Page 15 of Home Free

William Pearson had shown an inappropriate level of interest in Elise since the moment he’d been assigned to manage the corporate takeover of Fringe, but there was a good bit of daylight between inappropriate and assault.

It was true that Elise had worked him for her own purposes, trying to see if she could find out anything about the Omni Group’s connection to Fedir and Iryna’s village in Ukraine. But she’d made it clear when he crossed the line, and he’d made it clear he didn’t care.

“Still,” Aliyah said. “I want you to know I’m sorry.”

Elise smiled. “Thanks. Any word on him?”

She’d filed a complaint with corporate when she’d quit her job, and Aliyah had told her Will had been placed on administrative leave, but they hadn’t talked about it since.

Aliyah’s expression darkened. “I heard he was transferred to another division.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

“I wasn’t even surprised,” Aliyah said. “The good news is the new boss is awesome.”

“Really?”

Aliyah nodded. “I’m learning a lot from her.” Aliyah hesitated. “She actually just promoted me to manager.”

“What? That’s amazing!” Elise said. “You deserve it. I’m so happy for you.”

Aliyah looked relieved. “I was kind of nervous to tell you.”

“Why would you be nervous?”

“It was your job. You only quit because of what Will did to you. It feels weird taking your position.”

“You’re not taking my position,” Elise said. “I gave it up remember?”

“Yeah, under duress,” Aliyah said.

“There was no duress. What happened with Will accelerated the decision to leave, but I was starting to feel like it was time anyway.”

Surprise shaded Aliyah’s eyes. “You were?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know what was next. I still don’t. But it was starting to feel like it was time.”

Aliyah grinned. “That makes me feel better.”

“Enjoy the new position. You’ve earned it,” Elise said.

“What about you?” Aliyah asked. “Any idea what’s next?”

Elise thought about Finn, about the demons in his eyes when she’d been at the mountain house over the weekend.

Julia’s words echoed through her mind.

…do yourself a favor and make sure it’s something that works without Finn.

It was good advice. Even Elise, in the throes of her feelings for Finn, could see that.

The problem was, Elise didn’t want a plan that worked without Finn.

“Not really,” Elise said. “I’m thinking about a change of scenery.”

It felt like a jinx. Finn hadn’t asked her to go with him. She didn’t know if he ever would, didn’t even know if she would go if asked, if she was capable of going without being a burden to his footloose lifestyle.

“You know what?” Aliyah asked. “I think a change of scenery would do you good.”

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