“You’ll need to take your car today,” Tyler said on our way downstairs to his garage the next day. “I’ll be staying late to rehearse, so you’ll need to get yourself home.”
“Oh, right,” I said, disappointed. I slipped on my nude flats then rummaged through my backpack for my keys, not finding it there.
“Here.” Tyler lifted my keys off of a hook next to the door and handed it to me. I noticed my spare studio key was also back on its hook.
“When did you grab my keys?”
“The other day after you came back, while you were taking that long nap.”
“You went through my backpack?”
“I had to get your phone so that you could call me when you woke up. I simply placed the keys here for easy finding,” he explained, then unhooked my spare key and slipped it in his pocket.
“And now you’re allowing yourself access to my studio again?”
“What’s mine is yours, baby.”
I gave him a scowl but decided to let him have the key.
When we arrived at the office, Tyler dropped me at my desk with no kiss goodbye. Instead of heading to the kitchen for his usual second cup of coffee, he pulled up his hood and went straight to his desk. He must have had a lot of catching up to do from yesterday.
Feeling a pang of guilt for having been a distraction, I took it upon myself to make his coffee. He was so consumed with his work, he didn’t even notice me as I passed by on my way to the kitchen. It was unlike before, when as soon as I stood up, he would immediately lift his head and follow me with his gaze, ensuring he knew my whereabouts.
In the kitchen, I studied the various coffee machines. One would think that at an AI company, they would figure out the perfect coffee formula, and the perfect coffee would come out by a simple push of a button. But no. There were various types of metal gadgets that all required manual labor. Believing that I had watched Tyler enough times to figure it out on my own, I went about making coffee, recalling very little from my training at Starbucks years ago. Unsure of how much coffee beans he typically used, I poured in about a cup. There was no wrong way of making coffee, right? It was just a matter of grinding the beans and pouring in hot water.
As I was steaming up some milk, I struggled to make the milk froth. I recalled Tyler simply inserting the metal wand into the milk and it would froth almost immediately. The milk that I had been strenuously steaming should have created a sea of bubbles by now, and yet, it remained flat. Giving up, I poured the milk into the mug of coffee I had just made, and observed the color change. It was okay. It didn’t have the pretty swirlies like when Tyler did it, but color-wise, it looked about right. I wanted to sip it for a taste-test, but I didn’t want to ruin what little foam I had produced.
Taking the mug of coffee back out to the workspace, I went over to Tyler’s desk, where he was typing up some presentation slides, moving diagrams here and there. After waving at the others, I proudly set the mug down on the corner of his desk. His eyes flicked over to me and the frown that was there morphed into a bright smile.
“What’s this? You made coffee?”
“I tried. I hope it’s not too bad,” I said, leaning my hip against his desk.
“I’m sure it’s not.” He reached over and picked up the mug by the handle. He took a single sip then choked.
I jumped as coffee splashed onto his desk when the mug was set down too heavy handedly. Tyler coughed and dabbed his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater.
“What happened? Is it that bad?” I asked apprehensively.
“It’s scalding hot!”
My face flushed as the men around me snickered. “I’m sorry. I’ll get something to clean this up.”
“No, no, it’s okay. I got it. You can return to your desk.”
My shoulders slumped and I looked around. The guys were still trying to contain their laughter — except for Allen, who was empathetically staring at me while handing Tyler some tissues.
“Okay,” I said resignedly, turning to leave. I needed to prepare for the TenYuan meeting anyway. On that thought, I remembered I might need Tyler at the meeting. I turned back to him. “Oh, Tyler, the TenYuan meeting. Will you be attending—”
“No, Lana!” he yelled, throwing his arms up in frustration. “I have to get this done. Can’t you manage it yourself?”
The snickering stopped and silence fell from the surrounding tables. I went rigid under everyone’s gaze, wishing I could somehow fall right into the ground.
“Of course.” I promptly turned and hurried back. The silence spread throughout the entire workspace like a contagious disease, and all eyes were fixed on me.
