𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒

THIRTEEN | THE VERY BEGINNING

**A/N: I've been looking forward to this chapter! ;) Enjoy! ;)

Mr. Belmonte took a deep breath as he approached Felicity Hayes' desk. His fingers fidgeted around in his pant pockets, and tiny beads of sweat formed along his hairline.

When he was finally standing beside her, he cleared his throat nervously, "Felicity, could I speak with you in my office for a minute?"

Felicity looked up from her chair with dark, tired eyes. She stared blankly at the man before standing up and following behind him. She definitely had a few things she wanted to get out in the open.

Once the two of them were standing in his office, Mr. Belmonte took a seat at his desk chair while Felicity sat across from him. The man had stayed up late the night before, planning and rehearsing exactly what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. But now that she was here, sitting directly in front of him, he was at a loss of words.

Felicity had also stayed up the night before, listing off a couple of points she wanted to make. And as the pair sat in silence, Felicity realized that Mr. Belmonte had found himself unsure of what to say, which gave her all the courage she needed to finally speak her mind.

"Just say what you're thinking," she snapped, "You've never had a problem doing that before."

"I—"

Mr. Belmonte opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it before he could manage to say anything that would make the already bad situation worse. She was getting bolder and more confident around him, and her words caught him fully off guard.

He did know, however, that he completely deserved them.

When he looked into the girl's big grey eyes, he could tell that her anger was just a symptom of all the hurt he had caused. He had a vicious tongue, and he had used it as a weapon against her many times. But if he truly wanted to turn things around, he was going to have to say exactly what he was thinking and feeling. He needed to be completely honest with her, and not disguise his true emotions behind rage anymore.

"Felicity, I want to apologize. The way that I spoke to you yesterday was completely inappropriate and unprofessional. I was out of line, and just downright awful to you. I should never speak to you in such a manner. I know you think I just say whatever I'm thinking all of the time, but I really don't. Because yesterday, I spoke to you as if I thought you were below me. But I don't think that in the slightest. I don't think that at all. I've got so much respect for you."

Felicity stared at Mr. Belmonte expressionless as he continued on, "I don't handle extreme emotions well, as you have clearly seen, especially when I'm around you. And for that, I am truly sorry. I want you to know that I do recognize the many, many mistakes that I have made. I'm working to fix them because it's not healthy, and I don't ever want to hurt you again in the way that I did yesterday. Because the truth is, I think you're amazing in every sense, and at everything you do. You're dedicated, motivated, ambitious. You're a hard worker, and an even stronger person. I truly admire you, Felicity. And if you need to take all of that Thursday off, that's fine with me. Take it off. You don't have to make up the hours."

Felicity continued to stare at her boss without saying anything. He looked at her with hopeful eyes, but his last temper tantrum had really set her off. It was her final straw. And she was done letting him walk all over her because she did not believe for a second that things were going to turn around tomorrow, or the day after, or even the day after that. It was only a matter of time before he snapped again.

So she snapped.

For the first time in her life, she really snapped.

She smacked her hands down against the armrests of the chair she was sitting in before abruptly standing up. Mateo's eyes widened in surprise, but he instinctively stood up after her.