that, stopping by my house to pick up Bo first. I knew my day would be busy as soon as I walked into the room full of people and animals. I continued straight into my father’s office and caught him on the tail end of an interview. He lifted his eyes to meet mine, and I scanned the room to the brunette in the chair across from him.
“Jenny would like to intern here with us . Is that okay with you?” he asked. I shrugged, because I couldn’t give a shit either way. “Great, she can start right away.” He pinned his stare on her when he said it, and she gave him a huge smile in return. When she stood up and turned to me, she threw her arms around me in a tight hug.
I peeled away her arms and gave her a warning glare . “No more of that.” I dropped her hands by her side. “I would hate for anyone to get the wrong idea. I am in love with someone else, and if I thought she was letting gorgeous men hug her, I couldn’t sleep at night.” She stepped back from me, hurt like I slapped her in the face with my words. Then, she sidestepped around me and left the office. I shot a peek toward my dad, and we exchange a glance that said I could have handled that differently . My body and brain checked out after that, and I busied myself with work seeing animals and solving problems, convincing myself this is where I should be.
I checked my phone every ten seconds like it was a nervous twitch, but nothing. I was going mentally insane from the torment of not knowing where she was. She was my new addiction, and I was finding the withdrawal from her worse than my withdrawal from fucking. I escaped work by telling my dad I wasn’t feeling well, which was downplaying it. I felt like crap. I needed answers, my brain overly fixating on what could have happened to Katarina, the different possibilities driving me insane. I floored it to Heather’s work, weaving in and out of traffic. It was plausible Red had her and she was locked away; at least, that’s what I told myself. So by the time I reached Heather’s work, it was no longer Heather I wanted to speak with…it was Red. I felt the urge to kick the shit out of him again. My blood pressure increased as the thumping in my chest picked up speed, my veins starting to itch, my fist curling. I hated this man. He was an evil SOB; of course he took her. Why did I wait so long to confront the fucker? This should have been my first stop.
****
There are plenty of days when I could take three men, but today was not one of them. Red took precaution after his last beat down and hired his own goons. It was actually smart on his part, but as I fought to release my arms from the hold of two mad men on either side of me, the thought crossed my mind how foolish I was for coming at him half-cocked on his turf. He had the home field advantage. This only pissed me off more, because now I was furious with myself . I grunted and sneered like a crazed buffalo. I pictured fire coming out of my nose. I was going to fucking kill him. He’d scream in pain before he was covered with six feet of dirt.
The only thing that stopped the brutal ass kicking I was receiving was Heather holding the phone up to Red’s distorted face, which was filled with power and rage. I heard Katarina’s voice and my body began to ache. She sounds pissed and protective, just like a mama bear. I think she got him by the balls with whatever she was yelling, because he ordered my release immediately. My legs scrambled to stand; Heather took my arms in an attempt to pull me away from the growling animals that initiated my first ever beat down. I snatched the phone away from Heather, wanting a fix. Where was she? When could I see her? “Katarina?”
Her long pause when she realized it was me fucking hurt. I began to beg ; I wanted her to see how sorry I was, but the conversation ended in the worst way possible. “Jason, it’s over.” Her voice and those words echoed in my head. It was not over. It couldn’t be over.
“Jenny would like to intern here with us . Is that okay with you?” he asked. I shrugged, because I couldn’t give a shit either way. “Great, she can start right away.” He pinned his stare on her when he said it, and she gave him a huge smile in return. When she stood up and turned to me, she threw her arms around me in a tight hug.
I peeled away her arms and gave her a warning glare . “No more of that.” I dropped her hands by her side. “I would hate for anyone to get the wrong idea. I am in love with someone else, and if I thought she was letting gorgeous men hug her, I couldn’t sleep at night.” She stepped back from me, hurt like I slapped her in the face with my words. Then, she sidestepped around me and left the office. I shot a peek toward my dad, and we exchange a glance that said I could have handled that differently . My body and brain checked out after that, and I busied myself with work seeing animals and solving problems, convincing myself this is where I should be.
I checked my phone every ten seconds like it was a nervous twitch, but nothing. I was going mentally insane from the torment of not knowing where she was. She was my new addiction, and I was finding the withdrawal from her worse than my withdrawal from fucking. I escaped work by telling my dad I wasn’t feeling well, which was downplaying it. I felt like crap. I needed answers, my brain overly fixating on what could have happened to Katarina, the different possibilities driving me insane. I floored it to Heather’s work, weaving in and out of traffic. It was plausible Red had her and she was locked away; at least, that’s what I told myself. So by the time I reached Heather’s work, it was no longer Heather I wanted to speak with…it was Red. I felt the urge to kick the shit out of him again. My blood pressure increased as the thumping in my chest picked up speed, my veins starting to itch, my fist curling. I hated this man. He was an evil SOB; of course he took her. Why did I wait so long to confront the fucker? This should have been my first stop.
****
There are plenty of days when I could take three men, but today was not one of them. Red took precaution after his last beat down and hired his own goons. It was actually smart on his part, but as I fought to release my arms from the hold of two mad men on either side of me, the thought crossed my mind how foolish I was for coming at him half-cocked on his turf. He had the home field advantage. This only pissed me off more, because now I was furious with myself . I grunted and sneered like a crazed buffalo. I pictured fire coming out of my nose. I was going to fucking kill him. He’d scream in pain before he was covered with six feet of dirt.
The only thing that stopped the brutal ass kicking I was receiving was Heather holding the phone up to Red’s distorted face, which was filled with power and rage. I heard Katarina’s voice and my body began to ache. She sounds pissed and protective, just like a mama bear. I think she got him by the balls with whatever she was yelling, because he ordered my release immediately. My legs scrambled to stand; Heather took my arms in an attempt to pull me away from the growling animals that initiated my first ever beat down. I snatched the phone away from Heather, wanting a fix. Where was she? When could I see her? “Katarina?”
Her long pause when she realized it was me fucking hurt. I began to beg ; I wanted her to see how sorry I was, but the conversation ended in the worst way possible. “Jason, it’s over.” Her voice and those words echoed in my head. It was not over. It couldn’t be over.
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