He caught himself before she could bring herself to say something, clothing rustling as he straightened. The chair resettled with a squeak that seemed too loud. “Can you take careof it?”
Annica stared over Jay’s shoulder. “I’ll do it now.”
“Good.”
Not trusting herself to speak, Jay got up from her chair abruptly, drawing both their eyes as she headed for the bathroom. One look in a mirror revealed that her cheeks were flushed and she cursed, quickly locking herself away in one of the stalls as she tried to calm down.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
Two women entered while Jay deleted the text message she had started to type out to Nicholas, that began,You promised you wouldn’t touch me in the office.
She knew what he would say.It’s not like I bent you over the desk in front of Accounting.
The exterior doors swung open with a bang. Jay let her hand fall back from the stall door as a group of women walked in, talking so loudly that their voices echoed off the tile.
“What time are we meeting for drinks tonight?”
“Five on the dot. Stacey’s been after me all day for not meeting quota last week. At this rate, I’m going to be double-fisting before seven.”
“Stacey’s not so bad. Steve Jensen’s a lot worse and I heard Mr. Beaucroft actually made someone scream. Security had to escort her out.”
“I wouldn’t mind if he mademescream. He’s fine as hell. I can’t believe he isn’t married.” The women got into adjoining stalls, several rows down. “Speaking of, who’s the woman he comes in with every morning?”
Jay froze.
“What woman? I’ve only ever seen him come in alone.”
“They drive in together. He waits in the car for like five minutes and comes in after her. It’s weird. They leave together, too. One night I forgot my purse and security had to let me in after hours. When I passed by the window, I saw him leaving—withher.”
“Ohhh, I know who you’re talking about. Tall? Curly hair? That’s his sister—Kay.”
“Thesecretary?” The first woman scoffed. “They don’t look related.”
“Not his real sister. His stepsister. Their whole family is super weird. Supposedly the mom was some kind of porn star and the dad was in a sex scandal.”
“And how would you know that? You didn’t even move here until like a year ago.”
“There’s this guy who comes into the bar where my sister works at. Some creep they went to school with who won’t shut up about the glory days.” Her scoff echoed like a reprimand. “When he’s not busy hitting on older women, he says that Mr. Beaucroft was always super possessive of his sister. In, like, a really weird way.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go around telling people that.” The stall door slammed closed. Jay heard the sound of running water. “I heard he just got out of a lawsuit. You could be next.”
“Yeah? Good luck with that. I can barely afford rent.” Their heels echoed off the floor. “I hope they actually remember to charge us happy hour prices this time,” the other woman said, her voice fading. “Make sure Mary-Beth pays up this time. I can’t drop twenty dollars apiece on drinks again. Maybe the dives have it right—even if they are full of sad creeps with mommy issues.”
The door swung shut with a bang and Jay was alone.
She washed her hands and went back to her desk, blinking under the too-bright lights. Someone said hello to her and all she could manage was a wave and a tight smile.“In, like, a really weird way.”She couldn’t get the woman’s snide, knowing tone out of her mind.
The rest of the day passed in a sort of fugue. She found herself listening in on conversations, wondering how many other employees had suspicions about the real nature of her and Nicholas’s relationship. When Arthur told her to have a good evening, briefcase in hand, she jumped. Annica had already quietly slipped away and now, except for Nicholas—and Arthur—she was all alone.
“Don’t work too late,” Arthur said. “Remember what I said, Jay. Even the brightest stars only work half the day.”
Actually, stars never stop burning until they die.
Jay waved goodbye, glancing up at Nicholas’s office. He’d turned his light off but she could see him in silhouette doing something on his computer in the dark. She wondered how that meeting with his investors had gone. HR had been keeping a tight rein on him after his misconduct.
I should ask him.She dug for her phone in her purse, wondering if there had been a text since she’d last checked. He usually told her how late he was going to be. Jay didn’t mind waiting, though. The later he was, the fewer people there were around to see them leave.
Shedidhave a new message, but it wasn’t from Nicholas. It was from her mother.