Disconnecting my laptop from its dock, I set off to find a conference room, opting to route through the front lobby in order to avoid passing by Tyler's desk again. Spotting a small unoccupied room, I quickly entered and shut the door behind me.
I stood there for a moment, pinching the bridge of my nose to hold back tears of humiliation. If I were to cry now, it would be impossible to stop. I rifled through my brain for something that could bring a smile or a laugh. Tyler’s face inadvertently popped up. I quickly deleted him and thought of Lauren and our Friday night. Music!
I rushed over to the table and opened my laptop, clicking on a random music video on Youtube. “Shelter” by Porter Robinson & Madeon started playing. My brow arched at the irony, but already, I was feeling better.
Sitting down at the table, I immersed myself in work. After having everything prepared for my meeting with TenYuan, I went over my other two projects. One of which, I wasn’t sure was mine yet.
Searching through my emails, I found the one Tyler had sent to Charles. Jack and Prisha were also included on the CC. No further communication had transpired since then.
Thinking that Charles might have reached out to the executives directly or that some decisions had been made without my knowledge, I decided to open up Slack and start a group message with the three execs in hope for some updates.
I waited for Jack and Tyler to respond. After a moment, Jack began typing.
I groaned and slumped in my chair. I would rather him discuss the proposal in front of his colleagues so that they were all on the same page. I sat up straight again when I saw Tyler typing.
I was waiting for the confirmation that I did not need to meet with Jack when I was alerted of a direct message.
I groaned again. I did not appreciate being tossed in the middle of their dispute. Not wanting to be stuck in a small conference room with Jack, I was about to tell him to wait at my desk when another DM popped in.
I rolled my eyes, sensing an oncoming battle between the two men. Figuring it would be best to meet with them separately like a parent-teacher conference, I messaged Jack my conference room. Then, back over to Tyler, I typed in my reply.
I closed my laptop, then switched chairs so that I was behind the table, facing the door. Jack quickly strolled in, closing the door behind him.
“What can I do for you, Jack?” I asked, like this was my office and I was the boss.
He placed a sheet of paper down in front of me. I recognized it immediately as a page in the proposal where we had broken down the price points. Red ink crossed out the original pricing, with new, significantly lower pricing written next to them.
“I want you to fix your proposal cost to match this.”
I studied the price difference, noting we were charging Charles less than half the cost of what Tyler would have wanted. “Did Prisha approve this?”
He narrowed his icy blue eyes. “Are you seriously questioning me right now?”
“I’m just going through the chain of command. Prisha is in charge of financing. I will need her approval.” I slid the sheet of paper back to him.
He balked at my gesture. “I think you’re forgetting who I am, here. I am your boss — not the other way around.”
“And as my boss, I would appreciate your understanding that I’m simply following the rules. You’re not my only boss. Tyler and Prisha are also my bosses, and I must go through them as well.”
“Prisha is in charge of other departments, not including yours. Tyler is not your boss. You’re removed from his chain of command so that he can’t unfairly promote or save you from being fired. You and the entire PM team are directly under me and you will do as I say. Change it.”
I tried to let the fact sink in that Tyler couldn’t save me, therefore, I shouldn’t be so audacious with this man. But for some reason, I wasn’t afraid.
“I’m aware this proposal is not like other clients’, otherwise, I’d be talking to Lauren right now, not you. This is a business decision that requires your colleagues’ input. Please figure this out with your team first before you have me do your dirty deeds.”
Anger flared across his face as he stared down at me. “Why can’t you just listen and do what you’re told?”
“I certainly will,” I assured him, “but I need the other execs’ approval first. I will not sidestep them, just how I know you wouldn’t want me to sidestep you.”
He braced his arms against the table and leaned forward threateningly. “I think Tyler has given you the false impression that you run this company.”
“You know what you’re doing is wrong,” I said in a near whisper. “Don’t make this about me.”
Bringing his face within inches of mine, he tried to shake my resolve with his pressing stare. I held my ground, however, presenting him the same unwavering look of determination. He snarled in response. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
“Then, I’ll go ahead and notify the others of the new plan,” I said, holding my gaze.
