He could wait on her for a change. She threw all the towels into a load, poured the soap in and started the machine.
“You can’t avoid the question or ignore me, Lateisha.” Bryce had followed her into the back room.
“This room is employees only, Mr. Henderson.” Lateisha pushed past him and headed towards the break room to grab her purse and jacket.
“Lateisha,” Bryce sounded like he was begging her to talk to him.
When he wanted to talk to her she had to do as he pleased, but he had been avoiding her for weeks. Anger suddenly took over and Lateisha’s face heated as she turned to him.
“No. You don’t get to dictate when and where I talk to you. You may have full control over this baby but you will not control me,” Lateisha answered, shaking with rage.
Bryce grabbed her by the arms and looked down at her. His hazel eyes dark with emotion.
“I’m concerned about you both. You eat junk all day and expect me to be okay with how that affects my baby. Not to mention the toll it will take on you. I don’t want you working in this place any more. You can come work for me.”
Bryce released her and walked toward the doors and Lateisha had no choice but to follow him to find out what the hell he meant.
*****
Bryce stalked away from Lateisha, anger making his blood boil. Usually Bryce was very good at maintaining his composure. Never once, not even when some idiot at work tried to one up him, did he lose his temper in public. But somehow Lateisha had him on the edge of exploding. Walking away was the best option. He knew her working in fast food would become an issue sooner or later. She assured him she didn’t eat from the place she worked, but he’d seen the other shit she ate. Lateisha liked to pretend that he wasn’t paying attention. Little did she know he was always watching her. For breakfast she ate nothing but Pop Tarts and sugary cereal and when she was home she ate pizza and fast food for lunch and dinner. God only knew what she ate when she wasn’t at the penthouse. He had seen enough. This place was no good for her. He needed her to be close to him so he could make sure she was taking care of herself and the baby. Working with him was her only option. Lucky for her there was a secretarial opening. It was for his partner John.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Lateisha exclaimed from behind him.
He turned with a smirk. “I’m Bryce Henderson, head of HenCorp and one of the wealthiest men alive.”
Lateisha looked like she was going to hit him. “Oh right. You’re so fucking rich and special you can buy babies and order people around. If I wasn’t having this baby for you I’d never speak to you again, Bryce Henderson, master of the universe.”
She turned and stomped away from him, and out the back door. Bryce sighed. Hopefully she was at the penthouse when he got back; they weren’t through with this conversation.
*****
Lateisha boarded the bus, due to the fact that her piece of shit car finally gave out two weeks ago, fury still heating her face. The nerve of him! Bryce really thought he could order her around just because he was wealthy and she was the nobody he chose to carry a baby for him. She sat with the sting of tears in her eyes. Not sure why she was suddenly sad, Lateisha pushed against her eyelids to keep them from falling. It hurt a bit that he thought so little of her but why was she surprised, after he told her what he thought of himself, she didn’t know. Suddenly she had the urge to go to Becky’s apartment and stay the night there. Bryce would just have to sweat it out to see if she was coming back.
Five minutes later, Lateisha was knocking on Becky’s door, even though she still had a key.
The door swung opened and Becky stood on the other side, surprise in her eyes.
“Teish, what’s going on?” She asked, pulling the door open and stepping back so Lateisha could enter.
“I just needed to hide from Bryce for a…” Her voice trailed off as she realized who was sitting on the couch.
“Hello, ‘Teish’,” Bryce said, giving her a fake wave and a smirk.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Lateisha barked at Becky.
“He showed up a few minutes ago looking for you. He said you might come here. I told him you wouldn’t since we really weren’t speaking too much right now. But I guess he was right.” Becky’s eyes widened with surprise as she spoke, looking from Lateisha to Bryce.
Lateisha frowned. She didn’t like that he knew her so well, even though a part of her was happy about it.
“You just can’t leave it alone can you.” Lateisha said her voice now free of anger.
She really didn’t know what to say to him at this point, but figured she may as well listen to him since he tracked her down. Waving her hand at him as if to tell him to speak, Lateisha took a seat in the armchair opposite the couch and waited for him to begin.
“As I was saying before you stormed out; my partner John has an opening to be his assistant and I think it would be good if you took it.”
Lateisha started to speak and tell him what he could do with his job offer when Becky cut in.
“Really? What a great opportunity, Lateisha! They pay great and you could even go back to school because they offer tuition assistance.” Becky stood and clapped her hands enthusiastically.