Page 82 of Not As Advertised

When I did nothing more than look at him with panicked eyes, he glanced over at Linda.

Linda faced me with a smile that I was sure another person without ruthless anxiety might have taken comfort in. Unfortunately, it didn’t ease my nerves at all.

“So let me explain what’s happened. There have been a few rumors going around the office about an alleged relationship between you and Aiden Sullivan. Specifically, someone saw him speaking to you in such close proximity that it looked intimate. It was reported the body language of the encounter was inappropriate for the workplace.”

Oh god, people know about us. I wracked my brain for when someone could have seen us. I thought we’d been careful at work.

What was I supposed to say here? Why were they doing this without Aiden here too? Were they trying to get me to say something that could harm him? Or myself?

“I’m not sure what you mean,” I choked out.

“Nothing has been formally written up. Yet. But there have been enough whispers that the executive admin members on this floor have heard them, even with their limited interactions with the rest of the company.”

Mr. Blakley felt he could jump back at this point, I guessed, after leaving the worst part to Linda.

“Each of us signed conduct clauses in our contract, Abigail. We are particularly concerned about the genesis of the relationship. Aiden is your boss. He has a direct influence over your career here at Appeal,” he said.

My brain couldn’t seem to process what he was saying.

“I’m sorry. Are you implying that I’ve been coerced into a romantic relationship with Aiden?” The ice in my tone was out of character for me, but to imply that Aiden would do such a thing was disgusting. He was a good man.

The bite in my tone hit as intended. Mr. Blakley put up his hands as if to tell me to calm myself. As if that was possible now.

“My concern here is the safety of my employees, Abigail. You haven’t denied that there is a relationship. Any romantic or, uh, physically intimate advances made by Aiden would beconsidered an abuse of his position.” His voice held no anger or overt disappointment. He seemed sincerely concerned as he watched me closely for my reaction.

I didn’t know if he was a good actor or really meant what he said. I also didn’t know him at all other than to say hello politely if I ever crossed his path in the building or at a company function. I was sure he’d never heard my name before this fiasco.

More likely, he was worried about a lawsuit.

“We just want to make sure we manage this situation correctly,” Linda added. “Let’s go over ways we can move forward, shall we?”

As Linda started listing my choices moving forward, my mind rebelled. I didn’t want to talk about any of this with them. No matter what they said, I didn’t want Aiden to be the one to pay for our mistakes.

With my racing thoughts, I only caught the gist of the next steps, which were about making the best choices for a conflict-free work environment. All of them involved an NDA. I needed Aiden. This wasn’t the sort of decision I wanted to make on my own.

It took me an hour to get out of that office. A leave of absence hadn’t initially been on the table, but Mr. Blakley and Linda readily agreed once they knew I had no issue with signing the NDA.

I returned to the digital arts pod in a haze. Gathering my stuff, I caught Ethan’s gaze, and he came quietly over to my desk.

“Did you get pulled into a meeting with Jack Blakley?” He kept his pitch low to avoid attracting attention. “Because of the thing with Aiden?”

He didn’t need to specify. I knew the “thing” was my relationship. I just nodded, defeated by the stress of the meeting.

“I swear. I haven’t breathed a word to anyone. I’ll do what I can to shut shit down when I hear it, okay?” Ethan’s face shonewith sympathy. It was the lifeline I needed in that moment, to have someone on my side inside the office.

I knew even before he said anything that it wasn’t Ethan’s fault. We should have known nothing stays secret forever.

“Thank you. I trust you. But I don’t think I can face the rest of this day. Can I take my computer home, and I’ll deal with everything from there?” I whispered.

“Absolutely. Take care of yourself. It’s just shit timing with Aiden away. I’m sorry.”

I quickly packed my things.

I had just made it out of the building when my phone rang. The display said it was Aiden calling, and I picked up, not ready to tell him anything about what was going on at Appeal.

“Aiden. Hi. Is Rennie okay? Are you okay?” Despite what had just happened, I knew if I could just talk it out with him, we could get through anything.

“Abbie.” His tone was void of emotion. He didn’t say anything else, silence ringing down the line.

---