HIS STRIPPER, HIS WIFE novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Bianca

55 vouchers

He said nothing and that was what finally got on my nerves. I walked closer and laid everything out, every piece of it, the photograph, the file, the sticky note with the exact number, and he sat there and watched me without saying anything.

“Well?” I said.

He leaned back slightly in his chair, still watching me.

“You have nothing to say.”

“I’m listening,” he said.

“I’m not still talking.”

“Then perhaps you are waiting for something.”

“An explanation,” I said. “That is what I am waiting for.”

He tilted his head, just slightly, the way someone does when they find a question more interesting than the answer. He looked like a man who was enjoying the fact that I thought he did.

Something about that specifically made me angrier than the file had. A person can do something wrong and look ashamed and you can work with that but a person who does something that has upended your entire sense of safety and sits there watching you fall apart with that almost entertained attention, there is no working through that.

“I don’t want your money.” I said.

“I was handling it, it was not your bill to pay, it was not even your problem to solve, and I did not ask you.” I could hear my voice going tighter.

“My sister’s hospital bills have nothing to do with you, my address has nothing to do with you, whatever is in that folder has nothing to do with you, and I want you to know that I am not going to stand here and feel grateful for something I did not ask for.”

He was still just looking at me.

“I will pay you back,” I said. “Every single dollar. I don’t care how long it takes.”

Nothing about his face changed as he tried to sit up, “that isn’t necessary. He said.

“It is.”

“Ms Fernandes.”

“It is necessary,” I said again, louder than I meant to, “because I am not going to owe you anything. I am not going to sit at that desk out there every morning knowing that you paid a bill that I did not ask you to pay and that there is some kind of debt between us that we have not named. I won’t do that. So I will pay you back and then we will not speak about it again.”

He was quiet for a moment. Then he asked, in a voice that was so level it almost did not sound like a question, “why do you think it’s necessary?”

1 opened my mouth to answer but nothing came out. Not because I didn’t have an answer, but because I just didn’t think it was enough for me to lose my job for

The silence went on for some seconds. “I will pay you back,” I said.

11:53 Wed, Jul 22 T

Chapter 16

55 vouchers

I picked up the remaining signed papers that I apparently came here for in the first place and I turned around and walked to the door and this time I did not stop, I did not count to three, I did not give myself any time to think about it. I grabbed the handle and pulled it open and I walked out and I let the door swing shut behind me without caring how it sounded.

I got to my desk and sat down and put the folder in my tray and stared at my screen. My heart was going faster than the situation probably required but I was not going to think about that.

I was going to find out the exact amount that had been transferred, I was going to divide it into something manageable and I was going to begin paying it back through whatever channel the billing office used and that was going to be the end of it.

I pulled up a new document and typed the words payment plan at the top and then sat there because I did not actually know the exact number.

The billing office had confirmed the balance was cleared. I had seen the figure on the sticky note in his file but I had not written it down because I had been too busy trying to put everything back exactly as I found it. I knew the rough amoun, 1/ had been staring at that bill for three weeks, but I would need the exact figure.

I could call the billing office or I could ask him directly and I was not going to do that so I would call the billing office.

I was reaching for my phone when someone from the administrative team dropped a new stack of papers on the corner of my desk and told me the afternoon schedule had changed and there were now three back to back calls I needed to prepare briefing notes for, starting in an hour.

I put my phone down. I put the document with the word payment plan at the top to the side. I pulled up the briefing template and started working.

For about twenty minutes it actually helped. The calls had enough detail that I had to concentrate, especially not..

“Bianca.” I heard my name.

It came from behind me, from the direction of his office, loud enough to reach me clearly across the open hallway, I stopped what I was doing but my hand was still resting on my keyboard.

I could feel the edge of the desk under my wrist. Around me the office had gone very slightly quieter, and I could tell everyone’s attention was on me, they just didn’t want to make it obvious.

My eyes moved to Amanda’s table, and I saw her smiling mischievously at me and then nodded towards the CEO office direction, I did not turn around immediately. I made myself take one breath first, just one, and then I turned.

He was standing just outside his office door with one hand resting against the frame. I made eye contact with him, but he didn’t say anything, he just stood there looking at me too.

“Get in here.” He said and he walked back into his office.

11:53 Wed, Jul 22 JT