The Hookup Pact

27| Atlas

My fingers had gone numb from holding the pen and signing documents for the past three hours. When had all this work piled up?

I had taken a leave from classes to rest for a few days and since I was beaten up thoroughly, it was difficult to get a doctor's prescription for it. But then I got bored sitting at home and came to the office.

My dear fifty-five-year-old assistant Gracie, immediately lost her mind after seeing the bandage on my forehead and started fussing over me. After making her sit down and reassuring her that I only looked bad and wouldn't be dying any time soon, she relaxed.

And then she proceeded to dump all these files on me. I briefly wondered where she had stored all of these and why hadn't she sent them my way before.

I dropped the pen on the table, the sound of it clattering against the mahogany top reverberating in the empty office. Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling.

There was still a ton of work to do. More documents to go through, highlight things that I wanted changed, and send them on their merry way to the people who would make those changes but I was already exhausted. I couldn't imagine how Iris did this all day every day and still maintained her annoyingly cheery personality.

I turned my head to the side and my gaze landed on the photo frames hanging on the right wall of the room. This office belonged to Dad before he passed away and he was big on framing all the important moments and hanging them on his office wall. He used to say it gave him the motivation to keep working.

A wistful smile spread across my lips when I spotted the photo of me coming to his office for the first time when I was five. I was sitting on top of his table, putting the phone's receiver to my ear while Dad sat in his chair, smiling down at me.

Sitting in the same office like this made me wonder if this was what I was truly supposed to do. To take over my dad's work. Hockey was fun. A bit of solace but clearly, I wasn't doing good enough. If the ominous text I had received from my agent asking to meet him urgently was anything to go by.

The more I'd stared at it, the more it had started to look like a death sentence. A death sentence for my hockey career. He was pissed for sure. And that said a lot about me since Henry Rodriquez was a happy-go-lucky guy. Receiving a "My office. 4 p.m." text from him would scare the crap out of anyone.

A knock on the office door brought me back to the present and I sat up straight. "Were you sleeping? On the job? You look like shit by the way." Iris, my cousin, teased as she strutted in on her ridiculous heels.

I didn't understand her need to dress up when all she was going to do was sit inside the office for the whole day. I would rather come in pajamas unless I had a meeting to attend. But Iris liked to dress to impress no matter where she was going to be.

"Thanks," I snorted. "And I wasn't sleeping! I was just taking a break. Gracie dumped so many files on my desk." I gestured towards the mess in front of me. "Please tell me you didn't bring more work for me."

She gave me a sheepish smile before lifting the file she had in her hand, her bracelet jingling with the movement. "Sorry. This is important."

Groaning, I threw my head back and shut my eyes. I was hoping the work would distract me from worrying about the meeting with Henry but instead, it was becoming a pain in the ass.

"Come on, now. Don't be a baby." Iris swatted my shoulder as she came to stand beside me. She opened the file and splayed it on the table. "I want you to read through this and propose the highlighted part in the next board meeting."