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I hurried into the bathrooms on the third floor to clean up my face. How could he say such cruel things to me? The true colours of Caden had finally revealed themselves.
The door creaked open and I wiped away the final smudges of mascara from under my eyes. Glancing slightly to the side, I spotted Alicia entering the bathrooms and I immediately turned to look at her as she met my gaze.
'Are...you okay?' Alicia asked. 'You look like you've been crying.'
'I'm fine,' I lied. 'I received some bad news.'
'Oh...well, your eyes are really bloodshot so I'd give it ten minutes before going back to work because you look like you've been smoking weed or something,' she said, rolling her eyes at me before heading into a cubicle.
For a second I'd thought she was about to be nice but her reputation was upheld. She was a grade-A bitch.
'I think I'd rather jump headfirst into shark invested waters than take advice from you, thanks very much,' I said, and she froze in the cubicle doorway and turned around.
'You're the girl from the front desk on four, aren't you?' she said. 'The secretary. Along with that other guy who is extremely rude too.'
Secretary. There goes that word again...spoken like we were the very bottom of the food chain.
'I think it's a little rich for you to comment on how rude other people are,' I told her. I usually hated confrontation. The very thought of it always made my heart pound and my upper lip sweat. I was so wounded by Caden's words and so deeply angry that I had no filter. She was going to get it full force.
'Who do you think you're talking to?' She twisted her face as she took a couple steps towards me.
'Who do you think you're talking to?' I fired back. 'Unless they go by a title above yours, you treat everybody like shit!'
'You don't even know me,' she laughed, mockingly. 'Oh...I know you. You're the girl in the Monsoon dress from the VC ball. The girl Caden was staring at. You know wearing a Monsoon dress to a VC annual ball is practically a crime in the fashion world.'
'I don't give a shit,' I muttered. 'I'm not a materialistic bitch like you.'
'Maybe he wasn't staring at you,' she chuckled. 'I knew I had to be seeing things. He would have to be high on drugs to look your way.'
'If you think I would ever want a man like Caden then you're greatly mistaken anyway,' I told her. 'The fact that you pathetically pine after him makes me feel sorry for you.'
'All it would take from me would be one little trip up to his office to tell him how you're speaking to me and you'd be out of here before the end of the day,' she hissed, getting closer to me. 'I've done nothing to you; don't let your jealousy turn you into a total cow, little secretary.'
