Page 81 of Not As Advertised

What if Rennie’s diagnosis had been something so much worse? How would you deal with not being here to help? Can you risk that happening next time?

I couldn’t.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I distractedly picked it up out of habit more than a conscious choice.

“Hello?”

“Aiden, it’s Jack. Listen, I’ve just gotten out of a meeting with Abigail Summers. Apparently, you’ve been in a relationship with her, your direct employee, for weeks, and this is the first I’m hearing about it. Do you realize what a clusterfuck this is?”

My heart might actually have stopped for a moment. As if I wasn’t already drowning in worry over Rennie, there was a shitstorm waiting for me back in Amado.

“I don’t have any excuses, Jack. It was wrong, and I did it anyway. I want you to know that I’m 100 percent committed to Appeal. None of this will blow back on the company. I’ll take care of it. I’ll be back in the office within three days. I’ll come see you first thing.”

Just as Jack started to speak on the other end of the line, Mom came out of the ward’s hallway.

“Jack, I need to go. There’s a lot happening here. I’m sorry.”

“Aiden…”

I didn’t let him finish. “I’m sorry, Jack. Truly.”

“All right. But I better see you in my office the second you’re back.”

I moved to Amado to secure a better financial future for my family, ensuring they had everything they needed. I wanted Rennie to have access to the best medical care. What if Isabel lost her job? Andreas worked contract jobs that didn’t come with health insurance.

I’d already proven to be useless in protecting them from things like Rennie’s illness. The least I could do was make sure they didn’t have to worry about money.

Could I really risk everything I had worked for at Appealin a relationship? Let my family’s well-being hang in the balance of my irresponsible choices?

I knew what I had to do next, even if I had to cut out my heart to do it.

Walking into Jack Blakley’s office was intimidating. I’d never had a reason to spend time on the top floor of the building. By rights, Aiden’s office should have been up here, but he’d opted for a more hands-on approach with the senior teams.

As I walked down the nearly silent hallway to the CEO’s office, I couldn’t help but thank Aiden for that choice. It would have been like working in a fishbowl up here. All the glass offices with the admin staff in satellite offices. Shudder.

Mr. Blakley’s EA assistant saw me coming and put a phone to her ear. Her face gave nothing away.

“He’s waiting for you, Ms. Summers. Go on in.”

I nodded and tried to push down my nerves. I didn’t like the idea of being responsible for explaining things on Aiden’s behalf. I wished Miles had more time under his belt so he could be the one in the hot seat today. It wasn’t my finest moment to want someone else to deal with the details of a proposal that I had been involved in since the beginning, but worries were rarely logical. I didn’t know how much to share or even what wasexpected. All I had with me was an update on each of the big projects the various teams were working on.

Stuck in my own head, I didn’t notice until I stepped into the office that Mr. Blakley wasn’t alone. Linda from HR was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of his desk. She gave me a gentle smile.

Oh shit. This was not an update meeting at all. That’s why he had been so cagey and rushed on the phone earlier.

Mr. Blakley saw me hesitating by the door and waved me over to a chair.

“Abigail, please sit.”

Some sort of social programming must have kicked in because I found my legs moving without my permission to the chair he’d indicated and sitting down.

I clutched the files that I now knew were irrelevant, just for something to hold on to. I needed some sort of life preserver to keep my head above water in this conversation. As if anything was going to save me from whatever sinking ship I’d just boarded.

I said nothing. Whatever was coming, they were going to bring it up, not me.

“Abigail, this wasn’t the way I’d normally have this kind of meeting. But with Aiden’s family emergency keeping him away from the office for an undetermined amount of time, this is where we are.”

I hoped he knew where we were. I didn’t have a clue. Was this a disciplinary meeting? A termination?

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