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Felicity leaned closer to murmur. “I saw you.”
“You saw me where?”
“In the parking lot. With Tazeem.” With a grin, the redhead made kissing sounds. “I knew you there was something off about how hard you were selling him to us.”
Instant anxiety swept through Chess. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I’m not Donna.” Felicity’s grin widened. “But my silence comes at a price.”
Chess’s eyes narrowed. “What price?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Felicity said even as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. As she sashayed out, she coyly tossed over her shoulder, “I’ll let you know.”
Chess should’ve been worried, but if she’d learned anything in the past few weeks it was that Felicity’s bark was worse than her bite.
As it turned out, there was someone else that Chess needed to worry about.
Later in the day, Chess came back from lunch to find Kendall at the reception. The lady looked even thinner than usual, like the slightest breeze could carry her off. Even the bulky flannel shirt and oversized jeans she was wearing couldn’t hide the stick-thin body beneath. Her blonde hair was wispy and her eyebrows were practically nonexistent. Chemo was definitely doing a number on her.
“Kenny?” Chess paused in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” Despite her frailness, Kendall was the type of woman to smile at the drop of a hat. But there was no smile today. Her expression was wan and her tone was icy as she asked, “Can we talk in your office?”
“Sure. Sure.” Chess led the way to her office. She let Kendall get into the room first before closing the door behind them. “It’s great-”
“Cut the crap!” Her arms folded over her chest and her expression a mask of fury, Kendall turned around to face Chess. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me.”
Chess, who’d never seen her friend angry, could only stutter, “I’m sorry… wh… what?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.” Kendall’s voice hitched. “I know what you’ve been doing behind my back.”
“Huh?” Chess knew this had something to do with Derrick but didn’t know exactly what her friend was talking about. “I haven’t done anything behind your back.”
“Are you kidding me?” Kendall’s voice rose as the ire in her gaze intensified. “Do you think I’m a fool?”
“Kendall, I’m so confused.” Chess fought to keep her voice low. “What are you talking about? What do you think I’ve done?”
“You’ve made a fool out of me,” Kendall yelled. “I knew he was having an affair, but never in a million years would I have thought that it was you. How could you?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Chess blinked once, twice, then thrice. “You think I’m having an affair with Derrick?”
“I don’t think,” the other woman snapped back. “I know.”
“Well, you know wrong.” Chess vehemently denied, “I would never, ever have an affair with Derrick. Our relationship isn’t like that.”
“You’re lying,” Kendall vehemently insisted. “I was told that you two were having an affair and that he quit his job because you refused to end the affair.”
Chess’s jaw dropped as disbelief rushed through her. “You were told by who? Who told you?”
Kendall scowled fiercely. “Why do you care?”
“Because whoever told you was lying.” Anger swept through Chess, and her voice rose with every word she spoke. “I would never, ever sleep with Derrick. Not just because you and I are friends but because I don’t like him that way. Besides, I’m seeing Tazeem. Why would I mess that up by sleeping with Derrick? Who told you I was sleeping with him? How dare they lie on my name? Give me a name and we’ll go to them right now and get the truth out of them. Who the hell is it?”
Chess’s anger was enough to blunt Kendall’s. Kendall seemed less certain of her words as she offered, “I don’t know. I just got an email this morning telling me about it.”
“An email from who?”
“I don’t know.” Kendall explained, “It wasn’t signed, and I didn’t recognize the email address.”
