Page 27 of Like a Boss

Most of the information is the same—attended NYU, successful businessman by age twenty-five, parents both alive, has two siblings, comes from money, blah blah blah—but there’s no dirt. No info on girlfriends—previous or current. No info on what made him the cold, heartless bastard that he is today.

I continue flicking through the pages while Hannah attempts to solve the riddle. “Maybe it’s the classic case of a kindergarten crush.”

“Huh?” I ask, looking up at her from my screen.

“You know, boys are mean to the girls they secretly like to hide their true feelings for,” she explains.

“He has no feelings.”

She shrugs. “Well, how about you test my theory out?”

My interest is piqued. “How?”

She taps her chin. “I’ve got an idea. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

“Care to be a little more specific?” Just as she attempts to clarify, I shoot up and exclaim, “Oh, oh!”

Hannah leans over, anxious to see what’s got me so excited.

“There!” I jab at the screen. “This is the first picture I’ve seen of him with a woman.”

Hannah turns her head to the side. “Or Cousin It. You can’t see who she is. Is there a date on the photograph?”

Scrolling through, I see that there isn’t. But that doesn’t matter. “The clues are in the details, Han. Look at the way he’s shielding her from the paparazzi. The way his hands are protectively wrapped around her. The anger on his face. He loves this woman.” The revelation sinks low in my gut.

“You got all of that just by looking at this?” she asks, pulling a face at the screen.

“I need to find her. I need her to tell me what happened to make him such a monster.”

“Have you thought thatshe’sthe reason why?”

“You’re right. That bitch.” I glare at the screen.

“Besides, the odds of you finding a slender, well-dressed brunette, without a name or face, are slim.”

Transfixed on the photograph, I know that she’s right. But at least I know he was human once because now, I’m just stuck with the monster.

Ican’t believe I listened to Hannah, as her plan to trial if Mr. Fox likes me or not is ridiculous. But it’s too late now.

After a weekend filled with copious amounts of ice cream and Bradley Cooper, I decided that this job is way too important for me to mess up. Apart from my boss, I actually love everything about it. I won’t allow whatever is happening or not happening between Mr. Fox and me to affect my performance. I’m here to do a job, and that is all. I’m only participating in today’s experiment to humor my best friend.

“You look hot,” Hannah whispers from the side of her mouth.

“I look like a hooker,” I amend, ignoring the looks of my male colleagues as we walk down the hallway.

“Hardly. You can barely see it.”

The moment I make eye contact with Ken, I groan. I fiddle with the button on my blouse while Hannah smacks my hand away.

“Hi, girls,” Ken says, jogging to catch up to us.

Mr. Fox’s words from Friday night ring loudly, and I scowl. “Hi, Ken. Did you have a nice weekend?”

Hannah looks at me strangely while Ken smiles. “I did, except why did you bail Friday?”

I nearly fall over my feet. “I wasn’t feeling too well. Sorry I left without saying goodbye.”

“That’s okay. As long as you’re okay now. So, are you free for lunch?”

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