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ONE
ELIZABETH
SIX MONTHS AGO
Elizabeth got out of the shower, expecting to see her boyfriend getting dressed in the bedroom like every other morning. But Jordan was nowhere to be seen. After eighteen months together, she knew his schedule and routine as well as her own.
She quickly wrapped her wet hair in a towel before padding to the living room. Jordan was slumped on the couch. “Is everything okay?” she asked.
He jumped up, his face turning bright red. “Liz. You didn’t take as long as usual in the shower.”
“Is everything all right?” she asked, frowning. He was shifty again. She thought it was just her imagination the night before, but now, her brain blared with alarm bells. “You look tense,” she added gently.
Jordan tugged at his tie. “What? Oh. Nothing. I just have an early call. I’ve got to head to the office now.”
Her face fell. For the last eight months, they rode into work together. “Okay. Well, I’ll see you at lunch, then.” She beamed at him, but Jordan stepped away from her instead of returning the smile.
“Yup.”
In the course of their relationship, she couldn’t remember the last time Jordan hadn’t kissed her goodbye. He was cagey and acting odd. She followed him to the entryway and watched as he grabbed his briefcase.
“Bye,” she called out.
He didn’t respond.
“Hmm,” she said to the empty room. “He must be stressed out about work or something.”
Usually, when he was anxious, he picked her brain. Last night, he hadn’t said a thing, not even when they were cuddling after sex.
Elizabeth shrugged it off. Her dad had walked out on her and her mother when she was a kid, and she was used to letting her past trauma sneak its way into her present.
Jordan is nothing like my dad.
She repeated that over and over as she blow-dried her hair and drove into work. Her trust issues were only natural, but she disliked how they made everything a little harder in her relationship. Jordan often complained about her suspicious nature. It was a point of contention she worked hard to repair, but Jordan didn’t always make it easy.
Everything is fine. I’m just being silly.
Jordan called herparanoidenough times lately, and he had to be right. Just because he went to the office early didn’t mean he was cheating on her. Not every man was a cheater like her father.
There were some good men out there, and she had found one in Jordan.
Elizabeth walked into the Evans Electronic Limited Services building with her head held high. She wouldn’t let her imagination get the better of her again. As always, she giggled at the EELS logo that literally bolstered an electric eel wrapped around the acronym. Whoever had designed it was going for the symbolism but didn’t pay much attention to thenameof the company. It sure sounded like the company had limited services on order. Regardless, EELS had been the first company to hire her right out of college.
At the time, she needed the money to pay off her student loanandsurvive in New York City, one of the world’s most expensive places to live.
EELS might be a silly name for a company, but Elizabeth was resolved to have a good day expanding the company’s limited services. She settled at her desk and booted up her computer, ready to clear out her email inbox.
An urgent message awaited her right at the top.
Everyone was summoned to the main conference room for an emergency meeting. Elizabeth took the time to stop by the break room to grab a cup of coffee. These meetings were usually too long and useless. Mr. Stanley Evans, the company’s CEO, was the walking definition ofthis meeting could have been an email.
Sometimes, even the email could be avoided, but Mr. Evans liked the sound of his own voice. It was a character trait he had given to his son, Toby. The young man ran the company alongside his father, learning the ropes until he took over. Many staff members dreaded the day when the younger Evans took the reins.
Toby was not a tech guy. He wasn’t any kind of guy. His personality was three parts jerk and one part ass.
“Quickly, quickly,” Mr. Evans stood outside the conference room. He was out of his mind with excitement, judging by the bounce in his long, spindly legs. “Move your cute little self a little faster, Liz,” he called out to her.
“Elizabeth,” she muttered under her breath. She always corrected folks when they shortened her name. She settled at one end of the long wooden table, far enough away from Mr. Evans to avoid his son Toby, who was roaming around with a slimy grin.
