“Yeah, well. You were asleep and I had to talk to Hartland about revenue.”
“It couldn’t wait?”
She slid another file out, flipping it open without even looking at me.
“No,” she said. “No, we're both very busy. How can I help you?”
Straight to business, I see.
I handed her the resignation paper and she took it, scanning it quick.
“Wow.”
“You talk to him?” I asked.
She shook her head slightly, already moving the paper aside and reaching for another folder.
“Not recently. Last I heard he was in Milan.”
“I see.”
I took the paper back.
“Well. I guess he’s not coming back here anytime soon.”
“Right.”
No emotion.
She moved to the next cabinet as I followed her.
“What you even looking for?” I asked, watching her flip through another set of files.
“Payroll inconsistencies,” she said. “There’s something off in the backend.”
“Okay well can you stop and talk to me for a second?” I asked. “Are you okay with this?”
She didn’t look up.
“What can I do to change it if I’m not?” she said. “It’s my fault any of this happened anyway.”
I exhaled through my nose. “Aurora. What happened between your father and me is not your fault.”
She kept moving.
“You two were friends for over thirty years and I came in and ruined everything.”
“I think you forgot the part where I slept with his wife years before that,” I reminded, “and me being the one to tell him about us.”
She didn’t even slow down.
“Still,” she said. “I never should’ve crossed the line with you. You wouldn’t have been hurt if I didn’t.”
Damn it.
“…look at me.”
She kept shuffling through the files, acting like she ain’t hear me.
