Page 2 of From That Moment
The one person in the area that I knew, who legit acted as if she hated me, though I had no idea why.
Paris, the best friend of the woman who was marrying my brother.
Oh, yes,thatParis.
“Hey, didn’t see you there,” Benji said, his hand on his tie, running his fingers down the length as if he hadn’t just been bad-mouthing someone.
And Iknewit had to have been about Paris. It had to be given the way the two were acting.
“No, you wouldn’t with your back to me. If you’re going to talk crap about me and call me names like you love to do, I would make sure that the door isn’t open, and you’re not saying it for everybody to hear.” Paris crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “You.You’re the new software engineer? Of course, you are. Because why not have more of the boys’ club here?”
My brows went up to my hairline, and I held up my hands. “Hey, what the hell?”
“Don’twhat the hellme. If I ever hear you saying the wordSharkaround here, I will make sure you don’t last another day. I mean, it’s not like you will anyway. Right? No one else has.”
“Wait. You guys know each other?” Benji asked, his gaze darting between us.
“We’re friends,” I said.
“Uh, no, we aren’t.”
I looked at Paris and raised a single brow this time. “We’ve broken bread together. We hang out because your friend is marrying my brother. I would assume we’re friends.”
“And you would assume wrong. We are forced into each other’s proximity because of people we care about. That doesn’t make us friends.”
“Okay, then,” I said softly. “That’s going to make the upcoming wedding and everything else fucking hard, isn’t it?”
“Don’t curse. This is work.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry about that. Also, I wasn’t the one who called you that name.” I turned to Benji. “And Benji isn’t going to be saying it again, will you?”
Benji held up both hands. “No, I promise. I’ll be good.”
“Whatever,” Paris said. “I guess you’re starting tomorrow? Good. Just know you better work hard because I don’t take lackluster work from anyone. I’m good at my job. If you have a problem with that, let me know now so I can deal with it because I’m going to be the one telling you when you do things wrong. If you have a problem hearing that from me, get over it now.”
Benji slid out of the door past Paris, leaving the two of us alone in the office.
I shook my head, wondering what the fuck was going on.
“Can you close the door for a second?”
“Uh, no. Why the hell would I do that?”
“Language,” I said, teasing at first. When her eyes narrowed, I lifted my chin, steadying my gaze. “Let’s talk, okay? I’m as surprised as you. I didn’t know you worked here. Honestly. Let’s get everything out in the open. However, considering that Benji—and God knows who else—probably has his ears pressed against his door trying to listen in, let’s get some privacy.”
Paris narrowed her eyes, then took a few steps into my office, closing the door behind her.
“Fine. I’ll give you two minutes.” She did a show of looking at her watch, and I barely resisted the urge to chuckle.
“Okay, since I’m on a timer, what’s wrong?”
Paris just glared at me. “I don’t know, maybe this hostile work environment.”
“You’re the one sniping at me when we didn’t even get to fully introduce ourselves. I don’t even fucking know your last name.”
Color tinged her cheeks, but she didn’t back down.
“Trissel. Paris Trissel. And I know you’re one of the Brady brothers. Though not the fun bunch, are you?”