“Is she married?”Dex’s curiosity is driving me mad.
“I don’t know.”I looked, but I didn’t see a ring.And I made sure to look.
“Filthy rich in her own right?”he continues digging.“Those handbags cost a fortune.”
“Women don’t need a man to buy them an expensive bag.”Raquel deadpans.
I sigh, wishing I’d never walked in here.“She wasworking.She works for Stella.”
“Oh!”Cari seems excited by this piece of news.
I let out a groan.“She’s working for a witch.”
“A what?”The women shriek in unison.
“Awitch.Her boss is high up, and Maya is her assistant, but she doesn’t seem to be valued over there.She’s smart.There was a technical glitch while the COO was giving the presentation, and she walked out on the stage, fixed it and calmly walked away.”
“Impressive,” says Raquel.
“Smart.”Dex eyes me, as if wanting me to elaborate.“Definitely not a trust fund babe, then.”
I swallow.“No.”
Chapter 6
MAYA
The Stella headquarters are in a converted warehouse in West Chelsea.
Brick façade and steel-framed windows with a brass plaque beside the door, the building is both homely and inviting, yet exuding a quiet confidence.It’s flashy and expensive, without shouting about it.Inside polished concrete floors contrast with exposed beams, and the floor-to-ceiling windows let an abundance of light spill in.
I get into work and discover that Katherine isn’t in her office.Then I remember that she’s got a meeting out of the office.
I head to my desk feeling like I have sawdust in my eyes.I haven’t slept much for a week, since the VIP event which turned my world upside down.Seeing Zach again has blindsided me.I’ve been running on coffee, anxiety, and resentment ever since.I glance into the windowed conference room, the way I always do when there are people inside, but this time I stop stone cold dead and almost drop the coffee cup I’m holding in my hand.
Zach Knight is here.At my place of work, sitting in the small windowed office space that I can see so clearly from where I sit.
My heart lurches, and for a moment the world narrows to just him.He sits around a table with Cecil and a few of the managers, but no Katherine.There are many conference and meeting rooms in this building, so why did he pick this one?
And did he pick a day to meet when he knew she’d be away?What is his end goal?
My mind spins a thousand directions at once.I want to run, I want to hide, I want to scream, but my body refuses to move.All I can do is stare, trying to convince myself this isn’t real, that I’m not actually seeing him once again after all these years.
I haven’t stopped thinking about him, but I didn’t expectthis.I expected to never see him again.
“Hey, Maya.”One of my colleagues walks past me.I manage to nod, but my eyes are still fixated on the man who’s turned up unexpectedly at my place of work.A man who is now sitting where I can’t miss him, and turned my mind into a riot of chaos.
I can’t focus and I hate that he’s already thrown me into a web of confusion.
We haven’t even come face to face yet.
I quickly rush to my desk, before he can see me.He’s far away, yet still close enough that if he looked at me, I could read his expression.
I set my coffee cup down, before shrugging out of my jacket.I check my diary and discover that Katherine’s in a meeting, for an hour.To my dismay, I see a note from her, alongside a sheaf of papers she wants me to deal with.She’s given me a million things to do, and I know she’ll be back soon.
I sit down and try to drink my coffee, but my stomach is jittery.From where I’m sitting, if Zach looked up he’d catch me staring at him.I wish he’d go away and stay away, out of my life.I wish I hadn’t run into him.
Most of all, I wish he wasn’t here.
