All of it was exhausting, humiliating, and hurtful, but I kept pushing through, even though work only barely kept me distracted.
At least the party seemed to be a roaring success. Every employee moved like a part of a well-oiled machine, and guests were laughing, dancing, and swimming the night away. Dahlia herself seemed especially happy, which was a small relief.
I ran around making sure that everything was perfectly coordinated, trying my best to ignore the off-hand comments from the sous chef and the sheer silence from Nolan. Landononly made an appearance to wish Dahlia well and smile for a few pictures before he was gone.
He probably wouldn’t even let me into his office afterward for the daily debriefing. Maybe that would change if I told him that I chose him over Nolan, but I didn’t know if I could do that.
But would I actually be happy if I could get neither of them? Wasn’t it better to at least have one? I didn’t know. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to choose between them. I didn’t want to. The whole thing was a mess, and there was no way for me to have my cake and eat it too. Maybe it was just time for me to accept the consequences of my actions.
I didn’t want to do that, either, but it seemed like I didn’t really have much of a choice.
During the party, I spotted Nolan working on plating desserts beside the pool, and I took my opportunity. This time, I wouldn’t let him send the sous chef instead. I rushed toward him, reaching him just before he finished what he was doing.
“Nolan,” I said urgently. “I need to talk to you. Please. Don’t shut me out like this.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me, his eyes cold and distant. Without saying anything, he placed the last dessert on the table, and turned away.
The message was clear; Nolan was not going to speak to me. At least not tonight. There was the tiniest of possibilities that he’d calm down enough by the next day, but I wasn’t going to get my hopes up. I watched him walk away with his shoulders pulled tight and his entire body closed off to me, and I rubbed at my temples in frustration.
There was nothing I could do about this. I had to wait for them to come to me. Or I had to make a choice, and I simply couldn’t.
I spent the rest of the party running up and down, making sure that everything ran smoothly. I tried my best to ignore my own predicament, keeping my professional smile on my face the whole time. Around midnight, things began to wind down, and I oversaw things being cleaned and packed up. This took another hour, but finally, everything was done.
Now, I only had to do a few last checks before I could go to my room and collapse on my bed.
As I walked around the edges of the pool, I noticed someone in my periphery and looked up. It was Mr. Thatcher, sitting in one of the cabanas, pretending that he wasn’t watching me. I turned to head in his direction, wondering how long he had been there.
“Mr. Thatcher,” I said when I reached him and noticed the wide smile on his face. “Unfortunately, I need to ask you to leave the pool area. It’s closed.”
“Don’t you want to take a seat?” he answered, completely ignoring my request. “You’ve been running around all night. You must be exhausted.”
I glanced around, even though I knew the rest of the area was completely empty. Most people had gone home, and the night crew were inside. They never came out there. Almost all of the guests had long since headed to their rooms. It was only me and Mr. Thatcher out here.
“Just a few minutes,” I finally said, sitting down beside him on the outdoor couch.
I kept my posture proper, one leg over the other, fully professional. I didn’t need to get myself in even deeper trouble than I already was.
“Heard you had a bit of a rough one today,” Mr. Thatcher said sympathetically, reaching out to pat me on the knee. His hand lingered a moment longer than it probably should have, but Ididn’t say anything. It was nice to have a bit of comfort in all of the chaos.
“Rumors reached the guests too, huh?” I sighed, putting one leg down so that I could lean forward and run my hands over my hair. “Guess nothing stays secret around here.”
“Relax, I’m not judging you.” I could see in his expression that he was telling the truth.
That was another relief. I’d had so many people staring at me when they thought I wasn’t looking that it had been driving me up the wall.
“I don’t know how it happened,” I admitted, leaning back against the couch now and taking a few deep breaths before I continued. “I’m not that kind of woman, you know? Who sleeps with everyone. I mean, it’s not like I was asking for any of this. It… just happened, somehow.”
It felt like I was sharing way too much, but he didn’t stop me, and I needed to get all of this off my chest.
“I know I should have stopped. I know that, and I should never have let things get that far with Nolan after they’d already gone that far with Landon. But I fell so hard for both of them that I didn’t listen to the rational side of my mind.”
“Ah, being in love is a funny thing,” Mr. Thatcher shrugged, sitting slightly closer to me now. “It makes you do things you never normally would. Makes you crazy. Doesn’t make you the villain. Unless you also told them about our little secret, in which case you’re downright evil.”
That made me laugh despite everything going on in my head. “I didn’t tell either of them anything, I promise.”
“Good,” he said, before things went quiet.
Then, he leaned in and used one hand to turn my face toward him. I didn’t resist when he pulled me closer, and I kissed him back without any hesitation.
