Page 92 of Unbossly Manners

Selena clasped my hands. “I’m all those things. But I’ve said and done all those things for you when it comes to Jackson.”

“Remind me.” I closed my eyes and sank into the deflated cushions.

Selena laughed lightly.

“Fine. Focus on work. Forget Jackson. It shouldn’t be this hard to be with someone. And he’s got a lot of shit going on. But it’s not your shit. Lead your life. Don’t let your love for him derail you.”

I bit my lip. “Love?”

“Isn’t it love?”

“I don’t want to name it.” I dug the remote out of the cushions and put on The Mindy Project.

Selena hobbled to the closet. Besides the emotional exhaustion, our bodies were swollen, aching pieces of meat. She tossed a sheet and pillow at me for my makeshift bed on her couch, then snuggled in next to me.

Her hand rubbed my shoulder, then she pinched me.

“Ow!” I rubbed my sore skin and glared at her incredulously. “What the hell was that for?”

“For making me go on that bloody bike race. My vagina hurts like a motherfucker.”

thirty-four

“Explain this to me again.”

Analise sat in front of my laptop staring at my excel file outlining the suspected corporate sabotage within the company.

It was Thursday afternoon. A week ago today I’d left for Vermont. It felt like a world away.

“Jackson and I were discussing all the mishaps and I wrote down all the ones I came across, so we could compare them and see if there was a pattern.”

“And is there?” Analise scanned the file.

“Not that I can tell. It’s just chaos in general. But it all began in early April.”

Analise pulled up the company calendar. We scanned it, but nothing stuck out as unusual for that time period. Except…

“The only anomaly is Brody. As far as I know, he’s been unaffected but I can’t think of what he’d gain by harming the company.”

“This is good work. I’ll set up a meeting with Derrick, Isaac, and Jackson. I want you there, too. Let’s keep it small for now.”

Analise circled around to her work area and I clicked open our Social Media management program. I wrote and scheduled several posts, glanced over the comments, replying to some, and noted ideas I had for future content. Then I read the notes from the recently recorded, but not-yet-released podcasts, and searched for the images the producers were requesting to post on their accounts to go along with the upcoming episodes.

By three I was done with my daily tasks. Normally, I’d still have two more hours of work, but I was performing at warp speed to keep my mind off all things Jackson, who was annoyingly always knocking at my mind, wanting to move back in and get cozy.

Kat and he had returned to the city on Tuesday after he’d been discharged from the hospital. Nellie had kept me up-to-date on his condition. I hadn’t heard from Jackson or Kat since the accident. I also hadn’t reached out.

They should’ve realized I’d moved out of Kat’s place by now. Unless she’d been staying at his apartment.

Anytime my phone buzzed, my nerves fluttered to attention, worried—and hoping—it was Jackson. But it never was. When would my heart get in line with my brain, and realize I was not something Jackson cared about. If he did, he would’ve been eager to speak to me after a near-death experience, right?

I could contact him, but it felt like an intrusion. It was obvious I’d only been a distraction for him until Kat and he came back together.

My nerves were on hyperdrive today because he was meant to be back in the office but I hadn’t seen him.

“Hey, can we chat?” Derrick stood behind me.

I followed him to his office. It wasn’t big or fancy, just a place for him to store old case files and his research for upcoming episodes.

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