“You two are the weirdest.” Alexa looked between Greg and me.
We were sitting in the conference room on the fifth floor of The Ink Well. We had boxes of pizza lining the table, and Greg and I were both dipping ours in ranch dressing and shoving it into our mouths. We had left Helen this morning at the ass crack of dawn and showed up to the apartment with enough time to change and that was it. We were both starving and we each had a box of pizza sitting in front of us. If I knew Greg, he would be finishing his own box just as I would.
“Don’t judge,” I said to her with a mouth full of pizza. Everyone at the table got a full view of just how much of a lady I wasn’t.
“Yeah, what she said.” Greg finished off the piece of pizza in his hand and reached for another.
“Ok, sorry that took so long.” Max walked into the conference room and locked the door behind him. He went to the keypad next to the door and changed the setting to the window behind up to make it frosted. This feature separated the room from anyone being able to see in. I knew we were having an executive meeting, but I didn’t know it was something secretive. “Now, down to business.”
I looked over to Greg who just shrugged his shoulders, like he didn’t know what was going on either.
“We’re all here today to talk about something that’s been going on in the office, that I think we all just need to address.” Max’s words turned me rigid.
My body knew when something bad was about to happen, it always did, and the sinking feeling that I felt at the bottom of my stomach made me want to throw up every slice of pizza I had just eaten. I shifted my knee under the table to nudge Greg, but he just kept eating.
I looked over to Alexa and Erica with a what-the-fuck look, but they wouldn’t meet my gaze. Neither would Jack, Chase, or Max.
“Greg.” He sat frozen, mid-bite, when he heard Max say his name. It wasn’t done nicely, but like he was snapping in front of Greg’s face and he needed him to pay attention now. Greg finished his bite and then set down the piece of pizza in his hand and turned towards me looking for answers I didn’t have.
I thought we were done with our counseling sessions, but it seemed like our co-workers and friends had decided differently.
“We need to address yours and Lilly’s relationship.” Max stood at the head of the table, his hands clasped at his front, legs spread apart, like he was ready to fight this conversation all the way through.
“What’s there to address?” Greg was leaning back in his chair with his hands crossed over his chest. It was a standoff between these two, and all I wanted to do was run from the building.
“Jack told me this morning that you let your parents know about you and Lilly. Clearly it’s something to address.” I didn’t like the fact that Max was releasing our personal information into the open room, but then again, it wasn’t like anyone in here didn’t know what was going on.
“So?” Greg mocked at Max.
“So, that means this is serious, Greg.” Max slammed his palms onto the table and let out a huff in frustration. “I don’t want this affecting the workplace. It has already set a strain on the two of you. I’m not trying to step on and any toes here, but now—”
Max took a deep breath and stood up straight again, like what he was about to say was going to be the worst of it and I wasn’t ready.
“If this isn’t something that is going to last, or something that’s just a game, I think you two should end it now.” His face was stern and unwavering. I looked to Greg who was fuming.
“You don’t get to tell me who I have a relationship with when you went after one of my former employees.” Greg shoved his finger into the air and pointed between Max and Alexa.
“Don’t bring her into this.” Max narrowed his eyes at Greg and then moved closer to Alexa.
“He’s right though, Max,” Alexa stood and made her way to Max’s side. When she touched his chest you could see the tension is his body dissipate. Their attention was only on each other. “I told you I didn’t agree with this.”
“I just don’t want this place to turn into a war zone when two of my best financial people decide they don’t want to work together anymore and turn against each other.” Max looked up from Alexa and towards Greg and me. “I don’t want this affecting anything with work. Last week when I had to step in, I knew that was the last time I was going to do it. You two are going to have to figure things out here, and you need to let me know by Monday.”
“Let you know what?” I was surprised that the question even came from me, because I was left speechless by what was happening right now.
“If this is something that’s going to last.” Max’s words were final as he unlocked the door to the room and ushered Alexa out. Chase and Jack filed out next and Greg was hot on their heels, leaving me alone with Erica. I just sat there, staring at the table, trying to process what was going on.
Our friends were the ones asking us to decide if this was something that was going to last and I couldn’t even tell you the answer.
“Lilly—”
“Whose idea was it?” I snapped at Erica.
“The guys brought it up, but Alexa and I didn’t agree that it should be brought up in front of everyone. We did kind of agree that it needed to be addressed.” She got up and moved towards me, but I still didn’t meet her gaze. “This could affect all of us, Lilly.”
I pushed out of my chair and stomped out of the room. I knew this could affect everyone. It’s why I had been on pins and needles for the last month, but today my worst fears were starting to come to light. Max wanted to know by Monday if Greg and I were going to have something lasting, and that same day we were set to go to the courthouse to answer that exact same question.
I went to my desk to get my purse to head out for the day. Everything else that I needed to do could be done at home, but I stopped when I saw Greg waiting at my desk holding my purse. When he saw me, he handed it over and we left the building together. There were no words exchanged, just us simmering in a state of frustration. When we got to our apartments, Greg opened his door and led me inside. He closed the door, leaving me alone in his apartment. I stood there in the doorway as I listened to him going into my apartment, and rummaging around and then closing the door and locking it. He came back into his apartment with my laptop and charger in hand.
