"I suppose I should say that I'm happy for you," he said, though he didn’t sound happy at all.
"You suppose?"
He remained silent, his gaze fixed on the horizon. I turned my body to face him fully, needing him to look at me.
I turned my body to face him fully. "This arrangement was always temporary. You made that clear from the beginning. I was only supposed to stay until I could support myself. Well, I'm back on my feet."
"So that’s the end of it, then. You’re leaving."
"Yes."
"You’re leaving the hospital. You’re leaving Emma." He paused, his voice trembling slightly. "You’re leaving…me."
That last word sounded raw, as if he had been forced to pull it from a deep, painful place in his soul.
My heart squeezed. "Riven?—"
"Is this honestly what you want for your life?" He set his glass down on the table and crossed his arms over his chest. "You want to put so much distance between us we don’t even get to walk past each other in hallways?"
"It's a smart career move for my future," I whispered.
"That’s not what I asked you, Mireya."
"What do you want me to say?"
"I want the truth for once." He took a heavy step toward me, closing the distance. "Is this what you want? Or are you running away?"
The accusation sparked heat in my chest. "Running from what?"
"You tell me."
"There's nothing to run from. This is a strictly professional decision about my employment."
"That’s complete bullshit, and you know it."
I blinked in shock. I'd rarely heard him curse. "Excuse me?"
"This has nothing to do with your career or August's hospital." He took another step, his presence overwhelming. "This is about us and whatever's been building between us."
"There’s no 'us', Riven. You’re my boss, and I'm your employee. That’s the reality."
"Do you believe that when you say it?"
"Yes," I lied, my voice cracking.
"Then you’re a liar, Mireya."
Something inside me snapped.
"What exactly do you want from me?" I demanded, my voice rising. "Do you want me to stay in your guest room forever? Do you want us to keep playing house while you keep me at arm's length? You barely even look at me anymore. You have spent the last month avoiding me as if I have a contagious disease."
Tears started to blur my vision. "Do you have any idea what that does to a person? To be close enough to touch someone but never be allowed to reach out? To exist in your home every day but feel like I'm invisible to you?"
He flinched as if I’d struck him.
"I wake up and make coffee, and you're already out the door. I come home, and you're locked away in your study. I pass you in the halls at work, and you look through me as if I'm made of glass." I wiped a tear away. "I can’t spend my life being invisible to the man I care about."
"You have never been invisible to me," he said, his voice dropping to a low, intense level.
