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“Sit. Back. Down.” Ms. Pope never raised her voice but Stacy flinched. Slowly returning to her seat, she closed her eyes. “Have you made a commitment to him?” Ms. Pope’s tone was nonchalant. Cracking one eye open, Stacy peeked at her boss. There was something not quite right about her manner. Was she sitting more stiffly?
“No.” She lingered on the word, drawing it out.
“Then why do you say you are cheating on him?”
“I didn’t say I was cheating on him. I said I feel like I am. There is a difference.” Sitting straighter in the chair, Stacy added, “And I don’t think I want to discuss this with you...”
“Then you should not have initiated this particular conversation.”
What could Stacy say, the woman had a point. She had been the one to bring up the entire conversation. Especially knowing that Ms. Pope had said no from the second she entered her office. What could she do now but answer?
“Now, why do you feel that you are...oh, hell fire, I need a drink.” Pushing away from the desk Ms. Pope went to what appeared to be a blank wall. But if Stacy had learned nothing else from her time at her new job, it was that not all things were as they seemed. The old saying held true for this as well. Ms. Pope wasn’t standing in front of a blank wall.
“They’re cabinets,” she told Stacy without looking back. Looking a little closer now that she knew what to look for, she noticed seams that were just barely visible. They blended in with the rest of the room perfectly. Opening the top middle section, Ms. Pope revealed a lighted section filled with crystal decanters containing who knew what. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you,” Stacy declined. “It’s a little early for that.”
“You do know you aren’t leaving this office until we understand each other.”
Groaning inwardly, Stacy amended, “Then I’ll take a double of the strongest stuff you’ve got.” She bent forward and rested her head in her hands.
“I don’t think you could handle that particular poison,” Ms. Pope laughed. “But I think this will be acceptable.” A glass touched Stacy’s shoulder and she lifted her head, freeing her hands to grab it.
“Do we really have to do this? Can’t we just get drunk and pretend we had this conversation? Cause that idea works really well for me. Although, I’m not used to drinking a lot, and I haven’t had much sleep or anything to eat yet today, so I’m probably an even bigger lightweight than normal.” Not even sessions with her guru seemed to help her with her nervous babbling.
“Not this time. Talk to me, Stacy. You can speak of anything here and know that no one will judge you. I certainly won’t. But I do demand honesty.”
Stacy looked into her boss’s hypnotic, nearly black eyes. Instead of returning to her position behind the enormous desk, she perched on the edge of it. “How can I tell you the truth if I’m not even sure I know it? Can you tell me what’s going on, because I honestly don’t have a clue.”
“It isn’t for me to tell you. Look inside yourself for your answers.”
“I don’t want to. I don’t want to think about why I said what I did. I don’t want to think about why I feel so comfortable around him or why I want to talk to him. I don’t want anything but to just have some fun and live. I got married almost straight out of high school. I gave my life to a guy, and...” She shook her head emphatically. “Part of me wishes that I could just stop seeing him, forget Demetri exists. That I could get a different lawyer and call in sick during mediations between his pack and that vampire clan. But I know you wouldn’t let me. Just like I know it would be the cowardly thing to do.” Looking at the untouched amber liquid in her glass, she gave a humorless chuckle. “I wish I could be a coward sometimes.”
“No, you don’t. It’s hard, but at least you know you’re alive. Cowards aren’t really alive. They don’t know what it is to live, because they don’t know what it is to be hurt. They’re too afraid to experience anything that could lead to great joy, because it could bring sorrow. It is not inside of you to live such an unsatisfying life. You were meant for great things, it sparkles all around you. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Everyone has a destiny,” Stacy moped, only halfway listening to Ms. Pope.
“Yes, they do. But yours...” She stopped and lifted the glass, drinking deeply. “You are unlike any other employee that I have ever worked with.”
“Is that bad or good?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“You’re not going to allow me to keep the subject changed for long, are you?” Stacy asked the question despite the fact that she already knew the answer.
“No.”
“I don’t know how I feel about Demetri. I think of him as a friend. A good friend. I feel like I can go to him about anything and he’ll listen. I take comfort in his presence, and he makes me smile. But the honest truth is that the thought of jumping into another relationship makes my heart start pounding, and not in a good way. I feel like I can’t breathe, and the walls are closing in around me.”
“That’s natural, considering what you’ve been through. It’s perfectly normal to feel anxious at the beginning of a new relationship.”
Taking a deep breath, Stacy looked her boss in the eye. “Demetri is just a friend, Ms. Pope.”
Ms. Pope’s eyebrow arched upward as she sipped from her glass. “Indeed?”
“He’s just a friend.”
“For the record, which of us are you trying to convince?”
