Page 40 of Take a Chance on Me

Hannah leans closer and plucks something from the destruction. “There’s a card.” We all watch as she pulls the dirty envelope open and pulls out a small white card. Her eyes scan back and forth, and then her mouth falls open.

“What?” Charlie asks. “What does it say?”

“They were for you, Katie. From Derek.” Hannah holds out the card, and I snatch it from her hand, quickly scanning the words. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day Katie. Sorry about the wedding, but I hope these will help make it up to you. Derek.’

“That’s so sweet,” Belle says, reading over my shoulder, “but why would he leave them in the street to be run over instead of bringing them to you?”

“I don’t know.” And then my eyes widen. “Oh no, what if he heard Adam?” The horror I feel inside is mirrored on their faces. “What if he heard me say I’d think about giving him another chance?” A sick sensation settles in my stomach. Why couldn’t I just be stronger and more forceful?

“Hey, I’m sure he’ll understand if you explain what happened,” Belle says, but the nibbling of her lip tells me she is sure of no such thing.

“Yeah, I mean just call him and explain,” Hannah says as I pull out my phone.

My fingers shake as I dial Derek’s number. Will he accept my explanation? Will he even answer my call? The phone rings in my ear once, then twice, three times and his voicemail picks up. I listen to his message and then take a deep breath. “Derek? It’s Katie. I need to explain. Will you call me back?” I end the call and stare out at my friends. “What do I do now?”

CHAPTER19

Katie

My stomach begins doingflip flops before I even reach the front door of the building. Derek never returned my call, and even though the girls said I shouldn’t, I broke down and sent a text as well which also went unanswered. It is clear that he is angry at me. What isn’t clear is if I can fix it.

I don’t see Derek at his cubicle when I exit the elevator, but that doesn’t mean much. He might be in the bathroom, or grabbing a coffee, or running late. A slight chuckle escapes my lips at that last one. Derek is never late. But the chuckle dies when I reach his desk. There’s a small box on the desk that holds the few personal items he had. It’s woefully empty, him being the neat minimalist he is, but it is there nonetheless. I’m sure I look like an idiot as I stand there stupidly trying to figure out what that means. Is he going through a cleaning phase? Did he get the promotion?

At the sound of footsteps, I look up and see Derek approaching. He looks like he’s trying to decide if he should talk to me or just leave his few items and bolt. I don’t give him the opportunity to choose. “What is this? Are you leaving?”

He clears his throat and glances around. “I am.”

“Without even saying goodbye? Look, I know you heard Adam and my horrible response to him, but you have to let me explain.”

“I got the job,” he says, holding up his hand and cutting me off. “It’s a traveling theater company. I’m going to be gone most of the next year, so it doesn’t make any sense to start something now, especially when you still have feelings for your ex.”

My mouth falls open at the cold sterility in his tone. This is worse than the Derek I was originally teamed up with. That guy thought I was crazy, but at least he wasn’t heartless. “I do not still have feelings for Adam. He surprised me. That’s all. You can ask my roommates. I spent the whole day talking about you and wondering about your audition.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” he says, robotically. “It’s for the best.”

“Best? Who’s best? We’re good together, Derek. You ground me and…” I pause because I was about to say ‘I loosen you up’ but he doesn’t look loosened up right now. The shirt is buttoned all the way up again, and the tie has made a comeback appearance. Was I just fooling myself that something was there? Or maybe he was fooling himself. Either way, it is clear his mind is made up and arguing my case only makes me look pathetic. “Maybe you’re right, Derek. I hope the job is everything you want it to be.”

“You too, Katie. Good luck.” He reaches around me, careful not to touch me, and grabs his box. Then he’s gone.

Before I can return to my desk, Philip’s voice carries across the room. “Ah, there you are, Katie. Can you follow me to my office for a minute?”

I look up at the sound of Philip’s voice and nod, but it’s automatic. My mind is on the empty desk. When we reach Philip’s desk, he closes the door behind us and motions me to sit in a chair. I do and wait for him to speak. I’m sure this is about the promotion, but I can’t seem to make myself care enough to even ask.

“The board was very impressed with yours and Derek’s presentation,” he says, taking his seat on the opposite side of the desk. His desk is big and mahogany and not what I imagined he would pick if he got a choice.

“Thank you, sir. We worked hard on it.”

“It was obvious. The board decided yours was the winning presentation which left us with the challenge of deciding who to give the promotion to. Now, I don’t know if Derek told you, but he claimed that you were the creative genius behind the idea.”

“I did come up with the idea for the app, sir, but I didn’t do it alone. It really was a team project.” Even though Derek is leaving and has just stomped all over my heart, I can’t bring myself to speak ill of him. Besides, together or not, he did half the work for the presentation.

Philip leans back and rubs his chin as he stares at me. “That is unfortunate to hear because we need to know you can push out the same kind of work without Derek.”

“I’m sure I can find a way, sir. We worked well together, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t work just as well with someone else.”

His gaze scans my face another second, and then he nods and stands, extending his hand. “Well, then Katie Malone, we’d like to offer you the position of Advertising Executive.”

It is exactly what I thought I wanted for months, but it feels empty without Derek to celebrate with. I fake a smile and shake Philip’s hand, but all I want to do is curl up with a pint of ice cream. I have a feeling there will be a lot of ice cream in my future.

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