact that Shayna, a woman, was much more talented than he was and was much more likely to get promoted.
And hence, he went out of his way to make Shayna's life harder.
If I wanted to, I could make him disappear from the face of the earth.
But God freaking morals.
" Ok, then ", Shayna nodded, despite herself.
Forty-five minutes later, Shayna sat behind the conference table with a half-finished cup of coffee growing cold beside her. She gently massaged her head with her right hand while skimming through the pages of the file with her left.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A tall man stepped inside, dressed in a professional charcoal button-down with the sleeves rolled neatly to his forearms. Dark hair and black eyes.
A guy who women would probably pay to sleep with. She remembered a certain man whom she had the same thought about recently.
It's the same man from last night!
Had the entire world decided to fuck with her?
Maybe it's not him. He's too professional-looking for that guy.
Yeah.
Besides, he had grey eyes.
The most beautiful deep grey eyes she had ever seen.
Calm yourself down, you horny woman.
By the time he reached the chair opposite her, she'd already convinced herself that the resemblance was purely coincidental.
"Mr. Theodore James?" she asked professionally.
She looked back into his eyes, her gaze scanning his well-sculptured face.
Definitely not him.
I really should stop drinking so much.
Theodore smiled, his dimples surfacing on his cheeks as he glanced back at Shayna, his tone calm and professional.
" Yes, ma'am.", he replied while taking his seat, his eyes lighting up slightly.