“He’s happy.”
“He could be happier with you.”
“I’m not the kind of woman that breaks up an engagement.”
Especially when it’s my best friend.
“Don’t live with regret,” Miss Crabapple said. “Because one day the hourglass appears before your eyes and you realize… shit… I’m actually going to die.”
“Well, I hope for both of our sakes, we live for a little while longer,” I said.
“You more than me,” she said. “Thanks for the help.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. I just need some rest.”
Miss Crabapple shut the door.
I waited for a few minutes just to make sure nothing happened.
I should have never brought up Liam to her and Buzzy.
Maybe it seemed romantic on the surface, but it wasn’t.
He was engaged.
I was single.
Time moved forward.
Our paths just weren’t meant to collide and stay that way.
Chapter Nine
Liam
I stood behind my desk and flipped through the papers Maria, David, and Jacob had been working on.
I nodded.
“This is solid,” I said. “It’s good writing. Protects them but doesn’t give it all away. Who wrote it?”
“We all did,” Maria said.
“Bullshit,” I said. “Who wrote it?”
They all looked at each other.
Maria and David pointed to Jacob.
Jacob’s face turned red.
“It was collaborative,” Jacob said. “I typed it. But Maria had great notes. And David had great edits.”
“I could have typed it myself,” David said. “I didn’t want them to feel left out.”
“You’re a prick, you know that?” I asked David.
“That I am,” David said. “And I’m going to be a prick making six figures knowing how to navigate this industry.”
I grabbed the papers and flung them at David.
I curled my lip. “You want to be a prick? Rewrite it. All of it. All three of you do it. I want three copies on my desk.”
“Are you serious?” Jacob asked.
I looked at him.
I knew his first thought was his fiancée. All the time he was going to miss with her while working on something he had already completed.
But that was life.
Sometimes you worked your ass off and get thrown a shit hand anyway.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I growled. “Three versions on my desk.”
“Yes, sir,” David said.
“Stuff that up your ass, David,” I said.
Maria looked ready to cry.
I felt like a big asshole as I stood there.
I needed them to realize what the real world was like.
There had been countless times where I worked on a project only to have it thrown out the window for no good reason.
Plus, David was going to eat the other two alive. I needed Maria and Jacob to stick up for themselves and show they could compete with David.
I pressed the button to my secretary - Betty.
She appeared in the office a few seconds later.
She looked at the mess on the floor, then at me.
“Rough morning,” I said. “I need this cleaned up and shredded.”
“Can I get you something to drink or eat?” Betty asked. “You look stressed.”
“I am stressed,” I snapped. I put my fists to my desk. “Sorry about that.”
“I understand,” she said. “There’s got to be something I can do.”
“Answer a question.”
“Sure.”
“How long were you engaged for?” I asked.
“What?” Betty asked.
“You and Tom have been married, what, thirty years?” I asked.
“Thirty next year,” she said.
“How long were you two engaged for?”
“A year,” Betty said. “He proposed to me on Christmas Day. We were married in October. So less than a year.”
I nodded.
“Why do you ask…?”
“Just curious,” I said.
I walked around the desk and helped Betty clean up the papers.
“Shred them all?” she asked.
“All of it,” I said. “Make it go away.”
I stood up and leaned against my desk.
“Make it go away,” I whispered after Betty left the office.
Oh, I wish I had the ability to make some things go away…
I was taking notes with earbuds in my ears when I caught sight of something moving from the corner of my eye.
When I saw it was Miranda, I took my earbuds out and stood up.
She ran into my office and threw her bag to an empty chair and slammed the door.
She opened her arms and started to dance.
The smile on her face was contagious.
I started smiling, eyes wide, wondering what the hell was going on.
Secretly, there was a part of me that wished she was going to tell me she quit her job. That she told that old bastard Harry to go fuck himself and that she was done. Now that would have been worth celebrating for sure.
“What’s happening right now?” I asked.
“I got the call,” she said. “We’re going…”
“Going?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. She made a fist with her fight hand and waved it. “We’re going.”
“Where are we going?”
Miranda stopped dancing around. “Are you kidding me?”
“No. What’s going on?”
I kept smiling.
“You know what, Liam? Screw you.”
Miranda moved for the door.
I ran as fast as I could and shut the door as she opened it.
“Hey,” I said. “Wait a second. I’m lost here. Sorry.”
“Lost?” she asked. “I talked to you about this. Boston?”
“Boston,” I said.
“The conference, Liam.”
I shut my eyes for a second. “Shit. That’s right.”
Miranda sighed. “I can’t believe this.”
“Give me a break,” I said. “You mentioned it two months ago.”
“Yeah. And it’s important to me. It was a long shot they’d send me. But they are. We talked about this. You said you were going to go with me. We were going to make a trip out of it.”
“To Boston,” I said.
“You’re an asshole.”
Miranda pulled at the door.
“I’m swamped right now,” I said. “Okay? And I’ve been staying focused on our wedding. I’m not sure if you remember that or not?”
“Don’t you dare try to blame me for you forgetting something important to me,” she said. “I thought I was coming here to celebrate. I guess not. This means something to me.”
“Does it advance you?” I asked.
“Screw off,” she said. “Move your hand. I’ll see you later at home.”
I moved my hand and Miranda hurried out of the office.
I shut the door and put my head against it.