“He—” What? Didn’t force himself on her. He got a little aggressive and rude. “He told me he liked me.”Wow. That was weak.
“Which, if you hadn’t been so busy screwing around for the last month, you would have noticed. I’m sorry. I don’t mean it that way. He’s really upset. Did that warrant you being bitchy?”
“But backing me into a corner, twisting my hand so hard I thought my fingers might break, and telling me if we fuckedmaybeI’d learn to love him, warranted more than a casual,No thanks. Have a nice day.”
“That’s not his story.”
“Of course it’s not.” Was Emily overreacting? No. The confrontation with Paul was anything but innocent.
“Then you’re calling my brother a liar?”
“Are you saying I am, instead?” Emily didn’t want this to turn into a childish argument, but she was too frazzled to think through a better response.
Cynthia sighed. “No. It’s not that. Listen... Come back to the apartment, and we’ll talk about it. All three of us. It was a misunderstanding.”
Except that it wasn’t. Emily knew what she’d been subjected to. “I have to work.” She disconnected and set her phone to silent, before dropping it in her purse. Now she had something new to obsess over. The thought wasn’t reassuring.
*
ANTONIO TRIED NOT TOcare that Justin stood them up last night. Told himself it was annoying because Andrew and Susan were only in town for the day. Insisted he didn’t care the cause was Lia.
He didn’t believe his own bullshit.
As he headed toward the office elevators, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Emily sat at one of the cafeteria tables on the patio, back to him and head in her hands. Might as well sayhello.
She didn’t look up when he pushed outside.
“Billing extra hours?” he teased.
She spun in her seat, expression blank. “I’m sorry—what?” Concern spread through him as he looked at her. Creases lined her forehead, and the edges of her eyes were puffy and red. Had she been crying?
“Are you all right?”
She gave him a weak smile. “I’m fine. The long hours became such a habit, I think my body is rejecting the full night of sleep I got.”
He hid his cringe at the reminder that those long hours had come to an end. “You’ll have to get back in the habit.”
“I suppose so.” Her expression drooped further.
“Really, what’s going on?” It had to be more than the work. She looked miserable.
“Nothing. I’ll be fine with a little extra coffee.”
“If you’re sure.” What was he going to do? Bully her until she gave him the answer he wanted? “Take your time. I’ll see you upstairs?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there soon.”
He hated to walk away with her in this state, but if she wasn’t sharing, there was nothing to be done for it. He made his way to his office and forced himself to dive into work. Emily settled at her desk about fifteen minutes later. No glance in his direction or acknowledgment of any kind.
He managed to shift his concern aside, so he could accomplish his tasks, but it hovered in the peripheral of his thoughts, never vanishing completely. When anyone interacted with her, she was polite but clipped the conversation. She stayed at her desk during lunch, nibbling on vending machine chips and soda, but that was typical for half his team.
As the clock crept up on five, Justin sent him a message.I need to cancel tonight. Sorry for the late notice.
Antonio scowled at the note. The two of them were going to celebrate meeting their deadline.Did something come up?
Nothing work related. Dinner with Lia. Turns out I missed her more than I realized.
Totally understand. Have fun.Antonio was glad the conversation was remote, so Justin couldn’t see the way he glowered at the screen. He was irritated with being stood up, but it did give him an excuse. He sent Emily a note.Do you have a minute?