Cutie With a Booty

31. Stop the World

Up to my chin in demanding work, I balanced having my phone at my ear with a load of papers smashed next to my chest. Stumbling through the door to my office at Hilson and Marque, I deposited all of the papers onto my desk. God, now it's a mess.

"Will do, bye." I hung up the phone, setting it down on my desk with all the chaos.

It has been a week since I have been outside of this office or without the keys of my computer. It has been round the clock log creation and I'm stressed, majorly stressed. The stress is so high that I could finally receive my first gray hair and have to start those wrinkling treatments.

My phone started ringing and I groaned, collapsing onto my desk, right on top of the papers, with my head in my hands. This is way too much I can't even deal with all of this at the moment.

My assistant knocked on the door and I didn't lift my head as I growled out a, "What?"

"Ms. Lewis, Mr. Cobalt is on the line."

My head snapped up. Yes, potentially good news. I picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Kasey, what ails you? Not enough attention from the microbiologist?" He chuckled, the sound of wind pertinent in the background. He must be driving.

"Unless you want terrible voodoo that might, oh, I don't know, make you crash your vehicle...I suggest you stop with the jokes."

"My, my, you are cranky. I was calling to tell you that I found your boyfriend."

My heart began to race and I stood up from the desk, shoving a stressed hand into my hair. "Really? Where?"

"Surprisingly he was quite hard to find. He's on a biologist hunt with this woman named—"

"Caroline," I spat, "Yeah it's easy to guess. Where is he?"

"Iowa."

"What?" I screeched. "What kind of boyfriend goes out of state with another woman without telling his own girlfriend first?" What the hell!

"First of all, you've laid with another man in his absence making you no better." I blushed. "Second of all, you do prose a good point. I am quite concerned regarding his mental health. But he's at one of those Eurofins' facilities. You know, the place that is all about food safety. I'm sure you'd love it there. I backtracked and he went to the Eurofins in Wisconsin before coming to Iowa. West Virginia might be next on his list. I'm keeping an eye on him now since I've found him. He checks out of Iowa in two days."

Extremely overwhelmed, I began to pace the floor. "Do you think he'd answer my calls?"

"His phone records state he hasn't picked up a call in weeks, so I doubt it. Pretty sure he has been knee deep in research. Caroline and him do great work, can't lie."

Frowning, I looked to my white board where I wrote out all of the foods I am confused about. "What am I supposed to do, Mr. Cobalt? If Justin gets here and I haven't broken up with Richard..." I heaved a frustrated sigh, wanting nothing more than to just fly out to Iowa right this second.

"Kasey—"

"Can I just break up with him via letter and then you leave it at the concierge desk?"

"You really think he'd ever get that letter? He is hardly at the hotel room, he sleeps maybe less than two hours before heading out again."

"I should fly out there then, I can book a flight."

"You'll do no such thing."

"God, Mr. Cobalt, it should not be this difficult to dump someone!" I shouted, losing my temper. "I love Justin, okay! I will not, and I repeat I will not lose him because I can't just simply tell Richard he is irrelevant to me. I won't do it. So if I have to show up my God I will and I don't care what he's doing with Caroline. I. Don't. Care. I just want this done."