“That’s not why I kissed her,” Kent growled.
“It’s not?” Damien crossed his arms over his chest. “Because you’ve been giving us all a hard time about how you saw Meara first.”
“I did see her first.”
“Excuse me,” Meara spoke up. “I am not a carnival prize or a sports trophy.”
“Let’s go around the room,” I suggested. “I’m sorry for kissing you without asking first. Kent?”
Kent set his jaw but eventually gave it up. “I’m sorry for kissing you without asking first.”
“Damien?” I asked.
“I’ve got nothing to apologize for,” Damien said.
We all looked at Meara.
“I’m not going to apologize,” she said. “All I did was say exactly what was on my mind. If it hurt, then I guess I’m sorry for that, but I would do the same thing all over again.”
“There you go.” I offered the concession to Kent like a covered dish, using both hands.
“I wouldn’t do anything differently either,” Kent grumbled.
Meara turned on her heels and marched out. Damien hurried to follow her. I put a hand on Kent’s shoulder. “Let’s go to the bar.”
“Thank you,” Kent replied. “I’ll buy. I just need to get my things.”
Meara must have gone back to Damien’s office because we didn’t see her as we were leaving. I told the receptionist that I would be back in a few hours, but I wasn’t sure that Kent would.
“If you can make sure he has nothing on his schedule, that would be great,” I said.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Everything is fine,” I lied.
“Okay.” She didn’t sound convinced but dropped her line of questioning anyway.
I steered our angry colleague down the elevator and out through the lobby. After all that excitement, I needed a drink as well. And maybe if he calmed down a little, he would see that what he had done was wrong. I could only hope that Damien could smooth things over with our little intern. She didn’t need all three of us vying for her affection. Worse, she didn’t need two of us taking liberties. If we all got out of this situation alive and with our partnership intact, I would be shocked. It seemed like as good a time as any to start day drinking.