Page 51 of Don't Leave Me

He stood with a cup of coffee in his hand and smiled at me kindly. “Hey. Can we talk?”

I was once again nervously paranoid. I nodded my head at him innocently and stood up, clutching my phone in my hand as I followed him into the empty break room.

“Hey so, there’s a rumor going around the office about you and Michael,” Evan started to explain quietly, looking up at me with curious eyes.

I gulped and played dumb. “About me and Michael?” I asked, pretending to be profoundly confused.

He nodded. “Yeah…that you two are, you know,” he shrugged.

My heart dropped.Great. I wonder who started that little rumor; there was a high probability that it was Evan gossiping after seeing us sitting closely together in Michael’s office.

I chuckled a little. “Really?” I responded with amusement, not knowing what else to say.Do I deny it?

Evan narrowed his eyes at me and smiled. “Are you?” he raised an eyebrow.

I started to get a little angry. It was none of his business; he probably told everyone that because he obviously had a crush on me and was jealous. And now he was acting innocent, like he was really my friend?

“I thought you were my friend, Evan. I don’t have to answer any of your ridiculous questions,” I retorted, then turned on my heel and started to walk away.

As I walked down the hall to my cubicle, I could see Michael standing in his office doorway and staring at me.Great, here comes more jealousy. He turned and walked into his office, leaving the door open, and I knew by his look that he was ordering me into his office. I bit my lip as I walked in, finding him leaning against his desk, and I shut the door behind me. His arms were crossed as he stared at me, his face unreadable. Before he could say anything, I did.

“Evan just told me that there’s a rumor going around about us,” I blurted out, quickly sitting on the chair parallel to his desk.

He raised his eyebrows, looking a little shocked. “Did he?” he questioned.

I only nodded, stressed out from my already-eventful morning.

He sighed and sat on the chair next to me, crossing his legs towards me, then took my hand with his. I glanced up and his eyes were soft and sweet.

“They can talk all they want,” he smiled at me warmly. “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing wrong with us being together,” he assured me.

“There’s no company policy against us…dating?” I pressed.

He shook his head. “No. I mean, it’s frowned upon, me being your boss and all, but we’ll talk to HR about it,” he explained, putting his hand down on my thigh now.

There was immediate relief in my chest as I sighed. “I’ve been getting some pretty dirty looks from the girls out there,” I confessed, trying to hide my smile.

Michael smirked immediately. “I don’t doubt it,” he responded with amusement.

I couldn’t help but laugh.So modest.

“Did you see your cousin off this morning?” he asked, standing up and walking around his desk to his large swivel chair.

Oh yeah…about that.

“Emily’s…not leaving,” I started to explain, eyeing him for a response.

I knew he must’ve thought the same about Emily as Billie did: she was a bad influence on me. And although they were sort of right, she was my best friend and I needed her, and she needed me.

Michael raised his eyebrows as he leaned back in his chair. “She’s not?”

I shook my head. “She’s dropping out of UPenn. She said she hates it and can’t stand the anxiety that school gives her. So…she’s gonna move here,” I explained, giving him a smile.

Michael’s eyes widened a little bit. I’m sure he was trying to hide his concern.

“Oh,” he responded, not sounding too thrilled.

“So um, after work we’re gonna start looking at some places. She wants to look at this place in SoHo, and another in Chelsea. Oh and there’s a place in Williamsburg too,” I explained excitedly.

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