But when the visitor rounds the corner and enters the doorway, the temperature in the room drops to freezing. A fist squeezes through my ribs and constricts my lungs until my vision darkens from a lack of oxygen.
I blink a few times, trying to clear the mirage before me.
Splash of blond hair.
Sharp, smooth jaw.
Beady eyes.
This is not real life.
No possible way that Kyle Marks is the other applicant.
But that’s Kyle’s arrogantly lifted eyebrow and smarmy grin.
And that’s Kyle’s cavalier voice grating over my nerves when he says, “Cat got your tongue?”
He saunters to the empty desk and drops into the seat, kicking his heels up on the surface and crossing his arms over his chest. “Is this my new desk?”
My hands shake in my lap, and I hide them in the flowy sections of my skirt.
“Maybe you wouldn’t be so shocked right now if you’d answered my messages,” he sneers.
Take a breath, Millie.I have to keep breathing. The alternative is not good.
I force a small intake of air past my lips, but it does nothing to make my limbs move or my mouth form words.
Kyle’s feet drop to the floor, and he spins in his chair like he’s a child on a playground without a care in the world. Meanwhile, I’m over here suffocating as an anxiety attack clouds the edges of my vision.
“Do you remember how to speak? If not, it’s going to be a little complicated being your boss this week.”
Another breath, Millie.
I lower my eyes to my desk and find the green Post-it notethat still has Finn’s handwriting on it from the coffee he left me weeks ago. It has lost its stickiness, but I’ve taped it beside my office phone. I trace his letters with my eyes, trying to calm myself through the visual focus.
But my spotty vision does me a disservice. I can’t see that Kyle has approached my desk until it’s too late. His fingers rake through the tips of my hair, and I cower away from him.
He laughs cruelly. “Damn. If you had that haircut when we were together, I might still be around.”
The words hit me like a blow, and my muscles spasm as I shrink back from him. My heart rate can’t be in a normal range right now. The strength of its beat is rattling my skull.
Kyle huffs a dark chuckle, apparently amused by my reaction to him, then glances at his watch. “I have a meeting with my new boss. I just wanted to say hi before I dazzled her.”
My desk rattles as he knocks his knuckles on the hard surface before strolling out the door.
Darkness creeps into the edges of my vision, and I crumple to the ground and lean against the wall as the room closes in around me.
***
Seventeen tiles span one direction of this room, and twenty-nine the other. That’s 493 tiles that I have counted six times.
I think that means my vision is doing better. The room doesn’t feel so dark and small anymore, and my lungs have almost reached the point of expanding to their full potential again. I can feel my fingers and toes, and the sound of the air conditioner whirring through the room is louder than my heartbeat in my ears.
So many emotions have exploded through my system in the last hour. Rage. Shock. Denial. Humiliation. Confusion.
How did I not see this coming? As far as I know, Kyle has ajob as an entomologist with an environmental biology company. Working in a museum isn’t the kind of job he ever mentioned being interested in. Actually, he knew this wasmydream job. I’ve been talking about it since we met in college.
He isn’t meant for a job like this. I am.
