“What the hell was that?” Mina asked. “I thought you were done with him.”
“I am,” I insisted. “We've been done for a year now. You know that. You'd be the first person to know if something was happening between the two of us again. But no, there's nothing happening. He just came up to say hi.”
“It didn't look like you were just saying hi to one another,” Mina told me. “It looked like you were fucking one another with your eyes.”
I sighed. “Yeah, well. There's always going to be feelings there, Mina. We dated for over a year. And we had really good sex.”
Mina groaned. “I knew you just needed to get laid,” she said. “You need to get out more, girl. There are plenty of guys on this island who would love to sleep with you. Guys who aren't assholes.”
“He's not an asshole,” I told her.
“That's not what we agreed when he left you.”
“Okay, he's kind of an asshole. But he's a good guy deep down. Anyway, it's not like he's trying to start up a relationship with me again or anything like that. He just wants to fuck me. I'm not going to do that again, so.”
Mina shook her head. “I still don't think you should even bother talking to him,” she said. “The guy's a total jerk, and for all that you trust your willpower and your ability to withstand his advances…”
“You think I'd just as happily bend over for him,” I said, feeling hurt by that.
“Come on, Gretchen,” Mina said, clearly sensing that I was upset. “Look, let's steal a bottle of wine and go sit by the water, just the two of us.”
I wanted to protest, but it would have been purely on principle. “Okay,” I agreed. A bottle of wine with my best friend was pretty much the only thing I'd wanted with that night anyway. I gave Lino once last fleeting look. His eyes were still trained on me, with a look that I couldn't decipher.
Chapter Five
Christian
Monday morning came too soon. After Friday afternoon's comments, I honestly wasn't entirely ready to go back to the office and see the others, especially George. I was afraid I might say something I would regret. But there was no avoiding it. I would just have to do my best to keep myself busy with personal projects that day and use that as momentum to get back into the swing of things.
I ducked into my normal place to get coffee and waited impatiently in line, bouncing a little on my toes and glancing at my watch. I looked over at the newsstand and started reading through the headlines, just for something to do. Then, I saw one that caught my eye.
Oh fuck.
I got out of line and went over to pick up the magazine, frowning at the picture there on the cover. It had been taken on Friday night, as I tumbled out of the club with that other woman. And worst of all, it had a bright yellow splash in the corner that claimed to have the full interview with me printed in it, as well as interviews with Kelly and the girl.
I swallowed hard, wondering if I even wanted to know. But no doubt, everyone around the office was going to know all the contents of whatever it was. Best to prepare myself for the inevitable meeting.
When I got to the office, Paul was the only other owner there already. I slipped into his office without even asking and s
hut the door behind me. Paul sighed and gestured me toward a seat.
“This is a bad one,” Paul said, as though I didn't already know that.
“So, what's going to happen?” I asked. “You guys aren't going to dissolve Sunshine Real Estate; you know that, and I know that. And you know it would be ridiculous for you to try to buy me out of the contract. Even if you did manage to get rid of me from the company, you need me. I'm the face of this company. Get rid of me and-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Paul said, holding up both hands. “Slow down, man. No one's talking about getting rid of you. George might mention something like that, but he doesn't even really mean it. It's not just about the company needing you, either. We've been together for years now. Despite all the bad press that you've landed us and the fact that we're all in totally different points in our lives now, you're an integral part of this company. We wouldn't just abandon you.”
I frowned and shook my head. “Then what are you guys talking about doing?”
Paul sighed. “There does need to be some sort of action,” he said. “You know that.”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “But-”
Before we could talk more, there was a knock at the door, and George stuck his head in. He didn't seem surprised to find me in there with Paul. In fact, he probably didn't even bother going to my office first. “We're having a meeting,” he announced. Again, no one was surprised.
Paul and I got up and followed him down to the same conference room that we'd used last Friday for the disastrous meeting that had forced my “bad conduct” in the first place. I sullenly took a seat, folding my arms across my chest and waiting for them to speak, because I knew that if I tried to speak first, they were just going to interrupt me.
George tossed the magazine that I had already seen down on the table and followed it up with four or five similar productions. Probably the worst one was where they had caught a picture of me slapping the random girl's ass. I coughed a little, honestly a bit embarrassed by that one.