That has got to be what this is. It’s just fun for him, a little game to see if he can break the nefarious Harper Mathers. The thrill of fucking theboss.
A realization slaps me back into the moment.
“When did you start privately monitoring that room, Sadie?”
My sister doesn’t look sheepish, or even a little embarrassed at her blatant spying. Instead, she smiles even wider.
“Since the very first day he started showing up at 5 A.M. to work out with you.”
“To work out, not with me specifically,” I clarify.
“Sure,” she says in a singsong tone that confirms she doesn’t believe my words any more than I do. “Well, since that day when I got a hundred text messages about how frustrating he was and how annoying his constant chatter was, I took a peek myself and it was like watching my own reality TV show,” she pauses to take a long dramatic sigh, like she’s been on the sidelines watching a romcom play out. “And then your texts began to shift. You still complained about how annoying and frustrating he was, butyou also started to casually mention him more and more. It went fromOh my God he’s so annoyingtoCan you believe Colton can’t drink black coffee?Your texts to complain basically lost all their venom,” she sounds forlorn and wistful as she talks about me and Colton. It’s the same look she gets when she watchesPride and Prejudiceand that guy does the weird hand thing.
And then the look vanishes. “And thank goodness I was watching in case you did something stupid,” she admonishes, lightly pushing my shoulder.
“So, you do agree it’s stupid!” I fire back.
“No, not at all. But I’m sure you think it is. I think you should do it again, and often.”
“No,” my answer is immediate and curt. “And from now on you’re going to start just turning the camera off from five to nine instead of being a creeper, right?” I ask her, planting both hands on my hips.
“Why, what else are you guys going to do?” she asks, an evil little glint in her eyes and a predatory smile to match, as she pumps her eyebrows.
“Sadie!”
“Fine, fine. I’ll stop watching.”
I look into her eyes, trying to sense if she’s lying from her mannerisms. Unfortunately for me, Sadie’s always been great at lying, and even better about covering her tracks when she does. “Are you actually going to stop watching?”
“Absolutely not.”
“If you aren’t going to be helpful, I’ll just show myself out.” I turn to start walking back to the main door when she grabs my arm, hauling me back around to face her.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, but how exactly can I help here? You have a crush, babe. That doesn’t really sound like somethingIcan help with.”
I have a crush. A stupid, annoying crush. On my employee.On my very handsome employee. Who will soon be up close and personal with someone who isn’t me.
“Okay, well, I don’t want it. He’s getting in my head, and I need it to go away. Like, now. How do I do that?”
“Easy. Go on a date.”
“Sadie, I can’tdatehim, I’m trying tonothave a crush on him!”
“No, no, no. Not withhim. Go on a date with some other guy. A solid distraction, since working out obviously isn’t taking the edge off. I mean, maybe you don’t even have a crush, and you just need to get some,” she shrugs nonchalantly while I simultaneously gag. I don’t want to hear my sister talking about me needing toget some.
“And how exactly am I supposed to go find some random man to go on a date with?”
She cocks her head to the side and stares at me like I have a hundred heads.
“Are you serious? You get hit on at least once a night, pick an idiot's name out of a hat and go on a date.”
“Okay, okay, I can do that. Ugh, annoying, but it will work. It’ll cure my crush, and I will get this frustration out of my system, and then it will be fine.” I’m talking to Sadie, but we both know I’m trying to convince myself it will work. Ineedit to work.
I thank my sister for her helpful, albeit awkward, advice and head to the exit.
“Oh, and Harper?” Sadie calls to my retreating form. “Don’t forget to enunciate. Your diction is shit!”
I flip her off over my shoulder as I open the door and face the reality of my situation.
