“No, take some of it. You gave me too much, and I already ate my salad,” I say as I start pouring some of the food back into his plate from my bowl.
“No. When I give you something, I expect you to keep it,” he says, pouring the food back into my bowl, leaving himself with even less than he had before.
“Lincoln, your brain runs on fuel.”
“I'm not a car,” he jibs.
“Link, seriously,” I say, raising my bowl, but he places his hand over mine, stilling me.
“I ate something, a bagel a little earlier. I promise I'm fine. It would make me happy to see you enjoy it. Seriously,” he says, smiling faintly at me.
The truth is, I want the food. All the physical running around back and forth has made me hungrier than what a salad can suffice.
I don't know why I'm shocked at his kindness. This is who he's always been since we met. At some point, we lost sight of that, but under all of it, Lincoln has always looked out for me and taken care of me and put his needs after mine. And even though he claimed he ate a bagel, I know that he's hungry.
With three pieces of chicken left, I stab them with the fork and hold the fork to his mouth. His eyes lock on mine, and I give him a smile.
He then opens his mouth to eat what I give him.
-??-
Chapter 31
3 weeks later
I hate how fast word spreads on this floor. One slip-up… onestupidmix-up with the documents, and suddenly the whole department is acting like I’ve personally derailed the company’s future. The message chain turned into a knot of complaints before I could even figure out what went wrong.
By the time Lincoln’s coworker flagged me down with a tight smile and a pointed“Hey, Gabby, you sent us the wrong information,” my stomach was already sinking. I tried retracing my steps, retracing my thoughts, retracing everything… but honestly? I still don’t know how I screwed it up.
So now I’m standing outside Tobias Voss’s office, my palms sweating like I’m about to be sentenced. Apparently, the CEO never calls couriers unless it’s serious, and judging by the email that summoned me, he’s not exactly eager to offer a warm welcome.
I knock lightly and step inside when he tells me to. Tobias is behind his massive desk, the kind of setup that makes you feel like you’re walking into a courtroom instead of a workspace.
His expression is unreadable, but not in a mysterious way, more like he’s deciding whether I’m worth the oxygen in his office.
He steeples his fingers, takes a slow breath, and looks at me with an unimpressed calm. It's crazy how he's the same man who claimed he was impressed with me the first time he met me. Guess that was all for show.
“Look, I was in averygood mood when I decided to hire you. And also out of a small favor for Lincoln because he's a really good worker. But please don't get it twisted. Your little attitude was only cute the first time. And since you're here and you work for me, there's only so much that I'm gonna let slide,especiallynow. So if you can't handle this job, then I'd like to know ahead of time so you don't interrupt the flow of what we've got going on here. Any more mistakes from you and you're gone.”
I try not to roll my eyes.
God, I want to. My mouth even twitches with something sharp, something that would definitely get me fired on the spot. But he’s right. I did mess up. And I’m not in the mood to add gasoline to this fire.
My posture softens. “If it happens again, which I don't expect it to, then I completely understand you firing me.”
He nods once, curt. “Okay, don't make me look like an idiot.”
You do a good job of that all on your own,I want to mutter. It sits heavy on the back of my tongue, begging to be unleashed.
But I swallow it, offer a stiff nod, and keep my mouth shut. Some battles aren’t worth losing my job over.
I step out of Tobias Voss’s office feeling wrung out, like someone snapped a rubber band against my pride. I’m still replaying the lecture in my head, mentally kicking myself for messing up something as basic as delivering the right documents.
Maybe I was distracted, or overthinking. Maybe life just wanted to embarrass me today.
One of its favorite things to do.
As I’m walking back toward the elevators, I hear someone call my name.
