Page 45 of Boss with Benefits

"I'll be back later,thali. Let's talk this out once you're in a better headspace."

As the door closed behind her, I resisted the urge to scream that my headspace was just fine, thank you.

I glanced at my phone, tempted to call Derrick. He said I could call him if I needed to talk, but there was this weird blurry line between us, and I didn't like blurry. I liked cut-and-dried.

I'd figure this out on my own.

In the kitchen, I dug through my freezer and punched the air when I found a couple of airline bottles of Titos. I mixed them in a glass with orange juice and sank back into the sofa with a heavy sigh, questions zipping through my mind.

Why did my mother keep this secret for weeks? How did Hao Lin find her? Had they been in touch before? Since my mom worked at the hospital where my biological mom birthed me, my mom would've had access to all that information.

I took a long sip, the ice cubes clinking, trying to calm my anxious thoughts.

Ugh. I hated being this discombobulated. Sooner than later I was gonna have to confront Hao Lin and uncover the truth about my past, but what if I hated what I found out?

My phone buzzed, and I glanced at the screen. It was a text from Lexi, asking if I could meet her in the morning at the office about some work stuff.

Part of me wanted to talk to her about my personal stuff. She was a therapist after all. But I didn't want to see anyone right now. Not my bio grandfather. Not my mom. Not Derrick. Not anyone.

I typed out a quick reply, telling Lexi I wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be at the office tomorrow. This had all gotten too real, and I needed some time away from everyone.

I texted Mom and told her I wouldn't be at my place when she came because I was staying at a friend's tonight. Then, I gathered a few items and walked out the door.

22

DERRICK

There was nothing remarkable about the chestnut leather chair across from my desk except that anytime I looked at it, I thought of Rachel.

It was the chair she always sat in during our meetings, the one she fell headfirst into, and in my mind, I thought of it as Rachel's chair. After she left on the train, the house felt empty, even with the rowdy kids. I had been looking forward to seeing her on Monday, to talking to her some more. It had been a long time since I'd talked to someone like Rachel and I did in my car. I missed it. I missed having someone to confide in and share my experiences with.

But it was Thursday morning, and I hadn't seen Rachel all week. She sent an email on Monday, and all it said was she was sick and was going to take the day off work.

Four days later and nothing.

I shoved down the incessant worry eating at my gut. She could take care of herself. But still, the silence was unsettling.

I blamed my sisters. If I wasn't the oldest boy to six sisters, I wouldn't be this damned protective. And if I wasn't this damned protective, I could forget all about Rachel. She was only an employee, after all. My concern should have been for the work she was missing, her irresponsibility at not showing up for her job, but that's not what I was worried about.

I was worried something awful had happened to her. Of course I was. After years of solving cases about the worst possible scenarios, I was always concerned.

A knock on my office door jolted me out of my thoughts.

Lexi poked her head in. "Hey, Boss. Got a minute?"

I gestured for her to come in, relieved to have something besides Rachel to focus on.

"Everything okay, Lexi?"

She plopped down in Rachel's chair, worry etched on her face. "I need help. Actually, not just me. All the hosts. I didn't realize how much work Rachel was doing with the social media tasks until she's been gone. A huge fight broke out in the comments over my last podcast, and it got nasty. I finally turned off the comments on all my posts. But I need to turn them back on so the listeners can interact with each other and me. It's part of my brand. But I don't have time to manage it and clean up the mess.

"And before you say anything, yes, I brought this up with Analise, but she's in Mexico visiting her family for two weeks on her annual holiday." She sat forward in the chair. "Look, Derrick, I had a lot of offers from different companies before I decided to take my podcast to Dreamary. I knew it was a smaller operation, which is why I liked it. But there's not enough support, and I'm sinking fast."

She exhaled, the expression on her face pained. "I hate to say it, but if you guys can't figure this out, I'm gonna have to find a better run ship. It's not good for my mental health, and I run a freaking therapy podcast."

I leaned forward in my chair and kept my features calm, even as my heart rate increased. Lexi was right. The wider distribution had exploded all our podcasts into the stratosphere, and we didn't have the bandwidth to keep up.

"Rachel needed some personal time," I explained.

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