Chapter 45 - Just Friends #5
Not even behind the word gift.
Because Emma had spent the entire morning trying to explain something to me.
And apparently Adrian had decided to provide visual aids.
By afternoon, almost the whole office knew about my diamond.
I wasn't sure exactly how that had happened.
Actually, that was a lie.
I knew exactly how it had happened.
Nicole knew.
Ben knew.
Daniel knew.
Maya knew.
Four people at Vale Architecture constituted a fully operational broadcasting network.
I was attempting to do something radical called my job when Claire stopped beside my desk.
She looked at me.
Then at my necklace.
Then back at me.
"I heard your benefit package improved?"
I closed my eyes briefly.
"You also started?"
"Congratulations."
I looked up at her.
"Why?"
"For qualifying to get diamonds as compensation."
"Don't start, Claire."
She smiled.
I should've known that smile.
I had seen that smile before.
It never preceded anything useful.
"Why are you guys not making it official?"
I stared at her.
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Adrian."
Oh.
No.
Emma was there.
Well, apparently everybody was there.
Maya was beside me. Nicole was close enough to hear. Ben and Daniel were both pretending they had jobs.
And Emma was at her desk.
Listening.
Claire had no idea Emma liked Adrian.
She also had no idea Emma had spent half the morning trying to convince me that whatever was happening between Adrian and me wasn't normal.
Which meant Claire had absolutely no idea why this was possibly the worst conversation she could've started in front of her.
I needed to bury it.
Immediately.
I opened my mouth.
Emma beat me to it.
"They don't have anything going on."
Claire turned toward her.
"What?"
"I asked her. She said they're not together."
Claire looked at Emma.
Then at me.
Then back at Emma.
"Don't believe everything she says."
My mouth fell open.
"That is very insulting, Claire."
Emma frowned.
"Why?"
Claire answered without hesitation.
"Because they're idiots. Both of them."
Excuse me?
Ben looked up.
"Careful, Claire. You're not Angel. You can lose your job if he hears."
Claire smiled.
"That is very true."
I stared at both of them.
Apparently we had moved past discussing my nonexistent relationship and directly into discussing Adrian's selective tolerance for insubordination.
Which, unfortunately, was not helping my case.
Emma looked at Claire.
"Are you joking about them, Claire?"
Claire turned toward her.
"What do you think, Emma? When did you hear any boss pay his employee in diamonds?"
She gestured toward herself.
"Well, I've been working here since this company was established. I never got a diamond."
I immediately defended the one part of this situation that I could actually defend.
"Claire, he said it's not from the company. It's from him."
Claire pointed at me.
"Exactly. My point. Thank you for proving my point for me."
I went silent.
Shit.
That had sounded significantly better inside my head.
Emma looked between us.
"But she said they're friends."
Claire nodded solemnly.
"Yeah, it's very common to give diamonds as a gift among friends."
"Claire."
"What?"
"It's just a necklace."
Claire stared at me.
Then she looked deliberately at the three diamonds resting against my chest.
Then back at me.
"Yeah, a diamond necklace. Just a diamond necklace when you asked for it jokingly yesterday."
"I didn't actually ask-"
"Coming from Adrian, it's a fucking marriage proposal, Angelica."
The whole room went silent.
Pin-drop silent.
Nobody typed.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even pretended not to be listening anymore.
I stared at Claire.
Maya stared at Claire.
Nicole stared at Claire.
Ben stared at Claire.
Daniel stared at Claire.
Emma stared at me.
Claire's expression changed.
Just slightly.
Like maybe she'd finally realized she'd thrown a grenade into the middle of the office.
And I-
I had absolutely no idea what the fuck to say.
Because there were approximately seventeen different things wrong with that sentence.
Starting with the fact that Adrian had absolutely not proposed to me.
Ending with the much more disturbing fact that nobody in the room had laughed.
Not one person.
That was the problem.
Ben wasn't making a joke.
Maya wasn't teasing me.
Nicole wasn't smiling.
Even Claire had gone quiet.
And Emma-
I didn't look at Emma.
I couldn't.
Because this morning she'd spent twenty minutes trying to convince all of us that whatever Adrian and I had wasn't normal.
Definitely not friendship.
And we'd all tried to convince her that it was.
Then Claire said it out loud.
That she didn't think it was normal either.
And somehow Emma had been the one trying to deny it.
They're not together.
She said they're friends.
Like she'd suddenly needed the explanation she'd spent all morning refusing to believe.
And this morning I thought Emma was overthinking it.
Then Adrian gave me a diamond.
Fuck.
I looked back at my screen.