AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jill? Why were you talking to Jill?” Lainey was annoyed with herself for entertaining his asinine claims, but she was confused by his revelation.
“I ran into your buddy at the grocery store.” Josh seemed delighted to have gotten under her skin. The thrilled sparkle in his eyes sparked some dormant confidence in her.
“And at the grocery store, Jill told you I have a new boyfriend? Let me guess, Josh. You wouldn’t leave her alone about me, even though I’m a—what was it again, a cunt?—and you can’t take a hint or follow a social cue, so she just said something to get you to go away. Well, I don’t have one, so case closed. You can get back to your fingerpainting now.”
Josh was unmoved by Lainey’s speech. His smug expression seemed plastered onto his face, though that sparkle he’d had had flattened. “She told me you’ve got a cushy new job with some hunky rich dude that you’ve known since you were a kid. I put two and two together. I’m not as dumb as you think I am.”
“Well, actually, you are, and maybe even dumber than I thought because I didn’t think you’d show up to my work. Leave,” Lainey hissed between clenched teeth.
“I don’t think so, Lainey. I told you what I want. So, where is he?”
“There’s no new boyfriend! You misunderstood! Like always!” Her voice was getting hysterical, rising to an octave she didn’t know she was capable of hitting.
“That was quite a reaction.”
Lainey looked upward and was reminded of the day he broke up with her, the way she’d made the same gesture and begged silently for this to end. She stood up and walked around the desk and started pushing against Josh’s back.
“Okay, Josh, well, I don’t know what to tell you, but I’m not dating anyone. Even if I were, it would be none of your business. You need to go now.”
“Lainey, stop pushing me. Lainey. LAINEY!” He wrenched himself away from her, and she heard Mr. Arnault’s office door fling open.
“What is going on? Lainey, are you all right? Who is this?” Mr. Arnault squared his posture as he stood in the hallway. Josh looked sunken in on himself for a moment.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Josh said. “Who are you?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Lainey said. “Josh, you really need to go. This is my job. You’re embarrassing me.”
“Oh, here you go again with being embarrassed of me, Lainey!”
“There’s nothing you should be embarrassed of, Lainey. John, you heard her. She wants you to leave. Do you need me to help you, or can you do it yourself?” Mr. Arnault took a step forward as he uncuffed his sleeves.
“Josh,” Josh spit out. “I can’t believe you’d go for this old dude, Lainey. What’s wrong with you?”
“Enough. If you can’t behave like an adult in a place of work, you really do need to leave.” Mr. Arnault gripped Josh by the arm and bent it behind his back in one swift movement, pulling a yelp out of him. “If you’d like to go with your arm intact, I suggest you walk out the door as soon as I let you go.”
“Okay, okay,” he squeaked. When Mr. Arnault let him go, he rushed to the door.
“I guess you really did want me to grow up, huh, Lainey?” he asked, his voice bathed in sarcasm.
Chapter eleven
FeelingindebtedtoMr.Arnault, Lainey stayed behind while everyone else waved goodbye solemnly, upset that the day was ending on a downturn with no one having found the smoking gun to prove he had come up with his idea first. She knocked on his door tentatively.
“Come in,” came his booming voice. Lainey opened the door and peered in at him. He looked up and waved her in with a weak smile. “Oh, it’s you, Lainey. You haven’t gone home yet?” He glanced at his watch pointedly, and she shut the door behind her.
“No, I wanted to stay and help.”
“Oh, that’s kind of you, but you don’t need to stay. You’re young; don’t waste your precious time at work.”
Lainey sat down opposite him. “I want to stay. What can I do?”
He looked at her gently, the crinkles around his eyes melting into a face of appreciation. “Well, if we’re going to stay late, we should order some food to get us through it, don’t you think?”
“You’re reading my mind.”
“What would you like?”
“Thai?”
