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I shrugged. “I panicked when he saw me, Wendy. And since you seem to know so much, you should know the why, right?”
She nodded, then set the glass of juice back on the table. She reached behind herself and grabbed a box of tissues placed on a stool beside the couch, and handed them to me. I put my glass down and grabbed the tissues.
“This is such a mess,” she sighed, suddenly looking exhausted.
I let out a wet laugh as I agreed, "It is a mess, isn’t it?”
She waited for me to get ahold of myself, and when the crying was reduced to sniffling, I told her everything. And with every word out of my mouth, I could feel the burden in my chest slowly lifting.
I hadn't talked to anyone about everything that happened. Not Joshua, not even my parents. She was related to him, but also though she was his cousin, Wendy was still my closest friend. She would try to talk me out of things or try to get me to see her side of things, but I knew she would take my team no matter what I decided in the end.
Chapter Five
Joshua
I sat in my office, lost in thought. I was technically supposed to be working, but I was also the boss, so it wasn’t as if anyone was going to scold me for being a little late. There wasn’t anything urgent, either, or I wouldn’t be so relaxed.
How are they doing? Is she still there?
Today was the day Alessandra would have shown up at Wendy’s house to babysit my little cousin.
Should I have been there?
I had hoped her doing this would create opportunities for us to meet, but it couldn’t happen too quickly, either. I wanted to be there when she went, but if she’d seen me, she might have thought she was set up.
In the end, I decided not to go there and wait for her, because I trusted Wendy.
She and Alessandra were close, so I doubted she would tell me everything they talked about, but she would at least help me a little. Wouldn’t she?
There was a knock on my door, and I looked up, startled out of my thoughts.
“Come in,” I called.
The door opened, and my secretary walked in. “Sir, do you need me for something else today? I have a bit of an emergency at home, so I’d like to leave early today.”
“Oh.” I already knew about her special circumstances. I checked the time on my watch and winced. “It’s fine; you can go ahead. I’ll be leaving soon after you anyway. I hope everything goes well at home.”
“Thank you, sir,” she said.
With a nod, she turned and left, closing the door behind her.
I stared at the door for a minute, then let out a heavy sigh. I hadn't realized how much time had passed already. I had also gotten a lot less done for the day than I initially thought I did.
“I better get something done before I go,” I muttered to myself.
I might be the boss, but it wasn’t right to just slack off.
Half an hour later, I was still in the middle of work when my phone vibrated. I’d left it on my table, right beside my keyboard, where it had stayed pretty much since I walked into my office this morning. I had hoped to get some news from Wendy already, but I’d given up over an hour ago. It was a little late now; I didn’t think she’d leave her baby for so long, no matter how much she complained about having no time to herself, I knew she didn’t need too much of it if it meant being away from both her husband and son for too long.
I picked up the phone and was surprised when I saw Alessandra’s name on the screen instead.
Why is she calling?
As I wondered, I answered the call and put the phone to my ear.
“Hello? Alessandra?”
“Joshua, sorry to call if you’re still in the office,” she said.
