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It’s my lunch break, so I grab my purse and head down to the cafeteria. I order myself some Thai food and chow down on it. A man wearing a white shirt and dark slacks walks inside, and he smiles, taking a seat across from me.
He holds out his hand to shake and he squeezes my palm tight, and I quickly pull away. “Hi, I’m Archie.”
“I’m Poppy, Jasper’s assistant.” He looks me up and down.
“I’m the director of the IT department,” Archie says.
He’s good-looking, with ash blond hair and a muscular build. He gets up and strolls to the coffee machine, pours himself a cup, and brings it to his mouth. A few co-workers walk in, and they glance at me, then speak among themselves.
Laurent, a member of the security team, pokes his head inside the room. “Poppy, there is someone at the front desk for you.”
I get up from the table and wave bye to Archie.
I walk a few feet behind Laurent. “Who is it?”
He shoves his hands into his pockets. “A gentleman named Link Condell. He says he’s here for business.”
What does he want? If I don’t see what he wants now, he will keep coming. Link has always been persistent. I’m still pissed that he showed up first to my apartment, and now my job. My heart constricts and my hands shake like leaves.
Laurent glances at me. “Ma’am… Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.” My tone is high pitched.
With every step to the elevator, it feels as if my feet are tied to cinder blocks.
Once I’m downstairs, I don’t see Link so I step outside, and my heart nearly explodes when I see Link as he leans against the glass wall of the building. He wears a beige suit with brown loafers, so he must be on his lunch break. He has a rolled-up magazine in his hand. There is anger in his eyes as he gives me a once-over. I cross my arms, rocking on the back of my heels. Right now, he doesn’t look like the cheating, abusive punk, but the mere boy I fell in love with when I was sixteen years old. I can’t believe I spent almost a decade thinking I would marry him, that he wasthe one.
I straighten my spine and work up as much courage as I can.
“Link, what do you want?” I ask, getting straight to the point. I want to get away from him, he’s like a ringworm that I don’t want to catch.
He unrolls the magazine in his hands—People—and flips through the pages before waving it in my face.
“What is this shit?”
I glance at the picture of me sitting on Jasper’s lap from the night at the restaurant, and I take the magazine from him to flip through the pages, finding more photos of me and Jasper. From the pictures, we look like we’re in love, but that’s far from the truth.
I scan the article and find out what they know about me—one of his employees. The reporter wants to know if I’m the one who’s going to lock Jasper Barrett down.
I close the magazine and slap it against Link’s chest.
“So, what’s your point? I can date whoever I want.”
His face turns a shade of red and he grinds his molars. “You want to say that I’m a cheater, but the entire time you were fucking him while you were with me?”
I don’t like his tone, and he clearly needs help because I never cheated on him. Did I ever think about it? Of course. I wanted to get my revenge, but what would be the point? It would only add fuel to the fire.
“How did you come to that conclusion?”
A woman with a puppy in her hands eyes us before she walks by. Sweat dots my forehead from the scorching hot and humid weather. I don’t have time for this shit. And I need to get back to work. Wait a second. How the hell did he find out where I worked? Before I ask, he replies, “I went through your phone the night you decided to come back to me. I had to see what my birdie was up to while she was away.”
My stomach is queasy. “He sent you vivid messages of how your night went.”
“I didn’t cheat on you with him, and you know it.”
He takes a step forward, engulfing me with his body heat, sadness flashing across his face.
“Break up with him for me, please. We’ll forget this whole thing happened. I’ll treat you right. I’ll get counseling, I promise.”
