Page 10 of Protecting Bianca

Confused as to what had just transpired between us, I stood on shaky legs. “Sure thing.”

I walked down the hall and straight to Lizzie’s office. “Jager wants to see you now in the large boardroom.”

Lizzie’s eyes narrowed. “Is he interrogating us or something?”

Still in a bit of a daze, I asked, “No. Why?”

“Because your neck and face are all red and your eyes are sort of wild.”

Involuntarily, I placed a hand on my collarbone. The flesh was warm. “No. Nothing like that. He hardly said a word.”

Lizzie waggled her brows. “Well, sometimes it only takes a look to get me all hot and bothered.”

“What? No.” I said. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just really warm in that room. Anyway, you better go. He’s got a long list to get through today.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m fine—”

She grinned knowingly.

“I mean, I’m busy and heading back to my office. See you later, Lizzie.”

I heard her giggle as I turned and walked away.

Raising my palms to my cheeks, I realized those were flushed, too.

I had to get a grip before this became an unnecessary embarrassment. Others would start to notice, and I hated other people in my business.

I was worried about seeing him for the first time, and now that was over. We’d been cordial and professional, and I’d get through this next week or two while the police investigated and then go back to my life as I’d done for the last ten plus years.

I could do this.

The pep talk was working. I started to feel better, but I needed a friend’s reassurance.

I opened a chat app on my phone.

‘Hey, having a weird day at work today. Need your help.’

When I didn’t receive a response right away, I put my phone down. But it pinged a couple of minutes later. ‘Sorry. I was just in the middle of something. What’s going on?’

I didn’t want to get into the details, just wanted some reassurance. ‘Feeling a little off balance. Looking for someone to tell me to pull up my big girl panties and get back to work.’

‘lol, you got this. You’re a badass, queen. Don’t let anyone make you feel less than you deserve. Forget about whatever made you feel this way and get your shit done.’

I smiled at the message. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Even though I said something similar to myself, hearing it from Ruby always made me feel better. Ruby wasn’t her real name. I actually didn’t know her real name. I met Ruby, or RubyTuesday98, while at a STIMS video party and we hit it off right away. This happened probably two years ago, and we still hadn’t met. We decided long ago that we preferred anonymity. I could tell Ruby anything and everything, even my worst thoughts, and well, she wouldn’t know it was me, SnowWhite87, if I walked past her at the coffee shop.

It was liberating to be myself without any fear of judgment.

Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to give Ruby the details of what was happening with Jager. That he was back. Not in my life exactly, but part of my day—my thoughts. I didn’t even know how to explain what I was feeling to myself. I was happy to see that he was all right after all these years. I’d heard about his success, but in my mind, it was all just talk until I saw him for myself.

I saw the truth with my own eyes.

He was happy.

He was successful.

He was here.

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