Chapter 8
Monday morning started with Paige and Carter walking out of their rooms at the same time and heading toward the kitchen.
It was their first run-in since Friday night’s dramatic decoration outburst.
They both stood awkwardly on opposite sides of the counter before Carter spoke. “Hey, so I’m going to be starting my apartment hunt. Given the time of year, I’m not sure how quickly I’ll find something. At least not as quickly as I found this place.”
Silence fell between them, and Paige maintained eye contact with Carter, refusing to offer him the apology she assumed he was fishing for. At the very least, he seemed to hope she would take back what she said about him leaving.
The truth was, Paige didn’t want to find another roommate. Carter was paying a premium price she wasn’t sure others could match, and who knew how many weirdos she’d need to sift through again. But Paige was stubborn and didn’t want to be the first to apologize, so she simply replied, “Sounds good.”
Their eyes stayed locked on each other, daring the other to fold first. But Paige also saw a flicker in Carter’s eyes that she had glimpsed before.
A sadness of sorts. He looked like he was about to say something more but must have decided against it because he turned without another word and left the apartment.
“Okay, bye,” Paige called out to the empty room, rolling her eyes at his abrupt departure. She made herself a coffee and mentally prepared for the day.
When Paige made it to her office, she opened the group chat she had with her closest colleagues—Jenny and Laura from the graphic design department—and asked them if the coast was clear.
Paige had spent a few hours the day before going back and forth with her coworkers on a plan of action.
Luckily, Jenny enjoyed getting to the office early to get some work in while it was quiet, so that meant she could be Paige’s eyes and ears on the inside so she didn’t walk directly into the happy couple.
Jenny wrote back:
All clear. I don’t think they’ve gotten here yet.
Paige rushed into a closing elevator to find Trey standing nervously next to the buttons. Trey was Chance’s counterpart on the IT team, and the friend Chance had confided in at the office party after he cheated. He gave her an awkward smile but avoided any direct eye contact.
Off to a great start, Paige told herself. But as soon as the elevator door opened, she held her head high and made her way to her desk.
She could feel just about everyone’s eyes on her, giving her looks of pity, but Paige kept her focus on acting cool, calm, and collected as she walked through the cubicles.
After checking her email and doing some prep for a last-minute team meeting, Paige headed for the coffee station. Before she turned the corner into the break room, she could hear Diana’s voice gushing to the HR team.
Paige froze. She craved a caffeine fix, but certainly not enough to barge in on Diana’s engagement recap. As if on cue, Laura walked out with two coffees in hand, handing one to Paige.
“My hero,” Paige said as her entire body relaxed slightly.
“I walked by while you had your eyes glued to your computer and noticed you didn’t have any yet.” Laura smiled, ushering Paige away from her blonde nemesis.
The rest of the day was thankfully incident free, and Paige was exhausted from the constant awareness of her surroundings in addition to the boring team meeting and uninteresting client work.
In the days and months that followed her and Chance’s breakup, she wasn’t able to avoid him completely.
But each time they had a run-in, she was able to walk off before he had a chance to try to explain himself or ask how she was doing.
She knew that eventually she would pass him in the hallway and need to give him a forced and empty congratulations.
She just hoped it wouldn’t have to be today.
Jenny and Laura had both left for the day, and Paige had waited her usual twenty minutes past five to ensure she was one of the last people to leave the office.
She made her way to the elevator and hit the button for the lobby.
Just as the doors were closing, an arm shot between them, forcing them back open.
Seconds later, Chance stepped into the elevator.
Paige felt like the wind was knocked out of her. You have got to be kidding me, she thought.
“Oh, hey, Paige,” Chance said awkwardly, hitting the button again. Paige stared straight at the doors.
After a few seconds of painful silence, Chance turned toward her like he was about to speak just as the elevator landed with a thud in the lobby. The doors opened, and Paige made a beeline to the door, leaving her ex to choke on his words.
Her mind was spinning her entire commute home, thinking of all the things she wished she had said to him in their brief encounter. She also felt the pain of his nonchalance resurface again and did her best to fight back tears on the train.
