“Oh God,” he whispered under his breath and rolled his eyes. He wished she would stop now.
“I knew you were allergic to washing powder when I put it on your shirt,” she hissed in a strange voice.
“You did?” he asked. His stomach dropped.
“And I knew it was ‘no mayonnaise’ this whole time too,” she continued.
It sounded like a few spectators tried to stifle their shocked gasps.
“And guess what else?” Her voice was getting louder and louder, more dramatic by the second. “The other day, it was a false fire alarm. I was the one who set it off because I couldn’t bear to be in this building a second longer.”
At that, Ryan heard a small clap and he looked around to see who’d made it.
“And that pigeon,” she continued. “I let him into the boardroom deliberately. And I’m glad he took a shit on the table. I hope it stains.”
And now there were gasps. No one was trying to hide it anymore.
She started walking again, and he breathed a sigh of relief. But then she stopped once more. “And guess what else?” she said.
Ryan hung his head and shook it. “What?” he asked flatly. Maybe if he played along, this could end sooner.
“You wear too much aftershave.”
At that, he heard a few chuckles and then tried to smell himself subtly.Did he?
“Yes, you do!” Poppy spun back around, threw an “Adios, hombre” over her shoulder and then disappeared around the corner.
Everyone stared after her in absolute shock.
CHAPTEREIGHTY-ONE
Poppy
“So?” I was standing in the parking lot with a box of things from my desk. “What did you think?” I asked excitedly into my phone.
“Think about what? About that thing you just did in my office?” Ryan asked.
“That thing?Thing.That was acting! That was brilliant acting, you should be so lucky that you have a famous actor at your beck and call,” I teased.
“Did you really know I was allergic to washing powder?” he suddenly asked.
I burst out laughing. “Damn, Iama good actor. No, I didn’t.”
I heard a sigh of relief. “But you do wear too much aftershave sometimes,” I quickly added.
“Thanks.” He sounded sarcastic.
“Do you think they bought it?” I asked, getting serious. I knew from the look on his face in the room just how serious the whole thing would have been if they’d figured out what had happened.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” he said.
“I tried to be very dramatic and crazy, so they would focus on that! Give them something to talk about,” I said.
“Well, that part definitely worked, because they’re all talking about crazy Doris Granger.” He chuckled softly, and then paused. “What you did for me in there . . . thank you. You got me out of a potentially very bad situation, I could have lost my position in the company even.”
“Well, it was partly my fault,” I said.
“Damn right it was your fault. You can’t sit there at your desk looking so hot. It should be illegal.”
