Chapter 209
TESSA
“ACHOO!”
–
Debbie lets out another fake sneeze – her hundredth of the day. It’s so dramatic it actually makes me jolt, and my plastic fork nearly catapults a strawberry across the room. There goes my carefully curated ZEN state — the one I spent all afternoon cultivating so I could juggle a fruit salad in one hand and tomorrow’s report in the other.
–
I lower my fork slowly, inhale, and press my lips into something that might resemble a smile if you squint. I’m too tired to check. “Yes, Deborah? Can I help you?”
She dabs at her perfectly dry nose with a tissue, as if she’s starring in some tragic commercial for allergy meds. Then she tilts her head at me. “Aren’t you done with work?”
“If I was done.” I say evenly, “I wouldn’t still be here. Revolutionary concept, I know.”
Her eyes narrow like she’s cracked a conspiracy wide open. “Since when do you leave when you’re done? I was under the impression your plan was to work yourself into an early grave. Or, best case scenario, keel over at seventy–eight – death by paperwork avalanche.”
My fork clatters onto the container. I stare at her. “Are you trying to pick a fight?”
“Of course not. Have you even looked at your phone today? Or, I don’t know, the time?” Her whole act is so shady I don’t even waste breath
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asking what her deal is. I pick up my phone and- oh. Flooded with messages. Mostly from Cameron. Something about his car breaking
down.
It takes me a good fifteen minutes to connect the dots. “Oh. Right. Owen’s barbeque. That’s today.”
Debbie nods like she’s just solved world hunger. “Exactly. So what time are you heading out? You should learn how to have fun, too. It can’t just be work, work, work with you. I’m clocking out want me to walk you out?”
I give her a look. “Walk me out? What does that even mean? I don’t have a ride. I’ll just head home. Walking to Owen’s would be… yeah, no. And taxis are out.” Her face twists like I just confessed to hating puppies, but I ignore it and start gathering my things. “There’s always next season, Deborah. Don’t look at me like I just ruined your playoff run.”
“You really never change, Tessa. It’s actually scary,” she keeps complaining, but I’ve already checked out.
–
–
Emilia won’t be home for hours – she and Liam are probably halfway through the barbeque by now so that gives me a whole evening to myself. I can finish my report, clean up the spreadsheets Adrian dumped on me, and still have time to scroll house listings while rewatching the episode I missed.
A place big enough for me and Em. Maybe pet friendly. Not more than twenty minutes from the office, closer to the bakery. The thought alone makes my head throb.
When we finally leave, Debbie’s still on her soapbox about “unhealthy work habits” and “quality of life.” I press my fingers to my temple. “I’ll buy you dinner if you shut up.”
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Her mouth snaps shut. “Do you really think I’m that easy to bribe? That my genuine concern for you can just disappear with food? Is that how little you think of me?”
I’m already checking which restaurants are still open. “What do you want? You like Thai, right? Or Chinese?”
Her lips purse. “I’m not that easy, Tessa.”
“So… Japanese?”
Her eyes light up. “Yes, please.”
She’s giving me the name of her favorite Japanese place when we run into someone vaguely familiar. I know it’s bad the moment Debbie squawks and digs her razor–sharp nails into my arm so hard I nearly drop my phone.
“What the hell, Deb?”
She doesn’t answer – just drags me in the opposite direction like we’re fleeing a crime scene. “This way’s faster, okay?! I thought they were off today… what the hell is that bastard doing here?” The last part’s muttered under her breath, too low for me to catch, which only pisses me off more.
“Since when is this way faster? Hey!” I try to yank free, but her grip is vice–tight. For some reason my brain flashes to that horror movie Emilia forced me to watch in college – the one about a possessed girl who lured her friends into dark corners before tossing them off cliffs. “You’re seriously scaring the shit out of me right now.”
“Better scared shitless than-‘
“Tess?”
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The voice cuts through, uncomfortably familiar. Deb and I freeze like idiots caught in headlights. At the same time, we curse. “Shit.”
“This is all your bloody fault,” Deb hisses, nails digging harder into my arm as if she can claw me invisible. “If you’d just shut up and followed my lead, this wouldn’t be happening. Now look what you’ve done.”
“What I’ve done?” I snap back under my breath. “If you’d told me what the hell was going on, maybe we wouldn’t be starring in a live–action horror flick right now.”
Unfortunately, the redheaded bastard blocking our path isn’t a hallucination. He’s real. Worse, he smiles, all sharp teeth and shyness. “Hey, Deb. I thought you’d have clocked out by now.”
Tell me that doesn’t sound like a serial killer line.
Now that the horror–movie comparison is lodged in my brain, I can’t shake it. Every person is suspect. Every motive poisoned. And Deb – Deb, usually unflappable Deb – looks just as rattled as me.
—
For good reason. He’s been circling her for weeks, badgering her into begging me to speak to him. Since I blocked him everywhere. Since I made sure we’d never be alone, barely even crossed paths.
—
–
But here he is, standing in front of us with those blue–grey eyes that make my stomach twist not with longing, never again — but with memory. Every time I see them, I think of my stupid cousin.
And then I think of her wrecked marriage. Her demolished reputation. Her newly announced engagement to Dimitri. That’s when I let myself smile — small, giddy, petty. Because I fall asleep easier when I remember that she lost everything first. And for a bastard like this, too.
Deb looks so miserable I let her off the hook. This isn’t her fault–it’s mine. My mess, my ghost, my bad taste in men haunting both of us. I
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thought ignoring him would do the trick, but apparently silence just reads as weakness. Apparently I really did manage to lose half my personality and whatever backbone I had, because he still thinks all it takes is showing up after screwing my cousin, Russia’s own
—
―
community STD screening kit — and I’ll crawl right back into his bed.
If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t even give myself advice. I’d just knock myself out cold.
“We were just going to get dinner,” Deb says with a smile so forced it looks painful, tugging at my sleeve as subtly as her unsubtle ass can manage. “Isn’t today your day off? Weren’t you supposed to be with Owen?”
Lyle doesn’t even glance at her. His eyes stay locked on me, and I don’t bother looking away. We just stare at each other, locked in that silent dare, until he finally exhales and shifts. “Yeah. I went over. You weren’t there. I figured you lost track of time at work, so I came to pick you up.” He sighs, all theatrics. “Should I not have done that? You look like you can’t even stand to see me. That stings, Tessie.”
I narrow my eyes at the bastard, then turn to Debbie. “Go have dinner. I’ll go with Lyle.”
Her eyebrow twitches. “But… Tess-”
I sigh, cutting her off. I know exactly what she’s about to say, and she’s right. I shouldn’t spend another second alone with this man. But— “If you don’t go, who’s covering the bill?”
Silence drops like a brick.
God. Sometimes I forget she’s really just a gluttonous idiot. My fault for expecting her to be anything else. I actually laugh, tugging my arm free from her clammy grip. “I’ll send the money. Go enjoy yourself.”
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Her face lights up instantly. “You’re the best, babe. Bye, Lyle.” And of course, she doesn’t need to be told twice before bouncing out of the
scene.
I click my tongue. This idiot.
–
With her gone, I turn back to Lyle who’s watching me with such pathetic meekness I can’t help rolling my eyes. “Is she always like that?”
I don’t bother answering. Instead, I head for the exit that leads to the parking lot. “Where are you parked? Let’s get this over with.”
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Chapter 210
