Player 99

Three Little Words

I nearly screamed after I read the note Robert left me. I slammed the contents on the desk and stormed out of my room, wanting his blood. I  crashed into Josh in the hallway. I grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him to my face, his eyes wide with fear. 

"Where, is, he?" I growled, not caring that I was making a scene in the middle of the office or that Josh was nearly shitting his pants right now. He stammered before he was able to talk. 

"His office," he whimpered, his face red and his eyes still wide.

 I let him go and shoved him out of my way. He fell into the wall. I stomped over to Robert's office and threw open the door. I walked in and slammed it behind me, the bang echoing throughout the office floor. Robert was on the phone. He turned in his chair to face me. 

"I'll call you back with the details later, thanks Jen," he said, before hanging up.

"Can I help you Miss Stone?"

I crossed my arms, glaring at him. 

"I thought we agreed that my personal life was off the table," I growled, my voice low and dangerous. Robert stood up, fixing his tie, and he noddded. 

"We agread and it is, but we also agreed that anything that would endanger the assignment you're on now would be taken care of," Robert said matter of factly, walking around his desk. He sat on the front of it, folding his hands on his lap. 

"J.J. isn't a threat to the assignment," I said, defensively. Robert nodded before answering. 

"No, he isn't really, however, it is against company policy to date a former client," he said, reaching to the side and picking up a packet.

"No it isn't," I said as he flipped to a page and handed it to me.

"Read it for yourself, Pagie," he said, watching my face.  

I skimmed the page until I got to Client and Company Personnel Interaction. I read the two sentences and that was all I needed to know.

It is forbidden for any company personnel and client, including potential, current and former, to have a relationship other than colleagues. Any relationship other than instructed will result in immediate resignation and public release.  

I looked up. "This was not in the contract I originally signed," I said in disbelief. Robert nodded, a cheeky smile on his scruffy little face. 

"It was just added in today," he said. "In fact, it was just after I found out that you and Justin were together." 

"Don't call him Justin," I snapped, wanting to slap him so hard he lost a few of his teeth. Robert sat up straight. 

"Touchy," he said, reaching out for the contract. He took it from my hands.

"As I wrote to you, Paige, it MUST end soon, or this," he paused reaching for something on his desk. He flashed me photos of me and J.J. together, "Will hit the newstand sooner than you can say no. And I'll be sure to add an incriminating story about how he slept with you to get the position with the Texans, and how he used your feelings for him to boost his career." Robert smiled as he set down the photos next to him. 

My jaw dropped and here I thought that Robert was a man of decent character.  

"You wouldn't," I said, my voice soft and my throat sort of closing. I cleared it. He nodded. 

"Oh, I would. Don't underestimate me, Paige," he said. 

"Oh, I would also include a story on you about how you slept your way to the top to get CFO," Robert added, a gleeful look in his eyes. I felt my eyes tear up. I had no choice and he knew that. 

"I fucking hate you, you bastard," I yelled before I left his office. I hurried over to mine, my tears already falling. I shut the door and fell to the ground, my back against the door. 

I completely broke down. I'd have to say goodbye to J.J. I couldn't loose this job. It was all I had, it was everything I worked so hard for. It paid well, and up until now, had friendly people in it. All of my hardwork would go down the drain and I'd never get another job. 

I had worked my entire life to pay for everything. I was an adopted child, and my foster parents just ignored me, like I wasn't even there, like I never existed. They fed me, only because I was there. Everything else was up to me. The clothes I wore, the school I went to and the college I went to and how I had to pay for it. I always made my own way. I was not going to let years of hard work and sweat go out the door just because I couldn't say no to a guy. 

I wiped my tears away and stood up. I went to my desk, trying to go back to work. I had just pulled out my paperwork when I saw that I had a missed call on my work phone. I hit the voicemail button and leaned back, expecting it to be from a client. 

I was wrong. 

It was from J.J. 

"Hey, Paige," he said. I nearly started crying at the sound of his voice. 

"I just wanted to say hi and that I hoped that your day was going ok," he continued. "I also wanted to say that even though you and I have only been together for a couple days, I love you." My heart stopped. No.....He didn't.....He said the words I've been wanting him to say for years, since we've met.....My heart broke in half..... 

"Ok, so yeah. I love you, bye," he finished quickly. He was probably red from saying that. 

I folded my arms on my desk and put my head on them. "Oh, God," I whispered before collapsing into tears again......

"I love you too," i whispered, though he couldn't hear me and with each tear that fell, my heart broke again and I felt like I was being stabbed through the chest over and over again. 

"I love you too," i murmured.