Sinbound (18+) | ✓

26 | ultimatum

26 | ultimatum

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At the sound of the familiar voice, I down the rest of my wine - and Matteo's - and turn towards the source.

"Roxanne!" I send her a fake smile and my voice goes up an octave, trying to play off everything that's happening right now, "Heeeeeey, giiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrl!"

Monique, shut up before you make this worse.

Of course, there's no way for me to play this off. I'm practically on my client's lap, downing two glasses of wine, there's a bit of my gloss on his lips, I have a visible hickey on my neck, and Matteo's hand is on my back.

Fuck.

Maybe she won't notice.

Monique, shut the fuck up, she's staring right at you and she looks pissed - of course she notices.

She stands there with two men by her side, one a waiter and the other her husband.

"Mr. Romano." She greets, stoicly, making me look down. I vaguely recall her saying that they were friends so I can imagine how this would cause a rift between them.

"Roxanne, Lamar." He greets the married couple, running his tattooed hand through his hair. "I didn't know you were flying out for the opening."

I feel like a teenager who just got caught making out with her boyfriend in the school cafeteria.

She nods, her jaw ticking and her words coming out through clenched teeth, "Yes, I wanted to surprise you both and check out the restaurant. Monique did such a good job with the advertising that I just couldn't miss the next flight out."

I avoid her gaze, my fingers tapping my thigh as I try not to embarrass myself even more. We sit there quietly before she huffs.

"Roxanne -"

Ignoring me, she turns to the waiter and sends him a fake smile," My husband and I will be dining downstairs. "

Her husband speaks up, "Why don't we join them -"

"No." She deadpan, sending him a menacing look, "Downstairs."

When she leaves, I release the breath I'd been holding and drop my head in my arms.

"I can't believe that just happened." I mutter to myself, absolutely struck with shock that I don't even know what to do. Roxanne will no doubt see this as a sign of unprofessional behavior and fire me. Realizing this, my eyes widen and I find myself repeating, "She's going to fire me."

Matteo shakes his head and leans towards me but I flinch away. He clenches his jaw and leans back in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"She's not going to fire you."

"Yes, she will, Matteo." I exhale, trying to keep my head steady. "This is one thing Roxanne is absolutely clear about, always - professionalism and truth, and I've been dating my client and lying to her about it for weeks."

The man sighs and rests a comforting hand on my back, and this time I allow him to.

"I know Roxanne, bebita. She won't fire you."

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"I won't fire you."

It's the next morning and as Roxanne and I sit outside at the breakfast area of the hotel, hearing her words did everything but calm my nerves. As much as Matteo tried to reassure me last night, I just knew Roxanne would have something up her sleeve. She doesn't just let things like this slide.

"If..."

There we go.

"You end the relationship."

My brows furrow as I try not to roll my eyes. "This oddly sounds like an ultimatum." I prod, knowing that this cannot be happening. My boss, a woman who's been a great boss mind you, is giving me an ultimatum.

First of all, how is my personal life any of her business?

"It's my business when you engage in a relationship with a client during your duties." It's only when she answers that I realize I slipped up and spoke my mind. "You came here to help a man promote his business to tourists and locals, not sleep with him and then lie to me about it. The very least you could've done was send me a damn email and let me know what was going on so I could tell you to wait until your duties were over. But no, you couldn't wait three weeks, couldn't email me, couldn't remain professional."

Her words leave me speechless and I'm left tucking my tail between my legs.

She scoffs and shakes her head, "When did it start?"

With my gaze stuck to the waning tide, I sigh, "The night we landed."

This makes her laugh spitefully, "Is this what you do whenever I send you out? You sleep with any and everybody?"

I know she's pissed, I know she's disappointed, I know she wants to throw me into a wall, but those words she thinks I deserve - not called for.

I scoff, "I don't sleep around, Roxanne, if that's what you're implying." While I would love to cuss her out, she's still my boss until further notice.

"Frankly, you're lucky you're my best advisor or I would've fired you the moment I saw you cuddled up to him." She shakes her head, the disappointment flowing off her in waves, "You have until Wednesday to make your choice. I understand your flight is tonight so you have today, tomorrow, and Tuesday to decide if your relationship with Mr. Romano is worth having wasted eight years of your career, Monique."

I remain quiet.

"You either walk in at 9 AM ready to work on Wednesday or you don't. That's how I'll know if you've made your choice."

so i kinda um
🥺
👉🏾👈🏾
figured out how i want the book to end - shout out to complacent for helping ❤️

also, what do y'all think monique is gonna choose?
*hint* - the answer isn't always clear