As soon as she got back home, she collapsed on her couch and covered her head with a pillow. Without thinking, she started screaming into the pillow to let off some steam. While she was mid-yell, she heard the door open and sat up so fast she got dizzy.
Carter raised an eyebrow in confusion as she hurried toward the counter, pretending to be unpacking her work bag.
“Big meeting today?” he asked, his face now looking amused.
Now it was Paige who looked confused. Is he actually speaking to me voluntarily?
“What? Why are you—”
“I noticed this morning you were more dressed up.”
Paige was caught between confusion and mild flattery.
“It’s just,” he continued, “you didn’t seem in the mood for any compliments earlier, but you look nice today.”
He said it so flippantly that she didn’t know how to respond. And before she could get anything out, Carter grabbed a juice from the fridge and went to his room.
So, he’s complimenting me now? This day could not get weirder.
She and Carter started the day in a staring standoff, then she was trapped on an elevator with Chance, and now Carter was handing out oddly phrased compliments to her. If her mind hadn’t already been spinning, it definitely was now.
Paige figured it would be best to keep her brain busy, so she heated a frozen meal, worked for an hour on her business plan, and turned in for the night.
***
The next week and a half was more of the same.
At home, Paige only saw Carter occasionally, which was fine with her.
He hadn’t made any more comments about the Christmas decor or about finding a new place to live.
And while he was generally less rude, he hadn’t offered any more semi-compliments either.
They mostly acted as ships passing in the night, though Paige couldn’t quite shake the image of Carter’s smile, or the glimpse she had gotten of his abs the day he moved in.
She hated to admit how much brain space she had given this man.
At work, Paige was doing everything she could to avoid any more run-ins with Chance or Diana, which had been a success with the continued help of Jenny and Laura.
The closest call had come when she was walking toward the break room to grab her lunch and spotted them on their way out.
Luckily, they were deep in conversation that included puppy-dog eyes from both parties, so they didn’t notice her pivot to take the long way around.
This last year was arguably one of the hardest years of Paige’s life, and just when she had started feeling better, her best friend told her she was moving out, she lost her end-of-year bonus, she had to put up with an arrogant asshole of a roommate, and then learn that her cheating ex proposed to the woman he cheated on her with only a year before.
She was counting down the days until she left for Christmas with her family in California. In fact, it was one of the few things keeping her sane.
And now, only one more thing stood in the way of her enjoying a sunny and sixty-degree holiday with her family—her company’s annual Christmas party.
Paige was dreading this day most of all. Not only did this mark the year anniversary of Chance admitting his affair, which was trauma-inducing enough, but it was yet another opportunity for him and Diana to flaunt their new engagement.
She didn’t dare skip, as much as she wanted to.
She didn’t want to look weak for avoiding the event, and also Paige’s boss was adamant that the entire team show up since they were inviting some of their top-tier clients this year.
Not that any of these were her clients. It wasn’t a battle she wanted to take on with her boss, who would, unfortunately, be her boss even longer now that she was bonus-less and soon-to-be roommate-less.
Paige’s only choice was to dress to impress in an effort to show everyone she had moved on and was thriving. And thankfully, she had made some impulse purchases on Cyber Monday for some killer dresses.
Nadia arrived after work on Thursday with their usual wine and sushi to help her decide on her outfit for the Friday night party. It was their last hangout together before Paige left for California on Saturday, and before Nadia would likely be engaged.
Nadia and Linus traded years with their families at Christmas, and this year was their year to stay in Illinois.
He had been dropping major hints that this holiday would be extra special, and Nadia confirmed it when she accidentally found the ring box while she cleared out some drawers for her stuff at his—or now, their—apartment.
“Should we place bets on how he will do it?” Nadia asked while they ate their sushi.
“Yes! Okay, my money is on ice skating at Millennium Park Ice Rink. How can you beat getting down on one knee by the massive Christmas tree and the Bean?” Paige said.