Page 3 of Havoc and Humor
Didn’t I know it.
Chapter 2
Sawyer
“No, I have it well in hand. Thank you. Go ahead and go.” Dismissed with a simple sentence. The sort of sentence any other person would be happy to hear from their boss. Of course, tacked on to that sentence had been a compliment about my work that made my stomach do funny things. Silly things. Small praise like that shouldn’t light me up the way it did.
Disappointment weighed on my shoulders and tugged at the corners of my mouth. Any heavier and I would have frown lines. This was why I had a regimented skin care routine.
It probably wasn’t a good sign that I was disappointed I didn’t have to work late. The true disappointment was that I didn’t get to spend any more time with Mark this week.
Lately, my boss was practically pushing me out the door, insisting that I go home at five or even earlier. Anybody in my position would be ecstatic about that—except more and more lately, I found that I didn’t want to leave work. Or rather, I didn’t want to leave Mark.
I had a crush on my boss.
Wrong as it may be, because he was my boss, and also, I had a boyfriend.
Said boyfriend was definitely on his way out of my life, though. In fact, today was the day I really needed to sit down with him and end things. It wasn’t just because of my silly crush on Mark. Jeremiah and I had been not working out for some time now. We grew distant some time ago, and we barely spoke. I couldn’t remember the last time we went out on a date or even hung out at home together.
Two weeks ago, he and I had the biggest fight after I worked late yet again. He accused me of caring about my job more than I cared about him, and unfortunately, I couldn’t refute that claim.
I did like my job. I did care about it more than I cared about him. And that wasn’t fair to him, and it wasn’t fair to me.
He and I had grown apart. We had been together a year. We had rushed into moving in together. He didn’t enjoy the same things I did, which was why he hadn’t gone to karaoke with me in months. Hell, he didn’t even attend dinner dates with Gregory and Evan with me anymore because he didn’t like how close Evan and I were.
Honestly, I couldn’t be 100% certain that Jeremiah wasn’t cheating on me. God knew he hadn’t touched me in forever.
Since I wasn’t working late, tonight might be the night he and I could sit down and discuss things. This likely wouldn’t come as a surprise to him, either. Breakups were never easy, but we could be adults.
Not that I really wanted to break his heart or have a whole discussion about it, but it was necessary.
I walked the distance from my office to our apartment. That was one of the reasons we had moved in together, because of how close it was to my work.
I didn’t have many things at his place. I’d sold most of my furniture when we moved in together. Most of my things could fit in a few storage tubs that I could store at Evan’s house while I looked around for a place. And if Gregory had an issue with me using his house as storage, he could get over it. Evan and I were a package deal. He’d figured that out pretty quickly.
I scanned my keycard to get into the apartment building, then rode the elevator up to the sixth floor, whistling as I walked.
I fought the urge to check my phone to see if Mark needed anything. I was curious as to what Mark would be working on while I was gone. The report, obviously. But would he get a head start on the presentation for the board next week? I hadn’t gotten the numbers for him yet.
I should be helping with that report. He didn’t need to stay extra late just because he insisted on doing everything himself lately.
I really ought to text him to see if he needed any assistance. I could log on at home after talking with Jeremiah. If nothing else, I could proofread his work. He turned off autocorrect because he hated it, but he made silly typos when he was tired.
I pulled out my phone to message him as I pushed open the door. I dropped my keys on the side table.
When I looked up, it was to see Jeremiah bent over the couch with some guy I did not know.
“Jeremiah?” I said.
Jeremiah turned his head. His eyes widened. “When did you get home? Why are you here? I thought you were working late.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My boyfriend’s bare ass on display, and under him, some random guy I didn’t know. Not that it would be much different it I did know the guy he cheated on me with. It might’ve been worse.
Yes, I knew that we were over. Clearly, we were headed for a breakup. I planned on breaking up with him tonight.
But cheating?
Cheating was something I could not tolerate. The betrayal stung, and my gut twisted. Tears welled up in my eyes. Fuck. I hated that I cried when I was angry.
