Step by Step Love: The Complete Collection

Step by Step Love

The Complete Collection

By Emma Fox

© 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This story is intended for mature adults only. It contains sexual scenarios, dirty language, hot action, and much more! Please store your digital files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

Step by Step Love

Veronica is nothing but trouble. Her recent divorce, her unemployment – everyone in the family thinks she’s a lost cause. In a moment of desperation, they ask Ryan to give her a job at his multimillion-dollar company. Ryan has always been the successful one: cool, calm, with everything together.

But Ryan has a secret. An untouchable, unthinkable secret.

Once the secret comes out, no matter what either of them says, Veronica and Ryan know that life will never be the same.

They couldn’t... They shouldn’t… They must...

Episode 1 – A Step in the Right Direction

Veronica was lying on her mother's sofa, watching television. Her mother, Jacquelyn, came into the room and stood in front of her, her hands on her hips. Veronica looked up at her.

“Excuse me, you're standing my way,” she said.

Jacquelyn seized the remote control from the arm of the sofa and pressed the power button. The television screen became black and Veronica scowled.

“What did you do that for?”

“
You
need to get off your ass and do something,” Jacquelyn replied. “I'm sick of you just lying on my sofa, wasting away, eating junk food!”

Jacquelyn picked up a half-eaten bag of potato chips and gestured it in disgust.

“I do a lot more than that!” Veronica argued, sitting upright. “Just last week I went grocery shopping.”

“Yes, if I remember correctly, it was because you ran out of Cheese Moodles,” Jacquelyn noted, dropping the bag of potato chips back onto the sofa. “Veronica, you're my daughter and I love you but I can't have you bothering Ted and I every day. We're newlyweds. We have, you know,
other
things we need to be focused on.”

Veronica frowned and replied, “Like what? You two have been dating for like eight years. It isn't like you two have to get to know each other or any of that shit.”

“Veronica, you are a twenty-seven-year-old divorcée. Please don't play dumb,” Jacquelyn begged. “Ted and I
need
some alone time. You need to get an apartment, dear. It isn't healthy for you to keep living with us. I understand you needed some time to get back on your feet but it's been
four
years!
Please, start looking for a job, at the very least.”

“Ted put you up to this, didn't he?” Veronica asked, angrily, getting to her feet.

“Dear, he is sick of coming home and—”

“And what? Seeing me?” Veronica snapped. “Where am I supposed to go, Mum? My husband
kicked me out of my own home!
I have bad credit, he weaseled his way out of alimony, and I can hardly even afford my yoga class! How am I supposed to afford an apartment? Hm?”

Jacquelyn sighed heavily and closed her eyes in an attempt to keep herself calm.

“Maybe you didn't understand my hints, dear,” she said, slowly, putting her hands on Veronica's shoulders. “You need to get a job.”

“A job?” Veronica scoffed.

She began to laugh but Jacquelyn kept a straight face. Veronica's face fell and she furrowed her brow, irate.

“You aren't kidding, are you?” she added. “You really expect me to get a bloody job.”

Jacquelyn nodded slowly and softly replied, “We can't support you anymore. You're a grown woman and you need to learn to do things on your own.”

“Do you realize that Marcus owes me
hundreds
of
thousands
of dollars?” Veronica asked, aggravated. “Once I see that money, I won't ever have to work again. My lawyer—”

“Your lawyer hasn't gotten him to pay any alimony in four years, Veronica. What makes you think that's going to change? I know you're still angry at him, but you need to let this go and move on with your life,” Jacquelyn advised. “You need to learn to take care of yourself again. No more of this moping about, now.”

“Where am I supposed to get a job, then?” Veronica asked, crossing her arms. “Tell me, Mum, who is going to hire a twenty-seven-year-old woman with degrees in art history and bloody British literature? I really would like to know. I'm not working in fast food like some damn teenager.”

“Well maybe Ted can work something out with his company,” Jacquelyn suggested.

“Yes, because I want to work with the man kicking me out of my own bloody house,” Veronica murmured. “You can't be serious.”

