Chapter 15
“He has a meeting in fifteen minutes, Harper, you can come back,” Sadie’s borrowed tone of authority snaps.
I stop mid step in front of Nolan’s office, turn and look at her, wondering what sort of Twilight Zone I stepped into.
Since when did Sadie care if anyone was in his office prior to a meeting?
When did Sadie start remembering Nolan even had meetings?
“I think it will be just fine, I only need his signature on some expense reports.”
Sadie’s eyes narrow in a one sided challenge.
“You can just give the papers to me and I’ll have him sign them after.
” She sticks her hand out without bothering to stand up from her desk.
Perfect french manicured fingers wiggle mid air as if I’m going to walk over and hand them off to her.
I’ve definitely stepped into an alternate universe.
I bite back a laugh at the audacity. “No, thanks.”
My hand curls around the door knob when she speaks back up. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed what you’ve been doing,” she boasts.
My body freezes, ice trickling from the top of my head and cascading down my body.
Sadie is dim at best, but mostly, she’s just a nuisance. Malicious was new and unsettling.
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Sadie and I aren’t friends, I would barely call her an acquaintance. She’s Nolan’s secretary of the month, and they’re switched out so often sometimes I don’t even bother learning their names, but I have nothing against Sadie.
There’s no reason for the sudden frigidness filling the room.
And I know she doesn’t know about Nolan and I. Nobody does, we’ve kept it that way on purpose.
I pivot to face her. “Did I do something?”
“If you think you can just change up your outfits, play up your make up a bit more and think he’ll notice you, you're wrong.”
Nervous laughter bubbles in my throat. “I’m sorry, but now I’m really confused.”
“Not like he would look twice at you anyway.”
Thick skin is something I developed early in life and this sudden outburst does nothing but bounce right off of me. Sadie’s a mean girl, but as simple as a garden cat.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but maybe you should spend more time doing your job correctly than worrying about what I’m wearing.”
She scoffs. “I’m only here because your dad begged my father to let me work here.”
“What?”
She shrinks back a bit, realizing she said something she shouldn’t have uttered a word about.
“Never mind, just know Nolan will never see you. He’s used to a certain type of woman and you don’t fit.
” Sadie watches me, waiting for the moment her words draw the blood she is desperate for but it never comes.
Silence sometimes is the loudest thing a person can say, and if I were a slightly better person, I’d just walk away. I can’t tell her about Nolan and me, obviously, but something about her comment nudges me into a possessive territory. But I tell her the truth. “And neither are you.”
I walk into Nolan’s office without waiting for her response, and for good measure, I grin over my shoulder at her as Nolan’s voice rings with my name. I keep my eyes locked on Sadie as I shut the door with her still at her desk.
Spinning toward Nolan once the door clicks shut, I let out an exasperated sigh. “You will not believe what Sadie just said to me,” I say, dropping into the chair in front of him and placing the reports on his desk.
I really did come here for signatures.
His face drops at the mention of her name. “Please don’t tell me, she has been on my last nerve the past couple of days.”
At least we’re on the same page and it has me hiding a smile.
“Your father invited me to another dinner tonight and I haven’t been able to get out of it. I’m sure he’s invited Sadie again too.”
“Why would he invite Sadie?”
Something is definitely going on, I just don’t know what my father wants with Sadie.
Before he can answer, my dad appears as if we conjured the devil himself with the mere mention of his name. And again, he barely notices me.
“Nolan, we’re still on for tonight, right?” His booming voice takes over the silence that was passing over us when I asked about Sadie. “And don’t give me some bullshit excuse, you already got out of last week's dinner.”
“Dan, Harper and I were in the middle of a meeting.”
He finally looks over at me, flecks of disdain in the same color eyes I see in the mirror everyday.
“Hello, Harper, Nolan and I have a meeting in ten minutes, you know?” he states, like I’m here specifically to inconvenience him.
The fact I work in the building and that Nolan is my boss means nothing to him.
“I’m aware.” I turn to Nolan and push the folder closer to him. “I just need these signed. Let me know when you’re done, I’ll come back and get them.”
He nods.
I'm halfway from my seat when Nolan speaks. “Are you coming to dinner tonight too, Harper?” My dad’s head snaps to Nolan and then to me with a look that lowers the temperature of the room.
