Page 77 of Hate Notes

"What happened in his office?”

"Nothing. Everything. We just... kissed. But it was different. Like neither of us was pretending it was just physical anymore."

"Honey," Kora said gently. "It was never just physical."

I slumped onto the bench. "I know. And that terrifies me. Especially with Cole getting more aggressive."

"What do you mean?"

"He must have heard Davenport is leaning toward Foster Real Estate, because he's getting intense. He even hacked my cloud account a few weeks back to steal my research and plans. He's used my own work to keep his foot in the door with Davenport.”

Kora pulled a disgusted face. "Why do they both care so much about one client?"

"That's the thing—I'm not sure. The contract isn't even that big compared to some of our other projects. Like Eleanor Golding just signed on for this massive contract a few weeks ago and nobody batted an eye. I feel like there has to be more to it."

"Have you asked Orion?"

"No,” I admitted. “I get the feeling I won’t like the answer. And I guess I’m afraid to ask him for the truth because he might give it to me. It’s probably the same reason he isn’t pushing me to come clean about Cole.”

“Girl…” Kora said. “You’re both so right for each other because you have equal talents for making simple things super complicated.”

I glared at her, but smiled. “I’ve just been hurt so many times before. And it’s like we both know it’s not going to last, so we’re trying our best to make what we can out of this point before it all comes apart.”

“You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak, Em.”

“I know. But that ship sailed weeks ago. And lately, he has seemed so different. More open. Like I'm starting to understand why he pushes himself and everyone else so hard. There's this whole other side to him that he keeps hidden, and sometimes when it slips out..." I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "God, I'm in so much trouble."

"Breathe," Kora commanded. "You're spiraling."

"I'm allowed to spiral! I'm sleeping with my boss while hiding the fact that I originally took the job to spy on him, all while my psycho ex is potentially using information I gave him to steal ahuge contract, and oh yeah—I think I might be in love with said boss who will definitely hate me when he finds out everything!"

An elderly woman who'd been quietly changing nearby gave me a sympathetic look. "Men," she said, shaking her head. "I knew a man like that once. Turned out he was running a pyramid scheme with my inheritance money. He was also very into some... unconventional bedroom activities.Butt stuff,”she added with a stage wink.

"See?" I told Kora. "Even random strangers think I'm screwed."

"Actually," the woman said, "I was going to say I married him anyway. Been together forty years now." She winked. "Sometimes the complicated ones are worth it, dear. And sometimes their... quirks... grow on you. Besides, you get used to the feeling of a butt plug. Now I won’t even leave home without one in.” She finished changing, smiled, and walked out without waiting for comment.

I turned to Kora. "Did that really just happen?"

"I think we'll both be better off if we pretend it didn't. But you heard her point, right?”

“The one about butt plugs?”

“The other one,” Kora said, smirking. “About how you should stop making things so messy and just go for it.”

"I'm not sure I want to take life advice from someone who—you know what? Never mind."

As we walked to get smoothies, my phone buzzed.

Cole:I need back in your cloud account. None of your old passwords are working. I need to see what you have beenworking on so I can wow Davenport. I’m meeting him one last time today. Come on, Em. Don't let me down. And hey, pull this off, and I might think about letting us start things back up again.

I deleted it without responding, but my hands were shaking. I still couldn’t believe I had been dumb enough not to change all my passwords after the breakup. I changed the important ones, like my streaming TV passwords and bank passwords. But somehow, I hadn’t thought Cole would bother to get into my boring old Google Docs files.

Every time I thought about how my stupid careless comment about Davenport started this whole stressful mess, I wanted to bury my face in my hands.

"You okay?" Kora asked.

"No," I admitted. "But I think it's time. I don't care if Orion doesn't want to know. I need Cole to know I'm not helping him and I'm never getting back with him. I just... need all this off my chest. I'm going to come clean, and if Orion hates me for it, then so be it. But I'm going to explode if I don't just get this out."

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