Carter Reed

me, but I had a feeling that Carter wanted them around me from now on.
    When we were close to The Richmond, my phone vibrated.
    When you are ready to come home, push zero nine on your phone. Mike and Thomas will be waiting at the back entrance of wherever you are. Have a good day, Emma.
    I stared at the phone for a long time. I couldn’t look away from it. Home? To Carter? I was really living with him. It felt so intimate, my pulse picked up. A sizzling sensation went through me. This was my life. This was my new life. I had a car. I had two bodyguards. I lived in an extravagant home, with an extravagant man. I drew in a shaky breath. Could I handle this? This was all too…it was too much.
    I sat back and counted to ten. An anxiety attack was coming on.
    Four days ago, I thought my life was ending. Everything had taken a 180 degree turn.
    “We’re here, Ma’am.”
    I jerked out of my thoughts. The car had stopped and I scrambled out the door to find that we were at a back entrance. When the guard closed the door behind me, I looked at him, unsure what to do or say now.
    He gestured towards the door. “This is where we will pick you up. Have a great day at work.”
    “I—thank you…”
    He nodded at me and then waited.
    Uh…
    “You can go on in, ma’am.”
    “Oh!” Flushing from embarrassment, I hurried through the door. It was an entrance that I never knew about, but a time clock was next to it. I clocked in before I headed to the hotel’s breakroom for coffee.
    I ignored the workers at the tables. No doubt they had whispered about me and my week of no-shows, but as I got my coffee and headed out, I was surprised. There was no reaction. It was like nothing had happened, so I shrugged and headed towards Mr. Hudson’s office.
    When I got there, it was the same shock. I expected some comment from him, but didn’t get anything. As I sat down at my desk, in my own little office two doors down from his, there was a pile of paperwork on my desk and my inbox flashed a number that would keep me reading emails all morning.
    It was nearing lunch when I got my first clue.
    Mr. Hudson said from my opened door, “How was your vacation?”
    I jerked back, my heart pounding. He never knocked, not even a courtesy knock. “Vacation?”
    I stared at my boss. It took me a moment to comprehend and then I sputtered out, “Oh. Um. It was good. How was the week here?”
    Mr. Hudson stared at me behind his glasses and pinched the top of his nose. He was a big man, but bigger since he had stopped working out due to a back injury. He had gained fifty pounds over the last year. He carried it all in his belly now, which made him unhappy. Everyone knew Mr. Hudson used to think of himself as a player type of guy, but with his hair starting to gray and thin, he couldn’t keep up the image. Annoyance had his nostrils flaring and he clipped out, “The week was fine, would’ve been better if we had proper notice of your vacation.” His eyes narrowed and he lifted the top of his lip in a sneer. “Word came down from the top. You never told me you knew someone at the top, Martins.”
    I straightened in my chair and lifted my chin. “The vacation was a surprise to me as well. I apologize for any strain it might’ve had on you or others.”
    He huffed out, “You can thank Theresa for doing most of your work. She couldn’t do all of it, since you’re my actual assistant, but you can touch base with her. She’ll bring you up to speed on everything. We’ve got a big deal coming up. There’s a conference in New York. I want you there.”
    New York? My eyes widened. I was going to New York?
    “Is that okay with you, Ms. Martins?” There was an edge to his tone.
    “Uh, yes, Mr. Hudson. Of course, Mr. Hudson.”
    “Good.” He rolled his eyes. “We have to present to Mr. Tomlinson in New York. I want you to do the presentation.”
    “What account is that, Mr. Hudson?”
    “It’s a new account. There should be an email about it. If you can’t find it, ask my secretary.”
    “Alright, Mr. Hudson.” I pasted a professional smile on. He couldn’t know how much I wanted to strangle him. A new account? There was an email about it? He spoke to me like I was two.
    With another eye roll and a disgusted sigh, he marched back to his office. I was left in my office with my hands digging into my desk. I wanted to get up. I wanted to follow him. And I wanted to do some damage. He had never talked like that to me before.
    What the