My heart aches at the image of Alec on the floor, covered with a blanket.
Paramedics are keeping people at bay, lifting him onto a stretcher as Issac comforts Blake.
I inhale, grateful that Blake has Issac.
Issac is strong and kind, and I know he will look after Blake.
Up until now, I’d assumed the two of them were no more than colleagues; but from the way Blake grips Issac’s hand, I can see that they are much more.
Friends.
My stomach churns, urging me to move toward the exit, following the crowd of shocked staff.
“He’s just dropped dead!” a young woman hisses into a phone.
I cringe, scowling at her as I walk by, not seeing an iota of emotion on her face.
“And Blake James was fucking Keeley in the restroom! Can you imagine?”
I feel like I’ve been punched.
Of course, he was.
I grimace, shaking my head to myself as I push through the emergency exit doors toward the parking lot.
The cool air greets me, soothing my fraught mind.
Blake was having sex with some girl at a work party?
He’snevergoing to change.
Not that it matters.
The man has just lost his father, and I will respect him by not indulging in the past.
Right now, he’s a grieving son, and I’m a work colleague.
The way he’d looked at me when I’d told him to breathe made me almost fall over. His intense stare, accompanied by a look of absolute desperation, was something I’d never seen him wear before.
Grief.
I make my way home, kicking off my shoes and flopping onto the sofa.
I sit in the dark, my thoughts of Alec lying on the cold floor breaking me.
Nine days.
Despite being with Blake for a while five years ago, I’d never met Alec as Blake’s girlfriend.
So, I only knew him professionally.
But it still hurts.
I pull my knees up to my chest, remembering Alec's kind words.
“You’ll do well.”
I have to believe him because my dream of running a successful travel business is closer than ever.
