“Then...”
“At the time I was, um, asked the question, I wasn’t...I wasn’t dating yet.”
“So it’s fairly new then,” I drawl, “this relationship.”
She nods vehemently. “Yes, sir.”
I know I should leave it at that, but instead I hear myself ask, “How new?”
The question seems to fluster her, and it’s making me ready to kill someone.
“I...um...I don’t think—”
“Don’t get me wrong, Kyara.”
Her eyes widen, but I have a feeling it has more to do with me addressing her by her given name instead of the coldness of my tone.
“I’m only asking because I’d like to understand why a relationship that’sfairly new...is something you believe is reason enough to thinkthat—” I nod to the packet she’s clutching tightly between her hands. “—is a mistake.”
“I...um...”
“You spentthreemonths to earn a job offer in my company. Now you’re simply giving it up because your boyfriend is ugly—”
“I didn’t say he’s ugly!”
“Insecure then.”
“He’s not!”
I lean back against my chair. “So there’s no reason to leave, is there?”
She bites her lip, and I’m tempted to bite it as well...but I don’t.Naturally.Because—
“Yes.”
Because of that.
“I’m s-sorry, Mr.Havington,” she stammers without quite meeting my gaze. “I was just overwhelmed, but y-you’re...you’re right.”
She’s still choosing to work for me, and I...I can work for that.
Present Time
Chapter 1
From: [email protected]
Subject: No such thing as a white lie.
Yes, I agree with your former therapist. Boundaries are a good idea, absolutely. But boundaries can be established and enforced without lying. Remember 1 John 1:6—lying and not practicing the truth is how we walk in darkness. Sooner or later, lies get us in trouble.
Always.
Deep breaths, deep breaths, you can do this.
Kyara pinned a smile on her lips and entered the diner. It was the working-class type, with mostly everybody too busy to mind other people’s business. More importantly, though, it was two stations away from Manhattan, and in rush hour on a weekday, that might as well have meant she was heading to Alaska. Or was that too close and maybe it should be Antarctica? Geography had never been her finest suit, and that was why she was totally where she belonged—
