Carissa might as well have been on fire. Her face was burning with embarrassment. Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. She was sweating through her clothes. Her bottom lip was about to break out with her teeth biting so deep into it. She kept making typos because her hands were so shaky, constantly having to delete what she typed and redo everything. It was hard to focus on the tasks at hand with what's been floating around.

Ever since she entered work, a lot of eyes were on her. Especially her female coworkers who she didn't willingly interact with. They were all giving her these dirty looks, like she committed some crime yet was found not guilty. Carissa didn't understand but assumed Nicola just said another dumb rumor about her. Well, Carissa's negligence to find out ended up with one of them confronting her about something on the internet.

To no surprise, one of those hikers didn't fully keep their promise. A picture of Hawks on top of Carissa on the hiking trail was posted online, having received thousands of views already. Carissa was forced to explain it wasn't what it looked like, but wasn't believed when she said she didn't willingly meet up with Hawks in the forest. People were giving her crap for it since she found out today.

A little red light on Carissa's desk lit up. Mr. Baxter wanted to see her. She bit her lip tightly, her heart cracking as she tried to keep tears from forming in her eyes. It was only a matter of time before this would happen. But she had to deal with it. The woman got up from her chair and left her office space, trying to ignore all the stares and glares. As she suspected, Mr. Baxter did not look happy when the door opened. He held an expression of annoyance and confusion in his features. Carissa held back a sigh as she sat down in the chair facing him.

"I just found out something very interesting, Carissa."

Carissa didn't reply. She wasn't numb to her surprise, but was tired of her boss's obsessive behavior towards her.

Mr. Baxter grabbed the side of his computer and yanked the screen around to show the photo of Hawks on top of Carissa. "What the hell is this?" He demanded in question.

"That was a complete accident."

"Don't you lie to me."

"I was walking in a park yesterday and Hawks approached me. We tripped and fell."

"Why the hell was he with you?"

Carissa bit the inside of her cheek. "…He claimed he wanted to 'see' me."

"And you fell into that position?"

"It's not what it looks like." Carissa said in complete honesty. "Even if it was, any irrelevant matters I do outside of work are none of your business, sir."

"Don't be a little smartass. You wanna keep your job, you won't talk to me like that." Mr. Baxter warned dangerously.

But Carissa didn't care at this point. "I don't wanna keep my job. I don't even know why I'm still here." She deadpanned.

Mr. Baxter gave her this surprised, angry expression. Carissa tried not to show any emotion, not wanting her boss's temper to get to her. He sat up from his seat. "I think I've had enough of your rejections." He said, stepping around his desk. His voice was becoming harsher. "I've been trying to be nice to you, and you keep being a stubborn little bitch."

He was now standing right in front of her, towering over her. His light-brown eyes burned with this angry mixed with desire. "This is the only job you've ever had. I'm the only boss you've ever had. I'm the only reference you can legally use when applying for other jobs. It won't look good when the only boss you've ever had tells your future employers what a horrible employee you are and to not even consider hiring."

Carissa only looked up at him a bored expression.

"If you don't go out on a date with me, every single person who calls for you will be told you're a terrible worker who never gets her work done and has a horrible attitude." Mr. Baxter threatened.

Well, that seals the deal. Carissa thought. She used the fear she held toward her boss's temper to feign fear of losing her job. She dipped her head, staring away at a random part of the room. Her fingers curled up in her lap, her palms becoming sweaty.

Her lack of response made her boss nearly lose it. He came forward and slipped his hand into her vibrant, strawberry-blonde hair. Carissa's eyes widened at his action, staring up at him in fear as he gave her hair a light yank. "You're on thin ice. Answer the question." He growled.

"…Can you give me time to think about it?" Carissa muttered, trying not to wince at her boss's grip. This was the first time he was touching her like this. "I need a little time to think about it."

It felt like forever before he finally let go, his fingers slowly releasing her hair. Stepping back, his proper composure came back and his tone returned to normal. However, it was still laced with this aggravation. "You have until tomorrow to make up your mind." He said. "I want the documents for the next few days ready to go by tomorrow. Go."

Carissa got up without any hesitation and left her boss's office, once again ignoring all the stares.

That was the final straw for her.

Carissa already made up her mind. She didn't give her actual answer because she knew her boss wouldn't be happy with it and would do something drastic. Her body temperature decreased, not caring anymore about everyone else's opinions. This would be her last day. She wouldn't see any of these people again. Carissa would endure her final day today and just call up her boss the next morning to tell her she's quitting. If he gave her shit, she would hang up on him. But the woman had no clue as to why she never quit or even reported anyone in the first place. Maybe she just didn't care enough to do something about it?

Had she fallen that far that she would be completely unwilling to save herself from bad situations? Wouldn't be the first time to admit she didn't possess a healthy mindset.

She went back to her office space and continued working, no longer showing any signs of distress. Clocking out tonight, it would finally be over.

Golden eyes observed from the vacant office in the building across the street. A hint of sympathy shined in them as they watched the woman return to her desk. She no longer looked so bashful, but annoyed and yet at peace. She got straight to working again, he guessed. Hawks wasn't able to see her with the office walls covering his view, but he could hear her typing away with the red feather he hid in there.

Nearly everyone in the whole room watched her return to her desk. Several female coworkers, many who fawned over Hawks the day before, glared at Carissa while whispering rather rude things about her.

"Is Hawks really hooking up with her?"

"Why would he go out with some boring nobody like her?"