Nerves swim in my stomach. “Umm…”
My dad jumps in before I can really answer. “Harper’s probably busy with the ball and doesn’t have time to join us. That’s why your mother never reached out, I’m sure.”
Nolan answers for me. “Oh, of course.” And then turns back to me again. “But surely you have time for dinner with your parents and their boring old friend right?”
I don’t know how I'm supposed to answer this. “I—”
“Great, Dan, you said dinner at seven? We’ll see you tonight, Harper, and I’ll have these back to you before we leave for the day.”
In a perfect world, I would have walked up to my parent’s sprawling estate with my head held high.
I’d push through the doors without knocking and when they saw me, shock wouldn’t be the first thing I witnessed.
My brother and sister wouldn’t lean into each other, whispering back and forth while stealing glances my way.
My mother wouldn’t loudly proclaim how inconvenient it was to put out another place setting.
In a perfect world, this house would feel like my home, but it doesn’t. Instead, it feels like a tomb I once escaped.
People filled my parents’ house, mingling around the rooms, and it was easy enough to lose myself among them — or at least it was. Then dinner was served, and I found myself sandwiched between Nolan and the mayor from a neighboring town but also in my siblings’ line of sight.
“Hi, sorry I’m late.” A too fake voice cut through the awkward silence of dinner. Nolan and I turn in time to see Sadie sashay comfortably into my parent’s dining room. She leans down, brushing a kiss against my mother’s cheek before squealing into my sister's outstretched arms.
Which makes no sense.
Granted, I don’t keep up with all my sister's friends, we’re not close enough to run in the same circles for me to know who she spends her time with but I should know if my coworker was friends with my sister. Right?
Sadie slides into the chair next to Hallie, pulls the linen napkin from its silver ring, and delicately places it in her lap. Predatory eyes scan the table with eagerness until she finds exactly who she’s here for.
My father is as subtle as a cactus in a snow field.
It’s no secret he’s used the secretary position as a personal matchmaking service for Nolan.
Every candidate that’s graced that chair is a carbon copy of the one before, but I can’t figure out why he is so bent on putting Sadie in Nolan’s crosshairs.
What is it about her, and why did my dad even care about who his friend dates?
Sadie’s sights land on Nolan and a smile crosses her face that makes even my teeth ache. “Nolan, it’s nice to see you make it out of the office.” Her eyes slide to me. “And Harper’s here.”
Sadie’s face always does this thing when she sees something she doesn’t care for.
Like anytime an email is sent to her requiring her to do her actual job, women in clothes she deems tacky, carbs, or in this instance, me.
Her eyes widen while her features pinch inward, like a lemon has been shoved in her mouth.
Hallie leans over, whispering something that has Sadie throwing her head back, laughing loud enough that the entire table looks over. Which is what she wanted.
“What’s so funny down there?” my mother interjects, desperate to be part of my sister’s life in any way.
Sadie looks around the long table, making sure everyone’s eyes are on her.
Which they are, or at least all but one set because when I turn to the side, planning the quickest way out, Nolan’s looking back at me.
Baby blue and tainted with an echo of concern.
Under the table, away from everyone, his fingers skim the side of my thigh.
A haunting reminder that we are a secret.
“Oh, nothing, just Hallie was reminding me of the last Cupid Ball. There was this woman, she bent over at one of the tables and her dress ripped down the side, the whole thing split open her Spanx on display for everyone to see. The funniest thing,” Sadie says loud enough for everyone to hear, and the table erupts in small snickers.
Flames erupt in my chest, and all I want is for them to burn me alive so I’m reduced to nothing but a pile of ashes.
Sadie wasn’t even there for that, I didn’t even know her then.
I left getting a dress to the last minute and ended up wearing something from the back of my closet that fit five diets ago.
It was risky to start with but there was no other choice.
One wrong move and the threads finally gave out.
I was mortified and left while holding my dress against my body to keep it up.
I remember Hallie laughing at me from her table.
“Oh my god,” Sadie feigned surprise. “Wait a minute, wasn’t that you Harper?”
My throat begins to burn in an instant.
This only solidifies that my sister feels nothing and maybe even hates me, despite not actually knowing anything about me.