My head achesas I put a ridiculous amount of concealer under my eyes and pop two Tylenol.
As shitty as I feel right now, I don’t regret last night.
It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time and seeing Lincoln actually carefree and happy is worth feeling run over by a truck.
Even though I wanted to call out and lie in bed all day today, I knew that wasn’t an option. Collin’s funeral was hard on everyone, but especially Aiden. I need to be there for him today.
Hangovers are a state of mind.
I repeat it to myself, even as my stomach churns. Maybe I’ll go get something greasy and delicious for lunch to soak this all up.
I’m dressed and ready for the day, and I no longer look like a reanimated corpse as I leave my apartment and head toward the elevator.
It stops on Lincoln’s floor and he enters; I give him a soft smile, and he doesn’t return it.
“How are you feeling today?” I ask.
“Like shit,” he grumbles, not looking at me.
I sigh, wondering if it’s the hangover or if he regrets opening up to me last night. Either way, now is not the time to get into it.
“Do you need a ride to work?” His tone is sharp, businesslike.
“If you don’t mind.”
He gives me a curt nod, and he drops me off at Kemper’s Sports Supply without a word between us.
The office is tense, not just because we’re all still reeling after the funeral, but because word has gotten around that Aiden has offered a job to Collin Kemper’s secret daughter.
I’m handling an influx of emails from other businesses wishing their deepest sympathies, when a familiar-looking woman enters and heads to my desk.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“I’m Jessa Peters. I’m supposed to meet with Aiden,” she says. I then realize she was the woman who was trying to hold back her laughter at the funeral.
She looks a lot like Collin and Zach, with her dark hair, brown eyes, and olive-toned skin.
“Oh yes, Mr. Carlson is expecting you. Follow me.” I stand up from behind my desk, and she follows as we walk throughout the cubicles and closed door offices on the left. “My name is Penny. I work the front desk, if you ever need anything.”
“Thanks, Penny. I’m Jessa,” she repeats.
I give her a smile, finding her awkwardness kind of charming and sweet. Part of me automatically wants to be her friend, not only cause we’re close in age, but I doubt she knows anyone in the area.
“Oh yes, everyone knows who you are.” I regret the words as I say them. I guess I’m also not as smooth with meeting new people. I direct her to take a seat and head back to my desk.
I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I also can’t imagine Collin abandoning his child. I hate that it makes me see him in a different light. Maybe it’s my own issues floating to the surface.But if a good man like Collin can do something shitty, is there hope for any decent men out there?
With the funeral, seeing a different side of Lincoln, and Jessa’s arrival to the office, I haven’t had time to think about the other things looming in my life. Like how I’m still sensitive as hell over the fact that Wayne hasn’t requested me again at Key Club, or how the PI hasn’t gotten any additional information about my biological parents.
I feel like I’m attempting to improve myself and it’s going nowhere.
Well, getting a true friend was on my to-do list. I can start there. I get Jessa set up with all the items she’ll need and I overhear Zach being an absolute dick to her. Collin has to be rolling over in his grave with the drama he’s caused.
What a douche. I head over to Jessa’s cubicle and try not to fumble with my words.
“You’ve really caused quite the stir here at Kemper’s.”
“I didn’t mean to,” she says and I wince. Really fucking crushing this whole new friendship.
