“Can I help you, Bernice?”
The woman sidled in closer, leaning her head in and speaking to Gen as if they were best buds. “So, what’s the deal with you and Gavin Valentine?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Gen said, hoping her monotone would deliver the message even more clearly than the words themselves.
“Oh, girl, come on. You can tell me.”
Why on earth she would think that was beyond Gen at the moment, but devoting the brainpower necessary to try unlocking that little mystery was simply too much. It was making her stomach churn.
Or, wait a minute…is it…OH. SHIT!
She had less than a split second of warning that her swirling stomach was upgrading from “low key nauseated” to “full blown cookie tossing time” before she spewed every piece of popcorn and bile left in her gut all over that snooping biddy, Bernice.
Well, that was one way to stop her questions. Maybe not the best way, sure. But as Gen looked at her shocked and horrified face in the instant before the woman whirled and ran for the bathroom, she would’ve been lying if she said she thought it was the worst.
She dumped her coffee into the sink and rinsed her cup, then popped her head into her boss’ office on the way back to her own. “Hey, Jim. I think I should go home. I just vomited all over Bernice.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I think we’ve all wanted to unload on her a time or two. How bad was it? What did you say?”
She groaned. “I don’t mean verbal vomit. I mean I blew chunks all over her sweater set. She’s in the bathroom cleaning up right now, I’d imagine. Someone might want to check on her.”
Jim’s eyes widened and he made a shooing gesture. “Yes, by all means, go home. Now, Gen. Seriously. Go!”
Gen thought he was probably more concerned about his office carpet than her health but she didn’t pause to question it. Instead, she hightailed it out of there, stopping only to grab her purse and keys. Her sunglasses were already accounted for.
Time to call an end to this crappy day. She was heading home to hide underneath the covers and, depending on how things went, she might not ever come out.