Page 141 of Songbird: Black Kite
“He’s not my ex,” I said automatically, and she sighed.
“No, he’s your baby daddy, and that’s even worse.” She and I had had this conversation a time or two before. I hated the term, but she insisted on using it, which was just par for the course for her.
That girl would do anything to ruffle some feathers.
“Bri,” I started, but she cut me off.
“I know you said that you couldn’t come down with Cooper this summer, but maybe all this insanity will change your mind. Tell me you aren’t tired of the Grand Rapids Rumor Mill yet. Those people have nothing better to do than yammer about things that shouldn’t concern them, and I am just so damn sick of it!”
“Sabrina?” I asked, surprised by how angry she actually sounded. “Are you alright? Everything going okay with work?”
“Shit. I’m sorry. This was supposed to be about you.”
“Honestly, I’m actually happy to talk about anythingbutme right now,” I said. “Tell me what’s happening.”
“It’s just a little office drama,” she said evasively. “Nothing, really. There’s just some chatter around the water cooler about me, and it’s gotten under my skin a little, is all.”
“Bri, babe. I’m sorry.” I could hear in her voice that it was definitely more than a little office gossip. Sabrina liked to act tough, and most times, she really was. But my friend had a soft underbelly that she didn’t often show. Her feelings were delicate, and hard to repair, which was part of why she was so prickly on the outside. Kept people away, which meant they couldn’t get close enough to hurt her.
It was a lesson I probably needed to learn myself.
“Tell you what,” I offered, brightening. “Why don’t you see if you can get some time off? Cooper is done school after today, and as soon as things here calm down, we’ll take that girls’ trip. Maybe get out of the city all together and go somewhere quiet.”
“What, like and all-inclusive in the Caribbean?”
“I was thinking more like a lake house in Duluth, but whatever floats your boat.”
“Fine,” she bemoaned, but I could hear the smile in her voice. “I love you, you know?”
“I love you, too, girl.”
And I did. Through all the ups and downs of my life, the one constant had always been Sabrina. I had no idea what I would have done without her.
I was about to ask if she had any idea what her dates would look like for our spur-of-the-moment getaway, when the phone lines on my desk started blowing up at the exact same time my email began pinging with what sounded like a dozen new emails.
“Bri? I think I gotta go.”
“Everything alright?” she asked, sounding concerned.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I’ll call you as soon as I can. Love you.”
“Wren?” Daniel called as soon as I’d hung up the phone. Sticking his head out of his office, he frowned at me. “What the hell is happening?”
Before I could answer, the front door burst open, and a barrage of flashing lights blinded us both as a half a dozen people pushed into the office, all shouting questions at me at the same time.
“Oh, my God!” I screamed, covering my face to protect my eyes. “Who are you?”
But not a single person was actually listening to me, instead continuing to holler questions at me, questions that had me gaping at them.
“What’s it like being Hawk Jameson’s secret lover?”
“Were you the real cause of his divorce from Victoria Castor?”
“How long have you and Hawk been involved?”
“How much is he paying you to keep it a secret?”
The questions flew at me like bullets, each one striking true. Stunned, I simply stood there while they continued to ask me things I had no intention of answering. Suddenly, a hand wrapped around my arm, and I jumped, looking up to see Daniel guiding me away from my desk and the hoard of photographers trying to get a photo of me.
