Page 63 of Baking it Merry

What the hell happened?

The entire ride up in the elevator, he tried to think about what he could have possibly done to have an entire office building mad at him.When he stepped out on the twenty-eighth floor to a furious looking Faye, he knew he was about to get his answer.

“How could you, Tristan?”she demanded.

Loudly.

“How could you be so deceitful?And so…so…hateful?What is wrong with you?”

He didn’t appreciate her tone, so he continued to walk to his office.“Why is the music on so loud?It sounds like a Christmas concert in here!”

Faye was hot on his heels, and when he placed his satchel down on his desk, she was hovering right beside him.“The music’s on because it’s Christmas week and we knew it would bother you.We’ll see howyouenjoy being harassed!”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tristan let out a huff of annoyance.“Need I remind you that I’m the boss here?If my staff wants to harass me, then they can all find other jobs!”

“Believe me, we’re all talking about it!”

Okay, now he’d had enough.Storming over and slamming the door, he faced her.“Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?What did I do?”he demanded.

“Seriously?You’re going to play dumb?You reported Daphne to the landlord, Tristan!She’s never going to be invited back here for the holiday shop or any of the new seasonal shops he’s implementing, and it’s all your fault!”

“Reported her…?Faye, I sentoneemail that first week she was here!There’s no way Darryl would be that petty and exclude her over it.And how do you even know this?”

“All the other vendors downstairs got the invitation for the new seasonal thing except for Daphne.Apparently she was very hurt over it and made some inquiries and found out you’re the reason!”With a snort of derision, she glared at him.“You seduced her to get your way even as you were going behind her back and sabotaging her business.You are seriously the worst.”

“What?!Now I seduced her and sabotaged her?Is that what everyone thinks?”

“It’s what everyoneknows.”Shaking her head, she made a tsking sound before making her way toward the door.“I’m disgusted with the whole situation.I knew you could be ruthless, but I never thought you’d do something like this.I’m ashamed to work here.”And with that parting shot, she stormed out, leaving him standing there in total shock.

It was a toss-up as to who he should speak to—Daphne or the landlord—but he opted to go down and see Daphne first.

As he stormed out of his office and toward the elevator, Faye called out, “Haven’t you done enough?Leave that poor girl alone!”

And he heard several people murmuring about how despicable he was.

Awesome.

If he wasn’t in such a hurry, he’d stand there and argue, but he had to go downstairs and explain to Daphne that this was all a misunderstanding.Everyone who got on and off the elevator shot him nasty looks and it took everything he had not to say anything.The only person he needed to talk to was Daphne.

In the lobby, he made a beeline for the gingerbread house.One of the giant candy canes looked like it had fallen and was propped up and some of the fake snow she had on the roof was now on the floor.The poinsettias were definitely going to perk things up, but perhaps tonight, after everyone was gone for the day, he’d come down with a toolkit and fix things.

Naturally, there was a line of people getting their muffins and cookies to start the day.If she sold coffee, she’d definitely make enough money to start her bakery.

So not the time to be thinking about this…

Stepping onto the back of the line, Tristan did his best to smile at everyone and act like everything was fine.The person in front of him, however, had a little something to say.

“You know, it takes a lot of courage to start a business—especially around the holidays.But every year, Daphne comes here and works toward her goal.We all love and appreciate her and you’ve ruined it.”She sneered.“And now you’re going to stand in line and buy something from her?What kind of a sociopath are you?”

Sliding his hands into his pockets, he did his best to look unbothered.“I’m not a sociopath, and there has been a grave misunderstanding.I’m going to talk to Daphne and straighten it all out.Trust me, she’s not going anywhere.”

“You better make this right.There’s already a petition started to getyouthrown out of the building.”And after a muttered, “Jerk,” she turned her back to him.

It took a solid ten minutes before he was finally at the counter and a small crowd had gathered to watch whatever was going to happen.

The defiant stance and the angry glare coming from Daphne weren’t enough to deter him.Placing his hands on the counter, he quietly said, “Good morning.May I have a word with you?Privately?”

“If you’re not ordering anything, then you need to step aside.I have real customers waiting,” she said flatly.He’d never heard that tone of voice from her before, and now that he took a moment, he noticed she wasn’t wearing one of her holiday or winter-themed tops.There was no bow in her hair.

---