“So, Vi,” she begins, her brow furrowed with concern. “I take it the big meeting with our very own Bill Gates didn’t go as planned?”
I take a bite of the brownie, letting the chocolate melt on my tongue. “Yes and no,” I sigh. “The meeting with Austen was fine, actually. He even complimented me.”
Millie’s eyebrows shoot up. “Complimented you? Austen? Wow! From what I hear, that’s basically like winning an Olympic medal around here.”
Despite everything, her comment coaxes a small smile from me.
“But it’s what happened after the meeting,” I groan, dropping the brownie back on the plate and burying my face in my hands.
“Go on,” Millie urges, squeezing my hand.
“One word—Chase.”
“Chase? As in Chase Knight, our lovable CEO?” Millie eyes me with confusion. “Why would he be involved?”
“To cut a long story short,” I grimace. “He caught me hiding in his bathroom while he was having, how should I put it, a very ‘hands-on’ meeting with a blonde bombshell. And he fired me on the spot.”
“Wait a moment, you were hiding in his bathroom?”
I nod, shame coloring my cheeks.
“And he was entertaining a woman?”
I nod again, biting my lower lip with a frown. It somehow sounds worse coming from Millie’s mouth.
“He fired you?” Millie’s voice climbs higher, her eyes wider with every question.
“Oh, shit,” she says with an air of finality.
“Oh shit, indeed.”
“But he can’t fire you. You’re my best friend here.” She tears into her napkin, rolling the strips into balls, her favorite habit when stressed.
“I don’t think he’ll take that into consideration, Mills.”
“What about Austen? Perhaps you could talk to him. You know Chase and Austen were roomies at Stanford. A few years after college, Chase used his background in finance and the fortune he’d amassed to invest in Austen’s struggling tech start-up and turned it into the billion-dollar company it is today. Austen is literally the only person he trusts.”
“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I think it’s a lost cause. You see, I may have lost my head and told him a few ‘home truths’ after he fired me.”
“You did what? Oh my god, Violet, have you got a death wish?” Her eyebrows practically jump off her forehead.
I shrug my shoulders, picking up the brownie, stuffing my cheeks full to dissolve the pain.
“Speak of the devil,” Millie says, tilting her head toward the window. I almost choke on my brownie when I see Chase leaving the building, looking every inch the master of his kingdom framed against the backdrop of the towering skyscraper he rules with an iron fist.
The company black limousine is stationed at the curb, his driver waiting with an open door. He’s dressed impeccably, his navy tailored suit emphasizing his honed physique and a midnight cashmere overcoat to offset the New York early spring evening chill.
Just before he gets in, he pauses—then turns.
For the briefest second, his eyes lock on the café window, zeroed in like a sniper sighting a mark.
I duck, heart racing, hiding behind my coffee mug like it’s a shield.
Why does it feel like he knows I’m here? Like he can sense my presence, even from a distance? I let out a breath when he slides into the car, and in a flash, he’s gone. Even though he just blew up my life in spectacular fashion, I imagine I’m nothing more than an irrelevant footnote in his day. Forgotten about already.
I polish off the rest of my brownie, the sugary sweetness doing little to soften the bitter pit in my stomach, washing it down with my favorite Brazilian coffee while Millie stares after Chase’s retreating limousine with starry-eyed devotion. No one, it seems, is immune to his charm. In fact, I can’t help but think Millie is exactly his type. Long legs, cascading platinum blonde hair, and not a single ounce of body fat out of place. She looks like the kind of cover girl he probably keeps on speed dial.
“Uh, Mills?” I nudge her foot under the table. “Could you stop ogling the man who just fired my ass like you’re auditioning to be the mother of his future children?”
