Run, Girl (If You Can)

Keeley wandered down the seemingly endless hallway until she found the first left turn Cameron had been talking about. How many offices had she passed, anyway? She was curious how many directors of something or other Hale Investments had. 

Aaron's office had a fancy titanium plaque next to the door that had his name on it with "chief executive officer" underneath it in smaller letters. She knocked on the door before hearing a faint "come in."

He was looking through some paperwork at his desk when she opened the door but instantly stood and crossed the room once he saw her and crushed her in a hug. 

"I can't believe you're actually here!"

She frowned slightly. The way he said it rankled a bit. She had never come here because he had specifically told her not to on more than one occasion in their two lifetimes. 

"I couldn't find a babysitter and I have some shins to kick," she admitted. "Can the babies stay here for a little while? It shouldn't take me more than an hour."

Aaron chuckled slightly. "So you were serious about that."

"Of course I was serious about that! Do you have any idea how many people have invaded my privacy the last few weeks?! Ryan would have deserved it anyway because of all the things he said last fall but this takes the cake. Nobody messes with me and gets away with it anymore."

"If you're really going to do this, make sure you don't have any witnesses," he advised. "I doubt he would have the nerve to spread this around considering everything he has said but someone else might if they thought you kicked him for no reason."

Ah, such a supportive husband. And here Keeley had thought Aaron would try to talk her out of it considering how much he disliked Ryan. 

"You're not going to try and stop me?"

"No, but you should also bring the driver with you as backup in case he tries to fight back. That cretin does have a bad habit of arm grabbing," Aaron said dryly. 

At this point Keeley wasn't even sure how many times Ryan had grabbed her arm when she was trying to leave. The idea had merit. 

"Alright, I'll do that. Love you," she said cheerfully as she kissed his cheek before leaving the twins with him to head back downstairs. 

"Love you too!" he called after her as the door swung shut behind her. 

One of the other executives had been exiting his office and happened to hear what his usually formidable boss said. He stared at Keeley's back as she returned to the elevator with something akin to awe. 

"Where to, ma'am?" the driver asked respectfully once Keeley made it back to the parking garage. 

"PharmaGen Labs, please."

The drive took about twenty minutes. Keeley had never been to Ryan's work before--they used to be close but they weren't close enough for that--and she was excited despite herself. This was a real lab! She would work somewhere like this in a few years!

She told herself to snap out of it. She was here on a mission. Approaching the front desk, she asked if she could speak to Ryan Bradley for a few minutes because it was quite urgent. The secretary seemed a bit wary but asked for her name. She didn't want rumors getting out that she had come here so she silently asked Jennica to forgive her before using her friend's name instead. 

Ryan came out a couple of minutes later and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He saw the secretary watching the two of them curiously and held back what he was going to say originally. He put on a strained smile. 

"Jennica, how nice to see you. Why don't we take this outside?"

Excellent. Outside would have less witnesses if they went behind the building. 

Once they made it out of anyone's earshot the false smile dropped. "What do you want? And who's this guy?"

"He's my driver but that's not important. I want to know why you thought it would be okay to gossip about me to the point that I can't even leave my house without getting mobbed," she said sweetly with an unmistakable deadly undertone. 

The slightest trace of guilt flashed across his face. "All I did was talk with a couple of coworkers. I had no idea it would blow up the way it did."

Keeley scowled. It wasn't clear whether his intentions had been malicious or not. But given the fact that he definitely held a grudge against her...she wasn't about to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

"Sure, because gossiping is never a bad idea," she said sarcastically. 

'Why do you care, anyway? Didn't you bring this on yourself by marrying someone infamous?"

She had actually been considering talking this out without beating him up until he said that. Her kick was both so unexpected and so powerful that Ryan actually stumbled backward into the wall. 

"Geez, are you crazy?!" he yelled as he clutched his leg with watery eyes.

"That's for making the past few weeks hell for me," she said darkly. "And for being a jerk when I thought you were one of the few people I could trust. I'll consider us even now. Mess with me or my family again and I won't be so merciful."

Her demeanor changed instantly as she smiled at the driver. "Come on, Henry. I need to get back to the office to pick up Violet and Kaleb."

"Yes, ma'am," he said as if he hadn't just witnessed his boss's wife kick someone like a child getting into a scuffle on the playground. 

That had been surprisingly therapeutic. She didn't normally advocate violence but that had been a long time coming. She really had been very hurt by what Ryan said to her after all their years of so-called friendship when she was engaged. 

Now that he knew what she was capable of, Keeley doubted he would be so quick to talk about her behind her back again. Gossiping about someone you held a grudge against was such a cowardly thing to do. She had dealt with far too much of that nonsense in both of her lifetimes.