Chapter 10

Liv

I love my friends and my job. Life has improved tremendously since my chance meeting with Suzie and Holly at the restaurant. I'm in a place now where I don't have to rely on anyone because my job is secure and I love working for Benjamin, although he is a tough cookie at times.

I wasted far too much of my time with Gaz and I'm not wasting anymore from this point forward. He's insistent that I pay him for half the monthly rental, but he's not getting it. If necessary he can take me to court and let's see how his dental practice partners feel about having dirty linen aired to the public.

Walking into Suzie's where we are having today's WAR meeting, I give Slade a huge smile. It's been a while since I've seen him, as he has been away with a rock band securing their security when the drummer had a stalker.

"How are you, Liv?" Slade asks while handing me an empty mug to pour myself a coffee.

"I'm good. When did you get to town?"

"Last night, but I couldn't miss another WAR meeting. Noah gave me all the latest updates, and it seems Holly's problems are all put to bed one way or another."

Giving a huge smile and laugh, I look at Holly as she walks in the front door carrying a large plate piled with pastries. Now, this is what my stomach has been waiting for, I think to myself. Rubbing said stomach as another loud growl rips through the room and has everyone looking my way.

"You haven't eaten again, have you?" Holly frowns at me.

"No, I was rushing around this morning, and forgot. But I'm going to eat now, so don't you worry yourself about me." I grab a cinnamon roll and take a huge bite, humming to myself as I chew.

Suzie, Benjamin, Noah, and Sin take a seat once Holly has placed the plate on the table. Funnily, we all turn our heads and look at Benjamin for him to open the meeting. Now, how he got to be in charge of the WAR meetings I have no idea, but as I work for him it feels natural for me to wait for his direction.

"Okay. I think we have done enough to Holly's bags of trash…Ex-Husband, lost job, moved to another state, taking his mother with him. Car-Lot demoted to a nobody and parents banned from all fundraising committees." Benjamin gives each of us a huge grin, and I have to admit, we all grin back at him. "You okay with how things have gone down, Holly?"

"Yes, I'm more than happy. Sin has also stolen Stanley from my parents, and I'm more than grateful for that. Stanley is thrilled with where he is and what he is now doing. Thank you Sin." Holly gives Sinclair such a sweet smile that I feel my throat thicken. Shit, no crying…I'm a sucker for happy endings.

"Okay, so on to Liv from this point. Gaz is a partner in the dental practice. We don't want him to lose his partnership. That's not the name of our game. But, we want the new girlfriend to suffer a little. She knew that he was with someone and didn't give a damn, so let's have her paying some retribution." Benjamin leans back in his seat, hands linked on the table in front of him, and we can all see he is thinking hard.

"Gaz is still sending text messages to my phone, which Suzie keeps fielding. But, I was thinking he seems to be stuck on the fact that I owe him half a month's lease. I don't as I paid up the lease before I threw the keys through the door, slamming it shut. I have all the bank statements to prove it as I went into the bank and had them sent to me.

"I was thinking about sending him a counterclaim for money of the half month's lease he owes me, plus the other services I provided, for example: cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping. You get the idea?"

Noah chuckles, and Sin outright laughs. You know, the head back laughing. Slade speaks out with humor in his voice. "Fuck, that would be good. Let's see how much we can get this invoice to, and then half it, so we bill him for his half. How long were you together, Liv?"

"We were together seven years in total."

Rubbing their hands together, I can see Slade and Noah getting their heads together, checking how much cleaning services charge, as well as everything else I did around the house. The only thing they don't add on is any sexual contact we had because I'm not having them make me a prostitute.

Suzie taps the table, getting everyone's attention. "I'll go to the spa with Sin. He can make out he's my man, and we'll set a couple of pranks while we are there. You up for that Sin?"

"Oh, yeah," Sin chuckles, and we all can see he's fully up for the fun of pranking these assholes.

"What happened with your ex-girlfriend?" Benjamin asks Sin.

"Oh, I spoke to her boss, who has been a friend of mine since we were in kindergarten and he had her transferred to another of his offices. In Alaska."

It takes only but a minute before we all have registered the Alaska comment and burst out laughing.

"Hell, you got your revenge. What about the one you fired?" Slade asks and we all wait for Sin's reply.

"Well, seems he's not been able to get another high exec position since it was bandied around that he's not trustworthy with people's girlfriends. Nobody wants to employ anyone with loose morals. Well, not if they want to continue being associated with companies that hold family and relationships in high regard."

