The publisher

Chapter 2

Lydia stares at me like I’ve gone crazy. I never take my eyes off the person. “What’s the matter?” She asks with confusion in her tone. “Give me a second. I need to talk to someone,” I say, giving her no time to respond, and I take off towards the back of the bar.

“Excuse me?” I say, and Megan looks up to me, and worry washes all over her face. “What are you doing here, Clara?” Megan asks, looking. “This is a bar anyone can enter,” I retort. “My question is, why are you here talking secretly to Scott’s number one client?” I demand.

“Clara, clearly, that is none of your business. You work for me, not my brother,” Megan snaps.

“Megan, You are scandalous going behind Scott’s back,” I hiss.

“Excuse me, Calvin. Let me talk with my assistant. I’ll be right back,” she states. Megan grabs my arm, pulling me away from the table. Before she takes me too far, I rip my arm from her grasp.

“We are not at work, Megan, so do not think you can control me,” I announce, giving her a look like I was slapping her in my mind.

“Listen here, if you f**k up my plans and tell my brother you’re done, I will make sure your book never sees the light of day. Do you hear me?” She whispers angrily.

“We will see if I think not telling him is worth it,” I retort. I walk away back to Lydia.

I get back to Lydia, grabbing my things.“Hey Lydia, I need to go. I’ll call you tomorrow okay,”

“Sure, Clara,” she says, confused. I walk out the door. I get to my loft, walking in putting my things on the counter. How could Megan do this to her brother trying to steal his most prominent client? I sit on my sofa, trying to contemplate whether to tell Scott and risk losing my job. I get up to walk to my bathroom to take a pain pill and get in the shower.

I finish my shower drying off, putting my pajamas on, and walking to my bed. I put my phone on the nightstand turning the light off. It takes me forever to fall asleep.

Next day...

My alarm blares and I feel I am ready to face Megan. I will have to refrain from punching her conniving ass. I get ready and head out the door, walk to work, get my coffee, and enter the building to see Phil nowhere.“Good morning Miss," the security says.

Looking around almost spinning in a circle to find Phil. As I face security once again. “Um... Where is Phil?”

“Phil was let go this morning,” He explains.

“WHAT?! Phil is the most hard-working guard here. Why was he let go?” I demand.

“Well, Megan is the one who fired him,” The security says. I feel so much anger wash over me, and I walk to the elevator so fast I felt like I was flying. I’m going to slap her. I know it.

I get off the elevator. I swing the door open, making so much noise it gets everyone’s attention. Scott comes out of his office to see what’s the commotion finding me looking pissed. He follows at my heels. I make it to Megan’s office, pushing the door open. “YOU b***h!!” I scream for all to hear. Scott comes in, closing the door. “What is going on?” He asks.

“You need to watch how you talk to me, Clara!” She snaps back.

“Or what? Will you fire me too? Go ahead. No one wants to work for you!!” I shout.

“Scott, you need to fire this trash,” She says, pointing at me. And I lose it. I rush at her full speed ahead, but Scott grabs me holding me close to him. I could feel his muscles against my back and his strong arms around me. Focus! Clara, I tell myself.

“Ladies, what is going on?” He demands. Scott still holds me, so I don’t beat the s**t out of his sister.

“Why don’t you ask your conniving winch of a sister?” I yell.

Scott looks at Megan. “What is she talking about, Megan?” He questions.

“Nothing, she is clearly a psycho.” She replies. I try to get loose to punch this b***h, but Scott keeps his grip, pulling my back to his body, and I feel him getting hard against my ass. Is it turning him on? so this is what men fantasized about catfights? I shrugged it off and brought my attention back to the conversation.

“Megan, tell me the truth,” He demands.

“So you believe this tramp over your sister?" She says.

“You better hope he doesn’t let me go cause I’m ready to go to jail right now," I say furiously.

“Scott, you’re going to let her talk to me like that?” She asks. I can see the fear in her eyes.

“Why don’t you tell him how you were meeting with Calvin secretly?” I hiss. Scott tensed against me at those words.

“YOU WHAT?! He retorts. He is sexy when he is angry. I thought.

“Yes, I was meeting him, okay, you happy now?” Megan declares.

“I want you out by the end of the day!!” He demands.

Megan .“You can’t fire me. We are family,” She claims.

“That obviously doesn’t mean a thing,” He retorts.

“Clara, are you calm now?” Scott asks, looking around me to see my face.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I declare, nodding.

“I’m taking you to my office to make sure you don’t kill my sister." He smiles. Megan stands there in disbelief as Scott walks me to his office while everyone stares. Some look at me in jealousy cause Scott still has his hand on the small of my back to make sure I don’t turn around and go after Megan. We enter the office. Scott locks the door.“Have a seat Clara,” He insists, gesturing towards the soft cushioned beige chair in front of his desk.

Quickly taking the sear, then bringing my gaze back to him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Lawson, it got out of hand. If you want to fire me, I understand,” I tell him.

“Oh no, I’m not going to fire you. I am promoting you to the editor,” He tells me smiling.

“What?!” Is all I can say, shocked.

“You deserve it, and the way you stood up to my sister was pretty freaking awesome. Thank you for telling me about what she was doing,” He says, looking at me with a smile.

“Can I ask you something, Mr. Lawson?” I say.

“Sure, and please call me Scott,” He insists.

“Okay, Scott, can you please give Phil his job back? He has kids and a wife who needs him to have this job,” I plead.

“Of course, I will make sure he gets his job back,” He declares.

“Thank you!” I smile, wanting to hug him, but I refrain because he is my boss.

I sit in his office most of the day, helping him read some Manuscripts while Megan cleans her office out. I guess he didn’t want me to go to jail. There is a knock on the door. Scott walks to answer it, and a little girl about four walks in with a woman in her sixties. “Hey, baby girl!” Scott says, hugging her.

“Thanks, Georgia, have a good night,” Scott tells her. The older lady walks out, closing the door back.

The little girl looks at me for a moment. Then she walks over to me.“Hi, I’m Grace. What’s your name?” She asks.

“Hello, I’m Clara. It’s nice to meet you, Grace. That’s such a beautiful name,” I tell her, and she smiles so big. I see Scott looking at me while he is on the phone, but he pays more attention to my interaction with the little girl.

“Your name is pretty too,” Grace says.

“Well, thank you, but I could never be as cute as you,” I say, and she lights up.

“Clara?” Grace says.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Can we be friends?” She asks.

“Of course,” I tell her. She jumps in my lap, hugging me so tightly. Her smile beams from ear to ear then she jumps back down, turning to Scott.

"I’m going to my playroom, daddy,” She announces.

I never knew he had a daughter.

He waves, and she walks out. Scott hangs up the phone, standing from his desk and coming around towards me. I stand, too, thinking we are leaving the room.

“Your daughter is adorable,” I tell him.

“She likes you,” He says, his eyes fall on my lips.

Not realizing it, I bite my lower lip, and I can see his body tense. “Um... I should see if Megan has left,” I say shyly, turning for the door when his hand stops me. Facing him again. He is inches away from my face, so I back up but end up hitting the wall. He puts one hand on the wall.

“Mr. Lawson?” I can barely get out.

“It’s Scott,” he says in a luring voice. his lips almost touch me when he whispers, “I like you, Clara, and I’m sure you already know how much from when we were in Megan’s office.” I swallow hard.

“Scott, I don’t think this is a good idea” He pulls back

“I’ve got all the time in the world”...