Chapter 8
The door to the office opened, startling Haylee in her seat. She flicked her gaze up and then quickly back to the words on her computer screen, which now looked like hieroglyphs to her distracted mind. Her cheeks burned, and she did her best to look busy, but it was no use. She wanted to see Cherish. Hell, she just wanted to talk to her again, like at dinner.
Cherish walked in, and Haylee was riveted to every step, to Cherish’s long strides that hid secrets and held them close. Haylee breathed in and let that tantalizing mix of fresh rain and vanilla wash over her. Then, of course, Haylee couldn’t help but admire the outfit, and how it clung to all the luscious curves. Oh, how Haylee had wanted Friday night to continue.
“Good morning, Cherish.” Haylee caught Cherish’s eyes. They exchanged grins, and Cherish gave a small nod.
“Hello, Haylee.” Cherish sat at her desk. “It’s good to see you here a little earlier than normal.”
Haylee smiled, but the small sting of the backhanded compliment worked into her chest. She was a little earlier than normal, but she had managed to catch the earlier train and with a hop in her step found herself eager to get in and get working.
She internally rolled her eyes. She knew exactly why she had rushed to get here, and it had nothing to do with the job. Before she could say anything else, the door to the office opened once more. Only this time, a cold rushed through her, chilling her to the core like it always did when the stunning Febe arrived.
“Morning, Cherish. Hope you got some actual downtime over the weekend.” Febe strolled through the office door, all but gliding as she made her way through the path between the two desks. The chill didn’t lighten up as she moved, the air seeming to freeze in her wake.
“Good morning, Ms. Aarts.” Cherish pushed her shoulders back and smiled that grin she reserved for Febe and Febe alone. Jealousy flared in Haylee’s chest, wrapping around her heart and tangling it up. She hated being jealous, so she bit her tongue to keep it in check. Cherish wasn’t hers, and even though Cherish fawned over Febe, it didn’t mean Haylee registered in Cherish’s mind. Haylee would always know she was on the bottom rung in Cherish’s world, only existing because she was useful.
How Cherish thought she hid that crush was hilarious. It was so damn obvious. Had no one really called her out on it before? It seemed impossible. Surely someone had noticed and simply hadn’t mentioned it? That idea was pushed aside as quickly as it came. Humans tended to be incapable of keeping secrets, especially if it could travel on the gossip train.
Haylee quickly shook her head and looked up at Febe. She opened her mouth, about to say good morning, when the woman swiftly closed her office door behind her. The resounding click was so loud that it echoed in Haylee’s ears as though she’d done something impertinent.
Haylee slumped in her chair, forcing down the bile that threatened to rise up her throat. Her mood, which just moments ago had her floating on clouds, now sank to the bottom depths of the sea. She knew her face had fallen. She knew that if she didn’t pick herself back up into her sunny disposition someone would notice, but it was so hard to drag herself back to where she should be.
“Haylee?” Cherish’s voice was a balm that pulled her to the surface.
The last thing she wanted was to look at Cherish, allow Cherish to see inside her soul, and it would be so easy in this moment. Forcing herself to be who she wasn’t, Haylee smiled at Cherish and focused on the work in front of her. She managed to get her work done, though it was like pulling teeth for the rest of the morning.
A part of her wanted to answer Cherish’s questioning gaze. She needed someone to talk to about all her woes and trials and pains. But each time she opened her mouth to speak, all she heard was Precious and her whining down the phone line. All she heard was Febe’s sharp condemnation of her generation. All she heard was the annoying voice in the back of her mind saying she wasn’t good enough.
She never had been.
“Cherish, I’ll be back after two. You know where to find me,” Febe said in crisp words as she walked through the gap between Haylee and Cherish’s desks. Why wasn’t there just a red carpet laid out for Febe? It would make sense not only with her fashionista vibes but with the way she paraded around like she owned the world. Which she did in that small office. But the confidence she radiated didn’t soak into Haylee as much as she wished that it would.
“Yes, Ms. Aarts.” Cherish faced her computer as soon as Febe was gone, not even bothering to lock her gaze on Haylee for a brief second before going back to work.