“Fine, work at Taco King for all I care,” Jacquelyn retorted. “Let me know when you'll be getting your things out of my basement and moving into your four hundred square-foot studio in the Bronx.”

She began to leave the room.

“Okay, okay, fine,” Veronica said in a defeated rush. “I'll talk to Ted and see if I can work something out with him.”

“Talk to me about what?” a voice asked.

Veronica and Jacquelyn turned around. Ted had walked into the adjoining room and had heard their conversation.

“W-well, dear,” Jacquelyn stammered. “I was talking to Veronica about her getting a job...”

“And?” Ted asked. “Go on, spit it out.”

“And she thought maybe I should work for you,” Veronica finished.

“Well I didn't quite—” Jacquelyn started.

“
You?
Work for
me?
You have to be kidding,” Ted retorted. He looked at his wife and added, “Is this some kind of April Fool's joke?”

“Well, we need her to get a job that pays well enough to get her out of the house, don't we?” Jacquelyn hissed. “What was I supposed to do? Get her a job at the local Australian Barbecue so she could move out by the time we're retired?”

“Will you stop talking about me like I'm not here?” Veronica pleaded.

“Veronica, you know that I love you just like you were my own, but—”

“Oh, don't give me that shit,” Veronica snapped. “If you had it your way, I'd be on the streets!”

“Now you know that isn't true, Veronica,” Jacquelyn asserted. “Ted, can't you find
something
for her to do around the office? Maybe run a copy machine or answer phones or something? Anything at all?”

Ted glared at his wife for a moment. However, he could not deny her when she gave him an expectant, pouty glance.

“Oh,
all right
,” he surrendered. “Maybe there's a custodial position or something open.”

“
Custodial position?
” Veronica shrieked. “I'll be
damned
if I'm going to scrub
toilets
for a living! Mum, tell him he has to give me a better job than that.”

“Ted, be reasonable,” Jacquelyn murmured in her husband's ear. “The faster she's making a decent wage, the faster she can get the hell out of our house.”

Ted rolled his eyes.

“Fine, you can answer phones,” Ted said, reluctantly, “but, if you so much as screw up once, you can say hello to Mr. Mop and Mr. Plunger.”

Veronica smiled and replied, “Don't worry, Teddy! I'm great at talking on the phone!”

“Don't call me that,” Ted muttered.

***

Veronica walked into the office. She flicked her vibrant blonde hair and peered over the sea of cubicles. A stout, balding man that was getting a drink from the water cooler noticed her immediately. He crept near her and beamed at her.

“Are you lost?” the man asked. “I-I can help you find wherever you need to be!”

“What? No, I'm here for work,” she replied, looking around. “Do you know which one of these little hellholes is mine?”

“Y-you w-work here?” he asked, incredulously. “Excuse me, you're just...far too beautiful to—”

“Look, creep, I'm just here to put in my four hours like everyone else. Can you help me find my office or not?” Veronica asked in an annoyed tone.

“F-four? A full workday is eight hours. Nine to five,” the man corrected. He adjusted his tie and cleared his throat. “It is after twelve now, though, so you're a little late—”

Suddenly, Ted burst out of his private office in the back and made eye contact with Veronica. She smiled, cheerily, but he only offered her a glare in return. The short, chubby man looked from Ted to Veronica and gestured him.

“Do you know Mr. Roth somehow?” he asked. “He's a great boss, you know. I-I wouldn't ever want to work for anyone else. My name is Gary, by the way, i-if you wanna m-maybe mention me, or not, or—”

Gary was beginning to sweat, profusely, as Ted drew nearer.

“VERONICA!” Ted boomed, approaching her.

“Hi, Teddy,” Veronica replied. “Where is my office? I only saw the bathroom doors and then your office door and then I thought to myself: there's no
way
Teddy would put his stepdaughter in one of these cubicles and—”

“You're late,” he scolded. “In fact, you are three hours and forty-six minutes late. How were you going to explain that?”

