“I told Ethan to release your new hire paperwork tonight. Have you received it?”
“I haven’t looked at my email,” I replied. “Sort of a busy night, and I don’t like to divert my attention from the main event.”
“What if you miss something important?”
Was he seriously pulling a boss move right now?
“If it’s time sensitive,mostpeople know to call or text.” I couldn’t resist a little dig at his technophobe ways.
He frowned harder. The world’s tiniest victory.
I realized that I was still holding the ring. My impulse to fling it at him was long gone. The anger I’d felt last night had faded to sadness. I hated coming to terms with the shift in my feelings. Being furious with Drew felt way better than feeling depressed about what we’d lost. Anger made me want to make a Drew voodoo doll and shove a million pins in it. Sadness would leave me curled up on the couch for a week or so.
He shuffled his feet. It was clear that he wasn’t going to come all the way into my office, like he was a vampire who hadn’t been invited past the threshold.
“Here.” I placed the ring on my desk.
We both stared at it.
If I was angry at anyone it was myself, because deep down I still hoped that Drew was going to come to his senses and do something brave and romantic to try to win me back. To show that he believed our love was worth fight for—worth putting in the effort for.
“I’m heading out tomorrow morning,” he said. “You obviously won’t be reporting to me from now on. Ethan can handle any of your questions.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got a few stops planned,” he said dismissively. “Shelby can also be a go-between if necessary.”
I nodded. He was leaving, ASAP. I was already in his rearview mirror. The realization ignited a prickle at the back of my nose but I refused to succumb to the tears. I definitely couldn’t stay here.
“I want to thank you for everything you did to make this event a success. You knew how critical it was, and you delivered,” he said.
Drew sounded painfully formal, and it stung to have those lines so clearly drawn, showing that we were nothing more than boss and subordinate.
But I code-switched as well, leaning into my role as obedient employee. “I’m glad it was a successful event.”
The ring was still sitting on my desk. I pointed at it. “Do you want me to put this in the safe, or …”
He shook his head. “No need. I’ll take it.”
Drew finally strode into the room and grabbed the ring, immediately depositing it in his blazer’s breast pocket without glancing at it.
He stood on the other side of my desk, staring downwards. Neither one of us saying anything.
I felt like there were so many unresolved issues between us. Even though we’d started off faking it, I knew we both had allowed the relationship to go places we’d never expected. I’d become a part of his real life. Drew’s family had welcomed me, and now I wanted to know more about what was going on between Candace and Oliver. Iwished I could go to Gwen’s upcoming baby shower. I wanted to get to know little Noah better.
But it wasn’t going to happen.
Why hadn’t he stormed out of my office by now? He had the ring, and we’d discussed my new hire paperwork. There was nothing left to say.
There was no point in prolonging the agony, so if he wasn’t going to cut off the air flow, I would.
“I’m done,” I finally said as I put my laptop into my bag. “I’m leaving and I won’t be back. I’ll email HR in the morning. I’m too exhausted to do it now.”
“What? Why? You earned the job. If it’s the money, I can?—”
“Stop right there. Even after everything, you still don’t understand.” I gathered the rest of my things and moved past him. I could hear his footsteps following behind me.
“Let’s talk about this. Emilia, what?—”
