SOUL TIES (The Sánchez Brothers Series, Book 1)

CHAPTER 23 : DEBBIE

"Madison, this is the most fucked up shit I've ever seen in my entire motherfucking 30 years of living on this goddamn planet. Do I look like a fucking clown to you? Cos this shit right here looks like Cirque Du Soleil to me."

Madison flinched with every word I gritted out of my clenched teeth. "B-but I didn't agree to it, I just wanted to get your opinion on it."

"You don't fucking need my opinion on this piece of shit." I picked up the paper that had the horrendous image on it. "This is garbage and you know damn well that I'm way too busy to stare at garbage." With that, I scrunched the paper in a ball and tossed it in the trash. "I think I should put a call to that lady cos it seems like you're being too easy on her. She needs to get serious or go the fuck home."

Madison winced with every vile word I said in my phone conversation with the event planner. The woman had been sending horrible design plans for the past fortnight and it was finally getting on my nerves, she charged way too much to be fucking up that way. I screamed into the phone till I could literally feel her fear radiating from it, they didn't call me Ice Queen for nothing. When I was certain she'd understood how crucial her next design plan would be to her career, I hung up and stared at the cowering Madison.

"Now, that's how you talk to incompetent people and make them sit the fuck up." I plopped down on my revolving chair and the furniture squeaked in protest. "Is there anything else you have to say to me cos I've got to do my log-in writing real quick." 

She shook her head with so much vigor, I thought it'd snap and roll on my tiled floor. "I'll j-just head out now. I'll send the things I planned for the gift hampers to your work email." I nodded in agreement and she damn near ran out of my office. In her absence, I let out an exhausted sigh and rubbed my throbbing head. Cursing Amber for the thousandth time, I swallowed some tablets of aspirin. 

It was officially what I dubbed the 'Grind Month'. December was the month I liked to put more hours in my work so I could win Best Employee and all that good stuff. Add the fact that I had a fucking gala to host, and I had myself a shitload of work to get done. Madison was trying her best but her best wasn't good enough for me and that was frustrating. My eyes landed on the box under the desk and my lips twitched. It was the cake I had baked with my daughter over the weekend and I wanted to give that big chunk to Andre. 

As I prepared for work that morning, I just felt the urge to give him a piece and before I could back down, my hand was already grabbing a knife to cut the cake. I was a nice friend after all. 

You just want him to taste your baking and compliment you. Has nothing to do with niceness.

I smiled in defeat at my annoying subconscious, she wasn't actually wrong. As I fixed myself and grabbed the box, I thought about the purposed recipient. On my birthday last month, he had given me a bouquet of flowers with a handwritten note and a small white envelope. The content of the envelope was a $10,000 gift card for some kiddies clothes store. When I complained about the amount, he shrugged and said some shit that only rich people would say. 

"The $10,000 card was the only one that had any benefits to it, so I thought it rational to get it. There's a raffle ticket attached to the gift card. It's an all expense paid trip to Disneyland for two. You might need it." Like hell, I needed it so I applied. Although I didn't win, I was still very grateful that he thought about Mikayla. 

Every single time out of the two days a week we met at Moonlit Martini Lounge, he kept doing some thoughtful things that struck chords in my heart. Sometimes, it was the way he shooed away preying eyes that tried to make me uncomfortable, other times it was how he made sure I never had to drive when I was tipsy cos he'd drop me off and still make a second trip to return my car home. Nelly was already rooting for us to date and I hated the furious blush that overtook me everytime she did that. Damn, I was so fucked.