Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
LEIF
C onfused didn’t even begin to cover it. Right in the middle of my official conversation with Rainy, with our HR rep on the line so that this would all be formally on the record, I caught sight of Laurel standing in the hallway outside my office.
One moment, she’d been smiling, looking a little dazed but mostly excited, and the next, her face had fallen like a rock in a landslide and she’d spun, running away as fast as her feet could carry her. I’d only seen her from the corner of my eye before I’d taken off after her, reaching the elevator only a second too late.
Racing to the stairwell instead, I’d double-timed it to catch up with her, but it’d all been for nothing. By the time I’d hit the garage, Jack’s tires had been squealing around the corner.
Panting and perhaps the most confused I’d ever been, I’d called the elevator to bring me back upstairs to my office—and to my phone—and I’d tried calling her a million times since. All to no avail.
Shoulders hunched, I stood over my desk, palms braced against the glass top. I realized what had probably happened and urgency burned a hole in my soul to fix it. I had been so stunned that she’d come all this way to see me without me knowing about it that my brain had been sluggish, but the longer I listened to incessant ringing of phones and nobody answering, the clearer it got.
Laurel had seen me alone in my office with Rainy, obviously not knowing that HR was on speaker or what we were talking about. She might even have seen the racy gift Rainy had left me sitting on my desk.
I knew what that must’ve looked like to her and the need to explain was whipping up a storm in my soul. When her phone went to voicemail again, I decided to give it a try.
“I know this is going to sound cliche, but it wasn’t what it looked like, bug. I swear it. I promise that I’m not cheating on you.”
After using the entire space of that voice message to explain, I left multiple others, but I still couldn’t get a hold of her. Jack wasn’t taking my calls either. I tried both of them repeatedly, alternating between my brother’s number and Laurel’s, but all I kept hearing was the ring-ring-ring of yet another unanswered call.
It was driving me nuts.
Aggravation, stress, and fear were creating a whirlwind inside me, destroying every other thought I had. I nearly tackled my brother when he finally stormed into my office, only stopping when I realized it looked like he was about to rip my head off with his bare hands.
“What the fuck happened?” he roared after slamming my door behind him so hard that the glass might’ve cracked a little bit. “Laurel cried the entire way to the airport, asshole. You’d better get to talking.”
I slumped down in an armchair in my sitting area, my heart hammering so hard against my ribs that it was painful. “I think she thinks that I’m cheating on her with Rainy.”
“Fuck.” He deflated, his anger leaving him in a rush. He shoved both hands into his hair, his elbows jutting out as he spun in a slow circle. “I mean, I know she couldn’t be more wrong, but why would she think that?”
“Because I didn’t know she was coming,” I spat. “I had a meeting set up with HR and Rainy this afternoon to give her a formal warning about her behavior recently. If I had known Laurel would be showing up, I would’ve moved it up. Obviously.”
“Fuck.”
“Stop saying that,” I snapped, dread knotting every inch of my soul. “In this particular instance, that’s my line. Why didn’t you tell me you were picking her up? You did pick her up, right?”
He jerked his chin in a nod. “She wanted to surprise you, you idiot. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I didn’t realize you’d have your ultra hot ex behind a closed door in your office when we got back.”
“You could’ve given me a fucking heads-up, man.” I knew I couldn’t blame him for this, but I had to direct my anger somewhere, and right then, he was the only person within firing distance. “I didn’t know she was coming.” I leaped to my feet, my head shaking repeatedly before I pointed at him. “Call Gemma. Maybe she’ll answer if you try. Explain to her what happened. If anyone can get through to Laurel, it’ll be her.”
“What about Mariam?”
“Mariam?” I scoffed. “I love her, but she’s the definition of the straight-and-narrow. She won’t believe us for shit. Gem’s the only one who might hear us out and actually listen to what we’re saying.”
Jack nodded, pale. He pulled his phone out of the inner jacket pocket and made the call. He tried a few times in rapid succession, but it looked like Gemma was dodging his calls. Which meant that word had already spread.
She had no reason to avoid my brother unless she’d already spoken to Laurel—and had believed what she’d heard.
Fuck is right.
“Go to Franklin,” he said suddenly, straightening to his full height as he nodded. “Now. Go. I don’t know why she thought there was something going on between you and Rainy, but you need to set her straight before she’s had too much time to think about it.”
“Her ex cheated on her,” I said, searing pain snaking through my bloodstream like a poison. “She’s been avoiding relationships like the plague ever since. Plus, what would you have thought? There’s fucking lingerie on my desk, bro.”
Jack glanced at it like he’d missed it before. Groaning, he scrubbed a palm over his face. “I’ll call the aviation company and tell them to fuel up and grab the first available pilot. You might want to start working on a heartfelt apology.”
“I can’t go.” A sinking feeling spread through my body. “I have a conference with Damian Black coming up.”
“The CEO of Black Rapids?”
I nodded.
