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Rachel smiled at me and wrapped her hands around Joshua’ arm. “Alessandra, how nice to see you again,” she said pleasantly. “Joshua told me the two of you were seeing each other again. I’m glad the two of you seemed to have mended your differences.”
Her voice might have been polite on the surface, but I didn’t miss the tightness around her eyes. To Joshua, it was a beautiful smile, but to me, I saw it as a challenge.
“Oh,” I murmured, my voice so low it was practically a whisper. “We’re not really…”
I couldn’t finish the sentence, and there was an awkward silence between us for a moment.
“Hey,” Joshua said, grinning. “We were actually about to head out for lunch. Since you’re here, why don’t you join us? The two of you used to get along, right?”
I just barely held back from sending Joshua a strange look, because that was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard. I was the one he’d been dating, but Rachel was the woman his mother wanted him to marry. She never came on strong, but it had been so easy for her to move in between us when we were both living separate lives. We only met a few times, and I knew she carried the same disdain his mom did for me because I came from a simple family with a simple background.
Since when did we ever get along? We were rivals before we even met with each other.
“Joshua,” Rachel cut in before I could think of something to say. “Alessandra looks busy, and I think I might have left something in your office. I don’t have my purse on me, do you mind if we go back for it?”
He frowned at her. “Why did you leave it behind in the first place? Don’t you have somewhere to go afterward?”
Rachel chuckled. “Yes, you’re right. It was just careless of me.”
Careless my ass.
Joshua looked away from her, and she sent me a disgruntled look. I knew then that it had been deliberate, and I had ruined her plan. She would have used the excuse to have Joshua bring her back to his office after their little date so that she could spend more time with him.
Rachel, after all, was the kind of woman that wore expensive designer brands all over, and what kind of woman would be so careless with such prized possessions?
“Alessandra…”
Joshua looked at me; his expression was hesitant. I realized the smile on my face had dropped, and immediately replaced it.
“It’s fine; she’s not wrong. I took a break from work because I had something I wanted to tell you, but it’s not important.”
“Oh,” he frowned. “Well, I’ll call you later, and you can tell me about it, whether or not it’s important. I’ll see you later, okay?”
I nodded.
He stepped back from the elevator, and I was a little surprised when the doors automatically started to close. I didn’t think much of it, though, as I watched the two of them walk away, Rachel still holding onto Joshua’ arm, and he didn’t seem to mind. The doors closed, and I sunk into a crouch, feeling my stomach drop. It could have just been the elevator going back down, but that would just be lying to myself.
“Fuck,” I muttered to myself, burying my face in my hands as I felt tears trickle down my cheeks.
The whole exchange couldn’t have taken a minute; I had barely talked to her, barely looked at her. But I felt so damn inadequate, and I wondered what I was doing, what I had even been thinking trying to tell Joshua the truth when it would only cause problems.
Why does Rachel always make me feel this way when she barely does anything?
When the elevator stopped back at the first floor, surprisingly with no one staying it any other level, I had somewhat composed myself, but I kept my head down.
I rushed quickly out of the building, rethinking my decisions of the last little over a month.
Chapter Eleven
Joshua
I was in my office, working when my phone rang. Absently, I reached my hand to pick up the call. I was looking at some documents, but I rarely got calls to my private line, so it was ingrained in me to pick up my phone whenever it rang.
“Joshua.”
Immediately, I looked away from my documents.
“Wendy?” I said. “What’s wrong?”
