White Out: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller by Eric Dimbleby Read Free Book Online Page B

me? I swear the men in this company treat us like doormats.”  She scowled at Tony, but he wasn’t shaken by her comment as she expected him to be, probably because he was just like the rest of them.
    She bit at her lip, staring at Tony’s mug, and then dug in deeper, “He can’t give me the courtesy of a cancellation? Even my four-year-old son would know it’s not nice to cancel on somebody without telling them in person. Jesus Christ… I emailed him twice today. You know he saw that damn email, right? I bet you he read it and didn't feel like he needed to reply. You know why? Because I don’t matter, that’s why. I’m a peon. I’m a cog. I’m a fucking puppet. This is what I get for being a loyal servant to this place, to this goddamned boy’s club . I get stuck in a snow storm, that’s what I get."
    “Come on now, it’s not so bad here is it? At least we’re warm. Sleep it off before you go storming into his office tomorrow morning. You don’t want to piss Garrett off. Bad idea for your career.” Tony hadn't seemed too interested in fueling her well-justified anger. Instead, he changed the subject as she glowered at him, as though he was the reason for all her problems, even though she very well knew he wasn’t. "Do you want me to walk you to your car?" Tony asked.
    "Yeah, thanks," she said, grateful that he was at least attempting to be a gentleman amongst pigs. She was careful to walk behind him, instead of in front of him. She loathed the thought of his eyeballs on her backside. Why, she wondered, were all men pigs? What was it in their brains that made them strive for the bottom of the barrel?
    So t hey had trudged through the first layers of snow, Annie fretting the whole way that it was unsafe to drive. Tony agreed with her in an almost unconvincing manner. She wondered why he hadn't escaped yet, and he offered up an explanation that his car was currently in the shop. Tony intended to call a cab once the snow let up a bit.
    "I ’d be glad to drop you off at your house," Annie offered (hoping he would not accept, for several reasons) as they brushed the thickening layer of snow off her windshield. She only had one brush, so Tony used his forearm to brush away the opposite side. Maybe he wasn’t such a pig after all.  But still, she couldn’t forget the way his eyes regularly surveyed the crack of her ass.
    “No way. My house is out of the way for you. You get home safe and I’ll be just fine. The taxis will be running again once the storm eases up. I’m fine.” Annie didn’t argue with him, though she was sure he wanted her to. When somebody denied help, Annie had always found that usually they were just being polite.
    Once they had the bulk of the snow off, Annie opened up the driver's side door, slipped into the seat, and turned the key. Nothing. She felt an immediate rage welling inside of her, seeping out of her through steamy breath. Of course, her car was dead. She was ready to blame everything on Garrett again, the bastard bean counter without any respect for his peers. The discourteous cunt. It was all his fault, every last bit of it.
    She looked up at the interior light, which she now realized she had left on. When she first arrived in the morning, it was dark outside. She was looking for a bit of peppermint gum in her purse, which she found. The traitorous nub of gum had lasted about a half an hour in terms of flavor, but the light had stayed on all damn day. If she had stolen away in the afternoon, like the rest of her presumably warm co-workers, she'd be home. After a ten-hour day, there was little hope for even a twinge of battery power.
    Tony leaned in towards Annie, which was way too close for her comfort. She could see the plumes of her breath, encircling her head as he spoke. "I can stay with you. We'll call a tow truck and see if we can get you a jump."
    "They'll have bigger things to take care of in weather like this," Annie replied.
    "Well, then I guess we'll just have