Page 109 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

By the following Thursday, I was ready to explode. Or curl up in a ball and sleep forever. One of the two.

Day after empty day, all work, no play, no fun, no laughter, barely a smile. I was like a robot just going through the motions.

Mona stopped by my desk on her way out. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah. Great. Got the ghostwriter all set for Venus, and she's already started."

"Oh, that's great news!"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Then why do you seem so sad?"

"Me? Sad? I'm not sad. Not sad at all. Never been happier."

She raised a single brow. "Methinks thou—"

"Nooo. Don't say it."

After slamming my laptop shut, she put out a hand to me. "Come on. We're going out for a drink right now."

"Hey, I was working on something."

"It can wait until tomorrow. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Sheesh. Stubborn much?"

Not saying anything, she merely looked at me, pursing her lips, playing the silent game.

"Okay. Fine," I huffed, gathering my stuff. After all, I did need a break. All I'd done was work lately, and my life was quickly becoming exceedingly dull. "Where to?"

It didn't take long until we were seated at a narrow table in the corner of a cozy, dimly lit bar in the East Village, a place we'd frequented often in the past. Since it was a Thursday night, it wasn't too crowded, but there was a pleasant buzz around us as the after-work crowd trickled in, men loosening ties and rolling up their sleeves.

Normally, that sight might have done something for me, the sight of forearm porn everywhere I looked. But not anymore. There was only one set of forearms I wanted to see right now.

Thanks a lot, Max fucking Sterling.

"Why the sour face? Is your old-fashioned too weak?" Mona asked.

"No."

"Too strong then?"

"No. It's fine."

I sighed, eyeing a waiter approaching our table with our flatbread pizzas. This would be so much easier if I could tell her everything. With each passing day, living this double life became increasingly more difficult.

Obviously, I'd confided in my sisters. They knew everything. But they hadn't exactly given me their thoughts about what Ishould do, Aria so busy with Ethan and her job, and Astrid preoccupied with fall fashion week.

Once we'd thanked the waiter, we started eating, the food delicious as always, but I wasn't very hungry. So I just nibbled a little bit here and there, wondering if the hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach would ever go away.

"Oh, my God, would you just tell me what's wrong?" Mona said, uncharacteristically snippy with me. "I know it has something to do with Jared. So you might as well tell me. Did he ghost you?"

Again, I released an epic sigh. "Yes. No," I amended before taking a large swig of my drink.

Staring at me tight-lipped, she said, "Well?"

What would be the harm in telling her about Jared/Max? I already knew from past experience that Mona could be trusted to keep a secret. Besides, even if it did get out somehow, it wasn't like he could be fired or anything for his subterfuge.

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