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When I got to my desk, Maddy was seated. She lifted her head to look at me, and her brows instantly furrowed as she got to her feet.
"Fliss? What happened?" Her voice was full of concern, and it only made me want to cry harder. But people were around, and bawling my eyes out in front of them would not be good.
I took the seat she just vacated, subtly catching a tear that had fallen on my left cheek. Maddy leaned down, her eyes leveled with mine.
"Tell me what's wrong," she said softly. "Did something happen with Aaron?"
Back then, I had nobody to talk to about everything that had happened with Jeremy. Now, I had Maddy, my “Where have you been all my life?” friend.
"Jade caught us in the women's bathroom,” I whimpered.
Maddy let out a gasp. "That bitch. Everyone knows she hasn't gotten over their breakup."
Confused, I sniffled, staring at her. "Breakup?"
"Yeah. They dated about a year or so ago. I can't remember."
Oh. It made sense now. The constant look of disdain she directed at me. And Aaron had said she felt threatened the night of the event. The thought of them together hadn't occurred to me. I swallowed. It did make sense. Jade was admittedly beautiful with her jet-black hair, high cheekbones, and cherry lips, albeit bitchy. The kind of woman a man like Aaron should be with.
Not someone like…me.
"Either way, I might’ve just lost my job thanks to a liar,” I sniffled.
Maddy's face contorted into a mask of confusion. "Liar?"
For the next few minutes, I recounted the entire ordeal with Aaron and AaRogue, eliciting different emotions from Maddy: laughter because she thought it was cute that we'd bonded over a game, shocked at AaRogue's actual identity, anger at Aaron for not being honest with me.
I didn't tell her that I had feelings for him, though. It would have been easier to convince myself of the opposite if I were the only person privy to that irrelevant piece of information.
eighteen
Felicity
Two days later, when I got to work, the rumor was that the project we were working on had leaked to a rival company.
None other than Blizzard Games.
I knew I was far from being my father's favorite child, but this was a new low, even for him. Obviously, he hadn't been too pleased with our last encounter, or he wouldn't have blatantly declared war like this.
The atmosphere in the entire company was tense, and according to Maddy, it was more so when I arrived. I tried not to focus too much on why that was, and instead on what the solution would be.
I kept my head down and ignored the whispers and snide comments. Given how things played out on Monday with Jade, it surprised me that HR hadn't called me in for a meeting yet. Had she decided not to say anything, or was she just biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike?
Aaron still hadn't budged. He'd been texting me nonstop, asking for an opportunity to talk things out. I was steadily avoiding him, and while I knew it was almost impossible, seeing as we worked in the same company, on the same floor, it didn't stop me from trying. I did stop going into his office to work. I settled for using the cafeteria and my noise-canceling headphones while I sketched.
If there was one thing I hated, it was being lied to. Aaron might not have known I was Licia from the beginning, but he'd had every chance to tell me the truth, and he'd chosen to blindside me instead and make me look like a fool.
I couldn't trust him anymore, not after that betrayal.
Now that the cat was out of the bag, I couldn't stop wondering why he was still here. Shouldn't he have given up by now?
Thankfully, I finished the avatar sketches and had already begun 3D modeling. All that was left was to design the story plots and push to development.
Sometime around lunch, Jeff called a staff meeting in the large conference room on the first floor. The entire office was abuzz with tension, and it crackled in the air as every single OceansPlay employee found their way to the conference room.
It was so packed that most people were standing. I was too, along with Maddy and Arjun. Even Jade was present and seated three chairs down from Aaron's right. Against my better judgment, my eyes searched and found Aaron seated to the left beside Jeff, who occupied the seat at the head of the large rectangular table.
The room quieted as Jeff regarded us with calculated eyes, leaning back against his chair and pursing his lips. I could've sworn his eyes lingered on me for a slightly longer second than anyone else.
