Well, maybe she could lay some of the blame at Brett’s feet as well. He’d arrived at her house well after nine the previous night. Then they’d stayed up into the early morning hours fine-tuning the speech he was set to give this afternoon.
Over the past couple weeks, it had become common for Brett to send her a simple hi or a thinking of you text whenever he got a moment’s peace. The little messages always brightened her day.
Jen checked her cell phone now as she pulled her purse out of her bottom desk drawer.
Wish you were here, the message from Brett said.
She smiled. How could she not? The man was running for the United States Senate yet he still managed to send her text messages.
Talk to you tonight, she typed before dropping the device into her purse. They might not see each other every day, but a night hadn’t gone by this month they hadn’t spoken no matter the time.
When Jen had sat near Eden, they’d developed the habit of always checking with each other before heading out for coffee. So rather than head toward the elevator, Jen walked down the hall to Eden’s cubicle. She wasn’t surprised to find her friend chatting away with a new employee Jen didn’t recognize rather than working. Both women fell silent when Jen reached them.
“I’m going next door for a coffee. Do either of you want one?”
The employee Jen didn’t know shook her head. “No thanks.” She rolled her chair across to another cubicle without bothering to even introduce herself. Before getting back to work, the woman glanced back over at Jen once and then picked up her cell phone and started typing.
“If you were going to
Ambrosia, I’d say yes, but I can’t handle the stuff from next door,” Eden said.
She much preferred the coffee at Ambrosia to what the chain coffee shop next door served as well, but she didn’t have a lot time this afternoon. “It’s not my first choice either, but it’s better than what comes out of the machine in the break room.”
“True,” Eden said, as her eyes darted toward the computer screen and quickly back toward Jen. Definite concern lurked in the woman’s dark eyes.
“Is everything okay?” Jen asked. “Do you need help with something?” It wouldn’t be the first time Eden got stuck or fell behind and needed help to meet a deadline.
“Just working my way through these reports.” She clicked the computer mouse and then turned her screen so Jen could see it. “You remember how tedious they can be.” She gave Jen a tight smile. “But thanks for offering.”
If Eden didn’t want to confide in her, she wasn’t going to press the issue. Everyone was entitled to his or her privacy, at least in her opinion. Thanks to firsthand experience, she knew the media didn’t agree. “If anyone comes looking for me, tell them I’ll be right back.”
“Will do.”
The usual office sounds drifted around her as she walked past the other occupied cubicles and offices. At first, she thought it was her imagination that each time she passed by coworkers conversations stopped and eyes turned her way. By the time she reached the end of the hall, she knew it wasn’t. Something similar had happened right after the first photos of her and Brett appeared in the paper. Later the pictures of them attending the fund-raiser at the Harbor House together had intensified her coworkers’ behavior. Over the past few weeks or so the looks had stopped.
At least until now.
Jen pulled her sweater tighter around her and entered the reception area. A handful of clients sat thumbing through magazines or checking their e-mails. Thankfully all seemed too preoccupied to notice her as she walked to the receptionist’s desk.
“Oh, Jennifer, a courier delivered this for you. I was just about to call and let you know,” Willow said from behind her desk, a large manila envelope in her hand.
Two of the clients reading magazines looked up in her direction. Jen did her best to ignore the unease gathering in her stomach. “Great. I expected them earlier, but better late than never,” she said, keeping her eyes on the receptionist and not the sudden audience they had. “Do you mind holding them until I come back? I’m only going next door for a coffee.”
“Sure, not a problem,” Willow said.
“Thanks. Can I bring you back anything?”
“I’m still working on my iced coffee from lunch. But thanks for thinking of me.”
Downstairs Jen stepped off the elevator and crossed the building’s lobby. She caught sight of the media lingering outside before she reached the revolving glass door. Immediately after news of her and Brett’s relationship broke, reporters and photographers had gathered outside the building, waiting to catch her. Thankfully, one of the building’s security guards had shown her a back way out so she could avoid the media when she came and went. The door opened into the alley behind the building and made her walk to and from the parking garage or anywhere else longer, but it beat dealing with the media multiple times a day.
Either the reporters had grown bored or they hadn’t found her newsworthy anymore, because over the last week and a half or so the number waiting outside had dwindled, allowing her to use the main entrance again. In fact, when she came in this morning, there hadn’t been a single person outside.
The sidewalk out front now was an entirely different story. She estimated at least eight reporters were out there. She could also see a few news vans. For some unknown reason, the media’s attention had been captured again.
Jen took several steps back and moved behind one of the decorative potted trees and considered her options. Going straight through the front door was out. Even if she didn’t mind dealing with the reporters, it would take time and she was on a tight schedule this afternoon. She could go through the back door and into the alley, but who knew what might happen if they saw her walk into the coffee shop next door.
“Jennifer, is there a problem?” Aiden, the same security guard who had shown her the back way out, stood next to her.