𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 ☏︎

𝟏𝟓 | 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍

𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐞𝐡 ☁︎

People slowly filed into the meeting room, taking any vacant chair they could. I was sat between a few employees, directly over from Sadie.

She shoots me death glares every time we make eye contact. Could she be any more childish? I hold back and eye roll and we both look over to the CEO taking a seat in his chair at the head of the table.

Damien makes eye contact with me first. Strangely, my heart flutters. Is my heart going to flutter every time we meet each other's gaze? By the end of the day, I'd have had a heart attack.

Clearing his throat, he starts to direct the meeting and I zone out. I forgot to ask why Joanne needed to see me so bad. And what on Earth I'm going to do to Sadie, because getting with her crush is not going to be enough.

Now I realise how childish I sound. Stealing people's crushes? Really? Mentally, I shake my head.

"Do you have any suggestions then, Nevaeh?" Damien suddenly catches my attention. He's standing up now, with his 'Company Strategy' slideshow projected onto it's screen.

I hadn't even noticed any of that. "What?" I sound like I've been caught doing something I shouldn't be. A sly smirk creeps up on Sadie's face. "I mean, no." I correct, heat rushing to my cheeks out of embarrassment.

"Really?" He looks me with a stern share. I'm confused as heck. "Disagreeing with my statement, then refusing to prove your point?" He adds, folding his arms over his chest.

"When did I do tha-"

"Don't lie. I watched you shake your head." Sadie chimes in, obstructing my sentence midway. Wait, did I physically shake my head too?

The humiliation dawns on me, as I look around and all the attention is on me. Why can't the ground just open up and swallow me whole? My face is hot, and I stay silent.

Sadie subtly smirks at my discomfort. She's enjoying this. She wanted me to feel this way.

I sit up straight in my seat, and narrow my eyes at her. "I don't think Mr. Anderson was speaking to you in any way." I say before I could stop myself. "And no, you didn't see me. You were too busy gawking at him." I nod my head towards Damien.

That wipes the smirk clear off her face. I look to Damien and seems a bit shocked, and also amused. After a quick scan of his points on the board, I easily come up with a suggestion. "Instead of sending a simple apology email to the host of the event that you caused a scene at," I look to Sadie, flashing her a sardonic smile after emphasising on 'you'. "Meet up with him in person-"

"I suggest you go with him." Sadie interrupts me again. "You know, since you're partly the reason why it even happened."

I sigh mockingly. "You like interrupting me, don't you? If you weren't so eager to humiliate me, you'd let me finish my sentence." I don't break eye contact, intimidating her to the point that she shifts uncomfortably in her seat and the room is encased in silence. "You're gonna let me finish my sentence? Thanks."

"As I was saying, meet up with him in person and I'll accompany you. " My gaze is back on Damien. I don't go easy on him either. "Don't you think it's highly unprofessional to send an email?" I raise a brow at him, and and his face hardens.

"You should also consider stepping in when your employees are being... bullied." I add, quickly glancing over to Sadie. She picks up my accusation.

"I am not a work bully!" She spits, completely outraged. Her blue eyes are wide and her nails dig into the table.