Chapter 31
The office had been eerily quiet most of the day, even when Cherish had brought in three people for an interview. Haylee had barely even spoken to them, though she really should be in on the interviewing. She was the one who understood and knew how to work with Cherish.
Cherish just kept sending her odd looks from the other side of the office. Haylee hadn’t managed to figure out what those looks meant, but it was getting ridiculous. The only words Cherish spoke to her were about work, and even then, they were limited. Half of the information Haylee was getting was coming in through email instead of Cherish just talking to her.
What childish game were they playing?
Haylee hated it. If she’d known it was going to be this bad, she would have told Febe to let her quit sooner. But as it was, she was stuck there for at least another three weeks so she could try to train her replacement. Not that whoever was going to replace her was going to last. Not with this random ass mood Cherish was in.
Cherish rubbed her temple for the sixth time in a row. Haylee couldn’t let her get away with it anymore. Anyone could see that she was in an immense amount of pain. Standing up, Haylee walked straight to Cherish’s desk and sat on the corner of it. She’d done this so often in the past, and it immediately brought back the memories of their first night together.
Cherish didn’t even notice she was there right away, which showed just how much pain she was in. “Cherry.”
Haylee cringed. Cherish had told her not to use that name, and here Haylee was, slipping back into a familiarity that Cherish clearly didn’t want.
When Cherish lifted her face though, her eyes were awash with pain, dark circles were under her eyes, and her skin was ashen. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks.” Cherish rolled her eyes and reached into her drawer, no doubt for that small bottle of pills she kept there. But when she pulled it up, it was empty.
Haylee snagged it to see what it was and if she had any. When she saw the name of the medication, she shook her head slowly. “Don’t you have anything stronger than this?”
“That requires a doctor’s visit, which I haven’t had time for since I’ve been interviewing your replacement.”
Guilt swam in Haylee’s stomach. She hadn’t thought that Cherish would be this bitter about her leaving, especially when it was because she was getting exactly what she had wanted, what they’d talked about. What Cherish was supposed to help her with. Haylee set the empty bottle back down on the desk.
“You do know that there’s a rebound effect with this medication, right?”
“A what?” Cherish frowned and stared up at Haylee, squinting, as if it was impossible for her to see.
Haylee sighed. “If you take too much of it, then it can rebound and cause more headaches than it solves.”
“I didn’t know that.” Cherish glared at the bottle as if it was now the enemy. Finally she sighed heavily. “I think I need a shot.”
“Do you need someone to drive you?”
Cherish nodded slightly. “Ms. Aarts has an appointment in an hour that she can’t miss.”
“I’ll take you.” Haylee slid her hand on top of Cherish’s, glad she was finally admitting to needing help. “We’ll take your car, then I’ll drop you off at home and come back to finish up for the day. I don’t think Ms. Aarts will mind.”
“She won’t,” Cherish agreed. “She told me to go two hours ago.”
“Damn it, Cherish.” Haylee frowned. “Come on.”
Cherish moved slowly, but Haylee did manage to get her in for the appointment, tucked in at home, and was back to the office in just under two hours. She was going to have to stay late that night to make up for the time and to prepare for some of what Febe was asking her to do for Allegra.
She hadn’t seen Febe since she’d gotten back, and according to the calendar, she was still in her meeting. Though it was lasting a whole lot longer than it should. Haylee couldn’t wait much longer to talk to Febe, either. She had to tell her that she’d taken Cherish home with a raging migraine.
The phone rang, and Haylee answered it. “Wellbeing Works, this is Haylee speaking.”
“Hi, um, this is Jacqueline.”
“Hey.” Haylee immediately recognized the name of one of the therapists, one who was pregnant and due soon.
“I’m in labor.”
“Oh my gosh!” Haylee grinned. “Congratulations!”
“Yeah, so I’ll need to cancel the appointments for the next three weeks. I’m a bit early.”
“I can take care of that. You go have that baby and let us know when they arrive.”
“Will do.”
Haylee got off the phone as quickly as possible and immediately pulled up Jacqueline’s client schedule. She was completely scheduled out with extra appointments in there. Haylee gnawed on her lip. This was going to take her hours, and she had to get to the clients for the next two days immediately before she left.
She had no choice. She was going to need help to get this done, otherwise she’d be there until midnight trying to make all of the calls. Haylee stood up, and walked to Febe’s door, knocking swiftly before opening it and stepping inside.
Febe was leaning over the chair, her mouth plastered to Allegra’s, hands in her hair, tangled. Haylee cringed and immediately turned around, walking right back out.
Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck.
She stood at the edge of her desk, her hand to her mouth, her eyes closed. What the hell was she supposed to do now? She’d literally just walked in on her boss, tongue deep in the woman Cherish was convinced Febe hated.
Fuck.
The woman who was also supposed to be her new boss. She’d suspected at lunch the other day that something else was going on, that there was more to their relationship than what was on the surface. But this?
Fuuuuuuuuuck.
“Haylee,” Febe’s voice was so cold and calm.
She didn’t want to turn around. She really didn’t want to look at Febe or even begin to discuss this, but she had to. Because she couldn’t just walk out and not tell Febe what was going on. She had a responsibility to make sure that the office ran smoothly. She’d promised Cherish that when she’d taken her home for that day.
“Haylee,” Febe tried again, a hand on her arm.
“Don’t talk about it.” Haylee winced at her tone. She sounded so upset, and she was, but not because of what Febe might think. She was mad. Cherish loved this woman, and Febe had to go and pull this? Cherish was going to be devastated.
“We need to talk about it.”