Haylee couldn’t hold the words back any longer. “She really hates me.”
“If she hated you, you wouldn’t be here.” Cherish’s voice was strained, and Haylee wanted to slap herself out of her thinking, but she had been here too many times before. She knew it wouldn’t be long before Febe had her in that office, screaming and telling Haylee how useless she was. How much Haylee didn’t understand or continued to mess up. How much Haylee didn’t belong there.
“But it won’t be long until she gets sick of me.” The contents of Haylee’s stomach twisted and churned, nausea rising with each flip. “I know the signs.”
“What signs?” Cherish snapped.
Haylee winced and sank in her chair a little more. Great, not only would she lose this job, but now the energy between her and Cherish would change. She was her own worst enemy most days. They had finally gotten to be—to be what? Were they even friends?
“She ignores me on a good day. Haven’t you noticed?” Haylee shouldn’t have been surprised but a dull thud of pain echoed in her chest. Cherish’s eyes were only for Febe. She was the bottom rung. She wasn’t anywhere on Cherish’s radar.
“Oh.” Cherish’s voice was softer, the tone that Haylee had come to hope for.
“Yeah.” Haylee took a shuddering breath, trying to hold back the tears that pulled at her for release. There was no humor in her expression, and Cherish could obviously see that. It wasn’t as though Haylee was hiding it. Fuck, she needed to hide it.
“You’ve had a lot of jobs, though.”
“I know.” Haylee rubbed her lips together. Her mind already ticking through how she was going to deal with yet another short-term job on her résumé. She could go back to temping—that was how she landed here—the pay was good, but it was never guaranteed. She’d already lost her car. How was she going to handle being unemployed? It hadn’t bothered her during her twenties, but she wasn’t a kid anymore, despite what Febe thought.
“Haylee,” Cherish snapped.
“Sorry. What?” Haylee refocused.
“That for one would be the first area I would suggest you need to improve.” Cherish pursed her lips, her gaze dropping down Haylee’s body, at least what could be seen from her seat at the desk.
“What?” Haylee frowned, trying to recall exactly what had been said.
Cherish closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they fixed on Haylee. “You’ve left other jobs. I got the impression many of them were your own decision. So why would you care about losing this one?”
“So she is going to fire me?” Haylee’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.
“No.” Cherish spoke as though she were talking to a child. So much for the happy fluttering butterflies Haylee had hoped weren’t just one-sided. “I’m simply trying to understand why you care so much about being fired from here. Is it just the money?”
“No.” Haylee’s answer came out fast before she could stop it or think about it. She didn’t need to think about it. Her need to stay here was more than just the money. It wasn’t like she was paid exceptionally well, and she had a mound of debt that choked her at every step.
“All right.” Cherish nodded, still unsure in her gaze. “Then what is it?”
Haylee forced herself to slow down, to think about what she wanted to say before she let it spill from her lips. “I want to be here. I need to be here. I’ve been working all these smaller jobs, trying to find something that fits. And Wellbeing Works fits. I care about it, and the messages behind it. It’s important.”
The silence stretched as Cherish processed Haylee’s words. Haylee’s lips pushed against each other, moving in and out as she waited and worried.
“Good.”
“Good?” Haylee stared at Cherish, bewildered.
“Yes.” Cherish gave her that small smirk that woke the butterflies again in Haylee’s stomach. “That’ll do for now.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“I’m going to help you.”
Cherish had said those words before, but Haylee wasn’t sure she believed them. She wanted to, but it seemed everything between them came down to currency. Cherish would help Haylee only if Haylee helped her first. What would it be this time? Getting Febe to notice her as more than just a secretary?
“Help me how?” Haylee finally asked.
“First things first. If you don’t want to be the next Precious, which I doubt is even in the cards, we simply need to show Ms. Aarts that you’re not Precious.” Cherish smiled, and a rush of warmth spread through Haylee.
Did she really think it would be that easy? Cherish must be lost in her delusional brain that was filtered through a long-term, unrequited crush. Haylee sighed, the small amount of hope she’d had at Cherish’s words vanishing. “But she’s already decided that I’m useless.”
