Contradiction by Easy Ash (beach books txt) 📕

"I dream in color, and I have visions of feelings and energies that I would love to feel." 

-Uzo Aduba

(Chapters will be named after the color alphabet)

AMANDA’S P.O.V

"Amanda!!!" My boss yells from a corner office of a high rise. I hurry in. 

"Yes, Mr. Pierce."

"Corporate has faxed over a contract concerning the FDA announcements, go retrieve it."

"Yes, sir." I trod a packed office area of over five hundred workers handling phone calls, their voices carrying and bashing into one another. I kick paper balls out of my way, half tempted to tidy up the whole place. Quickly, I throw a few away as I continue on. Neat freak, I definitely am. Inside a faxing room, I check the side tray of a machine. The warm printer paper soothes my fingertips. So warm. I swoop up the paper, slyly rubbing my chilly cheek over it. Even though it was summer, this building was freezing. The air was on constantly. Like right now, it hissed out of vents on the ceiling. "So much for our health...for fuck sakes, we can get sick." 

I work for a multi million dollar health business, Strive Treat. The company is known for dietary supplements, food, energy drinks, workout equipment, even for an up and coming kids workout show. The name will be mentioned on Ellen in three months. My eyes peek at the stack of papers in my hands, at the first sentence of one.

PRODUCTS WITHIN THE CALL BACKS REGISTRATION  

1. Salmon Blast Energy Drink, violates The Food and Drug Administration testing due to the recent salmon flu outbreak. (REDACTED)

My feet tap in two inch heels...no way I would fall at work. Hell no. "Okay, this is ridiculous, It's freezing, hey Amanda, try to dial the air down a bit, will you?" Jim, a fellow co worker and buddy of mine, put on a puppy face. Milking it. Knowing that the controller was behind our bosses chair...which he rarely left. 

"Maybe we can try a dart this time..." I joke as I turn into the big man's office.

A tall, brown haired guy stood before the desk...in a tensed manner. His shoulders forward, his hands resting on the desk, heavily. I froze. "Yeah, I got to the gun in time...try to lock it up better this time, it's your fault. Fucking father of the year, huh? Do you give a shit about your daughter??!" The guy's voice went loud but stayed deep, almost like a bass singer. 

"Get your ass out of here." Mr. Pierce stands over his desk. "Don't you ever...ever come to my office, my building, like this again as if you have the right, as if you deserve the role of a son or a brother. Your mother is rolling in her grave from heartbreak...you pathetic excuse." Silence. I stand at the doorway awkwardly. I could feel fire...feel the loathing they had from one another. Static, that's what it felt like, my blood crinkled. "Thank you, Amanda." My boss waves me forward with a hand, mugging his son down in disgust. "Lex, don't make me call the police, leave." 

My cheeks flush. Oh shit...what the hell...he's his son. Lex backs off of the desk with much force, going back a few feet with the motion, snickering. "You're the one that belongs in jail." He walks to the door, brushing past me, bumping my shoulder. In the small seconds I saw him, my eyes witnessed a very heated face, sharp, short, light brown and dark eyes. He smelt of weed and peppermint.

 Jim and I caught an uber together. He had became my car buddy since I was still saving for a Volkswagen Beetle. I guess we were friends who worked together. It was a bit odd hanging with someone out of the work scene. I think he likes me. People always tell me I'm very pretty. My body was regular though, nothing amazing. I'm in dire needs of glute bridges. I have some fat you can pinch. Frizzy auburn hair, dark green eyes, you'd have to see them in sunlight to notice...that's the 43% of my Scottish side. Okay looking lips. Light freckles. 

"Who was that dude in dick heads office?" Jim's baby face watched me. 

"His son..."

"What?! He talk to his daddy like that, you gotta give me the tea!"

"Umm...no it's personal and fucked up, we can talk about something else."

Jim scratches his head of blonde hair. "Wanna go see Captain Marvel tonight?" His tone got shaky.

"Look...Jim, I'm not looking for dating, school and work is all I'm focused on. I have a ten page essay waiting for me, sorry." His blue eyes lower. "Maybe you can ask the new girl, I saw her checking you out." I lie. Feeling like a bitch.

