Page 86 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

I turned on my phone and was surprised to see only one text, and it was from Stephen. Dre had technically done what I’d asked, but I guess I hadn’t made myself clear enough. I typed out a message to his alias number.

Do not come to my work again. I mean it, Dre. I need this job. Do not fuck with it. If you try to contact me again in any shape or form, I will get a restraining order.

I highly doubted I had grounds for one, but I wanted him to take me seriously. Everything was still so new, so raw. What the fuck did he expect from me? Did he honestly think this was something I’d justget over? He didn’t just cheat. He cheated withmy best friend.

Ex-best friend.

Fuck. Them. Both.

I brought up Stephen’s text, needing something sweet to cover the sour.

Hi, Perry. Wanted to say I’m thinking about you. You told me I shouldn’t worry, but I can’t help it. I do. I’m here if you need anything. All you have to do is ask. I hope you’re feeling better and that you’re getting enough rest. Sorry if I shot that all to hell right now by waking you up with this text. But if I didn’t piss you off too badly (or even if I did) feel free to text back any time.

Oh, Stephen. Jelly beans have nothing on you.

Thursday morning saw me back in his office. I’d made it a whole two hours until his sharp eyes must’ve detected something. I was dealing with shit the best I could, and yeah, maybe I was a little mopey, but I was still doing my job just fine. I hadn’t bitched or blubbered to a client yet. Cut me some slack here.

I’d made it through the rest of Tuesday and most of Wednesday without any issues until I decided to clean out my purse. I’d found a small card tucked away that Christa had given me for my last birthday. It was filled with bullshit about how close we were and how much she loved me, blah, blah, blah.Whore. It first made me sad. Then angry. Then I developed a sudden interest in medieval torture devices.

“You need to get out of this dark cloud you’re in, Perry.” I glared at him. “It concerns me. Even more than before.” I crossed my arms and glared harder. “That must’ve been some fight between you two.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“And you still don’t want to talk about it?”

“Nope.”

“Then you leave me no choice. We have to get you out of here.”

A surge of anxiety spiked through me. “Stephen, no. I need this job. No one’s complained, have they? I haven’t let my work suffer.” I was going to start babbling. I knew it. “Even when that delusional woman called the wrong number screaming because she thought I was the hairdresser who’d botched her bleach job, I kept my temper in check. She called me an incompetent twat, and I didn’t even tell her to go fuck herself. That’s got to mean something and—why are you looking at me like that?”

His lips twitched up a bit. “Your position is safe, Perry. And it’s not when you’re pissed off that worries me. It’s when you’re depressed.”

“Then why do I have to get out of here? I’m definitely teetering on the ‘rip your head off’ side of the seesaw today. That should put your mind at ease.” Although to be fair, I’d been running so hot and cold lately that could change again at any second.

“I didn’t say ‘you,’ I said ‘we.’ Grab your stuff; you’re leaving with me.”

“Wait, what? I can’t just leave.”

“Yes, you can. I’m putting you down for a personal day.”

“Stephen, this is ridiculous. And what about you? You can’t just leave. You’re the damn boss.”

“Yes, I can. I’m already scheduled for meetings the rest of the day anyway. Conference calls that make no difference if I’m signed in or not. Roger and Adam are more than equipped to hold down the fort for the remaining hours.”

Roger?Oh yeah. Our group leader. Second in command. He reminded me of a church mouse on downers, so it was too dang easy to forget he was even in the room.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there. Now go. Get your purse orwhatever.”

I was so puzzled by the bizarre turn of events that I didn’t move. It felt like my teacher was asking me to skip school with him.

“I promise you’ll have fun, Perry. I’m not planning to make you walk scaffolds.”

I tilted my head. “How’d you know I’m scared of heights?”

“I know.” He tapped his watch. “Time’s a wasting here.”

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