Page 17 of City of Wind and Lies

"Ooh, good call," she says, pulling out her phone as we exit the elevator and make our way to the front doors.

The weather is absolutely beautiful today for being late August in the Midwest, so we request a table outside at the swanky little cafe across from the Vento Ventures building. The host leads us to a bistro table out front leaving us with menus and the promise to return with our lemon iced teas.

My stomach is already dead set on a chicken and garlic aioli sandwich, so I just lay the menu to the side and pull out my phone. I type out a memo to the department heads, asking for them to have their month-end reports to me by the following Wednesday. As long as Perry can fix my computer, that will give me plenty of time to review them before passing the reports on to Bowie.

Just as I hit send, the waiter returns to take our orders and the menus. While we wait for him to return with our food, Cami gives me a rundown on what she's found out about Perry's relationship status. Apparently, he is very much single and is also the guitarist in a band that plays at local bars on the weekend. She's halfway through trying to convince me to go with her this weekend to one of his shows he posted about when our food arrives.

We fall into easy banter as we finish off our plates and pay our checks before heading back to work. I told Cami she didn't have to accompany me back to IT to grab my computer, but she insisted on keeping me company. I think it's safe to say she's got a little crush.

"Tell me you could fix it," I say, clasping my hands together at my chest in a prayer sign.

Perry leans back in his chair, gripping the handles as he kicks an ankle up to rest on the opposite knee. "Well, I've got good news and bad news."

My nose scrunches up and I raise an eyebrow. I don't like the sound of that.

"So," he continues. "There was a file infector virus. Basically, it took little bites out of each file you opened and scrambled all the bites together, making your computer have issues reading things."

"Okay. So what's the good news, then?" I ask.

He leans forward, one hand grabbing the laptop, the other pressing against the desk as he stands. "There was a recent system restore point from two weeks ago that I was able to get you to."

My brows furrow together in dismay as I take back my laptop and thank Perry for his help. Cami follows me down the hall to our area, and I re-enter my office and sit down at my desk, plugging in the thumb drive Bowie first gave me to start moving over the programs, again.

I'm going to have to talk to him about the reporting. I think it’d be easier to just move forward with this month instead of burying people in two sets of reports, so that’s what I’ll recommend. I type up a quick email to my boss, explaining what happened and my plan for next month and hit send. I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't nervous about his response; I've barely been here a month and I'm already coming up short with my responsibilities.

He's been scarce around the office lately, and I haven't been alone with him since the breakroom incident. I can't decide if that makes me thankful, or disappointed. The heat pulsing between my thighs at the thought of him says it's the latter.

"Wren?" Cami calls out, pulling me out of my hopeful fantasy.

"Yeah?" I reply, swiveling in my chair and pushing up to stand.

"The main lobby called, there's someone here to see you and they're on their way up now."

The only person I can think of would be Drea, but if she was coming by, she'd text me a heads-up. As I'm racking my brain as to who else it could possibly be, the elevator dings, the doors open, and my jaw hits the floor.

"Trey?!" I grit through clenched teeth. I march across the lobby, the loud clips of my heels punctuating my annoyance with each fevered step. "What are you doing here?"

One of his eyes is rimmed with remnants of yellowish bruising as he sets his gaze on me. "You haven't been answering my texts or calls. So-"

I throw my hands up. "So you just showed up at my job? How do you even know where I work?" I fold my arms across my chest, tapping my foot against the tile like a petulant child while waiting for his response.

He pulls a couple of opened and crinkled envelopes from his back pocket. "These came in the mail," he says, handing them to me. "Just thought you might need them."

I pluck the envelopes from his hand, seeing that it's just statements on my company 401k and health insurance cards- I guess I overlooked the address when I got hired. I'll need to change that with HR, soon.

"Well, thank you," I murmur. "That was… nice of you."

He cards a hand through his messy locks. "Look, Wren. I know I fucked up and I shouldn't even be asking, but can I borrow some money? I'm short on rent."

"Are you fucking kidding me? No!" I hiss, my hands slapping down at my sides as I pivot on my heels.

"Can you try not being a frigid bitch for once? Damn," he grumbles, his hand catching my elbow before I can put any distance between us.

My blood boils, my temper about to get the best of me, again, when I see Cami eyeing me with the phone receiver in her hand. She mouths 'security' to me and I nod. I take a deep breath, trying to be less hostile than I feel.

"Trey, you can't just show up here like this, okay? I'm sorry, but I can't help you," I state, keeping my tone as neutral as possible.

His eyes narrow on me, and before he can respond, Ethan, our floor security guard, grabs him by the arm. "Time to go, sir."

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