AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll be fine,” I said, hoping it was true. The hollow feeling in my chest had started to ache.
Lila closed her bedroom door, and I cozied up on the couch. The only thing missing was Edward. I wished I could cuddle him right now. I’d have to make it up to him in the morning.
When I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, Nathan’s cold face haunted me. My mind replayed how he had no issue letting me look bad. All he could think about was himself, and how he’d be perceived. He didn’t even stick up for me professionally. When it came down to it—only one thing mattered to him.
And it didn’t appear to be me.
Chapter Thirty-Three
NATHAN
Pacing my small office,I checked the time on my watch.
Seven forty-five. I had gotten to work extra early this morning and had been trying not to tear my hair out since I arrived. I needed to see Charlie the moment she arrived. I had to pull her aside—I needed to talk to her. I hadn’t slept at all last night after the party.
When I finally extracted myself from Don and went to the parking garage, she wasn’t in my car and my keys were on the ground. Cursing myself, I drove to her apartment as fast as I could, but when I arrived, she didn’t answer the door. I even tried peeking in her window like a pathetic stalker but found no sign she ever came home. I suppose she could have been ignoring me, but after her neighbor came out and complained about my loud banging, I figured maybe she actually wasn’t there.
I had tried calling her and sending her messages to no avail.
Seeing her face last night had broken me. She looked so small and hurt. In the moment, I had all my focus on ensuring our secret stayed safe—that and not punching Don repeatedly until a pile of his teeth lay by his unconscious head. The self-controlI had managed to find after he spoke about her like that was inconceivable. My blood still boiled thinking about it.
And now she was hurt, upset, and pushing me away. I’d make it up to her. I had too. She had to see that I only acted that way so we wouldn’t be found out. Maybe she needed space last night, but that wouldn’t be an option in the future. I couldn’t take not hearing from her—not knowing if she was alright. It was killing me. It was killing me even more that I played a part in it.
I needed to apologize. No—I needed to fucking grovel.
I pulled out my phone and tried calling her again. When she didn’t answer, I threw it onto my desk and cursed.
First, she needed to speak to me before I could make anything right between us.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out eagerly. Shit, only a work email. My heart skittered when I saw Charlie’s name on the ‘from’ line. When I jerked up to look at her desk, her chair remained empty. I clicked on the email, and my jaw clenched.
To whom it may concern,
Please consider this my letter of resignation, effective immediately. I will leave my badge on my desk. You can deactivate all my accounts and email as soon as you receive this.
Best,
Charlie
I raced out of my office and circled her desk. Sure enough, her badge sat there along with her work laptop. I couldn’t remember what personal items were here, but the desk sat completely bare now except for a few office supplies.
When had she come in? When had she done this?
I raked a hand through my hair in defeat.
“Whoa there,” Ben said, walking over from the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
“Charlie resigned!” I barked.
People lingered by the coffee maker which had the perfect view of my meltdown.
“Let’s take this down a notch,” Ben said calmly. He jerked his head back to see the crowd forming. “Come on, let’s go to your office.”
I charged through my door and he closed it behind me as I whipped my phone out and sent out another unanswered call to Charlie.
“It’s me. You can’t resign without saying anything. Call me back.”
“Dude, chill out,” Ben said, his voice more stern now that we were alone. “She can quit if she wants to, she’s an at-will employee. And you can’t scream about it in front of everyone in the office.”
