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Bernard ran a hand over his face and blew out a breath. “Rachel, I don’t know how many more times I can tell you this, but Carla isn’t the problem here.”
“What is the problem?”
“You haven’t even noticed how stressed I’ve been lately with everything that’s going on at work,” Bernard continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “And you haven’t even tried to make things better. Instead, you’re just standing there accusing me of things I didn’t do. I don’t understand why you’re being so inconsiderate and insensitive—”
“I’m inconsiderate and insensitive? You’re the one who is letting people, including your ex-fiancé, think that I’m your housekeeper. Because that’s what you really think of me, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I let my hands fall to my sides and stepped towards me. “Yes, you do. I agreed that we should keep it private because I thought it would be better, but I never thought about what it meant to you. You and I both know that we weren’t meant to happen. If it wasn’t for that night we had together, we wouldn’t even be in each other’s lives.”
Bernard pressed his mouth into a thin, white line.
“It’s true, isn’t it? You don’t care about me. You’re just keeping me around because you don’t have any other options. And now that Carla is back, you’re going to go running back to her.”
Bernard stiffened. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”
“Fine. Don’t respond. Do whatever you want, Bernard.” I stormed past him, pausing to pick up my purse on the way. With a grunt, I twisted the knob and hurried out into the hallway. I listened for the sound of Bernard’s footsteps, but he didn’t follow me. As soon as I got onto the elevator, I burst into tears.
My shoulders shook, and my chest heaved as hot tears slid down my cheeks.
Once the door pinged open, I stumbled out, barely able to see through my tears. Outside, the late morning sun was warm on the back of my neck as a cold wind blew past. I shivered, squinted into the half-empty streets and blew out a breath. Then I set out in the direction of the bus, walking quickly.
The entire time I resisted the urge to glance over my shoulders to see if Bernard was following me.
I wasn’t even sure if I wanted him to.
As soon as I got onto the bus, I fished my phone out of my pocket. After sending Taylor a message, I leaned back against my seat and stared out the window. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get Bernard’s expression out of my head or the look on his face when I accused him of wanting Carla back.
Had I lost him for good?
When I got off the bus and found myself standing outside Taylor’s building, I hesitated and swallowed. After a quick look in the glass, I ran my fingers through my hair and puffed out my chest. My eyes were red-rimmed, and my clothes were wrinkled, but there was little I could do.
I kept my head lowered as I ducked into the building and took the elevator up to her office. With my head held high, I walked past rows and rows of cubicles until I reached Taylor’s office on the far end of the floor. After peaking through the glass window and seeing that the lights weren’t on, I sank onto the metal chairs lined up against the wall.
A lump rose in my throat as I buried my face in my hands.
What was I supposed to do now?
Was Bernard going to fight for me?
For us?
“Rachel Booth, is that you?”
Hastily, I glanced up and ran a hand over my face. A tall, dark-haired man in a suit stood in front of me. My vision swam out of my focus until I blinked, and my eyes widened in surprise. I jumped to my feet, knocking my purse to the floor with a thud. He bent down to pick it up and held it out to me.
“Grant, what are you doing here?”
“They transferred me back a few weeks ago,” Grant replied with a quick smile. He waited for me to take my purse before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Here to see Taylor?”
I cleared my throat and nodded. “Yeah, but she’s not answering her phone.”
“Big meeting,” Grant told me, his eyes moving over my face. “I’m sure she’ll be out soon. You okay?”
“Bad day.”
Grant reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a pack of tissues. “You look like you could use these.”
