The girl I yelled at in the office yesterday.
The insolent intern at my company.
Intern.
Ice fills my stomach. I turn abruptly around the brick wall corner and dry heave.
“Jesus Christ, are you okay?” Aiden puts a hand on my back and I keep my head down, leaning on my knees.
This is a nightmare.
The woman I’ve been fantasising about, talking to, masturbated to (and with) multiple nights; the woman I’ve touched in the dark and can’t imagine not touching again … is anintern. Did she lie about being twenty-nine?
I stand up again and wipe the cold sweat off my brow. “She works for me. She’s an intern.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yup.”
I rub my chest where it feels like my stomach has come up into my lungs. It’s hard to breathe.
“I can’t make his mistakes,” I whisper.
I don’t dare turn around to look at her again yet. My head is swimming as I try to reconcile the two women. Yes, I’d noticed their similar features, but their attitudes? There’s the woman who scoffed at me when I said it’s more than a job, with the one who … who what? Alice said she’s trying something new. Did she mean this intern role? Is this the role she said has sparked her creativity again?
Have I been blind?
Looking through the memories I have of Rey in the office and all the things about her that have been annoying me, they’re what I adore about Alice. Her energy, vibrant nature, and delightful laugh. How did I not hear it? And her voice? How did I not see those dimples in the office? Or recognise her scent that hit me and instead fuelled my anger for her?
“It’s not the same,” Aiden says, his voice tender.
“She’s the girl I told you about. The one that was pissing me off in the office.”
“Right. Pissing you off, eh?”
“What?”
“I bet your brain knew it was her, but you couldn’t tune in on the right channel, so you just assumed your body was feeling anger, but you’ve wanted her from the first time you saw her.”
“Oh, stop it, will you? We’re not in a fucking romance.”
But what are the odds?
“If it makes you feel better, she doesn’t look as young as your average intern.”
“She said she’s twenty-nine.”
“Then she probably is. See, you’re already better than Damian.”
I grimace at him.
“Too soon?” He stifles a laugh.
“Nothing about this is funny.” I breathe in deeply, willing an answer to come to me. The sensible thing would be to walk away. “Do you remember her name?” I ask Aiden. “From when you looked her up at The Orion?”
I need to be absolutely sure before I give up on this. This beautiful budding thing I’ve got with Alice can never be anything with Rey. Not as long as she’s an employee of InfinioGames.
“Rosemary something, but I’m sure Kirsten called her Rey.”
