Chapter 19 #2
“Well, I probably would have if I thought you would take my call,” Andrea said, her reply punctuated by the sharp beeping sounds emitting from the digital keypad.
Paige let out a breathy chuckle and removed her handbag from her shoulder.
She rummaged around inside it and produced a plum-purple bank bag, which she stashed away before closing the safe door and rising to her full height.
As she turned to face Andrea, she hooked her purse back on her shoulder, and made no movement toward the proffered chair.
“It’s just been really busy around here.
But that’s a great thing, isn’t it?” She flashed a forced smile.
Did she really think Andrea was going to buy any of this?
“I know,” Andrea replied with a polite smile that she hoped came across as cold as she meant it to feel. “I’ve asked Tyler to add some shifts to the schedule.”
Paige rubbed the back of her hand across her brow. “Oh? Well, that’s good. I’ve been meaning to get to it, but like I said—”
“Yes, you mentioned. So busy.” This time there was no mistaking Andrea’s tone as anything but glacial. “I want you to sit down.”
Paige’s handbag slipped from her shoulder and snagged in the crook of her elbow.
Her feet remained planted. She took on the look of a spooked animal, caught in the middle of the choice between fight or flight.
And when her feet moved, Andrea halfway expected her to bolt.
But at the last second, she marched toward the chair and sat down, crossing one ankle over the other before placing her bag on the floor.
“I don’t have the time or energy to play games with you, Paige. I’m running mostly on fumes and I’ve spent the better part of the day traveling, so I’ll cut to the chase,” Andrea began. “How long have you and William been seeing each other?”
Paige reared back, her eyes blinking rapidly as she shook her head, taken completely off guard. “Excuse me, but what?”
“Please, let’s not do this. I saw you kissing at the night market, so there is no use in denying it. All I’m asking is how long it’s been going on.”
Paige continued blinking quickly, her mouth opening and closing without a sound passing through her lips.
Andrea narrowed her eyes.
“I—it was just—I think if you could just hear me out—”
Andrea gave a slight nod, more to herself than to Paige. “So it was you. The one with the lingerie photos? Got it.”
Paige hung her head. She didn’t need to ask what Andrea was referring to, as Andrea had divulged all of the dirty details to her back when she mistakenly thought Paige was her friend.
“I’m sorry, Andrea. It just sort of happened.
You were out of town for the last leg of your book tour, and William came by the bakery to get a few of his favorites, as he tended to do, and he sat at his usual table and called you, because he wanted to tell you he was at the bakery, but somehow you guys got into an argument.
I don’t know the details, I swear—he wouldn’t get into it—but he was frustrated and hurt, and I guess he started to confide in me about the problems you were having and how unhappy he was, and one thing just sort of led to another. ”
Andrea scoffed. “That’s bullshit, and you and I both know it. These things don’t just happen, Paige. People have to make them happen. You both made choices. You don’t get to pass this off as if it was some ‘oopsie daisy.’”
Paige shifted in her seat, but kept her gaze on the floor. “I’m assuming I’m fired then?”
“Obviously,” Andrea said with a bitter laugh. “Although more so for trying to run my business into the ground than for stealing my boyfriend.”
Paige looked up at that.
“Don’t deny it. I’ve already put the pieces together and there’s no other way that they fit.
I know Sadie is the one running the pop-up bakery.
I don’t know how deeply you’re involved, but it’s not hard to imagine you had a hand in helping her get things up and running.
But it seems clear you’ve been trying to sabotage Sunset Sweets.
Cutting shifts, cutting corners, and essentially locking me out of my own company for the past two weeks, all the while refusing to answer my calls or give me any information. ”
Andrea leaned forward, bracing her elbows on the desk.
She laced her fingers together and glowered at Paige.
“What was your endgame? Stay here long enough to fully shred my reputation so that when Sadie’s knock-off bakery opened, you’d have a clear runway to success?
You’re that intimidated?” Andrea snorted a laugh.
“I suppose I should be flattered. But instead, I’m just really, really pissed off.
