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“What do you need?” I asked, keeping my voice gentle despite my irritation.
“I was looking for an old pair of earrings of mine. Have you seen them?” she asked. “Small hoops with a pearl on them.”
I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath through my nose to calm down. How was she so obvious with her intentions now, when before, I was blindsided by her telling me she was so unhappy that she wanted to break up? She was only calling to talk.
Even though she was the one who had ended it, she seemed like she wanted to get back in my good graces for some reason, at least recently. Or at least I thought she did. I tried to think of a logical explanation as to why she’d want to spend time with me, but then again, my logic had completely failed me when we were engaged.
Stephanie always had me at a loss. Just thinking about her was exhausting.
“I haven’t seen them, no,” I said, stepping up to the front of the line. I muted the call and ordered a latte and a chocolate croissant.
“You’re sure?” she asked. “I’ve looked everywhere.”
“I’m very sure,” I said. “Is there anything else? I need to head back to work.”
She paused. “No. That’s it.”
I bit back my next comment—that she should have just texted me. Arguing with her was even worse, though, and I didn’t want to risk it. “Okay, bye.”
“Bye.”
I ended the call and tucked my phone into my pocket. Today had been going so well, and now I was completely consumed by annoyance. The questions were going to swirl in my head all damn day. When the fuck was she going to leave me alone?
I got my coffee and croissant, then went back to the office. Brooke wasn’t at her desk, so I put the croissant where she’d see it and retreated back into my office.
My attention was completely shattered because of Stephanie, even with the caffeine boost from my coffee. But still, I tried to focus again. Right when I held onto a train of thought for longer than three minutes, someone knocked on my door.
“Fuck,” I mumbled under my breath. “What?”
The door opened a crack, and Brooke’s face appeared. “Sorry, am I bothering you?”
“No,” I said. “Come in.”
She stepped inside, pulling the door mostly closed behind her. “I just wanted to thank you for the chocolate croissant. You didn’t have to do that.”
“No worries.”
She started to leave, but her brows furrowed. “Is everything okay?”
“I just had a call with an ex that I wasn’t expecting,” I said before I could stop myself. I rarely ever talked about personal things, much less with anyone at work. But the concern in her eyes felt genuine and good. Safe, even.
“Ugh, I know that feeling,” she said, coming closer. “All off-center and bad, even if the actual call wasn’t that bad.”
“Exactly.”
She looked out the window for a moment, and I took the opportunity to study her. She was wearing another one of her simple, work-friendly outfits—a gray pencil skirt and a white button-down shirt. But as always, she looked good. Something about how buttoned-up she looked made me want to fuck her even more.
“My ex doesn’t really call me anymore now that we’ve fully split, but he just pops up in my life like an annoying zit.”
I snorted. “A zit sounds about right.”
“Right before a big presentation in front of the whole company.”
“For sure.” I half-smiled, to my own surprise.
“I’m really sorry, by the way,” she said, her tone serious again.
“Why?” I asked. “You didn’t do anything.”
