Controlling Vulnerable

Chapter 10

Joe stewed all afternoon, and what Scott had said was still swirling 'round his head when he got home. He went into his gym, pounding the treadmill and lifting weights, but no distraction was working. By the following day, his mood was dark, and at the staff meeting, which had been moved to Tuesday to accommodate some clashes, he came in to find everyone else chatting and laughing. He sat down frowning as the chatter failed to stop, and noisily moved a stray coffee cup someone had left onto the windowsill. "Can you guys clear your shit away from these rooms when you leave? It looks a mess when clients come in. And move the flip board out, it looks like clutter." Everyone subsided, and Lara said, "You're such a typical Virgo, picky perfectionist." He turned coldly, "What would you know, you don't know me at all. Keep your ill-informed opinions on me to yourself." Scott glowed and Lara felt like she'd been shot. Her face burned and she muttered, "Sorry, I didn't mean anything" but he came back, "You don't have a clue what kind of person I am, so you should just shut up." Linda was sitting astounded in the corner taking the notes, but she knew intervening wouldn't help when he was in this mood. Glancing at Lara, she could see all the colour had left her face, and she could also see Lara had absolutely no idea why he was mad.

When the meeting was over, Lara left as quickly as she could. She held it together until twelve and then bolted out of the office. She walked quickly but aimlessly in the opposite direction to the coffee shop and the other places people from the building tended to frequent. She felt ill, and she finally let the tears flow, thinking she was out of view. After walking for twenty minutes, coming around the corner of the block, she walked straight into Will, who looked at her in alarm and said, "Hey, what's wrong? Where are you going?" Looking at her white face, he was seriously concerned she might faint, so he put an arm around her waist and pulled her into the nearest coffee shop. He ordered for them and sat her down at a table. The server brought the drinks over, and Will said, "Drink some of that before you tell me 'cause you look sick." Lara did as he asked without a word, and he waited. She wiped her eyes and told Will what had happened, annoyed with herself for getting so upset because she knew it betrayed the fact she really cared what Joe thought of her. She said, "It was a stupid off the cuff comment. My sister's a Virgo, and she's a stickler for having everything just so too. I just shouldn't have said it."

Will reached across the table and wiped her cheeks with a paper serviette, "Sounds like something else is going on with Joe. I doubt it was what you said really." They sat letting the drink soothe her until she said, "Thanks for the coffee Will. I'd better get back. Why were you out here?" The lawyer smiled, "I was on my way back to the office from a client. I'll walk back with you." She nodded gratefully, and when he got back to his desk, he messaged Joe to check he was still on for beers later. He got a "yup" back and switched to message Linda.

"Just walked (literally) into Lara blocks away. She was really upset. She told me what happened. What the fuck's up with Joe? I thought they got on like really well? Brought her back and I think she's okay, but maybe you should check on her later. Her face was like a sheet of paper, and I seriously thought she was going to collapse on me."

Seeing the message Linda sighed and typed.

"Thank god you found her. I was worried sick. She didn't even take her phone. Something's happened, but Lara had no idea, so god knows what. I'm letting Joe simmer down before I approach, but I'll keep an eye on Lara."

She didn't go near Joe until almost four when she needed to check some diary clashes. She ran through them, and he barely looked up as she sat down and said, "What's happened Joe? Do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head, "No. I found something out. I need some time so I can think about how to handle it, so no, I don't want to talk about it." Linda nodded, "Okay" and left.

Will and Mark were sitting in the bar and Mark looked at his watch, "Maybe he's not coming?" Will shook his head, "He said he was earlier." Five minutes later Joe appeared and slid in the booth next to Mark. Will passed him a beer, and said, "It's probably gone warm you took so long to claim it." Joe took a long drink and said miserably, "I need it." Mark turned to look at him, "Linda said you were mad but you didn't want to tell her why." Will leaned forward, "I'm guessing it had something to do with why you ripped Lara's head off." Joe drank more of his beer then said, "In a way." Will felt irritation remembering Lara's paper white, tear stained face and said, "I bumped into her miles from the office, she didn't even have her phone, and she was so upset I thought she was going to collapse on me." Joe stared at him, "Shit, is she okay? I didn't see her this afternoon." Will nodded, "Yeah, I walked her back and she looked better. I messaged Linda to check on her." Joe exhaled, "I had a meeting with Scotty yesterday. He told me Lara's gotten close to Ryan Newman. Scotty was partying with him this weekend. She's had him in her house."