Page 50 of Love and Cherish

Allegra shifted a look to Haylee, full of curiosity and confusion. Haylee just shrugged, still not quite sure what was going on either. This was so out of character for Cherish.

The door opened again, and Febe stepped inside, a stone-cold look on her face as she shifted her gaze from one person to the next, landing on Allegra. Haylee watched her carefully, looking for the blowup that she predicted might happen with these two women in the room. Instead, it was as if all the hot air had been sucked from the room, coiling right into Febe Aarts as she stood by the door to the main office and didn’t tear her gaze away from one Allegra Ilic.

Was there something going on there?

“We can meet in my office.” Febe’s voice was all ice.

Haylee sucked in a sharp breath, just waiting for the tension to snap. Febe snuck a glance to Cherish, then turned to Haylee. She lowered her voice as she leaned over Haylee’s desk, much like she had that day when she’d caught Haylee kissing Cherish. “Arrange for a car for Saturday. For myself and you and Cherish together.”

“All right.” Haylee flicked her gaze to Cherish, finding her still glowering. What the hell was going on that she was oblivious to?

“I don’t want to be disturbed.”

“Understood.” Haylee hinged on Febe’s words, hoping they would shed some light as to what was going on, but she had no clue. “Was there anything else you needed? Coffee or paperwork?”

“No.” Febe shifted her gaze back to Allegra, and that same cold came over the conversation. She said nothing else as she walked straight into her office and told Allegra to shut the door behind her.

Where Haylee expected the tension to be gone now that those two were out of their sights, she was surprised to find it wasn’t. Standing up, Haylee walked over to Cherish’s desk and touched her shoulder lightly. Cherish jerked back sharply.

“Don’t touch me,” Cherish seethed.

What pile of shit had Haylee stepped in now? She’d thought they’d made progress. That she was doing a good job waiting for Cherish to figure out whatever she needed, but this was the opposite. Maybe Cherish had worked through everything and she didn’t want to go any further between them.

Haylee shrank back slightly. “What’s going on?”

“Do you know who that woman is?” Cherish’s jaw was clenched so tight that Haylee swore she could see the muscle pulsing.

“Allegra Ilic is the Executive Director at the Holbrook Foundation.”

“Do you know what the Holbrook Foundation is?” Cherish turned on her, anger in every word as it oozed from her.

“Uh…no.”

Cherish snorted. “I thought you were doing so much better than this. I really thought…” she trailed off.

“What the hell are you talking about?” This was a complete one-eighty from where they had been the other day when Cherish had been praising her for doing such a good job at work. What happened to the accolades?

“You!” Cherish stood up sharply, stepping right into the space between them. She breathed so hard that Haylee could feel it on her face. “You don’t know anything about Febe. You don’t know anything about this office. You’re going to send her into a tailspin that I can’t pull her out of.”

“Cherish!” Febe’s voice cracked like a whip through the room.

Haylee didn’t have the decency to look up. Her stomach rotted with guilt. If Cherish stopped liking her, then she would lose her job. She would lose everything. Her couch that she barely paid for, the clothes on her back that she didn’t even technically own because she had credit card bills piled so high that she couldn’t see her way through them.

“That’s enough.” Febe stepped into the center of the room, her gaze locked onto Cherish’s face. “Take the day.”

“Ms. Aarts—” Cherish protested.

“Take the day. Now.”

There was absolutely no arguing with Febe on that one. Even Haylee understood that. But if Cherish wanted to throw her under the bus and get her fired, then she absolutely could.

Cherish jerked her hand as she snagged her purse and her jacket. She didn’t even bother to say anything as she hit Haylee’s shoulder while she walked by her toward the door. When she was gone, Febe met Haylee’s eyes.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

“Yes, Ms. Aarts.” Haylee sounded so small, the words barely leaving her lips.

What the hell had she done to Cherish? This was astronomically different from the woman she had come to know. Febe went back into her office, shutting the door.

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