“Why is that?” I asked. “Why hire seven interns when we’ve only ever had work for six or less?”
He ignored my question and said, “No more mistakes.”
“I’m certain she won’t make any,” I said, entirely uncertain because it was impossible not to make mistakes and he knew that.
I huffed out a breath, but it did nothing to arrange the thoughts zooming through my mind. Instead, I shoved myself upward and made for the exit.
As I reached the door, Anders spoke. “Carden, you know relations between senior engineers and their employees are against company rules. There’s an imbalance of power, and I’d hate to see a pretty face ruin a career you’ve been building for years. I wouldn’t put it past her to use the assets she’s been blessed with.”
“Careful.” I clenched my jaw until my teeth hurt. “I am well aware of the rules. My statement stands.”
I left his office, and when I passed by Cedric and the othergraduates, I considered giving them a piece of my mind and letting them know they had no place watching my movements or deciding who I could and could not help.
But I wasn’t looking for a fight. Confrontation was at the bottom of the list of things I enjoyed doing.
A sense of calmness hit me the second I walked into my perfectly curated office, but I immediately noted Elizabeth’s absence.
I peeked at her side of the divider. It was personalized with flowers, hearts, and glitter. But like my side of the office, there were no photos or ticket stubs, and her trinkets gave me very little insight into her mind.
Although there was a sticker of Zelda.She likesThe Legend of Zelda?A chuckle escaped me, along with some of the residual anger.
Elizabeth Gordon-Bettencourt would keep surprising me in the best of ways.
But Zelda reminded me that I’d left Lily’s message unread. Well, not unread. I could see the preview, but I was too afraid to open it, too afraid to reply.
I’d been up most of the night staring at it, and this morning, I’d have stared at it more had it not been for Elizabeth, who stole my focus so effortlessly.
Pulling out my phone, I looked at the message again. Lily wanted to meet me. My chest caved under the pressure of living up to the idea of me she may have. I wasn’t anything like Link.
And what if she was nothing like Lily? Then what? Would I lose the person I had whenever life got too noisy?
I nearly dropped my phone when Elizabeth barreled into the room in a blur of copper curls and a beige coat. Her chest heaved, and her eyes darted around in a way I hadn’t seen before. Her hand shook around a takeaway coffee cup. I took a step toward her instinctively, and she held out the cup.
“For you.” Her voice was uncharacteristically small.
I took the cup. “I spoke to Anders.”
She grabbed her phone, uninterested in what I was saying.
“Elizabeth?”
Her stormy gaze met mine. I didn’t like what I saw.
Fear. Shame. Anger.
She looked away, her chest rising and falling as she blinked away tears. I nearly reached for her chin to tilt it upward. Instead, my hands pressed against my chinos. “What is it?” I asked, my voice low so only she could hear me.
Her mouth opened and shut. I could see the wheels turning in her head as though she were trying to decide whether she could tell me.
Whatever it was, I could fix it. I would fix it.
“Uh… someone from my past,” she eventually said, swallowing hard and pulling her hair up into a tight bun.
An ex-boyfriend?
Jealousy climbed my throat. I did all I could to keep it out of my voice.What the heck was it doing there in the first place?“Is everything okay?”
She shook her head and blew out a few quick breaths. “It’s fine. I, um, told security not to let him in, so it’s fine. I just… I don’t like that he’s here. I don’t like that he found me.”
