Page 22 of Pretty Little Thing

Six

Clive

Nora Payne hasn’t lookedat me in two days.

To be fair, she didn’t do much looking at me around the office anyway but she’s going out of her way to avoid me now.

Until yesterday, her daily routine was set in stone. She’d get here before nine, pluck around in her office for an hour checking emails and reviewing everyone’s work from the day before. Then, she’d get up and make a slow clock-wise ring around the desks, starting with marketing directly left of her office. Then, she’d check in with the creative team. And human resources. She’d go all the way around until she’d hit accounting, where my temporary desk currently resides.

Now, all of a sudden, that routine is practically nonexistent. She’d hit all the other places, but she won’t come near accounting. Not even once in two whole days. If she needs something numbers-related, she calls my supervisor, Ali, and Ali goes into Nora’s office.

I shouldn’t care. I’m not here to make friends with her, but…

I’ve never seen her at Red Brick before.

I didn’t even think she’d be the type.

Mytype.

This puts quite the wrinkle in my side hustle. I want to know more about the mystery that is Ms. Nora Payne but I also have to get that client list.

It’s Wednesday. Alex will be bugging me any time now for an update and I’ve got jack shit in the realm of progress.

I have to get into her office.

End of the day will probably be easiest. It’s not unusual for Nora to be the first employee in and the last one out. I just to find the right moment to—

Where is she going?

I crane my neck to peek out of my cubicle. Ms. Nora Payne just waltzed out of her office with her briefcase, her purse, and her phone. She shut off the lights and closed the door. She never does that unless she’s leaving for the day but it’s not even five yet.

I watch her walk from her office toward the elevator. She purposefully takes the scenic route to avoid accounting. My guts twist. She’s literally going out of her way to avoid me but she’s got nothing to worry about. Nothing Red Brick-related, that is…

I want her to know that.

I bolt out of my chair and follow her to the elevator. She walks quickly with her head is down, clearly not in the mood to talk to anybody but she’s going to talk to me.

Nora boards the empty elevator and I pick up my pace to catch up before the doors close and I lose my one chance at a private moment to clear the air.

I slide a hand between the doors, blocking them from closing and they pop back open again.

Nora raises her head, looks at me, and her breathing stops.

I step on, turning to stand beside her and tapping the button to close the doors. She shifts slightly to the left, putting a foot of space between us and I try not to take it personally.

The doors close and the elevator begins its slow trek down to the ground floor. That gives me about twenty seconds to say what I need to say but that’s not nearly enough time.

I reach out, hit the stop button, and the elevator crawls to a halt.

“Ms. Payne,” I say, turning to face her. “Relax.”

She blinks, her wide eyes staring at me with a mix of nervous fear and shame. “What?”

“Relax,”I say again. “It’s all right. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Secret?”

“The Red Brick Road. We saw each other there.”

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