Lies & Deceit (H.S)

25

A/N:  My kitten died last night!!! 😢😢😢😢 I am absolutely heartbroken... Now I'm at work all heartbroken and puffy eyed. I hate this feeling !!!

Anyway as promised, your update.... (heads up, there will be a time jump of 3 weeks.)

It's been three weeks since I came home. Since then I've gotten my car, which drives like a dream, I've put my house in the market and I'm 40 pages into the book I'm writing. The court case which was scheduled for last week was nerve wrecking, but I managed to talk without so much as a crack in my voice. Stephen was sentenced to ten years, just like Lieutenant Burrow had mentioned. Harry and I have been doing great, however he refused spending time with his friends while I was with him, which is amazing, but strange. Harry and I went out for my birthday and decided to celebrate his as well. What a crazy night out- I hardly remember the half of it.

"Ash?" Rebecca knocks on my office door, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I hum and turn in my chair, greeting her with a warm smile. In these past two weeks Rebecca and I have grown quite fond of each other and spend a lot of time together along with Stacy.

"Jake wants to see the progress on your book." She mumbles and rolls her eyes. I sigh and shake my head before turning back to my computer.

"Fine, let me just print the new pages and I'll go see him." With a swift nod she leaves my office. I still find it rather fascinating that Rebecca would rather come tell me things in person than phone me.

I hurriedly print the few pages and make my way out of my office. Jake absolutely despises it when someone takes their time on anything. I loathe Jake if I have to be honest with myself. Since Rebecca and I have gotten rather close, she opened up about her relationship with Jack. Actually she had no choice as I am as persistent as a mosquito. Apparently upon starting her job here, he got a liking toward her. He pursued her until she finally agreed on going out with him on a date.. According to her he was a complete gentleman, she just liked playing hard to get. The night of the date, things happened between them and to this day he thinks he can get anything from her with the snap of his fingers. She made it clear to him that what happened was a mistake, but he pays no mind to what she thinks or feels. I roll my eyes at the thought of him. On a few occurrences I noticed how he even blatantly flirted with me, sometimes in front of coworkers. Sure, it makes me uncomfortable, but I like my job and because of that I want to keep things civil. I have confronted him about it, but Jake just does not listen. With a sigh I knock on the door of his office.

"Come in." He snaps and I inwardly groan.

"Hi." I plaster a fake smile on my face. I need to be nice- he is my boss after all. I just need to keep reminding myself that I need to be nice.

"Ashley." He purrs and gestures to the seat in front of him. I feel bile rise in my throat at the tone of his voice.

"Oh thanks, but I only brought you the draft of my book to read. Rebecca said you wanted to see it." I politely decline his offer to sit and slightly slam down the small stack of papers on his desk. This action causes him to raise his eyebrows. I subconsciously chuckle and step back slightly.

"Let me know what you think." I mumble and walk out of his office before he gets the chance to reply. I slowly fist pump the air and walk back toward the elevator.

Once in the elevator I hear the door to Jack's office open slightly. With the speed of light I press the close elevator doors button and will the doors to close in time. Thankfully they start to close just as I see Jack exit his office. I quickly pull my phone out of my pocket and pretend to talk so that I can seem distracted.