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Adrien slowed to a stop, hands going on his hips as he turned to face me. He was more out of breath than I was for once, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with the physical exertion. “Yeah, Sanchez. It’s a serious question. Why the hell do you hate me so much?”
“Uh, let’s see. You fired my sister for something that wasn’t her fault, then you made me pick a bunch of glitter out of dirt—” I cut off when he started shaking his head.
“No. I mean before all that. You weren’t sorry about what happened on Halloween, or about what you did to my office. In fact, you laughed like you thought I deserved it. Why?”
I pushed a frustrated breath out of my nose and rolled my lips. “We don’t need to have this conversation now.”
Another shake of his head. “No. We’re talking about it.”
“Why does it even matter?” I asked him. “We’ve got one more week of having to put up with each other, and then that’s it. Not like we’ll ever see each other again.”
Unless him and Jamie ended up dating. Which… honestly just the thought of the two of them together made me queasy again.
“Just tell me the reason,” he pressed, stepping forward.
I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands, so I balled them into fists and crossed my arms. “I don’t know. You just… you weren’t exactly the best boss to my sister. And it was kind of frustrating for me to sit back and watch.”
He studied me for a few breaths, then nodded. “Okay. Why do you think that? Why was I such a terrible boss?”
“Well, for one, she missed her daughter’s sixth birthday party because of you.”
His dark eyes narrowed at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Olive’s birthday celebration. Alba was supposed to get off work at two to come to the theme park with us, but you pulled her into a last-minute meeting. Something about a construction mishap something-something in Quebec. Everything was on metaphorical fire, and she needed to stay.”
A solid ten seconds ticked by with him silently staring at me. And then he said, “Alba has a six-year-old daughter?”
Oh myactualfucking god. “Dude.”
“I don’t think she ever told me.”
“Do you hear yourself? How’s that even possible?”
He frowned to himself.
I rolled my eyes and walked right past him. “That’s about all the explanation you need as to why I think you’re a shit boss. Not to mention the long hours, the weekends, and all the holidays you forced her to work.”
“I didn’tforceher to do anything. Your sister was made fully aware of the job requirements before she was hired. She knew the hours, she knew how demanding it would be, and she was well compensated for it. I didn’t sugarcoat anything.”
“I never said you did.” We fell into another light jog. “But making her miss her daughter’s birthday isn’t just demanding, it’s outright cruel. I was the one that had to tell Olive that her mom wasn’t coming. And I was the one that had to comfort her when she cried.”
Ben had been too busy trying to reach Alba again. Probably to argue.
“I didn’t know,” Adrien insisted.
“Well maybe you should have,” I huffed. “Alba worked for you forfour years, Adrien. If she didn’t feel like she could come to you with a request as simple as that. And how the hell could you not know about Olive? When she told you she was pregnant, didn’t you think to ask if it was the first one?”
After a long pause, he said, “It’s not… that simple, Ria.”
Bullshit.
Neither of us said anything else as our feet fell into their usual rhythm, Adrien leading the way this time. I didn’t argue or veer off, just followed him through the grounds and down to a small lake. We stopped there just as the sun was starting to come up.
My lungs still burned, my muscles still ached, and my body had protested against every step taken, but it seemed just a little bit easier this time. And it almost felt good now that it was over.
I sighed and sunk down onto the grass, watching the sky bleed soft shades of purple and pink with the impending sunrise. The view was incredible, the morning air was dewy and crisp, and the birds were still chirping sleepily.
It was so calming and perfect that it almost made all the pain worth it. Or maybe the cardio endorphins were starting to set in.