I could hear the crinkling of the revised pricing sheet as he bunched it up in his hand. With his eyes still burning into mine, he said scathingly, “I should fire you for insubordination.”
“Do it,” I challenged, not at all meaning it. I didn’t know why I was challenging him. It was beyond stupid.
He kept his gaze locked on me for a long while, seriously contemplating on it. My confidence dwindled the longer he stared.
Suddenly, a fist slammed on the table, making me jolt. “Fuck!” he yelled, his eyes clenched shut. When he opened them again, his glare was filled with pure hatred. “One of these days, Lana, I will have you on your knees begging for me.”
I glared back at him. “I have no reason to beg for you. You must have something I want in order for me to beg, and there’s nothing about you that interests me.”
He smirked. A hand slowly lifted up to my face. His thumb swiped across my bottom lip. “That’s ‘cause you haven’t had a taste.”
The door flew open with a bang. “Get your fucking hands off her!” Tyler roared.
Unfazed by the interruption, Jack smirked again, his eyes on my lips. Then, pushing himself off the table, he started to the doorway where Tyler stood, only to stop and peer over at me. “Call Charles and let him know the deal is off.” He turned his face to Tyler and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You should be thrilled, Tyler. Your lady really knows how to work that mouth of hers. Next time, instead of fighting me, just let her come by. With that mouth around me, I’m an easy going man.”
Before I could even register how it happened, Jack was on the floor with Tyler on top of him, plummeting him to the ground.
“Tyler!” I shot out of my chair and darted around the table to the heap of bodies on the floor. “Tyler! Nothing happened! We only talked!”
It was no use. Tyler continued slamming his fists into Jack’s face.
“Tyler! You’re going to kill him!”
I wrapped my arms around his chest and attempted to lift him off of Jack, but it only gave Jack leeway to throw a punch at his jaw.
“Shit! You asshole!”
I let go of Tyler and let him beat Jack for a split second more before I came up with a stupid idea.
Seeing how they both had their eyes fixed on their target, I needed to eliminate their ability to aim. Ducking my head in case a loose punch went flying, I shot my hands in between their faces and covered both their eyes. The momentary pause of swinging fists in an effort to swipe my hands away, was enough for me to dive in and lie on top of Jack’s face. I stretched myself across his limbs, pinning his arms down. Tyler nearly threw another punch right into my back when I screamed, “Wait, wait! It’s me!”
He halted a fist midair, blinking at the sudden loss of his target. Once his hand lowered, I eased off of Jack and shifted my weight so that he could breathe. I glanced down to check on him. My boob was right under his nose, though I doubted he was thinking about that at the moment. His eyes were nailed on Tyler with intentions to kill. I strengthened my hold on him once again, tightening my grip to ensure he wouldn’t throw me off and resume the fight.
“Just look at yourselves!” I shouted exasperatedly at the two men. Jack’s beautiful face was now beaten to a pulp. Tyler, too, had scuffs and reddened cheekbone and jaw. “Is this how two grown, executive men are supposed to behave? You’re like children!”
“Tell that to him!” Jack hollered. “He threw the first punch—”
“You, shut up!” I clutched Jack’s hair, shaking him a little. “You’re the one who instigated this. Now, listen up, both of you. I would rather sell myself to the next man I see than to engage myself in any sort of relations with this asshole. Yes, that’s you, Jack. So, Tyler. Do not believe anything that comes out of this asshole’s mouth. And you, Asshole. Never underestimate me again. I will not do your dirty work, nor will I be used as a weapon against your friend. Get it through that thick skull of yours that you’re not as infatuating as you believe yourself to be.”
Still panting from the exertion, Tyler slowly rose to his feet and reached out to help me stand, but I refused him. I had no intention of releasing Jack until I was certain that neither of them would lunge towards each other.
“There will be no more fighting, understand me? Because I will toss myself in the midst of it again to prevent you two from committing murder, and if I get hurt, I’m suing both of you for assault.” I waited for them to give me an affirmative nod before I peeled myself off of Jack.