Sucking in a sharp breath, Haylee raised her gaze and met Febe full on. “No. Not right now. Jacqueline just called. She’s in labor.”
“She’s early.”
“About a month, with three weeks of clients to cancel and reschedule. She wasn’t prepared to be gone and hadn’t transferred everyone to a new provider yet.” Haylee clenched her fist, watching as Febe’s face went from concerned to annoyed.
“I told her to start on that weeks ago.”
“Well, she didn’t. So now I need to make calls, but—”
“You need help.” Febe finally turned around and faced Cherish’s desk. “Where’s—”
“I took her home hours ago. Well, first I took her to get a shot.”
Febe sucked in her cheeks. “A shot?”
“Her migraine was awful. I wasn’t even going to let her drive home, but it was bad enough I just took her to urgent care, and she walked right in.”
“That’s the third time in the last two weeks.”
“Third?” Haylee’s eyes bugged out. She hadn’t realized Cherish’s headaches had been that bad.
Febe nodded slightly, touching her hand to Haylee’s arm. “Thank you for taking care of her. I’ll call her later today. Let me—”
“—deal with Allegra?” Haylee finished for her when she realized Febe was hesitating.
“Yes. Then we’ll make the calls and talk.”
“Fine,” Haylee muttered, though she still wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about it. She’d been so caught up in her project, in shifting roles within the company, that she hadn’t paid attention to Cherish. Whatever had come between them, that didn’t mean Haylee stopped caring about Cherish’s welfare.
Haylee was two calls deep when Allegra finally left the office, her hair and clothes back in place. She sent Haylee a brilliant grin as she pushed her way through the door and tossed a See you Monday over her shoulder. Haylee had nearly forgotten about that scheduled meeting.
She spent the next hour making calls and rescheduling clients that wanted a temporary therapist, but her frustration levels were increasing since she had no answers for anyone. Febe came out, standing in her office doorway and crossing her arms as she pinned Haylee with a serious look.
“I think that’s enough for tonight. We can do the rest tomorrow.”
“Cherish and I can finish it up.”
“Cherish won’t be in tomorrow.” Febe pointed at Haylee purposely. “My office. Now.”
Fuck.
She really wasn’t getting out of this one. Haylee slowly pushed herself up from the office chair and walked around the desk toward Febe’s office. She felt like she was walking to her doom. Then again, she did have the upper hand now.
Haylee left the door open as she stepped inside, and she remained standing, wanting to have the power on her side. She crossed her arms and glared.
“What happened earlier was inappropriate,” Febe said, sitting on the edge of her desk and crossing her arms.
“You shagging the executive director of the nonprofit you fund or me walking in on it?”
Febe’s lips parted in surprise, her eyes widening. She ducked her chin slightly. “I deserved that.”
“You do. Look, I get that you’re single, and I’m assuming she’s single, but what you’re doing is wrong.” Haylee tapped her foot against the floor. “You’re going to hurt her.”
“Allegra and I have been moving in this direction for a while now. This isn’t a surprise—”
“Not Allegra,” Haylee ground out. “And if I have to tell you that, then I gave you way more credit than you deserve.”
“Cherish will understand.”
“She won’t!” Haylee’s voice rose, her heart in her throat. She wasn’t going to let Febe continue to take advantage of her. “She’s absolutely in love with you. How are you that ignorant?”
“I’m not.” Febe’s lips pressed together thinning. “I’m not, but she’s not in love with me, Haylee. At one point, maybe, but not now.”
Haylee snorted loudly. “You’re full of it.”
“Look, Cherish and I have a long history, and with that history comes complicated relationships. I dated her older brother for years, all through high school.”
“You’re bi?”
“No.” Febe wrinkled her nose. “But we lived in small-town rural America. Stuart dated me as a way to protect me, and then he stayed in town after we graduated to protect Cherish.”
“Oh.” Haylee had a newfound respect for Stuart, even though she’d never met him. Just based on that small explanation, he reminded her of her own brother. “But you hired her.”
“To give her an out, if she wanted it.” Febe played with the edge of her skirt. “And she took it, and I know she took it in part because she’s been infatuated with me since she turned twelve. But it was a way to get her someplace where she might experience some kind of acceptance.”
“But you let that infatuation continue.”
“I can’t control what someone else feels.” Febe looked at Haylee directly. “Cherish is the only one who can sort through her feelings. I’ve been married in that time, and she loved Bernie. Yes, there were some rough times in there when Bernie and I first started dating, but Cherish quickly came to accept her.”
“And Allegra? You think she’ll do the same.”
Febe’s cheeks reddened. “I know she will.”
“How do you know that?”
Febe stood up, smoothing down her skirt as she grabbed her jacket and slid her arms into the sleeves. “Because Cherish doesn’t love me. Not like that. Not anymore.”
Haylee furrowed her brow. She was about to protest again, come up with another reason why Febe was wrong, but Febe shook her head.
“It’s late. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow since Cherish will be home sick. Ordered by the boss, so she has to listen.”
“Good,” Haylee mumbled, though she wasn’t looking forward to running the entire office by herself, especially with the added responsibilities on her shoulders. “Does that mean she’ll actually listen?”
“Most of the time she does.” Febe grabbed her purse. “Get some rest tonight, Haylee. And please don’t think that my relationship with Allegra will have any bearing on your position in the company.”
“Wouldn’t dream of that,” Haylee mumbled as she shuffled her shoe against the carpet. She’d been thoroughly scolded. But that still didn’t mean she believed Febe either. Cherish was going to be devastated as soon as Febe's relationship with Allegra came out. Haylee would have to make sure that she was there for her when that happened.