🥊 Hate or Fate 💕 {Enemies to Lovers}

.63.

Maleficent's sloppy rage boiled over and she flicked her bony wrist to douse me in the remnants of her drink. The chunky ice cube smacked my temple and shattered apart to scatter across the floor. 

"Ow!" I cried out in shock. 

"You can't quit!" She hissed while I frantically wiped the booze out of my eyes with my free hand. "Don't forget, I own you and your portfolio. If you try using your work here to get another job, I will ruin you, Isla." 

"I don't think you will, Maleficent," I cut her off and angled my phone in her direction. "Because if you do, I'll use my recording of this conversation in my lawsuit against CD&R. And I've been sending this to the cloud for safekeeping."

Maleficent's red-lined lips formed a gaping hole. She sputtered and fumed and uttered horrible things before she stomped off to probably go find her lawyer. 

My entire body was shaking with nervous energy as I ended the recording and watched my boss lurch away. Her heel slipped on a tiny fragment of ice cube and she screeched like a wounded pterodactyl, but Maleficent managed to continue walking. 

Speechless and soaking wet (and so angry I could barely see straight) I tried to make sense of what had happened. Essentially, I just quit my job without a backup plan and my head was spinning.

I needed to clean myself up. I needed to find Rebecca and Bart so I could tell someone what had just happened. I needed to sort out what the heck I was going to do with my career. 

Instead of doing any of those things, though, I checked my phone to see if Gray had called or texted me. 

He hadn't. 

Disappointment and rejection doused the fire of my anger to leave me shivering and utterly alone. 

All things considered, I was ready to go home. So, I headed for the dancefloor to look for Bart and Rebecca. 

Pushing through my coworker's sweaty costumes while they gyrated inappropriately, I spotted my roommate's towering wig of bright red hair near the saloon. 

"Where the hell have you been, chica?" Rebecca cried as soon as she saw me. "Bart and I have been looking for you everywhere!"

"Oh, you know, the usual party stuff. What's this? I'm going to drink it," I shrugged. Rebecca had been holding an electric green-colored drink in a shot glass that I took out of her hands without asking permission. With a quick tip of my chin, the sugary liquid slid down my throat, coating it like an alcoholic Jolly Rancher. "I made some small talk, I bobbed for apples, and I quit after Maleficent accused me of sleeping with Braxton and threw her drink all over me."

"You WHAT?" Rebecca squawked and tripped on her own sassy heels. "why didn't you tell me you were gonna do that?! 

"Because I didn't exactly plan it," I winced against the sugary burn of the booze as it met my churning stomach acids. "Oof, that was sour! Maleficient cornered me and accused me of going to HR about Braxton. When I denied it, she shoved me and accused me of sleeping with him!" 

"What the hell?" Rebecca exploded again. "She touched you? Did anybody see it?" 

"I don't think so?" I shook my head and reached for the shot glass full of faded yellow liquid that Bart was about to drink. "Can I have this? What is it?" 

"Sure," Bart looked as if he was reeling from all the drama. "It's a lemon drop."

I tossed the drink back and handed both of the empty shot glasses to Rebecca, who set them down on the nearest table for someone else to deal with. The citrusy afterburn tingled on my tongue and pinched in the back of my jaw.