After embellishing her resume, Valerie-a single mom-lands a job as an administrative assistant to the hottest, most entitled and obnoxious man she's ever met: Preston Cartwright, the CFO of the prestigious Cartwright & Sons Enterprises.
Several yea...
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There's a huge smile on my face the entire way home. The now familiar scenery of apartment buildings, restaurants and bars dotting downtown flash by as I navigate through the rush hour traffic. But I'm too caught up in my own head to pay it any attention.
With the radio cranked up and the air conditioning on -not that it works that great, but it's loud-it drowns out the outside noise and leaves me in my happy bubble. I can't stop smiling. My face almost hurts, I'm so happy.
It feels like for the first time in a very long time, there's real hope. The possibility that I might actually get the break I've needed and wanted for so long...
I'm fully aware that there's a lot more to figure out, because I'm convinced something seriously shady is going on at the Marramount, but I'm not discouraged. Instead, it feels like this is my shot. The one I've been waiting for. The possibility of helping solve something huge.
I just need to keep pulling at the threads, and eventually the plot should unravel. "Should" being the key word, but despite that and all the things that could go wrong, I'm not deterred. Rather, I feel more determined than ever to figure it out.
"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah," I sing along on top of my lungs to some catchy old pop music on the radio. Some old boy band I don't remember the name of. It draws the attention of the middle-aged man in the car next to me, and he laughs. But I don't care. I just grin back, too hyped from today's praise. Because Preston was seriously impressed with me today, and I liked having his positive attention.
Preston has never given me compliments like that before, or touched me like he appreciated what he saw. And yes, I know it was just his hand on my arm and a half hug, but that's more action that I've had in months. My entire body tingles at the memory of his body so close to mine. His enticing smell, and the way his deeply blue eyes held some heat as they stared into mine.
I feel a need to fan myself, which draws the amused attention of another fellow commuter. Being inside a car in rush hour traffic is like being in an aquarium. Still, it doesn't deter my spirit.
I'm still grinning like a lunatic as I sprint up the ratty staircase to my apartment, but it drops off my face as soon as I step inside. Rory is on the living-room floor with his fish and a stack of blocks. He wastes no time knocking them over. Bella is bouncing up and down on the couch, something I've told her not to do about a million times. But it's neither of that's shocking me. It's the unmistakable sound of the neighbors getting it on that has me horrified.
The neighbor's bedroom is next to my livingroom, and the acoustics in this place are seriously lacking. Their bed is thumping against the wall in a steady rhythm. The man - who I secretly call batman, and not because he's like a superhero, but because he reminds me of a bat with beady eyes and floppy arms- moans loudly which is followed by his woman shouting, "yes, yes, fuck me harder."
My brother's terrified expression meets mine from where he's standing in the doorway to the kitchen, wringing his hands in front of him.
"Why is she screaming, mommy?" Bella asks in her small, innocent voice.
