“Julia, it wasn’t just a job, I swear. I care about you. You mean a lot to me. And maybe I thought we could see where this would go.” He let out a breath as if this was the hardest chore for him to do. Get rid of the pest now that the job is over.
“Don’t worry, Tae.” Julia hid every bit of emotion behind a mask of steel and a steady voice she’d honed after years of demanding to be heard in an industry that didn’t want to take her seriously. “It’s good. We’re good. It was a misunderstanding. It happens. No harm, no foul. I get it now.”
“It’s just that—God, Julia—what you did with the bills was so uncool. This ismyfamily. You can’t just step in and fix shit, fix me, with money. It was a reminder to me that we’re in two different leagues, two very different tax brackets. And it brought it home clear as day what I’d almost forgotten... I just work for you, for your grandma.”
Julia couldn’t hear anymore. She turned around and walked to her car. She expected Tae’s hand to grab her, but yet again she’d overestimated him. “Next time, you might want to fact-check and get your accusations right. If you had asked me, I would have given whatever money you needed. But I also knew you’d never ask, so I didn’t bring it up. And I have never crossed the line paying for something without your knowledge and consent.”
She looked at him, one last time, still standing exactly where he had been, head down to his chest. There were no winners in this fight.
Julia got in her car, holding on as she drove away. And when she’d reached the corner, out of sight, she let herself go.
She let herself cry.
27
Crock of Shit
Julia
It had all been a lie.
Worse, it had all been a job.
That revelation made Julia feel pathetic and... dirty.
Tae didn’t have feelings for her other than pity. And dollar signs. She couldn’t even feel furious at him because she knew how much he needed the money. She just wished he’d been honest with her from the beginning. Why keep it a secret and then make her out to be the fool? It didn’t feel like the Tae that she knew.
Question was,Did she ever really know him at all?
She’d thought she was in love with him. She’d almost said the words in bed the other night. What a fool.
Julia dropped her head in her hands, unable to focus on any of the work strewn all over her desk. She handled business transactions all day long. She just never thought she’d ever be one.
“Shit, it’s worse than I thought.”
Julia looked up as Rachel entered her office, brown takeout bag in hand.
“I appreciate you stopping by, but I’m not in the mood—”
“Yeah, well, Annette sounded the alarm, and I was closest to the pho restaurant. So you can’t turn me away.”
She played so freaking dirty. It wasn’t fair.
Rachel put the bag down and pulled out the containers of broth and noodles and veggies. She walked out to Annette’s desk where an outstretched arm offered her the familiar bottle with the green top. Rachel returned with sriracha chili sauce in hand.
“We’re gonna stink up the office,” Julia whined. It was a weak excuse. There was no lying about her need for pho.
“Just the office? More like everywhere you go. It’ll be coming out of your pores, in your hair, and on your clothes all day. But, desperate times.”
Julia nodded. Desperate times indeed.
“You wanna tell me what happened?”
Julia shook her head.
“Look, I already promised Sonia I’d get the scoop, so might as well tell me before she comes over here and loves all over you to death to get it out of you. With me, you only have to spill the facts. I’m the preferable option.”
Julia replayed the truth in her mind. “My halmoni paid Tae to date me.”
