Page 7 of One of Those Amnesia Stories

And a pain in my fucking ass.

Two years ago, she barely registered on my radar. Our paths crossed occasionally, usually at Liam’s birthday parties, and Cassian barely acknowledged her beyond basic politeness.

She had always looked at Cassian a little too long.

I’d caught her watching him across rooms, her attention lingering even after he’d turned away. Her smile arrived before his words did, and whenever he spoke, she leaned closer, absorbing every syllable with an interest that had very little to do with conversation.

Cassian never seemed to notice.

Or perhaps he simply didn’t care. Neither did I.

Until she started working with him.

Now she had access to parts of his life I didn’t. His schedule. His calls. His meetings. All those small, ordinary details that gave someone countless opportunities to become familiar with a person.

She was always there to “help” him.

And each time she stepped into his orbit, those ridiculous hearts in her eyes became harder for me to ignore.

I called one last time, already bracing for that same infuriatingly calm voicemail greeting.

The call rang until it clicked over. I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath.

“Hey, it’s me. Are you here yet? You’re very late. Did something happen?” I hesitated, listening to the silence on the other end before adding, “Call me back when you can.”

I slid my phone back into my clutch, smoothed my palm over the front of my dress, and turned toward the party.

The smile went back on before anyone could notice it had slipped. My eyes swept across the room, searching for familiar faces among the crowd.

Liam was missing too.

They were probably together, buried in some problem at the office, hunched over whatever disaster had landed on their desks this week.

My eyes caught on Naija and Felicity across the room, and I made my way toward them.

Felicity and I had found each other during orientation week and never drifted apart. She was the loudest person in any room she entered, completely unapologetic about it, and also the kindest person I knew. She had a way of making everyone around her feel welcome, even when she barely knew them. She gave freely, loved fiercely, and showed up for the people she cared about without ever being asked.

Naija came into my life later, at a time when my schedule had become a disaster of overlapping meetings, unanswered emails, and deadlines that kept piling up. She walked into the interview and somehow made me feel like I was the one being evaluated. I hired her on the spot, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’d made. Since then, she’d become my assistant, my sounding board, and my most reliable source of deadpan commentary.

Felicity spotted me first and immediately broke into a grin.

“There she is. Sia, you look magnificent. Easily the most beautiful woman in this room.” Her eyes swept over me with exaggerated admiration. “Have I mentioned how talented you are? Inspirational, actually. Truly remarkable.”

I blinked at her before turning to Naija. “What’s wrong with her?”

Naija didn’t bother lifting her eyes from her phone. “She did a full sweep of the room and noticed Cassian isn’t here.”

“Ah.” I nodded slowly.

That explained it.

Felicity had never been particularly subtle when she thought I was hiding a problem.

She gave a nervous laugh and waved a hand between us. “That has absolutely nothing to do with this. I was simply complimenting my friend.”

“Of course you were.”

“Exactly.” She nodded far too eagerly, then leaned closer. “But since we’re apparently discussing Cassian now…” Her expression softened. “How are you feeling?”