“Then prove her wrong.” Cherish stood up from her desk and came over to rest at the edge of Haylee’s desk.
Cherish was within reach, and oh how Haylee wished to put her hands on those luscious hips and pull Cherish onto her lap. She cringed at her own stupidity. She wouldn’t do it, obviously. Cherish had shown no signs of liking her beyond a mere work companion, and even that was tenuous conjecture. Haylee pushed the inappropriate thought from her mind.
“How can I prove her wrong?” Haylee shook her head and hoped Cherish took the action as something other than shaking those images from her mind.
“Well, that’s where I come in.” Cherish leaned against the desk, half-sitting on it. She bent down, her tone so intimate that if Haylee didn’t know better, she’d definitely mistake this for flirting. But she did know better. Cherish was absolutely in love with the boss.
“All right.” Haylee wasn’t sure she liked what lurked behind Cherish’s sparkling eyes, but she would take any help she could get for Febe to like her. If it meant she kept her job, then yes, she was all in. Especially if it meant more time with Cherish.
“You need to show her you care.”
“Care? About her?” Haylee wasn’t fast enough to stop her lips from twisting into a snarl or the disgust out of her tone.
“Not like that.” Thankfully, Cherish laughed. The sound was pure and reached deep into Haylee’s soul. “Our job is to anticipate her needs. So you need to show that you’re paying attention.”
“I’m always paying attention. She just doesn’t notice it.” Haylee pouted. Did Febe really not see that? She wasn’t sure how she could make it more obvious, because every time Febe walked into the room, Haylee stopped everything she was doing to look at Febe.
“Here’s your first tip about making an impression and some help in our little bet. Make her notice it.” Cherish was so damn pleased with herself, like this was the easiest answer on the planet.
But no matter how hard Haylee thought, she couldn’t figure it out. “How?”
“Have you whittled down the potential interviewees yet?” Cherish flushed, her cheeks heating with a nice pink tinge to them. Haylee was curious why, but she wasn’t about to ask either.
“Yeah, I just sent them over to you. Three that meet Febe’s criteria.” And one that met her secret plan as well. But she wasn’t about to tell Cherish that.
“Ms. Aarts’s criteria,” Cherish corrected with a raised eyebrow. “You should print them out and leave them on her desk with a note that tells her your favorite pick, which is really her favorite pick. Also, send her the email copy.” Cherish crossed her arms, and tension rose in her body. One muscle tightening after the other, as if she was suddenly on the defensive.
“But you haven’t checked them yet.” Haylee watched carefully to see exactly what would happen next because she hadn’t said or done anything to her knowledge that would put Cherish in this position.
Cherish leaned in, her gaze twinkling, but her jaw set. Was she happy or angry? Haylee couldn’t quite tell.
“Stop using me to hide from her.”
That truth bomb hit hard. Haylee clenched her jaw, staring into Cherish’s deep blue eyes, the honesty in them. But there was still a layer of ice around her, a wall that had gone up that Haylee couldn’t figure out how to tear down.
“I didn’t realize I was,” Haylee replied.
“What are you going to do about it?” Cherish asked, eyebrows raised in anticipation.
Damn it, even in her iciest form, Haylee couldn’t deny how stunning Cherish was.
“I’m going to anticipate,” Haylee whispered, her voice suddenly vanishing from her lips. She had no idea if she could do this. Cherish made it sound so easy, but doubts curled in Haylee’s stomach. People, girlfriends–those she could manage to anticipate. Bosses? Never.
“Excellent.” Cherish returned to her desk, hips swaying side to side in a sexy sashay.
When Haylee’s cheeks had cooled enough for her to hope the color had gone, she looked over. Cherish sat at her desk, concentrating on her work, and Haylee knew she would never be able to work fully focused again at Wellbeing Works. Cherish had become her world in this small room.
Now she had a second battle to face. Her work life couldn’t be wrapped up in Cherish. She had to keep this job. She wanted it. And while her crush on Cherish certainly complicated things, the more important fact was that Cherish believed in her.