Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I quickly whipped out my phone from my pocket and began to search for the nearest drug store in the area. Thankfully, there was one just around the corner and so I ran toward it. Once I arrived, I picked up two pregnancy tests just to be safe, paid for them, and then hurried back to the hotel.
Once I was back in my room, I took a deep breath and ran to the bathroom. The wait was the worst part of taking a pregnancy test, I’d always thought. In the past when I had pregnancy scares, I’d always been worried for nothing. I’d get a negative result, breathe a sigh of relief, and move on with my life. After all, I was a smart woman and I’d never wanted to have a child out of wedlock. I was usually so prepared and so level-headed, but since this thing had started with Griff, it had turned my life completely upside down.
As I waited, I tapped my nails against the sink anxiously. I couldn’t take my eyes off the test in my hands and I couldn’t find a way to steady my racing heart. I watched with fear as the pregnancy test began to change right in front of my eyes. It had been a minute and the result was clear: positive. I was pregnant.
It felt like my heart had stopped in that moment. I was so devastated that I couldn’t hold back my tears. This was no situation to have a baby in and yet, here I was. I’d known Griff didn’t want a girlfriend, there was no way he was going to want a child! The life-long bachelor had never shown any interest in a long-term partner, let alone a life-long commitment like a baby. The whole thing was too much for me to handle and I could feel a pounding in my head as I tried to figure out what to do.
Shelley’s words came back to me in that moment and it seemed like cutting ties with Griff was my only option now. There was no way he was going to be happy about the baby and he might even want me to get rid of it which I just couldn’t face. Instead, what I had to do was find a new job and start a new life, somewhere Griff would never have to worry about me or the baby. If I put some distance between us then maybe I’d finally stop carrying a torch for my sexy but emotionally unavailable boss. At least, that was what I hoped anyway.
25
Griff
Given the fact that I hadn’t even wanted to come here in the first place, my first day at the Anderson Group Headquarters was just going from bad to worse. I’d wanted to make a good impression on the new CEO, so I turned up to the office thirty minutes earlier than Kelly had asked me to, but Mr. Anderson was nowhere to be found. Since Kelly had said he was so eager to meet me and Remy, I’d expected to have a meeting with him on my first day, but as the hours ticked on and I followed Kelly from floor to floor, I realized that I was wrong.
Instead, I’d been meeting with various different employees of the Anderson Group. They told me a lot about the corporate structure and I had a meeting with human resources which helped give me some more background information about the expectations of staff life within the new company, but overall, I wasn’t doing anything of substance. My meetings felt like they were more about keeping me busy than actually working with me which begged the question: What the hell was I doing here anyway?
As morning turned to afternoon, Kelly finally re-appeared still wearing her tight-fitting dress and her hair in a stylish bob. “Good afternoon, Griff,” she greeted with a wide, toothy smile. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” I answered with a nod and stood up to follow her toward the cafeteria. We passed a lot more employees on our way who Kelly politely introduced me to, though it seemed more like an afterthought than anything. Nothing she did made her motives any clearer and I began to worry that I wasn’t seeing the bigger picture anymore. Was there something going on that she was trying to hide?
“Oh, Griff,” Kelly began as we exited the elevator and headed for the dining area. “I also wanted to remind you about the dinner this evening. I’ve booked us all a table at this little Greek restaurant just a few blocks away. It comes very highly recommended and they just hired a new chef who used to work with world-renowned Gordon Ramsey!”
I nodded along to what she was saying as we reached the cafeteria, but I was still feeling rather uneasy. “Will Mr. Anderson be attending?” I asked.