CHAPTER THIRTEEN #2
I glanced at the blonde, then my eyes darted to Lana. She was studying my face as if she’d been wondering about something.
“And you’re the new office manager,” I said, extending my hand to the beautiful woman.
Her perfect outfit, hair, and makeup made me painfully aware of my underwhelming appearance.
I didn’t have makeup on, my hair was in a messy bun on top of my head, and my clothes were baggy.
I was too small for my maternity clothes but too big for my regular clothes.
She shook my proffered hand with a tight smile that didn’t reach her big blue eyes. “Hello.” She dropped my hand quickly before scanning me from head to toe. The look on her face told me exactly what she thought of me, and my face burned.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Blair, you remember Scarlett, right?”
“I do.”
Scarlett smiled brightly at Scott and touched his arm as she brushed past him. “I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me.” She didn’t even glance down at Sophia or attempt to talk to Sutton or the twins. Who did that?
Sutton stared after her, wide-eyed. “Mommy,” she whispered loudly, “is she Barbie?”
“No,” I said weakly. She might as well have been.
As soon as Scarlett’s door closed, I turned to Scott and Lana. “I thought y’all hired Sylvie.”
Lana’s smile was tight. “That’s who I wanted. Scarlett was Dr. Hastings’ choice.” Lana glanced at him. “He told me you chose Scarlett as well.”
I frowned and shook my head. “No,” I whispered. “I didn’t think she was friendly enough for the job. I definitely wanted Sylvie.”
Scott looked confused. “But Sylvie wanted to work part-time. I thought we were on the same page…” his voice trailed off when he saw the look on my face.
Without thinking about waiting until we were in private, I blurted out. “My God. That’s who you took to San Antonio? That’s who you were in the bar with while I was having a baby?”
His mouth gaped open. He looked astonished.
Everyone was quiet as Scott and I stared at each other.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “It seems we’ve had a miscommunication.”
That was putting it mildly. Everything suddenly took on a different light.
The texts he’d been getting from ‘S’ were from Scarlett, not Sylvie.
He’d taken the stunning Scarlett with him to a dental conference with my blessing.
I felt so stupid. I’d pictured him with Sylvie, a woman almost old enough to be his mother.
Maybe it wasn’t fair, but I never would’ve encouraged him to take his office manager with him if I’d realized who he’d hired.
Had he really not been able to hear my calls when he was in the bar with Scarlett? Or had he ignored them?
“You purposely stayed in San Antonio with her knowing I was in the hospital giving birth?” I didn’t even try to hide the hurt and anger in my voice.
The color drained from Scott’s face. “Blair… you’re the one who told me to take her.”
“That’s when I thought you’d hired Sylvie! I’m not a moron. I wouldn’t encourage my handsome husband to take a woman who looks like Scarlett to a conference!” My hands were shaking, and my thoughts were spiraling.
Maybe the only reason he hadn’t wanted to leave San Antonio was because he hadn’t wanted to cut his time with Scarlett short. God. He was probably sleeping with her. He was probably ready to leave me for some blonde he’d known all of two seconds.
Wait. Weren’t all his girlfriends before me blonde? Oh, shit. What had I done? What had he done?
Scott pulled me close. “I can tell you’re freaking out, but you have no reason to. And we need to have this conversation at home,” he said into my ear. I glanced around the office and saw that he was right.
Everyone had stopped what they were doing. They were watching us carefully—even the children.
Things went downhill once he got home. After we put the kids to bed, we’d had one of the worst fights we’d ever had. I knew the misunderstanding really meant that neither of us were really at fault for how we felt about things.
I felt sideswiped that the woman he’d been spending progressively more time with happened to look like Scarlett Johannsson’s prettier, sexier sister.
He was angry that I was upset at all, since in his eyes I hadn’t made myself clear on who I wanted hired—neither had he, really—and that I’d been the one to tell him to take his office manager to San Antonio.
“But… I didn’t tell you to stay at the conference instead of coming home to your wife and newborn daughter! And she’s also texting you at home. And you’re going out to lunch with her.”
He’d glared at me, hands on his hips. “All that would be fine, though, if she was older and less attractive?”
I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. It seemed unfair when he put it that way, but the answer was ‘hell, yes!’ I admitted it. “Yes.”
“That’s ridiculous.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’s also insulting. You realize that you’re basically accusing me of cheating on you?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not. It’s just that everything seems more…
suspect now that I know who you hired. I had trouble getting on board with you being okay staying in San Antonio for a dental conference rather than getting home to your wife and new baby as soon as possible.
You being in a bar with a woman until past midnight especially bothered me, but when I thought it was Sylvie it seemed silly. But Scarlett? That’s not silly at all.”
“This is all about her looks. You hear yourself, right?” He walked over to me. “Have you looked in a mirror lately? You’re goddamn beautiful, Blair. You have nothing to worry about.”
He stared at me, clearly done with the conversation.
“Enough of this. I’m tired, and I’m not going to fire a perfectly good employee because you have self-esteem issues.
It’s illegal and blatantly unfair. We’d be lucky if she didn’t sue us.
Especially after the little scene you made in the office today,” he’d barked at me before heading up for a shower.
And I was left there with my mixed-up feelings.
Because the truth was, I felt like both of us were right and both of us were wrong. I knew one thing, though. I was not a fan of Scarlett. Not at all.