Page 67 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

-Peter-

When I saw Jessica practically run from the room behind Patrice, I decided I needed to pass Marissa off to someone else so I could go help.

Even though we’d agreed that Jessica could take care of everything before the actual party started, I had a feeling she was overwhelmed.

For the eighth or ninth time, Marissa reached back and put her hand on mine. “Let’s go that way.” She pointed, and I felt like a servant at her beck and call.

Tyrell had been with us for a few minutes, which had given me a chance to process and plan, but he’d gotten distracted by one of the teams that had a hoard of pirate stuff for their theme.

“I need to go check on something,” I said as I pushed Marissa in the direction she’d indicated.

“I can help.” Marissa craned her neck to look up at me. Thus far, I’d avoided making more than casual eye contact with her, but now she’d caught me off guard, and I noticed the tightness in her face, and I wondered how much pain she might be in.

“You should rest,” I said.

“Resting is boring. I need to be here. Where’s the problem?”

I grunted, unwilling to bring her to Jessica.

We stopped by a team that had brought in a bunch of painted square boxes put together to look like blocks. I knew one of thepeople on the team was a friend of Marissa’s. “Tiffany, would you be so kind as to make sure Marissa is comfortable?”

Tiffany, an energetic woman with long dark hair and a thin frame, jumped to her feet. “Marissa, what are you doing here?”

Marissa shot me an angry glance, but I ignored it as she was swarmed by the team.

“Call me if there’s an emergency,” I told Marissa as I hurried away.

My plan was to get to Jessica, but three people with questions that I answered directly from the emails that had been sent out interrupted me, and by the time I got to the door that Jessica had disappeared through, my hands were shaking.

I thought I’d been ready for this, but apparently not.

“Hey.” I jumped at the sound, then found Tyrell coming toward me. “You okay?”

I shook my head. While my friend didn’t know everything about me, he did know that I preferred solitude to crowds.

“What do you need?” he asked.

While I knew I shouldn’t show weakness in front of my boss, I rubbed my forehead. “I need a minute.”

“Marissa was a bit much?” Tyrell motioned me through the door.

I nodded.

Tyrell chuckled but then pointed down the hallway. We were in a service area of the hotel. “There’s a little break room down there that the hotel manager says no one uses. Jessica designated it for nursing moms or anyone who needs a few minutes of downtime. There’s a quiet room sign on it.”

Jessica had done that? She hadn’t told me.

Tyrell pointed again. “Go.”

“Thanks,” I muttered as I slunk away down the corridor.

A voice sounded from behind me, and I flinched away from it. “Did I see Peter come this way?” I wasn’t sure who it was.

“He’s busy,” Tyrell said. “What can I do for you?”

It had been years since Tyrell had run interference for me. He’d protected me in college a few times. How had I forgotten that? I needed to thank him and made a mental note to do so as soon as I didn’t feel like the sky was falling and crushing my chest.

The room, as promised, had a sign on the door outside and was blessedly deserted on the inside. A couch and several soft chairs sat in one corner, and three round tables and mismatched seats filled the rest of the space. There were snacks and water, and even a couple of eye masks. Small arrangements of flowers sat on the tables.

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