Thick skin is something I developed early in life and this sudden outburst does nothing but bounce right off of me. Sadie’s a mean girl, but as simple as a garden cat.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but maybe you should spend more time doing your job correctly than worrying about what I’m wearing.”
She scoffs. “I’m only here because your dad begged my father to let me work here.”
“What?”
She shrinks back a bit, realizing she said something she shouldn’t have uttered a word about. “Never mind, just know Nolan will never see you. He’s used to a certain type of woman and you don’t fit.” Sadie watches me, waiting for the moment her words draw the blood she is desperate for but it never comes.
Silence sometimes is the loudest thing a person can say, and if I were a slightly better person, I’d just walk away. I can’t tell her about Nolan and me, obviously, but something about her comment nudges me into a possessive territory. But I tell her the truth. “And neither are you.”
I walk into Nolan’s office without waiting for her response, and for good measure, I grin over my shoulder at her as Nolan’s voice rings with my name. I keep my eyes locked on Sadie as I shut the door with her still at her desk.
Spinning toward Nolan once the door clicks shut, I let out an exasperated sigh. “You will not believe what Sadie just said to me,” I say, dropping into the chair in front of him and placing the reports on his desk.
I really did come here for signatures.
His face drops at the mention of her name. “Please don’t tell me, she has been on my last nerve the past couple of days.”
At least we’re on the same page and it has me hiding a smile.
“Your father invited me to another dinner tonight and I haven’t been able to get out of it. I’m sure he’s invited Sadie again too.”
“Why would he invite Sadie?”
Something is definitely going on, I just don’t know what my father wants with Sadie.
Before he can answer, my dad appears as if we conjured the devil himself with the mere mention of his name. And again, he barely notices me.
“Nolan, we’re still on for tonight, right?” His booming voice takes over the silence that was passing over us when I asked about Sadie. “And don’t give me some bullshit excuse, you already got out of last week's dinner.”
“Dan, Harper and I were in the middle of a meeting.”
He finally looks over at me, flecks of disdain in the same color eyes I see in the mirror everyday. “Hello, Harper, Nolan and I have a meeting in ten minutes, you know?” he states, like I’m here specifically to inconvenience him. The fact I work in the building and that Nolan is my boss means nothing to him.
“I’m aware.” I turn to Nolan and push the folder closer to him. “I just need these signed. Let me know when you’re done, I’ll come back and get them.”
He nods.
I'm halfway from my seat when Nolan speaks. “Are you coming to dinner tonight too, Harper?” My dad’s head snaps to Nolan and then to me with a look that lowers the temperature of the room.
Nerves swim in my stomach. “Umm…”
My dad jumps in before I can really answer. “Harper’s probably busy with the ball and doesn’t have time to join us. That’s why your mother never reached out, I’m sure.”
Nolan answers for me. “Oh, of course.” And then turns back to me again. “But surely you have time for dinner with your parents and their boring old friend right?”
I don’t know how I'm supposed to answer this. “I—”
“Great, Dan, you said dinner at seven? We’ll see you tonight, Harper, and I’ll have these back to you before we leave for the day.”
In a perfect world, I would have walked up to my parent’s sprawling estate with my head held high. I’d push through the doors without knocking and when they saw me, shock wouldn’t be the first thing I witnessed. My brother and sister wouldn’t lean into each other, whispering back and forth while stealing glances my way. My mother wouldn’t loudly proclaim how inconvenient it was to put out another place setting.
In a perfect world, this house would feel like my home, but it doesn’t. Instead, it feels like a tomb I once escaped.
People filled my parents’ house, mingling around the rooms, and it was easy enough to lose myself among them —or at least it was. Then dinner was served, and I found myself sandwiched between Nolan and the mayor from a neighboring town but also in my siblings’ line of sight.
“Hi, sorry I’m late.” A too fake voice cut through the awkward silence of dinner. Nolan and I turn in time to see Sadie sashay comfortably into my parent’s dining room. She leans down, brushing a kiss against my mother’s cheek before squealing into my sister's outstretched arms.