Jack let out a string of curses under his breath. “I’d offer to take it, but they’re one of our biggest clients. We have to keep them happy and I don’t have a relationship with Damian.”
“I know.” Numbness started taking over my limbs. I stumbled back to the armchair and buried my face in my hands, but I couldn’t give up.
I needed to come up with a plan. One that was immediately executable, despite my meeting. Really struggling to force my thoughts into some kind of logical order, I realized that the only thing we could do right then was to keep trying them on the phone. All of them.
“Will you please keep trying Gemma? Try Mariam too. She might not be as open to hearing us out, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If you get through to either of them, start by telling them that the woman Laurel saw in my office is a crazy ex. Tell them she was only in here so that she and I could have a formal meeting with HR.”
“I’ll do that,” he said, his voice sounding grave. “What about you? Are you going to be okay to take this meeting?”
“No, but I have to do it anyway. I’ll keep trying to contact Laurel, too.” Panic clawed at my insides, digging its sharp nails into my chest walls and leaving deep gashes. I blew out a heavy breath, my eyes darting to the ceiling, and I sent up a silent prayer. “I can’t lose her again, Jack. I know things are happening fast this time and I realize that it might even seem like they’re happening too fast, but she’s the one. I need to make this right.”
“We’ll get her back to you,” he promised. “I know how you feel about her. I know it might just kill you if you have to let her go again, and I won’t let that happen, okay?”
I dropped my chin in a nod, but before I could respond, my door opened and Rainy walked in with a bright smile on her lips. She completely ignored the fact that the two owners of the firm were clearly having a conversation, just barging in and locking her eyes on mine.
“There you are, baby. Where did you run off to? I went to look for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.” She took a few more steps into my office, planting a hand on her hips as she stared at me. “I’ve been thinking. You and I should go away for the weekend. My uncle has this amazing cabin just outside of Silverton. It’s beautiful out there this time of year and it’s such a cozy, isolated little house. Let me take you there.”
So shocked that I was speechless, I exchanged an utterly incredulous look with my brother, who shrugged and frowned at her. Rainy didn’t notice him though, so intently focused on me that I didn’t know if she even realized he was in the room.
“I’m not stupid, Leif. I can see that you’re angry at me and I want to make it right. Come with me this weekend. We’ll talk, and sit by the fire, and maybe do some other things.”
At the suggestive glimmer in her eyes, I finally snapped out of my incredulity. “You’re fucking fired.”
“Excuse me?” She took a step back, her eyes flying wide open. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m done, Rainy. I don’t know what alternate reality you’re living in, but the fact is that we were together for less than five weeks ten months ago. All year, I’ve tried to be nice. To be polite. To do the right thing and to keep the promise I made my mother, but I’m just…”
“Done?” Jack finished for me, walking around Rainy to come stand by my side and form a united front. “We can’t tolerate this kind of harassment in our offices. Your advances on Leif have been unwelcome for almost a year and it’s widely known that they have, in fact, been unwelcome. Despite all attempts to urge you to stop behaving so inappropriately, you have persisted. He’s right. You’re fired.”
I crossed my arms, but I didn’t say another word. I didn’t have to. Between Jack and me, we’d said it all. I would have to hash it out with Mom later, but there would be no future for me with Laurel while Rainy was always here to ruin it.
Over and above that, I really felt like I had done all I could for this girl. I’d given her a job when Mom had asked me to, hiring her despite all the red flags in her employment history.
When she’d first come onto me at the Christmas party last year, I’d been single, slightly tipsy, and busy finalizing a huge project. I’d told her that we could see what happened when it was done, and if we were both still available and interested, maybe I’d take her out to dinner.
Around mid-January, we’d been the last two people in the office one night. She’d walked in here with panties dangling from her index finger and a flirty smile on her lips, and I’d pounced. So sue me.
Insisting that it couldn’t happen here, at the office, she’d asked me to take her back to my place and I had. Upon our arrival, however, she’d told me I needed new sheets and reminded me of my promise to take her to dinner.
While it definitely hadn’t been a promise, I’d obliged, once again ignoring the red flags, and then I’d changed my sheets. The five weeks that had followed had been a confusing, tumultuous disaster, which had reached the breaking point when I’d found that picture of myself sleeping on her phone.
Ours hadn’t been some great romance, nor had we spent years lusting after each other or building some kind of friendship prior to falling into bed together. There had been nothing but a professional relationship between us before, and I’d been hoping we might be able to get back to that after.
Obviously, that hadn’t worked, but I’d tried. As she stared at me, anger and resentment flashing in her eyes, she scoffed, shook her head, and stormed out, her fists clenched at her sides. No tears. No wailing. No great performance.
I sighed, but I had bigger fish to fry than worrying about Rainy. Or her mom. Or my own. Right then, I had a meeting to prepare for and get through, a girlfriend to try and get a hold of, and after that, I had to do whatever it took to make sure she knew I didn’t want anyone else—least of all a woman who shouldn’t even have been here anymore to begin with.