Page 480 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
Eyes flicked to me as I strode through the office. I knew without a shred of doubt that they’d all been talking about me before I arrived. I could feel it. Heck, I could practically smell it. They reeked of rumors and gossip.
I heard someone whisper my and Chadwick’s names. Someone else giggled. A man muttered that Chadwick was a lucky son of a bitch. A woman said I was the lucky one.
I ignored them all and walked straight to my destination—Chadwick’s office.
I knocked on the cracked-open door and pushed it open. “Chadwick, we need to talk.”
I was met with silence and looked around his office, finding it empty. All the lights were off. His coat wasn’t there.
He hadn’t shown up to work yet.
Frowning, I wondered what had held him up. Ever since we started working together, he’d been punctual.
Maybe he’s in his father’s office.
Alastair’s office greeted me with the same emptiness as Chadwick’s. It smelled like Lysol from the night cleaners and all the lights were off. He hadn’t yet shown up to work, either. However, that was less abnormal. Alastair had been coming in to work a couple hours later on Mondays for months now. Chances were high he still needed a bit more time to recover from his retirement party on Saturday night. He didn’t bounce back the way he used to ten years ago.
That left one thing to do—the gritty, icky, dreaded thing I wanted to do the least.
I walked toward the break room and found exactly who I was looking for.
Aleena sat with her back to the coffee machines, sipping a latte and picking at a cinnamon roll. She had her phone in her free hand and scrolled aimlessly with her eyes glazed over while Benji and Danielle chatted across the table from her.
I approached the table and clasped my hands behind my back. “Morning.”
All three of them looked up at once.
Benji grinned. “Good morning.”
Danielle kept her eyes down. Aleena turned her phone face down and tried to look exceptionally busy with her cinnamon roll.
I forced myself to smile even though I wanted to scream. “Do you guys mind if I talk to Aleena alone for a minute?”
Benji and Danielle fled and scattered.
Aleena watched me as I sat down across from her and crossed one leg over the other.
She leaned back in her chair. “How was Alastair’s retirement party?”
“Did you tell everyone that Chadwick and I had sex?”
My friend turned neon pink. “I… I…” She hung her head and sighed. Her shoulders slumped, and I knew the truth before she said the words. “I told one person. I’m so sorry, Tinsely. I didn’t mean to. I got so drunk at the staff party. I think I lost my mind. It just sort of came out before I realized what I was saying, and the next thing I knew, everyone was talking about it and I couldn’t take it back.”
Even though I knew this was what had happened, because nobody else knew about Chadwick and me, it still stung to hear her say it out loud.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Aleena stared imploringly at me. “That’s all you have to say?”
“Is there something you want me to say?”
“I don’t know,” she breathed. “Aren’t you pissed at me? Don’t you want to yell? Don’t you want to tell me I screwed up? That I betrayed you?” Her eyes grew glassy. “I feel like an absolute ass, Tinsely. If things were the other way around…” Her bottom lip trembled and she wiped at her eyes, leaving smudges of mascara across her cheeks. “If things were the other way around you never would have messed up like I did. You’d take my secrets to your grave.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“People make mistakes. You didn’t do it on purpose. But,” I said as I got to my feet, “I think I need some time to process this. And some space.”
Her tears spilled over as she looked up at me, and she didn’t bother wiping them away. “I understand.”