“I didn't know I had to actually be here by a certain time,” Veronica murmured.

“I left a note on the refrigerator and told you three times!”

“Well yeah, but I didn't think you were serious,” she said. “Okay, I get it. I messed up. My bad. Now where's my cubicle, Teddy?”

“Veronica, you don't get a cubicle!” Ted yelled.

The sound of typing ceased as several employees stopped to watch the scene. Gary's hand was shaking so much that he spilled some of his cup of water on his shoes.

“Oh, I knew you were bluffing! I just wouldn't be able to get any work done with all these other normal pe—”

“You're not getting your own office, either,” he corrected, angrily. “I told your mother I'd give you
one
chance and you just
had
to ruin it! You're ungrateful, unprofessional, and unskilled! Now,
please
, get the hell out of here and stop embarrassing me!”

Ted stormed away, red in the face, and opened his office door again, only to slam it behind him. Gary looked up at Veronica.

“So your name's Veronica, huh? Maybe I can take you out sometime.”

“Maybe you can bite me,” she snapped.

***

Veronica ordered another shot of tequila. She was dreading going home to her mother and stepfather for the evening because she was aware that she had disappointed both of them. The bartender glared at her as she poured her another shot.

“This is your last one, Blondie,” the tattooed barmaid said, her voice laced with annoyance. “I can't serve you any more than that.”

Veronica downed the shot of liquor and frowned.

“But I want another one,” she slurred.

“Hun, I just really can't serve you,” the barmaid insisted. “Look, if you want me to call you a cab—”

“No! I'm going to go home,” Veronica yelled, fishing through her purse.

The sound of her keys jangling came from the bottom of the purse, but she was too intoxicated to recognize the noise. She dumped the purse's contents onto the bar and started looking through the pile of random things.

“Hey, who took my keys?” she shouted, looking around people at the bar.

She earned several glares in return.

“They're right here, sweetie,” the barmaid replied, quietly, pulling them out from the pile.

She dangled them in front of Veronica's face and Veronica reached for them. The redheaded bartender shook her head and held them out of her reach.

“
You
are in
no
position to be driving,” the barmaid said. “I'll call you a cab.”

“Don't tell
me
what to do with
my
keys!” Veronica yelled, reaching for them once more.

“Listen, I deal with women like you all the time,” the redheaded woman replied. “You have some petty problem in your perfect little life and you think it's a good reason to come here, get hammered, and then go out and drive and risk people's lives because you're
so
selfish, you think your personal entitlement is more important than someone making it back home to their family. I am not legally allowed to let you drive, lady. I'm calling you a cab.”

The woman glared at Veronica before picking up the phone and dialing a taxi service. She placed the keys on the bar out of Veronica's reach. Veronica glared at her, pouting, and started putting all of her belongings back into her purse. She eyed her keys.

“Hi, I'm at The Upper Deck Bar and Grill and I have a drunk—”

Suddenly, Veronica balanced on the footrest of her bar stool and seized her car keys. The redheaded barmaid hung up the phone and tried to grab them, but Veronica was too quick, despite her drunken stupor.

“Hey! Someone stop her!” the bartender yelled, circling around the bar and running after the intoxicated blonde.

Veronica cackled and ran out of the bar, jangling her keys loudly and bolting towards the parking lot. A bouncer chased after her, but she opened her car door and slid into the driver's seat.

“Ma'am, I can't let you drive,” the muscly man said, knocking on her window.

She smiled, buckled her seat belt, and turned up the radio. She locked the doors and the man continued banging on her window.

“Ma'am, please step out of the vehicle or I will have to alert the police,” the bouncer warned.

Veronica put the vehicle in the drive, or so she thought. She had actually put the car in reverse and hit the accelerator as hard as she could. The bouncer jumped backwards, falling to the ground and scuffing his arm on the pavement. He stared in horror as she backed into another vehicle.

“Whoops!” she yelled, drunkenly with a giggle.

She put the vehicle in drive and floored the accelerator.

***