by Tina Folsom
“Where the hell is my ice cream?” she yelled furiously. Holly made the smart decision not to reply to her.
Sabrina needed her comfort food, and she needed it now before she went into major meltdown. She knew she was holding on by a mere thread. Grabbing a twenty dollar note from her purse, she ran for the door. She could make it down to the corner store and back. Just a few more minutes.
After running down the stairs, she yanked the building door open and froze. She hadn’t expected him to come after her, not this fast anyway.
“Sabrina.” Daniel’s voice was soft and pleading. His hair was windswept. He’d obviously not bothered drying it before he’d jumped into the car to follow her.
“Leave me alone.”
She knew that her face was tearstained and tried to turn away from him. But he was faster and took her by the shoulders before she could escape.
“I’m sorry, baby. I wasn’t out to hurt you. Come back to me. I need you.”
Sabrina struggled to shake off his hands, but he didn’t release her. “Let me go.”
“I’m sorry, I should have told you earlier, but I was so afraid you’d run away without giving me a chance. Sabrina, I’m in love with you, and I know you feel something for me too.”
She looked straight into his face and suddenly knew how she could get rid of him. She’d have to lie, but what difference would one more lie make?
“I feel nothing for you. This was all about sex for me.” She noticed his facial expression harden. “All I wanted was an adventure, and you provided it. I never put my heart in it.”
When she felt his grip loosen and his hands fall off her shoulders, she knew he’d gotten the message. She was free. He wouldn’t pursue her any longer.
“If that’s what it was …” He seemed cold now, unapproachable.
“Yes, that’s what it was,” she confirmed. Two seconds later, she slipped back into the building and shut the heavy door behind her. But she couldn’t make it past the first flight of stairs before she collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably.
In a few months, he’d be all but a distant memory. She’d have to put this behind her. Even though he’d said that he loved her, she knew it wasn’t true.
***
The next day, Sabrina called in sick. A day later, she still couldn’t face seeing anybody and stayed home again.
When the door bell rang in the afternoon, she was still in her bathrobe. Holly was out.
“Who is it?” she cautiously answered the intercom. If it was Daniel, she wouldn’t open.
“Courier with a letter for a Ms. Sabrina Parker. I need a signature.”
She buzzed him up, and a few moments later, the bicycle messenger was at her door. She signed for the envelope and went back inside.
The return address showed a stamp from her firm. Her heart sank into her gut. A hand delivered letter from an employer was never a good sign.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
… regret to inform you that your employment has been terminated effective …
She couldn’t read any further. They’d fired her. Just like that. And they could do it. Her employment was at will. And besides, she was still within her six months probationary period. They didn’t even have to give her a reason. And they hadn’t. Which was smart on their part. Without knowing why, she couldn’t fight it.
She sank onto the couch. This couldn’t be happening.
***
Daniel stomped into the lobby of Brand, Freeman & Merriweather. The receptionist greeted him instantly.
“Mr. Sinclair, good afternoon.” She looked at her calendar in front of her. “I don’t see your appointment here. Is Mr. Merriweather expecting you?”
He shook his head. He wasn’t here to see his attorney. For the last three days he’d been brooding over Sabrina’s words. His mood had gone from bad to worse, and he’d cancelled all his business meetings, not giving a royal damn if the whole deal fell apart because of it.
It had taken him three days to come to the conclusion that she’d lied when she’d told him that she had no feelings for him. After analyzing and re-analyzing what had happened the night in the cottage, when he’d kissed away her tears after they’d made love, he was almost certain that she’d lied.
But what had brought the absolute confirmation was Tim’s unexpected confession over lunch today. The revelation that he and the real Holly were good friends, and that they had wanted to set him and Sabrina up on a blind date, came as an absolute surprise to him. And then he’d told him how Sabrina had cried on Holly’s shoulder when she’d thought that he was still with Audrey. Proof positive that she had feelings for him.
Sabrina was a lousy liar. She’d had her heart in it from the beginning; he realized that now. She would have never agreed to the second evening and the weekend if she hadn’t already started feeling something for him.
And then there was something else. When they’d been in the cottage together he’d seen the few toiletry items she’d brought, and nowhere had he seen any oral contraceptives. He was pretty certain that she wasn’t on the pill, yet she’d let him be inside her without protection. He couldn’t imagine that a woman who claimed that it was all about sex without her heart being involved would risk a pregnancy.
“I’m here to see Sabrina,” Daniel announced to the receptionist.
She gave him a startled look. “Sabrina?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Sinclair.” She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “Sabrina doesn’t work here anymore.”
“What?”
“She was let go.”
Fired! There was no doubt in his mind who was behind this decision. The bastard had fired her. Hannigan! Now he’d have that asshole.
“Where is Hannigan?” His voice had taken a sharp tone.
The receptionist gave him an astonished look but pointed at a door across the foyer. “He’s in his office. I don’t suppose you want me to announce you?” She had an inexplicable smirk on her face.
“That won’t be necessary.”
Without hesitation, Daniel crossed the foyer and headed for Hannigan’s office. He didn’t bother knocking and kicked the door open with one swift move.
