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41
Liberty
I stood at the window in my new office, looking out over the busy street below. Palm trees blew gently in the breeze as the world seemed to be in a rush to get home or go to dinner. I’d had a whirlwind of a first week here. Starting with this room. I turned around to look at the private office I’d been given the first day. I had been speechless while Martha continued to rattle on about the desk, computer, printer, my bathroom.
When we had arrived at GG Center, she had walked me past several desks with people working at them, sitting out in the open area of the main office. I was looking over them, wondering which one would be mine, when we passed them all, and she opened this door to show me my desk.
How had I managed to get this?
I smiled, shaking my head, still amazed.
This week, I had made calls to the different vendors that the company had chosen to use. Gotten to know the point of contact I’d be working with at each one. I met with the head of design, who would be making sure all the stores had the same layout, determining what the brand would look like so that I was clear on what all we were going to carry in our stores and which ones would have specialty items. There were stacks of catalogs to go through and either toss or keep, depending on what that vendor offered. I spent hours with the lady they had hired for media marketing because she’d been assigned to teach me how the software program worked for inside the office.
It had been a good week. I’d been kept so busy that it wasn’t until I walked into my apartment at night that the heaviness in my chest truly affected me. I missed Liam, and although I was enjoying my job, he was never far from my mind. I wondered what he was eating at lunch when I sat down with mine. I would learn something new and think I couldn’t wait to tell him, then remember we didn’t have a relationship like that. I’d only lived in a fantasy in my head where I thought we did.
Heartbreak, my closest friend, was always right there by my side to nudge me when I had a moment that made me smile. It wasn’t going to let me forget it was there, and I expected it never would. Learning to live each day with it clinging closely to me was the only way.
I walked over to pick up my purse, then grabbed the two files I wanted to take home and work on this weekend. I had nothing else to do. Right now, the idea of being alone for two days with no work seemed like torture. I’d have so much time to think, to feel. But I knew once the baby came, I’d love having that time with him.
The rest of the office staff had cleared out as soon as it hit five o’clock. I hadn’t been ready to walk away yet. I didn’t look forward to evenings the way everyone else did. But they had someone to run home to.
The elevator opened immediately, and I took it down to the first floor. The lobby, with its marble floor and walls, was almost as empty as our office had been. I waved at Zelbert, the security guard, on my way to the exit.
It might be fall, but in Florida, that just meant we weren’t boiling; we were just toasting instead. I prepared myself for the uncomfortable warmth when I shoved open the door. My mind was elsewhere, and I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings, or I would have seen him. I’d not have come outside. As it was, I now stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do next.
Why was he here? Was this just incredibly bad luck?
Wallace straightened from leaning on the palm tree where he’d been standing with his focus on the building. Had he been watching it?
“Liberty.” That familiar smile of his, which now made me cringe, spread across his face.
“Wallace, wasn’t expecting to see you,” I replied tightly, wishing I had a car in this parking lot to get in and drive away. As it was, I had to walk two blocks over to my apartment.
“I think I forgot how beautiful you are,” he said, tilting his head and studying me.
“I’m tired, Wallace. I’d say it’s good to see you, but I’m not a liar. If you’ll excuse me, I want to go home,” I told him, stepping around his tall frame.
“Wait, Liberty, please. Talk to me. How are you? How is the”—he paused, and his eyes dropped to my stomach—“baby?” He let out a small laugh. “Even pregnant, you are stunning.”
My grip tightened on my purse strap hanging over my shoulder. “I’m good. Baby is great. Thanks for asking,” I told him with growing annoyance.
“Let me take you to dinner. Just as friends. To catch up,” he began.
I shook my head, not letting him continue. “No. You and I aren’t ever going to be friends,” I said.
Once again, I tried to step around him, but he continued to move when I did, keeping me there.
“You’re hurt, which means you still love me. You know that. If you didn’t feel something for me, then you wouldn’t be trying to escape me.”
The cocky gleam in his eyes had me rolling mine.
“I can promise you that my not wanting to have dinner with you isn’t because I have any feelings for you. I don’t. Those have been gone for a very long time. And what I did feel, it wasn’t love. I just didn’t realize it until I actually fell in love.”
Wallace’s eyes narrowed. “The father of the baby? You love him?”
I said nothing. He didn’t get to know my personal life. He didn’t get to know me.
“Where is he now? Hmm?” He held out his hands and looked around us. “I don’t see him out here, trying to take you to dinner.”
I didn’t say he loved me in return, you asshole.
I stood there, waiting for him to finish whatever ridiculousness this was so I could leave.
His hardened expression softened. “I’m sorry, baby. I just miss you. I can’t stop thinking about you. Worrying about you.”
He reached out to touch my arm, and I moved back.
“I want to go home, Wallace. Please, leave me alone.”
He sighed, then stepped to the side and waved a hand for me to go. “Another time then,” he said.
God, I hoped not. I would have to start exiting the building out of the stairwell that led into the back and walk to the apartment on that street instead. It would only add a quarter of a mile. Anything was better than dealing with Wallace again.