Page 85 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

“That’s it?” I asked.

He nodded.

Where could they be? Maybe they had to wait, so he’d taken her somewhere? But where? Then I remembered the quiet room and walked toward the hall that led to the bathrooms. There was a door that would get me to the quiet room nearby.

I was most of the way there when I heard voices coming from around a corner.

“But I help you. All the time.” That was Marissa, and she sounded upset. “I complete you.”

Uh-oh. Marissa was confronting Peter about her feelings. I glanced behind me to make sure no one else was coming.

No one was.

Should I interrupt? Would Peter appreciate an assist, or would he prefer to get this over with?

I missed a few words, and suddenly, Marissa shouted. “You’re mine!”

Peter said, “No.”

I could imagine the category five expression on his face—blank and trying hard to keep from losing it.

“I’ve done everything for you!” Marissa said shrilly.

That’s it, Peter was under enough pressure today. He didn’t need Marissa adding to his stress. I took a step to interrupt, but Marissa’s next words stopped me in my tracks.

“You said you didn’t like curvy girls, so I lost weight. You said you loved investments and business, so I went into investments and business. You said you loved sushi, so I said I loved sushi!” Marissa was crying and yelling at the same time. “I hate sushi! It’s disgusting!”

My hands clenched into fists. Could that be true? Had Marissa loved Peter since they’d been teens? And did he really have a thing against curvy girls, or had that just been something she’d made up in her hormone-ridden adolescence to explain why he didn’t like her the same way she liked him?

“You have to love me,” Marissa said through desperate sobs. “You have to!”

Peter’s words didn’t surprise me, but I didn’t expect the cold tone he adopted. “I don’t.”

“You have to!” Marissa wailed. “I haven’t had ice cream in fifteen years because of you! I stopped eating because of you! I gave up my dream of being a park ranger for you!”

“I never asked you to do any of that,” Peter said quietly.

“You didn’t have to!” Marissa shouted. “I did it because I loved you!”

Even though I’d expected it, my heartrate spiked, and I put my hand over my mouth. I felt bad for Marissa, but I also didn’t like the position she was putting Peter in.

“I don’t love you, Marissa. I’ve never loved you.” Peter’s voice was flat. Determined. As if all he wanted was to get away.

I couldn’t blame him; however, I wasn’t about to go around that corner now. Instead, I pulled out my phone and started typing Peter a message. He could use it as an excuse to get away if he wanted to. My fingers flew, and I was about to hit send, but Marissa’s next words stopped me cold.

“Do you know that Jessica is good friends with the people at her favorite coffee shop? She’s hung out with them. Gone to the movies. All sorts of things.”

How did Marissa know that about me? A shiver ran up my spine. Was she spying on me? Or asking other people in the office about me?

“So?” Peter asked.

“So now you get her coffee every day, and she hasn’t seen them in a week.” Marissa paused. “What else has she given up for you?”

An all too familiar feeling of foreboding filled me, and I took a step away from the confrontation I was listening to.

Marissa went on.

“Apparently, all you do is make people change for you.”

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