Free Broken (Breaking the Rules) by K Webster

want to hear his voice one more time.
    “Andi, I am so sorry—” he begins when he answers but I cut him off.
    “Braaaay, I messssed up baaad,” I slur. “Pills go buh bye.”
    I must have blacked out because I come to just as Bray bursts into my bedroom door.
    “Oh my God, baby! What have you done?! No, no, no!” he cries out, pulling me into his arms. “Fuck! You’re blue and so cold!” He tilts back my head and shoves his fingers down my throat. Immediately I start vomiting all over his white t-shirt and my bare breasts. Blackness eats away at the corners of my vision again and my world spins out of control.
    His fingers are back in my throat again, forcing my gut to wrench once more. The ringing of my cell phone is endless. Brayden is crying hysterically, telling me to “hold on!” but I just feel ready to let go. And I do just that as the darkness sweeps over me once again.
     

 

     
     
    Grabbing my purse, I bolted from the cab, telling him to keep the change. It was five after eight and I still had to get to the 57 th floor. Jackson and I shouldn’t have had that quickie, but it was so worth it. I just prayed that nobody would notice I was late.
    Pressing the button to the 57 th floor once inside the elevator, I took a moment to breathe and collect myself. I was finally a woman with a job in her field of study. The world of architecture was so fascinating to me and I really missed it. The café didn’t hold a candle to the satisfaction I would have doing what I love.
    When the door opened, I quickly glanced at my reflection in the mirror. Deciding that I looked presentable, I held my head high and walked up to the front desk. The receptionist looked about ten years older than me and had a nametag that read “Margie” on it.
    “Hi there, Margie. I’m Andi, er, Miranda Dalton, here for my first day,” I informed her, still breathing a little heavily from this morning’s events.
    She looked up and smiled. “You’re late,” she admonished, winking. My own smile faltered as panic set in. “Honey, I’m teasing. Mr. Compton was on a call this morning, so he’s not even ready for you yet anyway. You looked like you were about to throw up,” she giggled.
    Realizing she was a fun person, I smiled back at her. “Sorry, it was a hectic morning with traffic and all. I’ll have to make sure to allow myself more time in the mornings,” I told her honestly.
    “No worries, Miss Dalton. Everyone is really laid back here for the most part, especially Jordan. You’ll enjoy working for him. It’s his brother that’s difficult. Be thankful you don’t have to work for him,” she whispered.
    Before she could divulge any more office gossip, Mr. Compton called me from his office. Smiling at Margie, I quickly walked into the office where the voice had come from. Mr. Compton was a nice-looking young man. Even though he was several years older than I was from what I could tell, he still looked too young to own such a successful company.
    Looking up from his desk, he smiled at me. He had one of those familiar faces and I couldn’t help but return his smile. “Please, Miss Dalton, have a seat,” he greeted, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.
    Taking my seat, I sat up straight, waiting for my instructions.
    “Today will be just you getting to know the ropes and other employees. I’d hoped my brother, who’s my partner, would be sitting in on the meeting, but he’s running late. I know originally I said you would be assisting me but I’ll actually need you to help us both out. I’m in the middle of a pretty big company issue that will require a lot of my time with my lawyers. That will leave my brother having to run things. We’ll need you to take our calls when you can, set up meetings with our clients, and make appearances at some events. We have people to actually handle busy work, but as our assistant, you’ll learn how to actually interact with the clients more so than the work itself.