Jamie hugged her bag to her chest and tried to walk away, but they wouldn’t let her. Anytime she tried to move away they shifted to block her. When she tried to fake left and go right she was knocked down and before she could get back up she found about a dozen people standing over her, yelling questions that she’d rather not think about as they documented her humiliation.
She tried to stand up, but no one would budge an inch, forcing her to curl up into herself and bury her face against her knees as they continued shouting their questions and knocking into her as they shoved each other to get the perfect shot.
As she was stepped on, kicked, humiliated and screamed at she couldn’t help but wish that she had some chocolate and Nick’s arms around her as the first embarrassing tear streamed down her cheek. Thankfully she had her face buried against her knees so the cameras missed it, but that didn’t stop them from trying to get some kind of a reaction from her.
******
“I’d love to make you dinner tonight, Nick,” Mandy, Sandy or was her name Chrissy? said as she leaned in a little too close for his comfort, forcing him to sit back in his chair and shift away from her as he shot the empty chair by Rick’s side another glance.
Where the hell was she?
She should have been here by now. In fact, she should have been here an hour ago, but the woman was a no show. He called her apartment, thinking that she’d run back because she’d forgotten something, but she hadn’t picked up. She wasn’t answering her cell phone either and now he was really starting to worry about her.
“Nick?” the woman said with a hint of a whine to her voice when he didn’t answer her right away.
“I have to catch an early flight in the morning,” he said absently as he turned to shoot another glance at the boardroom’s closed double doors.
“That’s okay. I don’t mind giving you a ride,” she said in a husky whisper that left absolutely no doubt in his mind about what she really meant.
“Not interested,” he said, not even bothering to soften the blow as he sent another questioning look to Rick, who wore a grim expression as he shook his head no. Great, his little recluse hadn’t called Rick to let him know why she was running late.
“What do you mean you’re not interested?” the woman demanded, but Nick was barely paying attention to her as he stood up and headed for the door. He didn’t need to look back to know that Rick was right behind him.
“The morning meeting is canceled. Please return to your duties,” Rick said as Nick pulled his phone out and tried to call Jamie one last time.
“Are you sure she was coming in today?” Rick asked as they stepped in front of the elevator.
“Positive,” he said, hitting the call button repeatedly with a little too much force.
“Any idea what could be keeping her?” Rick asked.
“Not a clue,” he said, regretting leaving her on her own. He should have insisted that she drive with him, but he hadn’t wanted to give the office gossips anything to talk about.
“Fuck this,” he snapped when the elevator didn’t move fast enough. He made his way to the stairwell, glaring at anyone that got in his way. Three minutes later they were downstairs in the busy foyer, searching for her.
“Do you see her?” Rick asked.
“No,” he said, barely biting back the urge to put his fist through a wall.
Where the hell was she?
“Let’s check outside,” Rick said, already heading in the direction of the monitored glass doors. As they moved to step outside the two large guards Rick had posted at the door stepped aside, revealing a large group of paparazzi going nuts not twenty feet from the building.
“Police are on their way, sir,” one of the guards informed Rick, but the man didn’t seem to be listening as he moved towards the crowd.
A feeling of dread twisted his stomach as he followed after Rick. When he heard some of the questions being yelled he moved faster, shoving anyone that got in his way aside as he fought to find his little recluse. When he finally found her he felt his heart break and his teeth grind.
“Please just leave me alone,” she begged, her voice breaking on a sob as she buried her face against her knees.
He didn’t hesitate as he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. At first she went rigid and moved to push away from him, but then she looked up and saw him and her body relaxed as she buried her tear soaked face against his shirt.
“Is this your boyfriend?”
“Are you using her for her money?” a woman demanded as she snapped their picture, but he ignored them all as he shouldered his way through the crowd.
Thankfully Rick stepped in front of him and cleared the path.
When they reached the front doors one of the large guards noticeably swallowed. “She didn’t have a pass and wasn’t on the list,” he explained.
“Did she ask you to call us?” Rick asked in a cold even voice. When the man nodded Rick didn’t even hesitate in saying, “Then you’re fired.” It probably saved the man from a trip to the hospital. That and he wasn’t about to put his little recluse down.
As Jamie trembled in his arms he followed a very somber Rick to the elevators.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly, wishing for Jamie’s sake that everyone would stop staring at them so that she could calm down.
“I-I could really use some chocolate right about now,” she said softly, sniffling.
“I’ll hunt down the biggest chocolate bar I can find. How does that sound?” he asked soothingly as he stepped into the elevator after Rick.
She sniffled as she thought it over. “C-can I have two?”
“Yes.”
“A-and a Coke?” she asked, sounding hopeful, but no less pathetic as she continued to sniffle and shake in his arms.
He sighed heavily as he pointedly ignored the questioning look Rick was sending their way. “Fine, you little sugar addict. You can have a Coke.”
“Can I have two?”
“No,” he said, knowing that she’d regret consuming that much sugar at once.
“You’re mean,” she grumbled even as she snuggled closer in his arms.
“Uh huh,” he said, adjusting her in his arms as he waited to arrive at their floor.
“Take her to my office,” Rick said, but Nick had no intention of listening to the man. He wanted to take Jamie to his office where he could take care of her.
“I’ll take her to mine. We have a few things to go over,” he said, hoping Rick would just drop it and let him have some time with his little recluse.