Page 62 of Set Me On Fire

“C’mon, Bunny, I might want to talk about a purchase order.”

His voice was so unctuous I found myself forking my noodles over but not actually eating them.

“Then you can come and see us in the office after lunch.” Judy smiled tightly. “Where Brent is in earshot.”

“Fine.”

I watched him jerk away, turning to hold my fist up for her to bump. She obliged with a smile, then balanced her lunchbox on her stomach and started eating.

“It goes without saying, but do not let yourself be in a room with just Dave,” she advised.

“I know Dave, or rather, I know his type. I managed a pub before this.” She shot me a sympathetic look. “There was this guy whose nose I broke with a pool cue…”

There was a whole story there.He kept on hassling the girls that worked for me and security was focussed on something else outside. I’d stepped in and because I was a woman, he thought he could get around me to Felicity. When my hands ‘slipped’ and I rapped him on the nose with a pool cue, he thought better of it. Went running to Jim to whine like a little bitch, but when all the regulars swore black and blue it was an accident, he’d been forced to back down.

I didn’t tell Judy that.

Knox and his team walked in and the conversation picked up, the guys already sitting down chatting to them, but I didn’t hear any of it.

This was just like school all over again.

I was looking across a crowded playground, unable to look anywhere else but the guy I was crushing on. The fact it was three this time probably would’ve had teenage me pumping her fist in the air, but still. Charlie was chatting to someone and then went silent when he caught my eye, sitting back in his chair with a glitter in his eye. Noah… He looked everywhere but at me, though I knew we’d lock eyes eventually, and when we did, I felt a jolt. Hunter’s words, his betrayal killing my appetite. Then Knox sat down, nodding my way, as if to acknowledge the plan we’d made.

I’d talk to him first, and hey, maybe he could have the conversation with the others.

Coward.

I looked down at the noodles, the surface of each strand now too oily, too saucy, for me to eat.

“Not hungry?”

Judy nodded to my takeaway container.

“I’ve had a stomach bug that’s hanging around,” I explained. “Had some dodgy seafood at Christmas and haven’t been able to get into the doctor’s until this week.”

“You poor thing.” She rustled around in her lunchbox and produced part of a sleeve of dry crackers. “Try these.”

“Oh, I can’t?—”

“I’ll swap them for the pad Thai” She peered at my lunch. “Never liked Thai food myself, but the babies are getting ideas.”

I smiled and pushed it her way, taking the crackers gladly. Dry, salty, bland, they helped settle my stomach again.

Just not my heart.

I hopedno one saw its rapid skitter, getting faster and faster as more and more people left the lunchroom. Less and less witnesses to what was about to happen. I forced myself to my feet, not wanting to wait for the axe to fall, before turning to Judy.

“I’ve just gotta call the doctors to see if I can bring the appointment forward. I’ll be back in the office in a tick.”

“You got it.”

She levered herself up to her feet, even as men rushed to help her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d do the same for me when my time came. Unfortunately, there was a crucial difference. She’d been here for ages and was well loved, whereas I was here under false pretences. Taking a pay check to keep me going until my own pregnancy stopped me from working, I hoped I had permanency in place by then. I’d take the bare minimum of time off, taking Mum up on her generous offer of babysitting, and support my family.

Just take the next step, I told myself, disposing of the pad Thai container as a way to prepare myself as I walked across the room, but it was hard not to see the last time I’d approached Noah and his friends at school. He wasn’t the one I was going to talk to today, so there was no risk of further embarrassment, right? I wasn’t sure, but he looked up and stared when I got close.

“Knox.” I said the man’s voice smoothly, with the same professional tones I used for dealing with drunk customers. “You wanted to talk?”

You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.I tried to gee myself up as he turned my way, then nodded sharply, getting to his feet and then heading for the door. I didn’t pause to see who saw us or their reaction, because they didn’t matter. He did. The knowledge of the baby was a weight that had grown too heavy to carry, and I was ready to set it down.

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