Page 13 of Apparently, I’m A B!tch

The meeting ran on and on, dragging through the morning as Harvey and his father chattered about previous high-profile cases they’d won. And as Harvey detailed each case, taking credit for all of them with no mention of Kelly whatsoever, a heavy, solid heat dragged inside my chest and made me sweat as I bit my bottom lip harder. I had to keep my focus on my laptop and stay out of this conversation.

I looked at Kelly, my anger convincing me that surely, surely, she was feeling some type of animosity toward the man she’d been serving for the past handful of years. But no, she was beaming at him, clutching a notebook to her chest like some teen going through puberty in the near vicinity of her crush. It made me want to scream.

Thankfully, the meeting ended. I pushed myself back in my chair, knowing I should leave before someone said something to set me off, but my eyes snagged on Maggie, rooting me to the spot as she gestured for me to join her, Harvey Sr., and his pretentious shit-bag of a son.

The door shut behind us and I let out a breath. Calm. I needed to be calm. Both partners were here, there was no reason to lose my–

“Nik, Nik, our little Cutter. You got another win, good for you,” Harvey beamed as Maggie frowned.

I bared my teeth. This moron was never quite good at reading a room. A weird lapse for a lawyer.

“And you. Congrats.”

Nice Nikki. Come on, where was she hiding?

Harvey Sr. shuffled toward us. “You’re doing quite well, Nikki. You should be proud of what you’re achieving. A criminal defense lawyer at twenty-eight with a slew of successful cases behind her. That isn’t an easy feat.”

A bit of the burn within my gut dulled as I looked up to see his genuine smile. He was such a good man, and Maggie was such a great, inspiring woman. It made me wonder how they put up with Harvey’s antics. They weren’t the type to only care about the win. They cared about their employees, their clients. They cared about me. It was one of the reasons why I decided to stay in Manhattan after graduating. Well, that and Tristan…

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.” I tried to give him a wider smile, but couldn’t bring myself to do it with Harvey at my back.

His son took a breath. “You wanted to chat about something, right Dad?”

I watched his father’s face as it shifted with a touch of amusement.

“Yes. But not now. Later. Maggie and I need to discuss timing and how the news will affect the rest of the team. Our other associates will need to be informed right after we make a decision, so as you can understand, we need a bit of time to plan things.” His bushy gray brows lowered as he focused on me. “You’ll see Maggie once your lunch break is over. She’ll share the news with you separately.”

I nodded absently, already turning over the possible options, letting curiosity stifle my irritation with Harvey. What passed as news around here? What would the other associates need to be informed of? What hadn’t Maggie told me?

I flicked my glance to her, but she wasn’t giving anything away. She was studying me with her personal brand of intensity, though. I’ve seen this expression before. Usually, it meant something tricky was about to be handed to me, resulting in weeks of sleep deprivation, gnawing on fingernails, and picking up triple shot lattes from Extra Shot.

But that was more than okay. I was up for that kind of challenge. It was immensely better than what was happening this weekend. A full weekend to myself, with only an art class planned. Ugh. An art class taught by a man I adored, who now didn’t want me around.

My shoulders slumped at the prospect of sitting alone in my apartment, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of my TV, trashy reality shows playing as I zoned out and contemplated my loneliness-inducing life choices. My stomach fluttered at the thought of watching Tristan in his element, but I had no doubt his crest-fallen face would be the cherry on top of my depressing break from work.

I snapped back to reality as Harvey Sr. and Maggie left the boardroom, giving each of them a curt nod before Harvey started babbling inanely at my ear.

“So, a big announcement after lunch.” He gave a self-satisfied smirky kind of laugh. “Don’t you feel so special to be included, Nik? Hmm, I wonder what it could be.”

I finally let myself roll my eyes and it felt so good. I followed it up with, “Oh, I’m sure you know, don’t you? But–” I held up my hands. “Don’t tell me. I’d rather be surprised.” I straightened and picked up my laptop. “You should ask Kelly to lunch after all the work she did to win that last case for you.”

Harvey was quiet behind me for a few beats, then said, “That’s an excellent idea. She does deserve a good lunch. If she didn’t offer to do most of the research for me, I would’ve had to miss my friend’s birthday dinner last weekend…”

I whirled around, the sound of Harvey’s voice drowned out by the drumming in my ears. Sweat prickled my skin as I clutched my laptop with a white-knuckled grip. I stared at Harvey with wide eyes until his endless prattle actually ended. He looked at me with open confusion, holding his ground as I stepped close.

“So you admit you took advantage of Kelly and made her work insane hours over the week, so that you, YOU, could take time off to go to a–a what? A fucking party? And you couldn’t mention how hard she worked, not even once this morning? During that peacock-fest you created to make everyone else feel like shit?”

I shook my head. Nice Nikki was well beyond reach now, and I couldn’t hold it in. “You’re a joke, Harvey. You’re not the lawyer your father thinks you are. If you didn’t have Kelly, you’d be nothing.”

He actually stepped back and put a hand to his chest. Dramatic bastard. I didn’t have time for him. I didn’t have time for any of this. I left the boardroom, and the office.