I blink slowly, Sarah’s voice dragging me back to our warm kitchen where I’m not alone. Mustering up a smile, I pat her shoulder. “Ah. No thanks, Godfather.”
Sarah narrows her eyes. “If you want to leave the job, why don’t you just let the quality of your work decline? At some point, he’ll have no choice but to let you go.”
“Yeah.” I shake my head in exasperation at her schemes. “And my reputation will be in the gutter, and I’ll be unemployed for the next decade. Solid plan. 10 out of 10.”
“Hey, at least I’m trying. And I’m getting pizza now.”
As she picks up the phone, I wash the dishes. “I’ll deal with this. I’m not twenty-four anymore. Whatever he’s up to, I can handle it. Either he thinks I’m easy and he’ll get me in his bed once again for old times’ sake. Or he wants something from me.”
My palms rest against the edge of the sink as I consider one other possibility. “Do you think I could be overthinking this? Maybe he was just testing my boundaries, and that was it.”
“Is that what you really think?” my friend asks cautiously.
I take a minute to answer. “I don’t know what to think. I just want to stay away from him.”
“Natalie,” Sarah begins warily, “don’t tell me you still have some lingering feelings for hi?—”
“Of course not!” I burst out indignantly. “Where would you even get that from?! He’s a part of my past. I’m worried about what he’s trying to do. I can’t figure out his intentions.”
“I’m sorry!” She holds out her hands, palms outward. “I read a lot of romance novels. I just thought?—”
When I make a face at her, she says, “Wait and see. Or we can run away and change our identities. He can’t force you to work for him when he can’t find you.”
I chuckle lightly. “Another big brain moment for you. We should do that. In fact, my suitcase is already packed. Let’s just go now.”
“After we have pizza,” Sarah declares with finality. “I’m thinking of getting pepperoni. What about you?”
I exhale slowly, feeling worn out. “I’m fine. I’ll just take a slice from?—”
“I’ve seen you eat, Natalie. I don’t know where you pack all that food, but there’s some black hole inside your stomach. Either tell me what your brand of poison is, or you don’t get to share my pizza. I’ll hide in the shower to eat it if I have to.”
“Cheese,” I sigh, feeling thoroughly called out. “Get me a small one. I’m going to go shower and imagine scenarios where I get to sucker punch Ethan and not get fired.”
Sarah gives me a thumbs up as she dials the pizza place’s number.
I leave the kitchen, stepping past the sleek dining nook and into the living room. Crossing into the narrow hallway, smooth hardwood cool under my feet, I slip inside my bedroom. Instead of dropping my stuff and heading to the shower, I collapse facedown on the bed, wondering why the universe is out to get me today.
Iris isthe first person I see the next morning. She looks pale, and from the bags under her eyes, it seems she hasn’t slept very well.
“You need coffee,” I tell her as I get into the elevator. “Why’re you here so early?”
“That expense report has been eating at me,” she yawns, pressing the button for both my floor and hers. “I had nightmares that Mr. Wilder fired me, and I didn’t want to leave, so I grabbed the edge of the door frame, and he kept pulling at me. And then the office became this strange vortex and started spewing out expense reports at me, and I was drowning.”
I stare at her. “Forget the coffee, you need to see a shrink.”
“That’s what Richard said,” Iris chuckles before yawning once again.
“Richard? So it’s true then? You’re dating Richard Molex from the Finance Department?”
“Is that a problem?” Iris stiffens. “He’s not under me. He’s a manager over in Finance. There’s no conflict of interest. And we began dating around the same time I joined, so I wasn’t a department hea?—”
“Relax,” I assure her. “Employee relationships aren’t a problem as long as there is no conflict of interest. I was just going to ask how it’s going.”
Her shoulders loosen up, and she gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. HR, you know.”
I smile back. “No offense taken. So, how is it going?”
“We got an apartment together last month. So pretty good, I’d say.” She sighs, her expression shifting back to work concerns. “I’m going to talk to Charlotte about the report. Maybe there was a mixup. I dropped an email to Robert. As the head of finance, he should know what happened. If he doesn’t reply before lunch, I’ll go to his office.”
