Coincidently, so was holding my smile intact while she told me about her relationship with my boss. I decided to excuse myself before I did something that would secure me a night in jail—like slap Célian across the face several times.
“I’m sure you’ll rise to the seemingly impossible challenge.” I reddened, watching the cheater smirk in my periphery. “Well, I have a lot of work to get to. So…” I tilted my head to the door and found my way out. Célian stood next to Lily—they were a united front, after all—staring at me with quiet interest.
Engaged. He is engaged. I was so flustered, so blind with fury, I didn’t even know how I would proceed with my day without doing something stupid and irrational, like trash his entire office.
I stumbled toward my station, keeping my eyes on my Chucks. A hand snaked behind me, clasping my elbow and spinning me in place. I slapped it away instinctively, thinking it was Célian.
It was Steve, sitting at his desk, his dull eyes zeroing in on mine.
“Happy with yourself, Junior?”
What in the fresh hell did he want from me, and did he realize how extremely poorly timed his question was? I couldn’t be less happy with myself right now.
“Define happy, and please don’t touch me again.” I jerked my arm back.
He stood up. Steve was a little pudgy, and not very tall, but he was handsome in the way men who had all the money and time in the world could be. Groomed to a T.
“You made me look like an idiot back there, and we both know it,” he pointed at the conference room, whisper-shouting.
Puzzled, I cocked my head, thinking he must be giving me some kind of backhanded compliment. When his face remained thunderous, mine followed suit.
“I’m not following.”
“You came with that stupid YouTube idea no one knew about. Why did you even talk at all? You’re the lowest goddamn person on the totem pole. Guess that’s all it takes these days. Know how to give a good BJ, get your foot in the door.”
My eyes flared. Not that the accusation was far off the mark. But while Célian Laurent could be blamed for a lot of things—all of them scoring him brownie points in the Asshole of the Year contest—giving me perks for whatever we did or didn’t do wasn’t one of them. When it came to integrity, we both had it.
Besides, there was no way Steve knew about the power room incident. He wanted to rile me up.
Mission accomplished.
“Steve, you’re making a pretty serious accusation here, so unless you’re going to back it up with facts, I would kindly ask you to never speak to me again in a non-professional capacity.” I crossed my arms across my chest.
I didn’t know why the universe had decided to rain calamities on me today. I just knew the day needed to end before I stabbed someone with my mechanical pen.
“I’ve got my eye on you.” Steve pointed at his eyes with two fingers and poked my arm. Again. I did the only thing I could without actually putting that mechanical pen to use. I bumped my fists against each other twice, giving him the finger Friends-style.
“Did you just…?” Kate pushed off her desk, her chair wheeling backward. She held her Sharpie like a cigarette in her mouth.
“I did.” I cleared my throat. “Please don’t judge me. Living with the fact I did it in public is punishment enough.”
She shook her head, her chest vibrating with laughter. “That was totally epic, in a weird, nerdy way. Good work on the YouTube piece, by the way. I’m Kate.” She offered me her hand.
“Jude.” My tight expression finally melted into a smile.
“Steve, let’s go into Célian’s office.” Kate jerked her head toward the hallway, and the bastard actually had the audacity to stomp under his desk. How old was this guy?
I got back to my desk and stared at the Reuters reports, chewing on my lower lip and trying not to think about Célian’s fiancée. I knew I was being irrational, but I still logged into the LBC software’s messenger app and group-messaged Grayson and Ava. For the past week, I’d been spending my lunch breaks exclusively with them. Not surprisingly, they had their noses in everyone’s business.
Judith: Did you know Célian Laurent is engaged?
Grayson: What’s it to you, Miss I-don’t-know-him-hey-look-a-squirrel?
Judith: It was a surprise, is all.
Ava: They’re childhood sweethearts.
Grayson: Sans the sweet part. I’ve seen them together enough to know the man loves her as much as I love getting my crotch waxed. (The results are far more aesthetically pleasing than shaving, if you’re wondering.)
Ava: We weren’t, but thanks for the mental image.
Judith: Célian doesn’t look like the kind of guy to do something he doesn’t want to do.
Grayson: Let’s just say it’s an arranged marriage of sorts. Célian is doing it for the same reason he does everything—to get ahead in the game.