Hannigan was on the phone, but as soon as he spotted Daniel, he jumped up from his desk, his eyes wide in shock.
“I’ll call you back,” he said into the phone and hastily put the receiver down. His voice was edgy, and it was clear that he knew Daniel wasn’t here for a business meeting. This was personal.
“Hannigan, you little shit!” He didn’t care that his voice probably carried all the way out into the foyer.
“Get out, or I’ll call security,” Hannigan warned.
Daniel took several more steps into the room, slow and deliberate steps toward the little weasel, who had sweat building on his forehead.
“You think I’m afraid of security?” Daniel laughed, but it wasn’t a friendly laugh. “When I’m done with you, you won’t need security, you’ll need an ambulance.”
Instinctively, Hannigan took a step back toward the window. “You wouldn’t dare!”
Three more steps and Daniel was upon him. “That’s for harassing Sabrina,” he growled and launched his fist into his opponent’s face so fast, the man had no time to even react.
Hannigan buckled under the impact and fell against the window. Daniel grabbed the lapel of his jacket and pulled him back. He wasn’t done with the bastard yet.
“Come on, fight back, you little creep!”
Hannigan threw up his hands to shield his face, and Daniel landed his fist in his gut.
“And that’s for firing her!”
The little shit doubled over. “Help! Somebody help me!” he screamed toward the door.
Daniel heard a noise at the door but didn’t turn. Realizing that nobody was coming to his aid, Hannigan finally started defending himself and landed his fist in his attacker’s face. Daniel’s head snapped to the side then ricocheted back.
; “Thanks!” Finally the asshole had given him a reason to beat him to pulp. It was no fun to beat a man, who didn’t defend himself.
Fists went flying, landing in faces, chests and guts. Hannigan was a heavy guy, but Daniel made up for it with his agility and motivation. He was defending his woman. What stronger motivation could any man want?
Muffled voices carried from the door into the room. Several staff members had come to see what the commotion was about.
Daniel landed another hook in Hannigan’s face who instantly careened to the floor. He went right after him.
“What the hell is going on here?” an authoritative voice cut through the snickering voices of the staff.
Daniel turned to see Mr. Merriweather enter. It didn’t escape him that the secretaries had huge smirks on their faces. It appeared Hannigan wasn’t exactly popular with the female staff.
“Jon! Mr. Sinclair! Explain yourselves!”
Expectantly, he stood near the door looking at the two opponents as they got up from the floor. Before either Hannigan or Daniel could say a word, Merriweather turned back to the employees, who were spilling into the room.
“Don’t you have work to do?”
Instantly they dispersed, and Merriweather slammed the door shut behind them. “Gentlemen? What is the reason for this unseemly exhibition of testosterone?” He was still waiting for an explanation and gave both of them a stern look.
“He just attacked me!” Hannigan bit out.
Daniel threatened him with another hook. “That little shit here retaliated against Sabrina by firing her.”
“Mr. Sinclair. It is hardly your concern whether we let any staff of ours go or not.” Merriweather frowned.
“It is my concern. Hannigan has been harassing her ever since she started working here.”
“That’s not true!” Hannigan protested.
Daniel ignored him. “And when he realized that she’ll never give into his advances, he decided to fire her.”
“I’m the one, who makes those decisions, Mr. Sinclair. Not that it’s any of your business, but Sabrina was let go because she neglected her work.”
“Says who?”
“It was brought to my attention by Mr. Hannigan here. He’s been supervising her work,” Merriweather advised.
Daniel shot Hannigan a furious look. “Well, did Mr. Hannigan also bring to your attention that he surprised me and Sabrina during out weekend getaway in Sonoma? Did he bring it to your attention that he accused her of being a whore for sleeping with me? Did he?”
Merriweather went white. It was clear he knew none of the details.
“I didn’t think so.”
“Jon? Is this true?” Merriweather barked but received no answer. “Damn it, Jon. I was willing to overlook your indiscretions when it came to the secretaries, but this is going too far!”
He turned to his client. “Mr. Sinclair. We’ll rectify this.”
“I’m listening,” Daniel said expectantly.
“Jon, pack your personal things and leave. The firm has no further use for you.” Merriweather was pragmatic. It would be wiser to lose an associate, who’d become a liability to the firm rather than piss off a lucrative client.
“You’re firing me? You can’t do that!” Hannigan was beside himself. “That little bitch! Just because she’s fucking a rich client, she’s suddenly got free range and I get shafted!” His face was red like a ripe tomato.
Daniel swerved around and landed his fist in Hannigan’s gut. Hannigan doubled over and fell to his knees, holding his stomach, his face twisted in pain.
“Never, do you hear me, never talk like that about the woman I love. Is that clear?”
“Jon, if you’re not gone within ten minutes, I’ll have security remove you from the building. Mr. Sinclair, please join me in my office.”
Once in Merriweather’s private office, Daniel finally relaxed. His attorney’s decisive action to fire Hannigan on the spot had somewhat pacified him. He would give the firm another chance, even though he’d been ready to pull his account.
