Page 6 of Dear Grumpy Boss

“Is this a strategy to get a raise?” I’m already picking up the phone to call HR and give her whatever she wants when a half growl, half snort comes from her general direction.

Nostrils flaring, chest rising, cheeks all flushed, she’s furious. And stunning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mouse angry. “You think I’m that underhanded?”

“Give me a reason then,” I say, out of all reasonable, rational options. And this scares me because I’m king of logic and sense, and a pauper when it comes to other matters. “Not because company policy demands it or because you’re a model employee.But because I’m me, Sasha.” Inside, a part of me backs away, even as the words come easily. “We’ve known each other for nearly two decades. I deserve better.” A load of bullshit because Sasha doesn’t owe me anything.

She flinches and hesitates.

I hold my breath in. It pricks me, like a sharp thorn, the waiting. The wondering. And the…wanting. The sudden, mystifying wanting that’s been twisting me inside out for months now. Feels like I’m covered in thorns and yet it’s not all painful. If I were an RPG avatar, I would say I’d broken into a new level of awareness. That I didn’t know existed.

“I’m not happy here,” she says, looking as miserable as I feel. Not a lie. “I’mactivelyunhappy here, Zayn. And you’re always telling us that life’s too short to stay where you’re unhappy.”

Then she leaves with a quiet clicking sound that feels like a death knell.

My bright, enormous office is crushingly silent and painfully empty without her. My head is reeling and the headache that threatened during the flight is back with a vengeance.

What am I missing?

It dawns on me, the compound misery she’s dealt me in a matter of fifteen minutes.

No monthly dinner with the Shettys where I could pretend like I belonged to their family.

No pretending in my fucked-up head that she’s mine.

And no Mouse outside my office with her wide-brown gaze, her shy smile, and her plump lips anymore.

Grabbing my car keys and wallet, I’m almost out the door when I halt.

The glass window is refreshingly cool against my forehead. Logic and sense return, beating the emotions crowding me into one small corner.

Why was I accepting Sasha’s resignation?

All my life, I survived, no thrived, against all the odds stacked against me. Against parents and friends and teachers and tutors telling me I wouldn’t make it. I made millions. Found a normal, happy life. Well, relatively normal at least.

Whatever this is on Sasha’s part— a snit, or a tantrum or some other real shit, I’ll figure it out.

She’ll stay with me until we both grow old and challenge each other over word games and pluck each other’s gross nose hairs.

The shakiness recedes under the resolve.

Now I just have to figure out what it is Mouse wants and give it to her.

And for that, I need advice from either my best friend or my brother. The former is out since this involves his sister. While Adam loves me, he can get a little over-the-top protective about Sasha. Not that I blame him.

I’m clicking on my big brother Nathaniel’s number as I walk out of my office and press the button to the penthouse. Without looking for my little offender.

There are only three people in my life I care about, and more importantly, can stand to be around. And no way am I losing the most important of the three.

Three

Zayn

What I’m doing iswrong.

Maybe skirting the line into unethical even. But I didn’t come up in a world that wasn’t built for people like me without maneuvering people and situations.

Rifling through Sasha’s giant tote bag in the privacy of my office is definitely not…right. I mean, I just want a little extra information on how to woo her into staying.

I place the bag on my desk and take a peek.

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