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I...
What?
CHAPTER 29
OLIVER
“Hey, Angie, do you ever read romance novels?”
Angela furrows her brow as she glares at me over the rim of her teacup. “From time to time. Should one catch my eye.” She squints. “Why?”
“I’m reading one right now,” I answer.
She scoffs. “You?”
“A friend recommended it to me,” I explain, “but I can’t seem to make sense of it.”
“What’s it about?”
“It’s about a couple who...” I choose my words carefully. “Well, they work together.”
Angela rolls her eyes. “Big mistake,” she murmurs.
I chortle. “I know, right?”
“Go on.”
“They had a one-night stand a few years ago,” I say. “Back before they worked together. He wanted to make something more of it, but she didn’t. Now, he’s her boss.”
“And they’re trapped together in a work environment filled with unresolved sexual tension?” she asks, smiling at the obvious.
I nod. “They tried to just be friends, but now, she has feelings for him, he has feelings for her, and every day they just keep getting closer and closer. But they work together. There are rules.”
“Sounds they should just shag and get it over with.”
“We did. I mean — they did, but it just made things more complicated. He’s got... some emotional baggage, admittedly. And she’s got something weird going on, I think. Hard to say.”
“So, what’s the problem?” Angela asks. “Why don’t they just talk about it?”
I shrug. “They had a fight. They were so close before, but now they’re avoiding each other. Work is awkward and I... I don’t understand. They both want the same thing. Why can’t she let him in? Why can’t he admit he needs her? Why they can’t just... figure it out?”
“I don’t mean to spoil it for you, darling, but they will eventually,” she says. “It’s a romance novel. That’s the point.”
“But what if they don’t?” I ask. “What if he decides he doesn’t want to get burned again and walks away?”
“Then, he comes back.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because it’s a romance novel,” she says again.
“But what if they’re wrong for each other?” I ask.
“Then, it’s a shitty romance novel.”
I chuckle. Maybe she has a point.
Maybe Paige and I are deep in the throes of a shitty romance. Walking away would make the most sense. For the friendship, or lack thereof. And our jobs.
