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“Yes,” I agreed immediately, needing to get as far away from Luke as possible, before I did something stupid like throw myself at his feet and beg him for answers.
When we returned from lunch, I found a Post-it note stuck to my computer screen asking me to go to Ethan’s office.
“You wanted to see me?” I peered around his open door.
“Yes. Take a seat, Olivia.” He gestured to the chair across from his desk.
“Is something wrong?”
Ethan ignored my question. “Liv, after everything that’s happened, Luke has asked if he can use the meeting room as an office. This is only a temporary solution, and it’s not ideal, by any stretch of the imagination, but as long as we can see clients in the conference room and my office, we can manage it. He feels, and I agree, that it’s best if you keep your distance from each other for the time being.”
Right. Swallowing hard, I nodded jerkily. Luke couldn’t have made it any clearer. He wasn’t interested in seeing me or speaking to me. At all.
Ethan stood up and came around the desk to my chair. Crouching next to me, he spoke in a low, gentle tone. “Now that we’ve got business out of the way, tell me how you’re doing.”
My eyes welled up with tears all over again.
“I’m gutted, Ethan. He’s broken my heart.”
“Come here.” He stood up and pulled me into a hug. “Listen to me. I’m angry at Luke for throwing this chance at happiness out of the way.” He sighed, his arms tightening around me protectively, as if he could shield me from the pain. “Luke’s trying to protect himself. I’ve spoken to him about it, but he’s blinded by his issues.”
“So he’ll happily take a knife to my heart rather than take a chance on us,” I whispered sadly.
Ethan released me from the hug, stepping back to look down into my eyes. “He’s just as unhappy as you, Liv. You both need some space, time to regroup. With you both working in the same office, it’s not that easy. At least with him working in the meeting room, it will minimise your contact.”
I nodded, because what else could I do?
As I returned to my desk, I noticed the door to the meeting room was closed and Luke’s desk was empty. It looked like he hadn’t wasted any time in moving. I gritted my teeth, waves of anger and hurt assaulting me.
“You okay?” Jamie peered around his monitor cautiously. “I, uh, heard about you and Luke.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I croaked.
“Good. I mean…” He trailed off, scratching his head. “Ummm…”
Eddie chose that moment to return to his desk, much to Jamie’s obvious relief. “Hey, Ed! What was the name of that restaurant you were telling me about? I forgot to write it down.”
Eddie shot me a sidewards glance, then fell into conversation with Jamie, slouching against the desk. He sidled closer to me as he was speaking, squeezing my shoulder. His reassuring touch bolstered me, and I caught his eye, mouthing the word “thanks.”
The remainder of the day dragged. As soon as the clock hit 5:00 p.m., I raced out of the office, desperate not to run into Luke.
Avery was standing in the lobby.
“Liv,?
?? she called, waving to me. I crossed the lobby, heels clicking against the floor, and came to a halt by the wall where she leaned, a concerned expression on her face.
“Are you waiting for Ethan?”
“No. Well, yes—but more importantly, I wanted to see how you were doing. How did you get on, working with Luke?”
“I—” Tears formed for what had to be the millionth time that day. “Not here, Aves.”
“Come on. Let’s go down to the car, and we can chat.” I followed her back to the lifts, and we descended to the basement garage, where she pulled a key fob out of her bag and unlocked Ethan’s Range Rover.
“Ethan will be at least half an hour, so we’ve got time to talk.” She ushered me into the back seat and pulled me into a hug. The tears started again, and I hung on to her, crying silently while she rubbed my back in soothing circles.
“I’m so sick of crying,” I whimpered.
