I didn’t look up until someone knocked on my door. And I held my breath when I saw Olivia.
“Can we talk?” she asked.
I peeked over at my assistant, Katherine, who waved at me from her desk. I waved back at her, then nodded to Olivia. No use in causing a scene when others could see. She walked into my office and closed the door behind her, then took a piece of paper out of her pocket. She unfolded it as she walked toward my desk and slid it in over to me before sitting in the chair in front of me.
I looked down and saw the picture I had been emailed and furrowed my brow.
“I had that in my personal email account when I got back home yesterday,” she said.
“I got it while we were in Europe,” I said coolly.
“And you didn’t think to tell me about it?”
“Though my email didn’t have an inscription on it like yours does.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d gotten this email? Is it because you think it’s me in that picture?”
I snickered. “No, I know it’s not you. It took me staring at it for a little while since the damn thing’s so blurry. But it’s not you. You’ve never dyed your hair nor have you ever been that… Rubenesque. Though I have to give credit where credit is due. The picture had me fooled for a couple of days.”
“Why didn’t you come and talk with me when you first got it? I could have told you right off the bat it wasn’t me,” she said.
“Because I knew you’d tell me it wasn’t you. It wasn’t a matter of you telling me. It was a matter of coming to that conclusion myself,” I said.
“What? You think I would have lied to you about something like this?”
I cracked my neck as I leaned back into my chair.
“I think this is starting to feel a hell of a lot like college. You prioritizing Katie during your biggest moments in your life. Mysterious blurry pictures that are trying to convince me of something. He said, she said nonsense. I left that behind when I graduated,” I said.
“You mean when you broke up with me,” Olivia said.
“I don’t have any passion or want to go back to that life, to go back to how all of that felt. This drama has to stop. I don’t know where it comes from half of the time or why, but it seems as if it follows us. And I don’t know what to do. That’s why I’ve been distant. That’s why I haven’t been taking your calls. Because I don’t know what the next step is, and I’m trying to figure it out.”
I watched tears well in Olivia’s eyes. She nodded her head as hurt dripped over her face. I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to make her feel this way. But it was the truth. I was the owner and operator of one of the largest financial consulting firms in the country. I was in the throes of undertaking the biggest leap my company had taken since its inception. I couldn’t busy myself with drama, with people always wiggling their way between us and Olivia never turning to me for anything but a good fuck.
I watched her stand to her feet as a tear slipped down her cheek.
“You should take the day off. Go home and get some rest,” I said.
“I don’t think I can work for you anymore,” she said breathlessly.
“What did you say?” I asked.
She slipped her badge from around her neck, then walked over to my desk and dropped it. I watched it pile on top of the picture. I stood from my chair as my eyes fell hard onto her, watching as her gaze came back up to mine.
“I can’t work for you any longer, Brett,” she whispered.
“I need you for this project, Olivia,” I said.
“And I need you for other reasons. But something tells me I’m not going to get you for those other reasons. Am I?” she asked.
My lips parted to speak, but I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have an answer for her, as much as I wanted to have one.
“You think I’m in control of this? The pictures and the emails? Yes, I screwed up by leaning on Katie instead of you. Yes, I screwed up by calling in sick to work that day instead of speaking with you. Yes, I screwed up by waiting too long to talk with you. But I have no control over anything anyone says or does regarding us. I never did. We fucked up in college, Brett. Both of us. But I’m not paying attention to the pictures anymore. I’m not paying attention to what people tell me about you.”
“What are they telling you?” I asked.