“Mr. Sinclair, let me just say on behalf of the firm that had we known about any of this, this would certainly not have happened. Please accept our apologies.”
Daniel nodded and sat on the couch.
“I had of course no idea, that you and Sabrina …, well I’d been under the impression that you’d been referred to us by another client not by Sabrina,” he angled for more information as he continued to stand.
“You weren’t misinformed. I was referred to you by another client.” Daniel left it at that.
“We’ll of course reinstate her, since it now is obvious that Mr. Hannigan has given me inaccurate information as to her work. I shouldn’t have relied on his information alone and investigated for myself, but the circumstances … In any case, I’ll send a personal message to her right away, together with the firm’s apologies.” His statement bordered on groveling.
Daniel motioned him to sit, and he complied.
“I had something else in mind. I would like you to draft an employment contract for her,” Daniel started.
“Of course. Certainly. We can use our standard contract and make any changes you suggest.” He seemed eager to please.
Daniel shook his head. “I’m not talking about an employment contract between her and your firm, but between her and me.”
Merriweather looked stunned as he tried to process his client’s words. “You want to hire Sabrina?”
His expression went from surprise to disbelief and then to shock as Daniel laid out the terms he wanted incorporated in the contract.
“You can’t possibly think that Sabrina would sign such a contract.” Merriweather swallowed.
“I know exactly what she’ll do when she reads it,” Daniel responded. He hoped he was right. For once he trusted his gut. He hoped he wasn’t wrong this time.
13
The week was almost over, and Sabrina had been busy updating her resume and sending it out to several employment agencies. The outlook wasn’t rosy. There were specific times during the year when law offices hired, and she’d just missed the most important hiring period by a few weeks.
She’d gained at least two pounds in the five days she’d been at home by gobbling down pints of ice cream whenever she was depressed and feeling sorry for herself—which was daily.
The only good thing that had happened during the week was that she and Holly had made up after Holly had told her the whole truth.
“Tim and I only meant well. We thought you guys were so suited for each other. Tim told me so much about Daniel that I was absolutely sure this would work. We should have just waited for a better time and had some casual dinner just the four of us. It was a stupid idea. I’m so sorry.” Holly’s look was sincere.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over and there’s nothing I can do to change that.” Sabrina tried to sound indifferent. “He hasn’t made any attempt to contact me after I told him that I don’t want to see him anymore. I said things that I can’t take back now. He probably despises me.”
“You have his number. Why don’t you call him?”
She shook her head. “It won’t do any good. He wouldn’t believe me if I told him what I really felt. Not now.” She’d felt the ice storm surrounding him when she’d told him that she had no feelings for him. He’d never believe her now. She’d rejected him, and even if she hadn’t hurt his heart, she’d hurt his pride.
***
The call from the office came Friday morning.
“Sabrina, it’s Caroline.” She was surprised to hear the receptionist’s voice. Even through Caroline and she were friendly in the office, they weren’t friends, and there was no reason she would call her at home now that she didn’t work there anymore.
“Hi.”
“Hannigan got fired,” Caroline announced.
Sabrina’s jaw dropped. “How did that happen?”
“Mr. Merriweather found out that Hannigan has been harassing y
ou and that he fabricated things about your work not being adequate. So he fired him on the spot. That’s why I’m calling. Mr. Merriweather wants to talk to you this afternoon.”
She couldn’t believe this. They’d fired Hannigan after he’d been so sure the partners would never touch him. She felt a huge burden lifted off her shoulders. There was some justice in the world after all.
“You mean, he might re-hire me?”
“He just said to call you and ask you to come in at three. But I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. What else would he want to talk to you about, right?” Caroline asked.
“I’ll be there. Thanks so much!”
***
Sabrina dressed in her best business suit and made sure she looked every bit the professional she was. If they’d offer her her old job back, she wanted to look the part. She double-and-triple-checked her outfit in the mirror. Her skirt stopped just short of her knees, and she’d opted not to wear pantyhose since her legs were tanned enough to keep them bare.
She had the need to be taller today, to feel more imposing, so she decided on her stilettos instead of the more comfortable slingbacks she normally wore. She was dressed to kill, and she would. If they wanted her back, then she wanted an apology first and foremost and then an assurance that she wouldn’t be relegated to routine cases as she’d been when she’d been assigned to work with Hannigan.
A last look into the mirror, a deep breath and she knew she couldn’t stall any longer if she didn’t want to be fashionably late.
Her hands felt clammy when she entered the firm’s foyer, and she forced a smile when Caroline greeted her.
“Mr. Merriweather is expecting you in his office. Go right in.” She pressed the intercom. “Sabrina is here.”
Forcing one foot in front of the next, Sabrina headed for Merriweather’s office. By the time she reached it, all her hesitation was gone. She knocked and heard his voice asking her to enter.
By the time she opened the door and stepped inside, Merriweather had already rounded his desk. With an outstretched hand, he walked toward her.
“Sabrina, I am so glad you came. Please take a seat.”
“Thank you.” Sabrina was surprised at how overly courteous he was. It wasn’t like him.
