The anger came back for a moment, but it was diluted. Chloe’s lip quivered as she spoke.
“You went to the board?” she snapped.
“No. I did one better. I went straight to Cosmopolitan.”
I saw her chest collapse, as all the air left her lungs. My boss looked like a woman deflated. All trace of sarcasm and defiance were now long since gone.
“They agreed to pull the article,” I said. “No questions asked. In fact, they were shocked and appalled that you’d even continue on with it, especially after I told you my privacy concerns.”
; “You told them you were Hannah?” she swore.
“Yes. And I also told them they could run the article, as long as they changed the names. They agreed immediately, of course. They love the piece, and said it was no big deal.”
I stopped and looked her right in the eye.
“They’re also reasonable.”
Chloe’s hand moved up to her head. She rubbed at her temples, as she always did whenever she felt a migraine coming on.
“So what happens now?” she asked.
“For you? Nothing,” I said. “Human resources was furious at you for placing me on leave. I vouched for you, though. Told them you’d always been professional with me, and were just trying to be loyal to your brother.”
Chloe’s hand slowly started massaging the sides of her head. With her palm in the way, I couldn’t see her face.
“They reinstated me immediately, by the way. But that’s no longer important.”
I saw her fingers go tight as she began squeezing her temples.
“Honestly Brooke, there’s so much between us now. The article, my brother, your boyfriends…” she sneered a little as she pluralized the last word. “I just don’t know if the two of us can continue to work together.”
“That’s not going to be a problem either,” I said. “While I was down there, I handed them my resignation letter. I work somewhere else now.”
Chloe’s head snapped up. Her face looked confused, angry, hopeful… all at the same time.
“Somewhere… else?”
“Yes,” I smiled, as sweetly as I could. “I got hired by Cosmo.”
Epilogue
BROOKE
I leaned even further forward, staring out over the balcony. Looking down into the teeming streets of Times Square, where a hundred tiny people milled around like insects, dozens of floors below.
It was late, but the electronics were all still lit. Signs blinked in every color of the rainbow, scrolling and flashing and creating an almost neon glow that lit up the infamous Manhattan intersection.
Up on our balcony, I felt a pair of hands smooth themselves over my naked ass. It was a cool spring evening, but the hands were warm… as were the two strong thighs pressing up against the backs of mine.
“Soo… who gets me next?”
I felt a stubbled chin, tickling my neck. A set of teeth began tugging gently at my ear, sending shivers of warmth rocketing all the way down to my toes.
“It’s Trey’s turn,” I heard a voice whisper. “But uhh… he stepped out for snacks.”
I sucked in a breath of the crisp night air and let it out as a chuckle. “So he loses his turn?”