Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Grace Barnes!” She yells my name. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Relax.” I press the elevator button. “I don’t think he’s married.”
“You don’t think?” Her voice is louder than it was before.
“What is all the yelling?” Her husband, Matty, comes into the bathroom, and I can see he just got up. He’s rubbing his eyes as he buries his face in her neck.
“I’m talking to Grace,” Sofia explains, pointing at the phone.
“Hey, G,” he mumbles, using the nickname he gave me when we first met. He only uses it because he knows our grandfather hates it.
“Matty,” she says to him, “would you make out with a girl when you think she is married?”
I can’t help but laugh at the top of my lungs. “You are asking him this when he married his wedding planner?”
“Hey,” he says, putting his hand to his chest, “what did I do?”
“I’m just saying that he was almost married when you guys started your thing.” I roll my lips when Sofia glares at me.
“We were not,” Matty denies. “I broke it off with what’s her name before we started anything.”
“You were emotionally cheating on your fiancée.” I point at Matty.
“Why are we talking about me?” he asks. “Goodbye.” He turns to walk away.
“Grace,” she says softly.
“I know.” My voice matches hers. “I know. I’m going to talk to him today and make sure that it never happens again.”
“Especially if he’s married.” The smile that fills her face is a sad smile. A smile you give someone when you know nothing good is going to come from anything.
“Yeah,” I agree, ignoring the way my stomach clenches. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Well, on the bright side,” she jokes, “we know Pops can get rid of him in the blink of an eye.” She winks at me. “No one will even notice.”
I chuckle. “I’m sure his daughter will.”
“He’s a dad?” She throws her hands in the air.
“Goodbye,” I say, hanging up the phone. The phone vibrates in my hand. Looking down, I see it’s from Sofia.
Sofia: Don’t think I’m not going to call you tonight.
Me: I’m sorry, the person you are trying to reach is unavailable, please try again later.
Sofia: Is that so? I should message Pops and ask him to track you.
Me: Please, he got us all microchipped when we were born. We are all on his monitor beeping the whole time.
I slip my phone into my purse when I step out into the parking garage. Pulling open the driver’s door, I hear the doors unlock before getting in. “It’s going to be fine,” I tell myself when I park my car at work. Looking around, I see his car is not here. “It’ll be a conversation,” I huff, grabbing my purse, “then we can carry on with the way things were.”
Stepping into the elevator, I hold my purse in front of me with two hands, waiting for the doors to open on my floor. I zigzag through people to get off and smile at the receptionist as I make my way to my desk. I’m one of the few people in the office, so I dump my bag off on my desk, going straight for the kitchen. I grab a white mug and make my coffee. “Morning,” I hear someone say from behind me and see Kevin standing in yet another custom-made suit.
“Morning.” I smile at him.
“How was flower shopping?” he asks, walking in and waiting for me to finish making my coffee to make his own.
“Good, we picked all the flowers,” I tell him.
“Are you going to the gala alone?” he asks, putting one of his hands in his pocket.
“I am,” I confirm, and he smiles.
“We should carpool.” He smirks. “I have a car service set up for that night.”
“Oh,” I say, bringing the cup to my lips. “Thank you for the offer, but I already have things set up on my end.” I start to walk out of the room. “I would check with Kayla and see if she has someone picking her up.” I plant the seed. It took me one lunch to see she was interested in Kevin, but he literally has no clue.
“Morning.” I spot Loren walking in with a vase of flowers tucked in one arm and her coffee in the other.
“Morning,” she says, smiling. “These are for you.” She motions to the flowers with her chin.
“For me?” I ask, surprised.
“Yeah.” She smiles. “The florist made them after you left. I left mine at home.” She walks over to my desk and places the vase of pink and white flowers with lots of greenery on it.
“They smell divine,” she says, and I lean down to smell them and smile.
“They really do. Thank you for coming with me yesterday. I don’t think I would have made the decision if I was alone.”
“Thank you for getting me out of the office,” she says. “It’s getting closer and closer.”