And that...is when my perfect day came to an end.
“Sorry, Tom,” I grinned quickly, “I didn’t mean to—”
“Congratulations, Miss Harks.”
The voice was stiff and formal. No sign of recognition. No hint of anything we’d shared the night before. But while I had been expecting that, what I wasn’t expecting was for him to bypass normal and swing completely in the other direction. He actually sounded...mean.
I looked up in surprise, but he was already halfway down the hall, his perfect hair disappearing into the crowd as he weaved his way back to the elevator to ride it to his own floor at the top of the building. My mouth fell open as I watched him go, a strange lump hardening in the back of my throat. But before I could make heads or tails of it, another mid-level executive came up to offer his congratulations, and I pasted a hasty smile on my face.
I didn’t know if it was fooling anybody. I didn’t know if it was even fooling myself. But I kept at it with a vengeance, refusing to let myself slip.
Only once did my eyes wander to the elevator at the end of the hall, but again, the only person to notice was Michael. In fact, Michael seemed to be watching the day’s developments most carefully. He stood up the second our eyes met—to apologize, congratulate—I didn’t know what, but I didn’t care. The instant he started heading toward me, I headed straight back to my office. It wasn’t until I was sitting behind the heavy desk that I realized the door didn’t have a lock. But fortunately, although I saw his feet pause on the other side, he at least had the decency not to come in.
The rest of the day passed quickly. At a company like Larchwood, there was always more to do, and although the first draft of the merger was complete, by five o’clock, Macer had loaded up my desk with enough things to keep me busy until the end of the year. I stuffed them all into my briefcase and stumbled to the lobby along with everyone else when it was time to go home.
On the way back, I ducked into Starbucks. I couldn’t tell you what made me do it. Maybe I was half hoping to see him again. Maybe I was hoping to make sure that there really was an upper floor and I hadn’t made up the entire whirlwind weekend in my head.
Although Alicia shot me a quick smile on my way in, no one came by to take my coat. The manager didn’t come out to make my drink; there was no cinnamon flower on top. I paid quickly and left, chiding myself all the while.
What had I been expecting? To find everything as it had been the day before? I was the one who had said that it would be like it had never happened. I couldn’t exactly be hurt when things went back to normal. But no matter what I did or how I rationalized it to myself, I couldn’t shake the heartless look in Tom’s eye as he stared down at me. That wasn’t normal.
I had expected him to be distant, but I hadn’t expected him to be cruel.
And I certainly hadn’t expected to get hurt in the process...
The rest of the week was even worse.
Not only was Tom aloof and cold, but he started actively ignoring me. I would walk into a room—he would leave. I would cc him in an email. I would get a response only through a third party. It got to the point where Patti Macer took me aside one day and discreetly asked if there had been some sort of confrontation between us to set him on edge. I didn’t know what to tell her. In the end, I simply played dumb and was dismissed back to my office.
When I got to work on the Friday before our holiday break, there was a large bouquet of flowers on my desk. I closed my eyes in momentary relief. Finally—at least he made some sort of contact. But while my heart soared, my mind reeled back in horror. Sure, I was thrilled to have received some kind of token, but couldn’t Tom have at least tried to be a little discreet while we were at work?
“Got a secret admirer, Jenna?” Jamie called from across the hall.
I grinned and shut the door, quickly making my way over to the desk so I could read the card. I wondered if he was going to apologize for his behavior all this week. I wondered if he was going to invite me back for another ‘work dinner.’ A little smile crept up my cheek at the idea. But when I opened the card, the smile melted right off my face.