I have always been kind to you, and while I know sometimes I can be a lot and that my expectations are high, I would never purposefully set a bar that I knew you or anyone else here was incapable of reaching.
I provide competitive pay, generous benefits, and when anybody has a family emergency or something comes up, I am always the first one to roll up my sleeves and find a way to make it work for everyone.
I know who I am, Paige, and now, I know who you are, too. ”
Paige’s upper lip curled, and for a moment, Andrea thought she looked ready to burst into tears.
Instead, the woman exploded with anger, rising to her feet so quickly she inadvertently kicked over her handbag.
“Have you ever thought that maybe it’s not about you, Andrea?
That maybe I just wanted something for myself?
You do this, you know? You gatekeep everything!
When Sadie wanted to come and work here, to learn from you, someone she used to admire, you rejected her, even though you knew it would upset me.
And now that she’s starting something of her own, you’re mad about that, too! ”
Andrea laughed, the sound dry and chilly. “I didn’t hire her because she didn’t have the skills. It wasn’t personal. I told you that at the time. You were just too close to the situation to be objective.”
Paige shook her head, clearly dismissing the words. “And you did the same thing with William, too. You didn’t want him. You just didn’t want anyone else to have him, either.”
Andrea’s mock humor faded, the anger taking its place. “How can you even say that? I thought we were about to get engaged! You think I would have been looking forward to a proposal if I didn’t want to be with him?”
Paige snorted and shook her head, her gaze momentarily drifting to the windows behind Andrea’s desk.
“Right. I forgot. The engagement you dreamed up. And to what end, Andi? Even if you said yes, and even if you made it down the aisle, how long do you think that relationship would’ve lasted?
Because I guarantee you it would’ve been less than two years before you were filing for divorce. ”
“Probably! As it turns out, the man is a cheating toad!”
Paige shook her head, her gaze returning to Andrea’s. Her eyes were intense but still dry. “Not because of that.”
Andrea threw her hands into the air. “No? Okay, then you tell me. Why would we have gotten divorced in two years?”
“Because you didn’t love each other. You loved the idea of each other.
But at the end of the day, you were in the same place at the same time and you looked good together in pictures.
Other than the food scene, what did you really have in common?
He didn’t like your friends, you didn’t like his friends.
You never wanted to go with him to visit his parents back East. You didn’t even want to let him move into your house, Andi!
” Paige threw her hands into the air. “You didn’t want him. Not really.”
A dozen protests rose to her mind, but were just as quickly dismissed, as she knew none of them would ring true.
She thought his parents were judgmental snobs, and his friends were mostly hangers-on from William’s time in university, the majority of whom had major Peter Pan syndrome.
The single ones were the kind of men who drank their weekends away and still rated women like they were choice cuts of prime rib, instead of human beings.
And the ones that had kids were the kind who complained about their wives and overall level of responsibility every chance they could.
And the truth was, Andrea couldn’t imagine William being a father.
Paige stared down at her, her arms folded tightly across her chest. “I made a mistake—a lot of them,” she said, her eyes glistening.
“And I am sorry about how it all unfolded. But I stand by what I said. You and William weren’t right for each other, and neither one of you wanted to say it out loud.
It was easier to just continue on because it seemed like the thing to do.
But we’re happy now, and I think I can speak for us both when I say we want you to be happy, too—”
Andrea got to her feet and held up a hand.
“No. You can save all of that. I don’t need well-wishes from either of you.
Maybe you’re right, and William and I weren’t meant to be together forever, but that doesn’t excuse what either of you did.
And again, it really has nothing to do with what’s happened here.
You betrayed me and tried to sabotage my entire business.
And that’s unforgivable. So there’s no point in you trying.
I want you to pack up your office and leave immediately. ”
Paige stared at her for a long moment before giving a tight nod of acceptance. She managed to keep her emotions in check as she knelt down and stuffed the scattered belongings back into her overturned handbag, then straightened and marched to the door with as much dignity as she could muster.
She didn’t look back.