"Yeah, she's cute."

I nod. "So cute, think her name is Cindy." I suffer through an uncomfortable car ride. Guys do this thing when you reject them...this wounded, seemly unfazed but butt hurt shit but won't admit it. Jim stay looking out the window, sun splashing over him. Mad, of course. He'll be okay. My stop arrive. A dorm complex. "Have fun tonight, k?"

"Okay." 

Inside I caught the time, 6:30 pm. My fingers type on a keyboard of a purple laptop, scribbling computerized letters onto a screen. My paper's subject is abortion. Pro vs Anti, murder vs saving. My take on the subject was in the middle. I'd been pregnant before...at sixteen actually. I thought a smooth talking basketball player was my one and only. The asshole got two other girls knocked up with a repeated pickup line. I had a dream about us. Ew to me and him. Anyway, I was too young to be a mom...and my parents being religious made my choice final. Wedlock, devil child, heathen...those are just a few words they used on fellow neighbors. Imagine what they'd say about me, their daughter. So I went through with the operation and am now I'm working a good job and in college. My mind still wonders about if choosing not to parent was right. I like kids...and even found myself envious of classmates who had the kid along with the family structure. The stability. I don't think school and work is stable enough for me...the two positions seem replaceable...predictable. I could op out with ease which kinda scares me. I'm not completely loyal to either. But with a kid...a baby, walking away is not an option. Even bad kids have parents in their lives. Lex pops  up in my train of thought.

 In the morning, I shower and slip into a pencil striped shirt, and white blouse and a blazer. I decided to wear flats today. Stopping at Starbucks, to get my bosses coffee, my mind wonders back to his guy. Lex seemed like a decent son...he cared about his sister...how was he a pathetic excuse?? He just smoked weed it seemed. Another uber drove me to work. Once again the air was on. My bear legs screamed at me. Maybe I can get to the temperature dial. No one was at work yet, I always arrived thirty minutes early. I peeked into Mr. Pierce's office. He wasn't there...but his blazer hug over his chair...maybe he's in the bathroom. My feet tiptoe in, my destination; the thermostat. Bye bye fifty degrees, hello seventy. Footsteps, make me jump. I stood straight and sat a coffee on his desk. "Good morning, Amanda."

"Good morning, Mr. Pierce."

"Always the early bird." He says, taking the coffee and drinking it. 

"Yes."

He places it down, making an "ahh" sound as if it was a soda. "Either you don't have a boyfriend, or you do have one and he's not performing well enough to make you sleep in." He walks to me, coming a bit to close. His eyes resembling his son's. His salt and pepper hair. "If it's the last, that's a shame, I doubt that you can't turn a guy on."

I manage a short laugh, my heart beating fast but I hid that fact. "That's a good pickup line, sir." I make a run for the door, power walking. Panicking. "I should check for faxes." Okay, okay, just keep walking, don't pass out...oh my god do not pass out...breathe! 

"There's no rush." I heard him say from behind me. Fuck...is he following me?? "Did I make you nervous?" His arm blocks the door, my chin bumps against it. Mr. Pierce's thumb rubs my chin. So warm, do not get turned on right now. It didn't help that he looked like an older playboy model. "I know you see the looks most guys give you here, you're the hot assistant, that's all, eye candy. That's why I hired you. Remember what I said about opting out of my job? 

"This is a lawsuit." I whack his thumb away. 

"And what do you think the next boss you have will do? Or the next male employees you work with will do?" 

"Respect me." I growl. "Move your goddamn arm right now!!" He hears the elevator ding, and steps back. I storm through the door. In the fax station, no new arrivals sit in the tray. I close my eyes and let out a shuttering breath. A vase of bright yellow flowers glow back at me in sunlight. Keep calm. Keep going. At my desk, I sit the vase with the flowers down, and login to my company computer. I send up the morning announcement:

Good morning Strive Treaters, today will be a great day as always so smile and get motivated! Our quota has risen to five thousand units sales daily, so let's reach that goal. The person