THE CEO'S PARAMOUR

11.

Peyton.

Waking up to yet another day of being treated like I wasn't worth anything, had me feeling triggered for some reason, I knew I had reached my limit and I hoped it wouldn't have come this soon.

I had hoped that things would get better for me and Kol wouldn't still be angry or just outright petty about everything, we were grown adults, we could talk and let things go, but that didn't seem to go well with him.

After finishing my morning routine, I grabbed my bag and the rest of the stuff I would need for the day, my neighbors were less noisy today or they were having makeup sex already which I slightly envied. "Morning neighbor." It was the guy who lived in the same building as me and had asked me out to which I gracefully refused.

"Morning." I replied trying not to show that I had forgotten his name. "Will you say yes today if I asked, just one drink that's all." He begged and I wondered if that one drink would have him off my back.

"If I agree will you finally realize that you and I could never work or just need to be friends?" He closed his eyes as if he were in deep thought. "Probably not, c'mon you're single, I'm single, we could be single together." I groaned at how bad that pick up was.

"Please be single by yourself." I mumbled before stepping out of the lift we were in, leaving him stunned. "You'll say yes eventually!" He yelled walking in the opposite direction of where I was headed.

I walked further down the sidewalk to the closest coffee shop I knew, it was always packed in the morning but their coffee was worth getting stuck in traffic. My curls ruffled in the wind as I walked into the coffee shop, moving them from my face I made it to the front of the line.

"Hey you're cutting in line!" A man with a suit a bit too large for him yelled and I raised my hand, I wasn't in the mood to wait in line. "Black, double dose of sugar." The waiter winked at me and I smiled back. "The man over there said to give you this." It was the waiter who had my order and some unknown package.

I turned around to find the supposed man and I rolled my eyes at his failed attempt to actually come up and talk to me, he was handsome, tall and muscle proportions were great, but he seemed to live in a gym, with no social life and I wasn't looking for social suicide.

"Thanks." I grabbed the package and my coffee, didn't bother to look inside and just dropped it in the trash, I wasn't looking for someone to date with what had been going on with my life lately, I certainly didn't want to make someone my rebound we all deserved to be loved right.

I hailed a cab and got in, my destination was simple so he drove off easily. "Thanks and keep the change." I spoke to the cab driver and started my walk toward the building I was starting to hate, but today everything was going to change.

I walked in to be greeted by people I knew from different departments, and those I had done coordinated work with. "Hold the lift!" A voice yelled out and I held it for the man, he was tall, pretty good build but with the stacks of paper he was carrying you could barely see his face.

"Hey you're that designer, Peyton right." I smiled toward the man and nodded. "You're so cool and your work is amazing, can't wait to see what the expo will be like." His words held a certain energetic vibe to them and I really appreciated how he was looking forward to what I create.

"Thank you—." I gestured for his name. "Ty Richards." He responded with a boyish grin. "Thank you, Ty, I will definitely save you a seat, which floor are you on?" I prodded further.  "Human resources, I thought the amount paperwork I'm holding spoke for itself." He expressed with a chuckle.

"No it didn't." I laughed as the elevator opened. "Here that's my number, if you wanna grab a drink or just hang out, I'm your guy, have a great day Peyton!" He slightly yelled walking away, leaving me to laugh on my own.

Ty was definitely on my friend list, he was sort of different and brought a different energy to my day, which I needed a lot of, today was the day for me. I walked into the design lab floor with a slight smile on my face. "What has you grinning like you got a million bucks." Hilda questioned as I made my way to my space.

"Nothing actually I'm having a good day." I replied her with an honest smile though that smile didn't really last that long, Murdock walked in looking furious and I could feel myself strangely afraid.

"Please tell me you didn't do it, you can't leave!" He yelled and I knew he was mad about that. "Doc come on we talked about this." I tried to calm him down. "No you talked and I listened, Peyton, this is your dream job, do you think I'm going to stay here if you leave." He argued and I knew he was right.

"I don't have a choice, I'm tired of being ridiculed, and being told that I'm not good enough, I have nothing to prove my reputation stands for itself, so if I'm not relevant here I might as well become relevant somewhere else." I stated leaving no room for argument, Doc understood, I knew he did.

"Peyton you know how he's like, you'll show him your work is worth it at the Expo, he'll take you seriously then, just hang on." Shawn pleaded but my mind was made up, I needed to go because I couldn't stay where I've been constantly shown that I'm not wanted.

"I have to go deliver this." I waved my physical copy of the resignation letter in the air, I knew the one I sent Kol was probably ignored, everyone looked suddenly sad but this decision was for me, not anyone else. I made my way to the lift, punched in Kol's floor, and waited till it opened.

"Morning, is he free, kind of an emergency." His secretary didn't say anything just pointed to the door and I walked toward it, I knocked first because I didn't want any surprises for a beautiful morning. "Come in." He sounded angry, more rather he sounded even more angry than usual.

"Morning Mr. Tempest." I greeted with a smile, though forced he didn't need to know that. "I went through HR for my resignation and they told me you would have to authorize it, I don't know what that meant but none the less here I am." I stated confidently, I didn't want to show him how much he got to me.

His cologne, his body, and those piercing eyes that would have me on my knees. "I know what you're trying to do Peyton, my answer is no, I won't terminate you from this company, I don't see anything wrong, so why leave." He argued I held back a scoff.

"You're kidding me right, you've made me look like I'm not worth anything to the whole design team, you've constantly ridiculed me and treated my work as if it was garbage, your father approved of my work each and every time after you turned them down, and you ask me what's wrong, are you serious." I demanded knowing full well I had had it with Kol.

"I don't care, Peyton, you work here, you're not leaving and that's final." He angrily lashed out but I wasn't going to back down. "I'm not asking for permission, I'm telling you I'm resigning, standard procedure has me working here for two weeks, I will do the expo and be gone." I asserted walking out of his office leaving him furious.

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LMJ