"Are you happy that things are settled for you? You don't want to push for any payback?" Benjamin asks.

Sin grins, "I think Alaska for her, and working at the mall as a store manager for him, is enough payback, and I have Stanley with me at the house, so I think I came out of this bullshit better than those two. I also made good friends…"

Sin holds his coffee mug up and we all chink ours alongside his, and I think we are all grateful we found each other.

Suzie gains our attention. "Out of the four of us, I think Sin's issue worked out the easiest, and we didn't have to do anything to them at all. What a shame, as I was looking forward to messing with that bitch."

"Now, now Suzie, let's not get tied up with them. They are not worth our bother. But on to Liv's issue. So, you want me to come to the spa with you and pretend to be your boyfriend?" Fluttering his eyelashes at Holly, which has all of us laughing.

"I have a better idea." I outline my idea and get all head nods of agreement. Noah smirks, as his department will be the one we will infiltrate to get the job done.

Let the shit begin, I'm thinking, and I can't wait.

Monday soon came around and I spent the morning with Noah in one of his empty department offices, along with one of his technical team. This is going to be fun, and we can't wait to see what happens.

Giving Noah a kiss on the cheek, I quickly make my way to my desk and am surprised to see Michelle Graves walking toward me. Sighing because she's after snaring Benjamin, and I know for a fact he cannot stand her and her squeaky, whining voice.

"Good morning, how can I help you? Miss. Graves, isn't it?" Now I use my best secretary voice, the one that says I'll take no shit and no prisoners.

"I'm here to see Benjamin."

Now, she stinks so bad of cheap perfume that I feel like gagging. Parfum De Skank comes to mind.

I cover my nose to let her know her smell is offensive and I see her jaw tighten as she grits her teeth. My hand remains as I reply, "I'm sorry, but looking at the schedule, you don't have an appointment for this morning."

"I don't need an appointment. I want to see Benjamin."

Now she stamps her foot like a six-year-old, and I look down at her feet as I stand and lean over my desk. Blinking, I innocently ask, "Oh, dear, did you need to stamp on something? A spider or a bug of some sort?"

I struggle to hold the giggle back as this idiot is looking at the ground until she realizes I'm taking the piss out of her, making her look a total fool.

"No, I did not stomp on a bug."

I can see I'm getting to her, and you're right, I continue. "Oh, so why did you stamp your foot? Does your shoe hurt? You have a nervous tick in your leg?"

Squealing at me, the idiot stomps her foot once more and storms to the elevator, where she jabs at the control buttons. Once the doors have closed, I throw my head back laughing.

"That was neat, Liv. Now, I saw all that on my monitor. Keep it up and I'll give you a raise." Benjamin is grinning at what I can only imagine my performance looked like.

Later in the afternoon, I pick up my phone after hearing it vibrate on my desk and see a message from Suzie.

Suzie: You gotta come to the spa.

Liv: What are you doing at the spa? You are supposed to be at work.

Suzie: Couldn't resist, but you gotta come now before this bitch leaves for the day.

Rushing out of the building, I hightail it to the spa, where I find Suzie sitting in her vehicle with binoculars, looking at the front entrance to the building.

Opening her vehicle's passenger door, I climb in and slam the door closed. Turning to look at her, I quickly ask, "What's going on?"

"You'll see," pointing at a blue vehicle, Suzie grins. "That's her vehicle. Now we wait. I bet you $5 that she doesn't make it without falling flat on her ass."

It's not long before the bitch struts out of the building. Speaking on her phone and looking around before heading to her vehicle. How it happens I do not know, but one minute she is walking, swinging her hips like she's trying to attract every one of the opposite sex to staggering and falling to the ground. Her phone flies out of her hand, and she lands on her hands and knees.

"That had to hurt…" Suzie softly giggles.

"What did you do?"

"Well, I had a little spa this afternoon. It seems this bitch isn't well liked, so I got you her email and her address for Noah. Plus, I had a few minutes with an instrument and her locker. Oops, it seems the heel on those four-inch expensive shoes is not that good…anymore." Suzie side eyes me and I don't even try to stop the smile that beams across my face.

"You didn't? You did… Oh my, oh my, that was awesome. Oh dear, she's hurt her knee." I say with a pouty, sad expression, but with excitement shining in my eyes.

"Yeah, that had to hurt." Suzie looks again at me and we burst out laughing before I run to my vehicle and follow Suzie home, where we'll celebrate with a glass of wine and I can fill her in on what Noah and I achieved today.