Archer shook his head at his colleague's antiques, they were all drunk out of their mind.He turned to Lola, "Hey, I am going."Lola pouted, "But you just got here,""It's been four hours," Archer reminded her.Lola's eyes widened and she looked around like she just realized where she was."Oh,""Want me to call a cab for you?" Archer asked,Lola shook her head, "No, I will hitch a ride with someone here."Archer nodded and stood, he headed out to the parking lot.He took out his phone to call the driver when he stopped short at the sight of an angry Jack standing in front of him."Get out of my way," he calmly told Jack."Shut up," Jack snarled at him.Archer took a step back to be studied, by Jack. He appeared to be tipsy and out of sorts. Archer sighed knowing it was going to be hard to get rid of him."Are you drunk?" he asked."I said shut up!" Jack yelled.He pointed a finger at Archer, his eyes blazing with anger."You are such a shameless liar,""Pray tell, what did I lie abo
Archer tapped his finger against his wrist as he waited for Ferguson. He invited the man to his office for a conversation.After everything Gabriel had to say, Archer had to see firsthand what he was talking about.He couldn't sleep last night. He spent the night combing through the files Gabriel gave him and things were more interesting than Marcus's file.It even confirmed the thing Archer knew.The door to his office opened and the frown on his face deepened when Ferguson entered the office.Ferguson looked around like he would rather be elsewhere."Nice office, " he muttered to Archer."Thank you,""What am I doing here?" he asked Archer as he looked around the office with disdain, "I am a busy man and I have things to do.""I understand sir," Archer gestured for him to sit down.Ferguson reluctantly sat down as he grumbled, "I don't even know why I came here.""I am sorry for bringing you out here," Archer said."Make it quick," Ferguson snapped.Archer smiled to himself. He had
"I can see you called me here for nothing important," Ferguson said."I did, it might not be important to you but it is very important to me and also my stay in this company needed to be assured.""Is that so?" Ferguson smirked, "Well, I can assure you that likeness has nothing to do with the way I run things and your stay with the company depends on how much you make. I hate dead weights.""I understand, sir.""The next time you want to waste my time? At least treat me out to lunch first." Ferguson warned.He stood up and straightened his slacks before he pinned Archer with a disapproving gaze.He turned to leave when Archer stopped him,"Who is Hailey?" he asked.A flash of recognition crossed his eyes but he maintained his passive facial expression. Ferguson's mouth turned up in a snarl,"Who is that?" Archer laughed, "Cut the crap, you are not fooling anyone.""What?""How can you pretend not to know who your girlfriend is?" Archer teased."She is not my girlfriend." Ferguson snap
Archer looked around because he was confused before his gaze settled on Hailey once again.Hailey had a frown on her face heavily directed to Archer, she had no idea why he called her here but to say she was surprised when she got his call was, to say the least, weird."What have you been busy with?" she asked impatiently.Archer scoffed lightly, choosing not to go in the direction Hailey wanted."I have been busy with work, I have to earn a living," he answered.Hailey's lips trembled as she looked at him, "All this time I thought you were angry with me or what I said, or you needed time to think about what happened but you were just, working?" she paused.Archer resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Hailey..." he started to say."Don't call my name. I bared my soul to you and you ghosted me in return? I am pregnant Archer and you left me all by myself."Archer watched as a tear slipped from her eye and dropped to her cheek, she made no move to wipe it off as she stared at him."I di
Hailey looked around and saw that Archer was serious. His expression had darkened and it looked like the only thing keeping him away from her was the table. She turned and fled, closing the door behind her.Hailey took a deep breath and leaned against the door. She closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the world for a moment. It was too much. For a second, she thought Archer would throttle her. She had never seen him angry no matter what she did previously.A tear escaped and traced a path down her cheek. Instinctively, she wiped it away, determined to not let anyone see her vulnerability.The unmistakable clicking of heels echoed as they drew closer to her, Hailey's heart raced as she realized she wasn't alone. Panic set in, urging her to compose herself before whoever it was saw her like that. Satisfied with her pep talk, She straightened up, took another deep breath, and opened her eyes, hoping to mask whatever emotions she had displayed.A voice, smooth and composed, cut th
Hailey ran out of there faster than Madison could say her name. Madison laughed till she was out of sight.She quickly composed herself and knocked on Archer's door, she pushed the door open when she heard him mumble, "Come in,"Madison tried so hard not to grin at her victory over Hailey. She had stopped herself from confronting her when Archer had shut her out but after today, she was glad she didn't.She gave Archer a questioning look when she saw Archer hunched over his desk. Madison cleared her throat, bracing herself for the worst.To her surprise, Archer was fine when he raised his head. His brows were still furrowed in concentration over whatever he was reading."What can I help you with?" he asked."Are you done avoiding me?" Madison asked, she gave him a pointed look which she ignored."I wasn't avoiding you," Archer said."Yes, you were. How would you explain how you ran out of my office the other day?""We were having a meeting. I had people waiting for me.""You ignored
"She invited me over to the beach to preach about peace and I was a damn fool for letting myself be fooled for even a second.""it's not your fault," Madison chirped in."Let me finish. I had no idea she had invited Jack for the same obvious reasons. I had walked away when she started proposing the idea of being together again. I came back when I had cooled off, ready to forgive her and be civil with her. She apologized to him too. He asked her if she had been sleeping with me all this while and she said yes.""Oh,""Yeah, I felt like such an idiot standing there and listening to them. For weeks, she pleaded and begged me to meet with her. I gave in with just the thought that I needed to put it behind me and prepare for the worst.""You had no choice, you thought she was carrying your child," Madison said.Archer shook his head, "But that's not it. I knew it wasn't mine but a foolish part of me hoped it would be. Even though there was no chance of it happening."Pity entered Madison's
Madison nodded, "Okay, we would keep being the fools, and see how long he plays his game." Archer nodded, "thank you," She stood up and made her way out, she turned at the last minute, "Are you going to do anything about Hailey?" Madison inquired, her eyes concealing the thoughts she felt.Shaking his head, Archer replied with a heavy sigh, "No, I'm going to do nothing." Madison nodded and made her way out of the room. The door closed softly behind her, leaving Archer alone with his thoughts.Archer ran a hand over his weary face. The day had been a total mess, and the fatigue seemed to seep into his bones.If he had known that calling both of them would cause this site of stress, he would have waited till he was ready.His eyes were heavy, he attempted to close his eyes and steal a quick nap. His phone rang with a quick message and he sighed and reached for his phone. Madison's text flashed across the screen, urging him to check the news. It read, I told you we would get our time