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And then Madison started to think about what that would look like. Would it be any better? Dating a colleague instead of her personal assistant? And Jack was the only one technically on her level. Everyone else was an employee. So, not much would change. It might just look slightly better.
She’d tossed and turned for most of the night, thinking about how this could work, while also wondering if now that they were back home and not on vacation, would they still want this? What if it was just a sex thing?
And that brought back flashes of those incredible nights with Payton to the front of her mind.
It wasn’t a sex thing. That much was obvious. It had been too intense. Too emotional. Too... Everything.
Madison couldn’t even think about it.
A knock at her door took her away from her thoughts. “Come in,” Madison said, turning to see who it was.
The door opened, and there was Payton, her hair straight, flowing across her shoulders. She wore a navy button-up blouse with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and gray slacks, an envelope in her hand.
They stared at one another for a long moment, before Madison motioned for her to sit down, and she returned to her desk, taking a seat.
Payton still hadn’t said anything, but she slid the envelope across the desk once she was seated.
“What’s this?” Madison asked, noticing that her name was on the front of the envelope, but that was it. She was already peeling it open and sliding out the folded letter.
“My resignation.”
Madison’s eyes shot up before she even had a chance to read the content of the letter. “What?”
“I’m resigning. Today.” Payton’s jaw was set, her eyes serious.
“I can’t let you do that,” Madison said as her eyes scanned the paper in her hands.
“This will never work if I’m your P.A.” Payton visibly swallowed.
Madison folded up the paper again and left it on her desk, her thoughts jumbled. It did make sense, but Madison didn’t want Payton to have to quit her job. She was in the middle of trying to figure out how to make this work. This was the last thing that Madison had expected, for Payton to be the one to take the initiative.
“Unless you don’t want it to work...” Payton’s voice trailed off, and she was already standing up, her eyes glistening.
Madison had no idea how long she’d left Payton hanging. She’d been lost in her own thoughts. Had it been too long? Had Payton mistaken her silence for a flat no?
“Right,” Payton said, her voice thick with emotion. “Well, either way, I’m resigning.” She was heading for the door before Madison could gather her thoughts, and then the door swung open and clicked shut, leaving Madison alone again.
“What just happened?” Madison whispered to herself, her hands trembling as she picked up the letter again, reading it properly this time.
45
Payton finally got home at around five o’clock. She knew Ashley was gone for the day, doing a wedding in New Jersey, and Payton just couldn’t face sitting at home alone all day. She was too wired. Too anxious.
She went for coffee, and then a very long walk, even though she didn’t have the shoes on for it, but she couldn’t sit still. She kept replaying what had happened. Payton knew it might not have gone her way, but the silence from Madison had been deafening.
Payton had wiped her sweaty hands along her slacks, her knee bouncing as she’d waited for Madison to say something.
Payton hadn’t really thought when she’d said,‘Unless you don’t want it to work...’
But Payton had to fill the silence, and then once it was out there, she’d thought Madison’s gaze would lock onto hers and tell her that of course she wanted this to work.
All Payton had gotten was more silence.
And then she had to get out of there.
Payton had lost track of the number of times she’d checked her phone today, half expecting a text from Madison. Some kind of apology or something. Anything.
But no. Payton hadn’t heard from her.
