Monday came too quickly. I dreaded it with all my heart. And stomach. I felt nauseous all morning. I barely got any sleep. I was so worried about how to confront Garrett.

I still couldn't believe the manipulative man he really was. I knew he was a jerk when we dated for that short time, but I didn't realize how bad he was. There were a handful of moments I thought back to that should have been huge red flags for me. But I was so caught up with a man giving me any attention.

Garrett was the only other man to do so besides Adam. Maybe that should have been my first clue. Any man having any interest in me was just no good.

I thought more about some of the red flags I missed as I waited in the elevator to the office. The elevator music was attempting to calm me.

I would try to dress up for some of our dates. Garrett would ask me if I had anything else to wear. Apparently, the clothes I had weren't good enough.

Garrett would constantly ask for rides everywhere we went, even at work. He never offered to pay for gas and rarely paid for dinner.

From talking with Emily and other women about sex, I realized Garrett is very selfish in bed. And so was my husband, apparently. I didn't know that women could get so much pleasure from sex.

Even though he would constantly ask for my help in his reports, he would find a way to make me feel dumb about other things. Or he would say embarrassing things about me to other people.

He never hid his flirting around me. He was always looking at more attractive women and flirting with them. The worst was with Chloe at work.

The more I thought about these things, the angrier I became. I thought of what I would say to Garrett and let everyone else see this side of him.

I stormed out of the elevator into the open office space. Most everyone was there already. I arrived a little later than usual to ensure that.

Of course, I saw Garrett standing between my and Chloe's desks. He was chatting with her until he noticed me storming up to them. I must have been giving off an intense aura because Garrett shut right up and stepped away from Chloe. In the corner of my eye, I saw a few people look up from their computers and wonder what would happen.

"Oh, hi, Gabby. Um, is everything alright?" Garrett looked surprised, like I caught him doing something he shouldn't have.

I rolled my eyes and slumped down into my chair. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. I don't have time to help you with your reports anymore."

"Actually, I was going to ask you for help on another one. It's due Wednesday. Gray is out to get me." I now saw how fake his emotions were.

"I told you I can't."

"You didn't have a problem with it before!"

He leaned down closer to me so no one would hear them. But it was impossible to hide their conversation now. Everyone in the office seemed to have stopped working and listened in.

"Look, I need it done. If you want to thank me for everything I've done for you, you'll do this for me." He set down a thick folder on the corner of my desk.

The barrier to my rage was growing thinner. I shot Garrett a dirty look.

"I said no."

"What the fuck is your problem? Are you hangry or something?" A condescending laugh escaped his lips.

The barrier was getting thinner and thinner.

"I just decided not to help you anymore. I have my own work to do." I tried so hard to end it there. He couldn't take the hint.

I could feel Garrett's breath on my neck as he leaned in more.

"You should be more grateful to me. I've done a lot for you. It doesn't look like you're getting any other man's attention. Without me, you're going to be single forever."

The barrier broke. I stood up and was ready to swing my hand across Garrett's face. But before I could, I noticed Vince standing by Chloe's desk. I didn't realize just how silent the room had been the entire time. Garrett didn't know either. But everyone heard him.

When I saw Vince's face, I was shocked. It had turned red. I swore I saw a vein popping out of his forehead. Garrett was confused by the shocked expression on my face and turned around. I thought he was going to fall over by Vince's presence.

Garrett was about to speak, but Vince grabbed his collar and shoved him over to his desk.

"Sit!" Vince demanded. Everyone else was still. No one had ever seen their boss so enraged.

Garrett fell into his chair. His jaw looked like it wanted to fall to the floor. The color drained from his face.

"Pack up your things and get the fuck out of here!"

"But, what... what... but," Garrett fumbled around his desk. Folders and papers are scattered everywhere.

"I should have just transferred you before, but Miss Sawyer was too damn nice to let me do it. You are a narcissist and a parasite. You don't deserve this job or to work with any of these incredible people. You're fired!"

"Vince! You can't just do that!" Garrett stood up and shouted at Vince.

"That's Mr. Marten to you."

Vince poked Garrett in the chest. Garrett then fell back into his chair. Vince then pointed over to me while still glaring down at Garrett.

"And that's Miss Sawyer to you. If you ever come back or harass her again, I will call the police." Vince looked over at me now. "Regardless if she wants me to or not."

I automatically nodded my head. I would agree with anything Vince said at this point. I would call 'Master' if he wanted me to. Vince had never shown this dominant side before. I wondered what he was like outside of work.

Emily ran over and rushed me into the breakroom. After she sat me on the couch, she gave me a cup of water. I looked up at her and was about to argue.

Emily spoke first, knowing what I was thinking. "No, no. He's gone. It's done. He's out of your life."

"But I wanted to watch Vince kick him out!" I pouted and took a sip of water.

Emily laughed. "That was so cool! Vince has never been that angry before!"

She continued to talk and help get my mind off things until everything calmed down again. Gray walked into the breakroom.

"He's gone. We can go back to work now." He said calmly with a smile.

"Thank god. Screw that guy." Emily said as we walked out of the breakroom.

Around the corner, I saw Vince standing by my desk. He looked exhausted. I slowly walked over, not knowing what to do or say to him.

His hand sat on the top of my chair. The other rubbed his eyes with his thumbs and middle finger.

I put my hand next to his on top of the chair. He jumped and looked over at me with a tired smile.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry it got to that point. I know I should have gotten rid of him before. He really wasn't that good of a worker." He chuckled. "I have never been good with firing people. That's why I like to transfer them instead if I can help it."

I looked over at Gray sitting back down at his desk and remembered how it was planned that if I ended up quitting before I lasted one year, Vince offered to transfer him. With all the complaints from the others about Gray's attitude, especially with new employees, Vince must have felt like he didn't have a choice.

"I know it's hard, Mr. Marten." I smiled. I know being in management is really stressful.

"Please, Gabriella, you can keep calling me Vince." He laughed and patted my hand on the chair.

"Yes, Mast... Vince." I winced. That was close.

Vince raised his eyebrow at me. He probably wondered what I was about to call him.

"If you need me for anything, I'll be in my office." He turned and walked away.

I groaned as I slunk into my chair. I got nauseous again when I heard Chloe typing. She was the last person I wanted to talk to about what happened. If she also bothered me, I would take Vince's offer of transferring people and get her out of here too.

I laughed to myself and opened up my email. I noticed one from Gray.

Gabriella,

I need to talk with you after work. If you're available. And if you don't mind.

Gray Bennett.

Oh, God. I didn't really want to talk about it with him anymore. I didn't want him to call me an idiot for letting Garrett take advantage of me.