"Do you think she paid him to fuck her?"

Hawks's feathers twitched at the things the employees were saying, but he glared back in the direction of Mr. Baxter's office. The guy was sitting in his chair, rubbing himself while breathing heavily. The winged hero's teeth gritted, knowing the guy was most likely thinking about Carissa while performing this act.

He looked Mr. Baxter up. Apparently there was a rumor going around that Carissa was sleeping with her boss. But that clearly wasn't the case here, having witnessed the interaction between the two. This wasn't the first time this happened, either. Mr. Baxter was investigated for getting handsy with another female employee a few years back, but was let go.

Even without the room's light on, the atmosphere around Hawks grew dark. His golden eyes glowed, a burning emotion in them as he glared at Mr. Baxter. He gave Carissa until tomorrow to give him an answer.

And that was plenty of time.

It was almost nine o'clock at night. Nearly everyone else went home. Only Carissa and her boss remained in the office. Carissa typed away on her computer, finishing up the final document for her job. It would've been a great opportunity to shove the thing into Baxter's face and tell him this was the last thing he was getting from her for good, but she knew that was a bad idea.

It was a rare occurrence for Mr. Baxter to stay back this late. A few hours ago he was going around asking people if they'd seen some documents he stored away. Apparently they went missing from one of his file cabinets but he never touched them. Whether or not they were misplaced, now he was scrambling to make new ones and get them all done. He actually tried to make Carissa do some of them, but she reminded him of all the work he'd given her and how it wasn't her fault he misplaced them. It was a risk saying that, but her boss begrudgingly got to working on them. She and the other employees could barely hear him through the walls of his office cursing to himself for losing such important documents. As much of an ass Mr. Baxter could be, it was out of place for him to do that.

Only a few lights in the large room were on, giving Carissa just enough light to see what to do and where to go. After completing the final document, she printed it out and filed it. Mr. Baxter must've heard the printer go off because his door opened. The man stepped out of his office. "Carissa." He called.

RING…RING…

As soon as Mr. Baxter stepped out, his office phone started ringing.

"What is your next task?"

"I finished my final document."

RING…

"You've finished?" Mr. Baxter asked, sounding confused.

Carissa nodded.

RING…

Mr. Baxter squinted his eyes as if not believing her. Soon enough his demeanor changed. "I want an answer now."

"I need more time to think."

RING…

"You've had plenty of time to think. Tell me your answer."

"I haven't had any time to think." Carissa practically snapped. "I've been working on all the documents you've told me to do."

RING…

"You've had your break!"

"That's not enough time!"

RING…

"Bullshit! You're not leaving until you give me an answer!"

Carissa glared at him. "That's false imprisonment." She bluntly said, glancing at his office. "Don't you think you should get that?"

The phone continued to ring as they spoke. The two people argued until Mr. Baxter finally sighed in irritation.

"Tomorrow you will give me your answer?"

"Yes."

RING…

"I want you here by eight in the morning. No later. With an answer. If not, I'm withholding your paycheck." Mr. Baxter threatened.

Keep the thing. Carissa thought but kept it in.

RING…

Carissa collected herself, once again glancing at Mr. Baxter's office. The phone kept ringing and ringing, even past its usual time length. Someone's been calling him two or three times. Whatever. It's wasn't her problem. She quickly gathered her stuff as her boss went into his office and left the room, getting out of there before he decided to come back.

Something like a weight lifted off her shoulders. Finally, this was over. Carissa wouldn't have to deal with her boss's or anyone else's shit in this building. She would start over at her dad's job. It wouldn't make as much money, but at least Carissa would be away from all the drama. At least, the old drama that didn't revolve around this place. The woman stepped into the elevator and descended down to the parking garage.

Mr. Baxter barged into his office, glaring at his office phone. "Who the hell is calling this late at night?" He snapped in question, yanking the device off its box and changing his tone to a more professional vocalization. "Can I help you?"

"…"

"Hello?"

"…"

"Hello?"

"…BEEP…BEEP"

Whoever was on the other line hung up. Mr. Baxter scowled at the phone and slammed it back onto the receiver, cursing in question. He instantly glanced back at the door, looking at where Carissa disappeared to. A sudden boost of energy activated his confidence. His legs started to move in long strides towards the exit to the whole office. He could catch up to her. Carissa should still be in the parking garage below.

It didn't matter what her answer was. She'd go out with him. She will never leave him.

All of a sudden, all of the surrounding lights went off. Mr. Baxter stopped for a moment, dumbfounded by what just happened. He turned to the window, now the only source of light. As usual, it was raining outside. But the rain wasn't strong enough to be a thunderstorm. All the years Garrett's lived in Seattle, surely this wasn't enough to cause a power outage.

Mr. Baxter stomped over to the small janitor's closet in the corner to search for a light. He threw the door open, desperate to find any kind of light source before Carissa left the building. However, a bunch of things ended up falling on him as he rummaged through boxes of items, cursing up a storm. When he finally found what he thought could've been a flashlight, he pulled it out and left the closet, only to discover it wasn't a flashlight at all.

"Fuck." Mr. Baxter cussed through gritted teeth. He dropped the thing and decided to look for a light somewhere else.

The boss paused, noticing something to the left. A large, foreign shadow standing in front of the window-wall to the left. Mr. Baxter froze in shock, staring at the humanoid figure. Their eyes giving the man a playful glare.

A light, masculine voice interrupted the silence. "Hello, Mr. Backstabber."