“If you don’t drop this, I’m going to tell James you smoke weed in the bathroom every day.”
He frowned. “I said sometimes. It’s not every day.”
“Sometimes is still bad.”
“You’re such a tattletale.” He gave me a small smile.
“Does that mean you’ll drop it?”
“Whatever you want, Fight Club. I’m just trying to help.”
My phone started vibrating. I pulled it out of my purse to see that James was calling. I was about to put it back in my purse, but I noticed Zach shaking his head. It was pretty clear that he didn’t believe me. James may have made a mistake this weekend, but he was a good guy. I didn’t want his employees to think he wasn’t.
“Hey, James,” I said and turned slightly away from Zach.
“Where are you?” He sounded concerned. “I woke up and…”
“I’m at work. I’m being a super great employee.” Not really. I was never even sure what I was supposed to be doing. And I had only come here early so I’d have a place to cry alone.
He laughed. “I’d rather you be a bad employee and come home.”
“We’re only working four days this week. I don’t think you can afford to take today off too.” I could feel Zach staring at me.
“Fair enough, boss. Did you eat breakfast?” He sounded so cheery. It was disconcerting.
I looked down at the pint of Ben and Jerry’s in the trashcan. “Yup.”
“Okay. Well, you can hang out with me while I eat mine. I’ll be there in a few minutes. See you soon, baby.”
The line went dead before I could make up something about having too much work to do. I sighed and looked at my computer screen. I can forgive him.
“You good?” Zach asked.
“Mhm. Everything’s great.”
“You’re an awful liar. Just so you know.”
“Hey, man,” Tavon said and did some weird handshake with Zach. “What were you guys talking about?” He flopped down in his desk chair and put his feet up on the desk.
“Nothing,” Zach said. “How was your weekend?”
“Awesome. I freaking love New York. It’s basically like still being in college.”
I laughed.
“You don’t think so, Fight Club?”
“No, not really. College was a lot simpler.” At least it had been at NYCU. The University of New Castle had kind of ended in disaster. But now that I had graduated from NYCU, things seemed complicated and shitty. I’d do anything to go back in time. Back before this weekend.
“Well, yeah, but I mean the vibe, you know? It’s like a huge college town. There’s always something to do.”
“There certainly is.” At least, always someone to do, if you were James and you were an asshole. Damn it.
“You okay?” Tavon asked.
“I’m great. I just don’t think New York is all that great. And you know what? Costa Rica is a crappy place too. It’s the freaking worst.”
“Okay?” Tavon looked at Zach and raised both his eyebrows.
“I’m not crazy.”
Tavon laughed. “I didn’t say you were. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re kind of hostile this morning. I mean, I hate Monday’s just as much as the next guy. But you’re like on a whole other level.”
“Yeah, I’m just… PMSing.” God, why did I just say that?! It wasn’t even true.
“Gross. Too much information, Fight Club.”
“You asked.”
“I did not ask that.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Anyway, I needed to ask you. What’s Sierra’s deal?” Tavon asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You know… like is she single? Is she looking for something casual? Or is she a commitment type of girl?”
“Tavon, you’ve spent more time with her than I have.”
“But what have you found out?” he asked.
“Nothing. Although, I’m going to take a guess and say she’s not interested in you.”
“Harsh. I guess you are PMSing.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that. But even if she was interested, and I have no idea if she is, you shouldn’t get involved. Because dating is complicated. It’s exhausting. And terrifying. Just… don’t do it. It’s not worth this feeling.” I was about to burst into tears again.
Zach was staring at me with the most sympathetic expression on his face, which just made me feel even worse.
“Yeah… I was thinking more about a one night stand kind of situation anyway,” Tavon said. “To break that streak she has going on.”
“All men are disgusting.” I stood up and walked toward the break room. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was glad when Zach didn’t follow me to try to squeeze out information from me. I leaned against the counter and poured myself a cup of coffee.
“Hey, Penny,” Nita said as she walked into the break room. “I was just getting James his coffee. He’s looking for you.” She filled up a mug. “Do you want to just give it to him? I need to use the restroom real quick.”
Would it be rude of me to say no? Probably. “Yeah, sure.”
“Thanks, Penny.” She handed me the cup and quickly walked out of the room.
I looked down at the two cups of coffee in my hands. Maybe it was better to get it out of the way sooner than later. I needed to just confront him. And then he’d apologize. Then we’d be good. Simple.
I felt like I wanted to throw up. I tried to tell myself it was from eating a pint of ice cream instead of how worried I was about losing him. Before I could think anymore, I walked out of the break room and toward James’ office.
The blinds were open and he saw me before I even attempted to knock. Which was good because my hands were full. He opened up the door, grabbed both cups from me, and placed a swift kiss on my cheek. “Good morning, beautiful.” He had a huge smile on his face. His hair was still wet from his shower and it was starting to curl in that way I loved so much. And he was wearing his glasses, which had always been a weakness for me. I hadn’t noticed how tan he had gotten earlier when I had stared at him sleeping. It just made him look even sexier, which for some reason made me angrier.