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“Thank you,” I said as I opened the doors. Beyond what I assumed was the desk that belonged to his assistant, Brent, another set of double doors, these completely transparent, revealed a striking view of the harbor, and a striking view of Neil.
Dressed in a chocolate brown silk suit with a very subtle sheen, he stood with one arm against the steel beam intersecting the glass wall. He had his cell to his ear, and he was smiling at whatever the caller was saying. I knocked on the door and he turned, then gestured me inside.
As I slipped in, I heard him say, “Thank you, Rudy,” before hanging up the call. He dropped his phone onto his desk. “I wasn’t expecting a surprise today.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” I said grimly. “Because I have one, and it isn’t nice.”
“Oh?” His playful demeanor vanished as he studied my face. “What’s happened?”
“I was at lunch with Emma,” I began.
In my moment of slight hesitation, Neil interjected, “She’s pregnant, is
n’t she?”
My jaw dropped, and I sputtered a moment. “N-no. No, this isn’t about Emma, it’s about—”
Movement drew my eye to the door. Brent was back, and he gestured to Neil through the door, pointing to his ear.
“I’m sorry, darling, but I should be on a conference call. I’m supposed to be in Valerie’s office right now—”
“It has to wait!” I sounded like I was about to cry. I was about to cry.
Which I assumed was why Neil glanced out at Brent and hit a button on the multi-line phone on his desk. “Terribly sorry, please tell Ms. Stern to go on with the call without me. Please don’t mention my visitor.”
“Sure thing,” he answered. Brent’s relentless cheerfulness was a trait Neil often complained about at home. It would have been funny to see it in action, if not for my current predicament.
Neil led me to his chair and parked me in while he half-sat on the corner of his desk. “All right, what’s going on?”
“I saw Deja. She was in the restaurant with us, I don’t know how long, but I didn’t see her until she was walking out.” My throat went so dry, it actually stuck closed. I swallowed, grimacing at the pain. “She was with Gabriella Winters.”
“What?” Neil asked, his forehead wrinkling as his eyebrows drew together. “Are you sure?”
“I would recognize Gabriella anywhere. I’m surprised I didn’t see her the moment I got to the restaurant. So I guess my radar is busted.” My shoulders weighed ten pounds more than they had before I’d stepped into the office. What was all that bullshit about the weight of the world? I’d thought it would lighten some once I’d confessed what I’d seen.
Instead, I kind-of wanted to throw up on the carpet.
“I see.” Neil nodded, an outwardly calm gesture, but his eyes flicked around the room. I’d seen him like this before, lost in thought so completely that his intensity frightened me. Living with him every day, I sometimes forgot how intelligent he was, and how fast his mind worked.
He picked up the phone. “Brent, I need you to do the following.”
I glanced to the doors nervously, my heart fluttering like a moth trapped in my throat.
While Neil spoke, he tapped something out on his keyboard. “I need someone to take Ms. Scaife to conference room B. Discreetly. Then I need you to send up someone from HR, preferably Leah, and bring Ms. Stern here immediately. Tell her it’s high priority, she’ll need to reschedule. And track down Rudy Ainsworth. He isn’t to let Deja Williams out of his sight, and they both need to be on a call with us in… no later than fifteen minutes. Please get all of this accomplished as quickly as you can.”
“Why do I have to go to conference room B?”
HR. He asked for HR and Valerie. He was going to actually fire her.
Of course he is, you idiot. What had I expected? He’d fired me, and we’d been in the blissful new-relationship stage. Deja was my friend, but it wouldn’t be enough to save her job.
Neil regarded me with his hands in the pockets of his trousers as he answered my question. “Because you look quite upset, and I don’t want you leaving alone in the state you’re in.” He was matter-of-fact, but gentle. “And I know that you want to stay, but you can’t be here for this.”
Busted.
“Stay until after this situation is…resolved, I’ll duck out early, and we’ll go home together.” He tried a small smile of encouragement, but didn’t quite manage it. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you crying in the back of the car all the way home. You’re going to be hopelessly keyed up until everything is settled.”
He was right, and I wouldn’t argue with him.
