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“Expecting company?” She smiles at me again, with less teeth this time.
Deciding it’s better to be blunt and a dick, I say, “Yes.”
Her face crumbles for a second. What does she think I do? Stand around in my office and wait for people to show up? The exception for today is King and Aillard. They hardly ever bother me at the office these days.
“If you’re here for a friendly chat, I’m afraid I don’t have the time.”
She taps her toes on the floor while slowly running her eyes around the office. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
I raise an eyebrow at her.Now? After all these years she suddenly wants something to do with me? Doubtful.
“I saw how rough your life has become and thought you might need a friend.”
Ah, well that clears things up. She’s only here because a scandal has graced my life and she’s someone who thrives in the spotlight and attention the press brings. My jaw hardens in irritation. “Try not to believe everything printed in gossip magazines. It’s mostly fodder.” As if I should have to inform a socialite of this. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
“So…it’s not true?”
The mere fact she has to ask that makes me sigh. “I’m not going to defend myself against a tabloid.”
Jessica nods slightly. She looks way less self-assured of herself than when she barged in here. “Are you free for lunch? I’d love to catch up.”
“Afraid my schedule is rather busy at the moment.”
She dramatically sighs, moving around me to sit on the edge of my couch. She crosses her legs, hitching her ridiculously gaudy dress higher than appropriate for the middle of a work day. “Really, Thorin? You’re going to dismiss me so easily?”
Yes, I am. Instead of looking at her, I pointedly stare at my office door. “I did mention I had a busy day, yes? I’m not suddenly mute. If you want to make an appointment, feel free.” Holly will most likely ‘forget’ to enter it into my calendar, but I don’t bother telling her that.
Jessica frowns as she looks up at me. “This is serious.”
Highly debatable. Nothing that comes out of her mouth is ever serious in nature. “I have a meeting soon, so whatever you came to say, please say it so I can prepare.”
She huffs and stares at her hands in her lap for a long moment before flipping her hair over her shoulder as she looks up at me. “Recently, my engagement has fallen through. We’re no longer compatible. In light of that, I’ve been thinking about my life and all things that have transpired in it. Which leads me to you.”
I definitely do not like where this one-sided conversation is going.
“We were happy together for a time, right? Before,” she waves her hand in the air, refusing to say the words aloud, “everything happened.”
This is where she and I disagree. The truth is I wanted out of our relationship for a while and I chose a coward’s way out. Since freshman year of high school, Jessica and I had been together. I proposed at college, with the weight ofthis is the proper stepbeing drilled into my head. It didn’t feel like the next step. It felt like I was suffocating. Which led me to Las Vegas and into the whirlwind affair with Bex. “You are a wonderful person,” I say in a calm manner, proud of myself for not grimacing as I say the words, “but we were not right for each other.”
“Maybe we are now.”
The flinch on my face is unavoidable now. Her thought process is clearly compromised if she truly believes I’ll ever go back to her. For fuck’s sake, Icheatedon her, and while I regret the damage it inflicted, I don’t regret us going our separate ways. If that makes me a bastard, so be it. “If that’s all, I need to get ready for my appointment.”
Very slowly, like she’s waiting for me to change my mind, Jessica rises from the edge of the couch with elegance and grace. Her lips compress in a tight line, but she finally obliges by walking out of my office without another asinine comment.
Holly appears almost thirty seconds later, shaking her finger at me while clicking her tongue. “I told you. She wants to have a luncheon with you next week. I wrote it down, but only because she was staring at me like she was going to set my hair on fire if I didn’t. I can cancel it if you want.”
“Yes, definitely cancel it.”
“Aillard called and said that King’s meeting ran a little late but they should be here within the next few minutes. Do you want me to have pastries sent in from the kitchen?” Holly types on her tablet without looking up at me.
“No, that will only encourage them to stay longer than necessary. I don’t expect this meeting to last very long.”
Holly finally lifts her head to stare at me. “Who did you think I was letting back here earlier? It clearly wasn’t that woman.” She bites her lip before asking, “Or is that not in my job description?”
My mouth opens to respond but I hesitate. How much to say? I trust Holly, she’s been nothing but professional to me since she began working here. She was trained by one of Andrew Huntington-Ward’s assistants when I agreed to take her on permanently so she knows how to be discreet. Still, explaining Bex seems like too much of a hassle right now. “At the moment, I don’t know if I’ll be actively participating in several charity events or simply donating money. If I am going to be active, then we’ll need to rearrange my schedule to fit those into it.”
Holly blinks twice at my words. “Charity events?” she echoes slowly. “Is there a reason you aren’t committing to doing these yourself?”
