What the fuck?!I grabbed the handle of his office door.
"Penny?"
I jumped. I released the doorknob and turned around to see Nita staring at me. "Sorry, I wasn't sure if he was in..."
"He's still in his meeting, Penny. He asked me to make sure no one disturbed him. I can give you a call when he's free if you want?"
"No. That's okay, Nita."What the hell?I started to walk away but quickly went back over to her. "Could you give him this though?" I put the pizza box down on the reception desk. "Thanks," I said and walked away without waiting for her response.
My heart was beating out of my chest. Maybe I was wrong. It was just the back of her head.Fuck. No.It was definitely Isabella. I kept my eyes on the ground as I made my way toward my desk. What was he doing talking to her? Did he seriously stand me up to have lunch with that bitch? I knew there was nothing going on between them, but I couldn't help the jealousy that seemed to surge through me. What on earth could they be talking about? After she had slapped me, I thought he'd never speak to her again. Instead they were having a nice, private chat in his office. Why couldn't she just leave us alone?
"You okay, Fight Club?" Tavon asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Had that nickname seriously already spread to him too? I sat down in my chair without looking up. "I'm fine. Are you two seriously going to call me that for the whole summer?"
"That's what happens when you ditch us for lunch," he said. "And when you come to work the first day with a black eye."
"It's just a tiny little bruise, it's not a black eye. You're exaggerating. I just ran into something."
"That's rather vague. Did you run into something like someone's fist?"
"Ignore them," Sierra said. "How was lunch with your fiancé?"
"Great," I lied and turned on my computer. We were supposed to be doing research the rest of the afternoon and I had a feeling that meant all of us were going to be chatting while we did it. I didn't feel like talking. I felt like killing Isabella.
"Where did you go to school?" Sierra asked.
"NYCU," I said. Maybe conversation would help me not explode. "What about you guys?"
"I went there too," Zach said. "I'm surprised we didn't have any classes together."
"It's a big school."
"Yeah but they lump all the freshman into those huge lecture halls. We were probably at least in one of those together and didn't realize it."
"I wasn't there freshman year though."
"Where did you go before that?"
"The University of New Castle."
"Why the switch?" Sierra asked. "I went to my state school in South Dakota and I loved it. Moving here has been quite the transition. I guess it was for you at first too?"
I had been right about her not being from around here. South Dakota was pretty far away. I shrugged my shoulders. "It was at first. I love it now though, you will too. And I wasn't bashing state schools. I loved my old school at first too." I was talking too much.
"So what changed?" she asked.
I turned my attention back to my screen. "Just...personal reasons."
Tavon laughed.
Of all the things to say. I should have just made up something super believable. Like my parents moved. But no, I said personal reasons. I could feel my face turning red.
"Fight Club, you can't just dangle that in front of us and not explain."
My phone started vibrating.Thank God.I pulled it out of my purse and saw that James was calling me. I'd talk to him after work. I put it down on my desk, ignoring it. It took me a second to realize that all three of them were staring at me.
"What? I'm sorry, did you say something?"
