Addicted to Mr Parks (The Parks Series #2)(5)

The day was 19 April, and as I scrolled through his pictures it hit me. Shit. It was his birthday. Normally I begged my errant memory to remember important birthdays, which I always forgot, but that time I begged it to forget. His birthday stayed grounded in my head, and after much deliberation, I texted him.



Evey: Happy Birthday.



I had no reply, and the longer he ignored my text, the more it stewed away at me. My anger built by the second as I paced impatiently, waiting and waiting. In the end I texted him for the second time.



Evey: Ignorant twat.



And nothing again.





Chapter Four





Riding the lift up to my office that Friday made me feel sick. I couldn’t help notice the storm my insides were brewing. I felt nauseous and was shaking because of the amount of alcohol I’d consumed within the three days I had off. Still, I forced myself to work. All I had to do was get through the workday. It was only nine hours. What could possibly go wrong?

I smiled politely to Melisa, who frowned when she saw me. Her gaze drifted down the length of my body. Usually I went to work looking pristine and with all the locks of my chocolate-brown hair tamed into a neat ponytail. That day, though, I didn’t have the strength to try and look pretty. My hair was twisted into a bun on my head, and my white shirt and black trousers were slightly creased as my parents’ electric ran out that morning, so I couldn’t use their iron.

“Are you okay, Evey?” She pointed with her pen.

“Fine,” I snapped, keeping my eyes to the floor.

“Are you sure?” she continued sceptically. “You look tired.”

My head automatically turned up that time, my mouth firing out a bark. “I said so, didn’t I?”


Melisa’s gaze fell instantly, her hands working overtime on the laptop.

Taking a deep breath, I plastered a fake smile on my face and walked through the glass doors. The very moment my heel stepped over the threshold, it was like everyone immediately felt my presence and all eyes darted towards me. Forgetting their stares, I did what I did best.

“Jesus, who’s died?” It worked; they soon dropped their faces back into their laptops. Forcing my feet to move, I wandered over to my desk and was surprised to see Clarke. I lowered my backside onto the chair and cautiously watched him take his glasses from his newly tanned face, shifting his weight to face me. He was angry with me. I could sense it.

“Morning, Evey,” he said stiffly. I knew his eyes were glaring at me, but I couldn’t look at him.

“Morning,” I said without shifting focus from my computer screen. “You’re home from your holiday early?” I didn’t know why he was home early, maybe because of his errant assistant.

“Never mind that. Do you want to enlighten me about your actions, young lady?”

There it was, my first lecture of the day. I suppose I was waiting for it, and I definitely deserved it, but I didn’t want it. “My actions?” I questioned, acting insolent. My focus remained on the computer screen, but my body kept shuffling on the seat uncomfortably.

Clarke cleared his throat and placed his glasses on his desk. “Evey, Mr. Jordan needed you here this week. Where were you? And don’t tell me you were sick, because Patricia has already informed me of what happened Monday morning.”

I shifted the mouse to bring my computer to life and exhaled a rough sigh, my mind quickly going back to Monday morning. Oh yes. It was the time I flirted with Dwayne, Clarke’s stand-in, and Parks spanked me over the desk for acting that way. Then I left him with his trousers down and sprinted out of the building. “Why are you asking me if Pat the Twat has already told you?” I glared over at her, but she didn’t hear me.

“Patricia told me you marched your way out of the building after an altercation with Mr. Parks. Now, everyone else who is none the wiser may assume it was merely a disagreement between employee and boss. However, I know differently. What happened?”

“Nothing.” My tone was warning him to back off, but he didn’t take the hint.

“Then why have you been absent? You have disappointed me, Evey. You told me there was nothing going on between you two. I thought you loved this job, yet you allow a man like Mr. Parks to get in the way of your judgment. I thought you were made of stronger stuff.”

I slammed my fists onto the desk, venting out my anger. “Well maybe I’m not, Clarke!”

He recoiled quickly at my sudden outburst, and the gasps I heard across the room had my gaze darting around to suddenly see everybody staring at me. I shook my head, trying to get myself to snap out of my mood, but it was no use. “Sorry.” I breathed out, but Clarke seemed to remain sympathetic towards me. His hand came down onto mine, enclosing it gently.

“My girl,” he lowered his voice, “tell me what’s bothering you. If you don’t mind me saying, you look dreadful.” I looked dreadful? Well, if I looked half as bad as how I felt, I’d say I looked pretty damn shit. My eyes closed on a deep swallow. My lids felt watery, tired, and sore. If I closed them for too long, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to open them again. I didn’t want to open them again.

Feeling beholden to Clarke, I wanted to tell him what was wrong with me, but because of my personality, there was more chance of winning the lottery. Twice.