As soon as I came to a stand, Tyler pulled me by the waist and pushed me behind him. Jack clambered back onto his feet, holding onto the table for support. He spat out blood, then glared at the two of us. “Good luck doing the presentation by yourself tomorrow.”
With that, he pushed himself off the table and staggered out into the hall. It was then that I noticed a few onlookers peeking out from the adjacent conference rooms. I shot them all a glare for witnessing yet not intervening. Then again, who would have been stupid enough to jump into the midst of flying fists?
Closing the door, I turned to Tyler, eyeing him with reproach. Taking my seat behind the desk again, I pointed to the chair in front of me. “Sit.”
He strode over and dropped himself heavily into the chair, all the while rubbing the sores on his face.
Overwhelmed with frustration, I could barely gather enough patience to stop myself from berating him and instead forced out a simple question. “Why?”
“He was touching you,” he gritted, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. “And from what he said, it sounded like you guys did more than just talk.”
I balled up my hands into fists beneath the table. It was my turn now to restrain myself from slapping some sense into him. “And you…believe that I did something with him?”
“No.”
Though his tone was firm, he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. Doubt projected through his eyes and insulted me. I could barely look at him.
I turned my gaze to the monitors up on the wall. “You should have known he was only provoking you. You should have known I wouldn’t have done anything with him.”
With a heavy sigh, he tugged off his hood, unzipped his sweater, and ran a hand through his hair. His elbows soon dropped to his knees and he buried his face in his palms. “I messed up.”
“Yes, you did. Now you’re going to have to cover his part of the—”
“I don’t mean with him,” he snarled, snapping his head up. When I turned my face towards him, his gaze softened. “I mean I messed up with you.”
I tilted my head with an indignant scowl. “And you thought I would betray you the moment you slipped? I’m not like you, Tyler. I don’t exact revenge whenever I’m treated unfairly.”
“You don’t?” he asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “I suppose the boba outing with Charles was purely innocent.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, feeling a mixture of irritation and guilt. I couldn't deny that there was a part of me that had used Charles to hurt Tyler. I knew that going out with Charles was the last thing Tyler would have wanted me to do, yet I had done it anyway.
“Fine,” I admitted after a moment of pause. “Though I am still offended that you would assume I’d go as far as placing my lips anywhere on that guy.”
Tyler calmly studied me with a penetrating gaze. I knew him well enough to know that his composure only meant that his mind was whirling with thoughts he dared not share. I swallowed hard under his intense scrutiny. It was as if he could see right through me.
Eventually, he lowered his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. “Regardless, I didn’t mean to disrespect you in front of everyone. I was wrong to speak to you that way.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “Let’s forget it. I know you’re anxious, so your patience is thin. What’s more important is how you’re going to present tomorrow. What are we going to do about Jack?”
His apologetic face turned sullen. “He’ll present. He loves the spotlight. There’s no way he won’t show.”
“I hope you’re right, because the CEO not showing up to his own company’s unveiling won’t be good press. It’s probably best you learn his part just in case.”
“Fine.”
Despite his bitter acceptance, there was panic in his eyes. I slowly opened my mouth to speak, choosing my words carefully. “Maybe we can have Prisha—”
“I said fine!” he barked, his eyes sparked with fury and a hint of madness. He blinked away his emotions, running a hand roughly through his hair again. “I’m sorry.”
“Then how about we talk to Jack? Maybe apologize?”
“Fuck no!” He recoiled as if sickened by the suggestion. “That’s exactly what he wants me to do! He knows I can’t present, and he wants me to come begging him.”
I pursed my lips as Jack’s own words about begging repeated in my mind. Maybe he had this planned all along. “But if we don’t apologize, you’re stuck doing the entire unveiling yourself. You’re willing to suffer through the anxiety of being on stage rather than just dropping your ego for one minute?”
“After what he said about you, he needs to come and apologize to us, not the other way around. I'd rather make a fool of myself in front of everyone than to let him go around saying…” His voice trailed off, unwilling to repeat Jack’s mention of my mouth.
I looked at him with a solemn expression. “Then, you’re really going to do this? You’re going to present?”
He reluctantly nodded. “I will have to.”